Code of Conduct

Team Expectations & Focus 

Just Starting off we are writing this out to give parents and players an insight into what we are focusing on for our basketball seasons year to year. We are focusing on Youth Basketball not NCAA or getting your Athlete to the WNBA, This being said countless members of our teams have gone on to great CIS or ACAC careers. Our goals are to make the Athlete the best Teammate, Player and Young Adult. We will stress Accountability, Fair Play (not to be confused with equal play); fair play comes down to what’s best for team success. We believe that each player and family unit determine the amount of playing time an athlete receives. These things dictate how much time a player receives. 

• Attendance to practices games and team events 
• Attitude (wiliness to listen, helpfulness, positivity, body language, asks questions) 
• Ability (each young player comes with a different ability naturally and some find things easier than others to begin with) this doesn’t always mean more playing time. 
• Problem solving skills.  
• Team group tasks and duties. 

We do not take any of these lightly, failure to abide by these general rules will result in a difficult time fitting in the Grads Culture and being a successful Grad. 

To give some light on our expectations let's look at each point individually. 

• Attendance to practices games and team events:  
• Players are expected to be at every scheduled event for the team. This builds the camaraderie between players and builds bonds. If a parent or guardian cannot give a ride to or from practice or event, they are responsible to find transportation. We give all players and families access to phone numbers and a chat account to arrange this.  
• If a player is sick with something that is communicable, please stay home and get notes from another player as to what happened in practice.  
• Injury is not a reason to miss Practice or events. Players are responsible to be at every event. We give schedules out as soon as they are available mostly months ahead of time. We go through sometimes complicated plays and structures so missing practice places the player at serious disadvantage to their teammate who was in attendance, this hurts the team. 
•  
• Attitude: Players may think that their own attitude doesn’t affect the rest of the team, this is not true. Behaviors, body language and bad moods spread through a team like wildfire and can infect a team for weeks or more.  
• We do not condone poor attitudes and may ask a player to find another source of basketball if it continues to happen week after week.  
• We encourage players to ask as many questions as possible and foster this throughout the season. We believe the WHY is the most important thing to teach young players.  
• Positivity we ask that all players help one another to get tasks completed and encourage each other whenever possible.  
• Negativity is not tolerated towards another player, coach or assistant.  
• Body Language is an important method of telling if a player’s attitude is positive, bowed heads moping and muttering under one's breath gestures to officials or opposing teams are unacceptable. 
•  
• Ability: This may confuse a lot of you, but natural Athleticism is not always going to get playing time. At the ages we serve, there are many players that have a natural ability for sports. This does not give them extra minutes on the court. It all depends on the qualities in point #2 that makes the natural ability for the player's time on the court. 
•  
• Problem solving skills: This comes into play when a player has an issue with another player, coach, staff, or parent. How the problem gets solved is very important. The order in which to solve the issue is:  
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• Go to the source of the problem, i.e., the person the issue is with, and try to amicably solve the problem.  
• Go to the head Coach and try to rectify the problem. 
• Send email or call the Grads to explain the issue at hand and get mediation. 
• If the problem is refereeing (do none of the above and live with it) 
• Parents do not get involved unless steps #1 and #2 have not solved the issue by the player. 
• If a parent has an issue about playing time or decisions made by a coach during a game, we have a 24hr policy. Send an email letting your views be known and you will receive an answer from the appropriate coach. Do not come to a coach after a game with concerns, coaches will not discuss these with you. 
•  
• Team Group tasks and Duties: it is the players responsibility to do game and practice duties. 
• Put away balls and equipment and garbage on game benches 
• Help coaches haul gear in and out of vehicles. This shows that the player cares and wants things to run smoothly for the team.  
•  

Parents 

Parents and Guardian are an important part of the team dynamic and are very integral to the success of their player and the team. We ask that you conduct yourself with poise and discipline at games and team events. 

We do not allow parents in the gym while we are coaching a practice. This age there are many issues with self-esteem, and we do not allow it.  

You may wonder why there are certain parents in a practice. They are there at our request to serve a specific purpose.  

Our main Practice venue is Concordia College and there are seats in the foyer for you to sit if you choose to do so. 

After every game, the coaches will have a team meeting to discuss the game with only the players. This will take 5-10 minutes and will happen in a neutral spot inside or outside the location. This is a mandatory team event. 

For Edmonton games, players must be at the venue 30 minutes before and be ready and dressed to play when they get to the bench. They do not give warm up times so players must be ready and changed before the bench is ready to be occupied. The color of the jersey worn will be given in the game notes on our team website. 

Every out-of-town tournament, the players stay together in rooms of 4, to promote team spirit and camaraderie. Parents are encouraged to come support the team and give rides when needed. We give the parents the hotel reservation codes for the same rates we pay as a group. At each away tournament, the team eats the supper meal together, (which is at a restaurant close to the hotel), and parents are welcome to join. The players pay for this meal. They also pay for lunches. The breakfast(s) are included with the hotel and players are given a time they must eat by. 

Players/Parents/Guardians are responsible to make sure all equipment is ready for practice and game days. This means jersey shorts and shoes are all in a team bag. 

We provide the players with Game Uniform (Shorts, Jersey), practice jersey, warm up shirt, socks, and backpack. 

When dropping players off at the Saville Centre for tournaments, please drop the player off at the door before you go looking for parking. The player being on time is most important to the team. 

Attire 

Players Receive: 

• Game Jersey and Shorts which must be worn to all games; not at practice. 
• Practice Jersey must be worn all practices. No excuses. 
• Warm up Shirt must be worn all pregame warmups. 
• Socks must be worn for all games. (We give 2 pairs to each player. Any extras are $5.00 per pair) 
• Gym Bag: All players should have at all practice and game gear ready for use plus any extras. (Hair ties, Pro Wrap, water bottle and any other needs specific to the player) to make them ready for practice or game. AND YOUR SHOES!!!!!  

Coaches 

As coaches we take our role very seriously and try our hardest to be prepared and insightful to our players. We take all the rules of the team seriously and will be ensuring that we live by them as well.  

We take the role of coach to teach, encourage, and foster the development of all the players. We do not make favorites or treat anyone differently. All players are treated as individuals and will be treated as such in all we do. We take the time to get to know each player and what makes them special as an individual. One size fits all doesn’t work in today's sports and coaching. We take pride in learning new ways of getting the most out of our players and making sure they have fun while competing at the highest levels. That being said, the Grads has a no player left behind motto and looks to keep each player that comes out for us. We try to have different levels at each age group.  

 U11 Boys and Girls

U13A, U13Rec  Boys and Girls

U15AA, U15A, U15Rec  Girls Only

U18AA, U18A, U18Rec Girls Only

For the 2025 spring Summer Season we are not having Boys teams above U13. we are developing our Boys Category from the younger ages and growing organically with them. 

These divisions ensure that all players are matched with Teams that meet our criteria of play and will be competitive in the division. Every player has the chance to move up or down a division, as their playing level and commitment level go through changes. 

Coaches are available to players for extra help when asked and will often suggest it for certain players. 

We take safety very seriously, and no player will be alone with a coach male or female. All our Coaches have taken their police background checks.  

Our biggest focus is why things are done the way they are, not just because we told you. There is a reason for every action we make our players do either in practice or in games. We try to get the players to figure out the reasons before we give the answer. When we show a drill, play, or system, there is always the detailed reason given for every action and reaction. 

GCSO 

The GCSO (Great Canadian Shoot Out) is our tournament held every July long weekend. It is the responsibility of all players and parents to work/volunteer this tournament weekend. This is the only volunteer work we ask of parents, and it is integral to our program and having the low costs that we do. You will be asked to sell Merchandise, Wristband passes, checking wristbands to ensure that everyone that is not a player or coach pays the entry fee, and run score sheets. There is no special training or knowledge prior to the tournament.  

Please feel free to ask any questions. The coaching staff and managers will be happy to clarify any of the statements above. 

Thank you all for Choosing the Grads!!!! 

The Edmonton Grads Youth Basketball Club is a not for profit organization designed to promote basketball within the Edmonton Community. Our main focus is the spring basketball season. This is accomplished through a number of avenues including sponsoring athletes and teams as well as running the Great Canadian Shootout on the first weekend of July each year at the Saville Community Sport Center. 

Basketball Players Don't Take Care of their Knees! 

Over My 37 years of coaching one thing I ask all my players to invest in is knee pads, but time and time again they don't listen due to a number of reasons but none of them are legit!

• I can't find them
• I look stupid wearing them 
• I never fall down
• I don"t need them

None of these are reasons not to invest in your safety and ability to play hard!!

Knee pads can be found in major sports stores and on line ranging in price from  $11.00 to $80.00......personally the difference between them isn't great so the cheaper the better. 

Nobody Cares what you look like on the court!

Safety is paramount when playing any sport especially a sport played on a hard surface and in full contact with your opponent. 

Knee pads will allow you to hit the floor when diving for loose balls or get flung from an aggressive jump ball battles, and those knee on knee collisions that happen when you don't expect them to.

GET A PAIR PLAY HARDER THAN YOU EVER HAVE BEFORE!!!!!

Amazon has them as low as $9.99 right now!!! (long sleeved and compression are the same as the Mazuno)

Same ones that United Cycle carries for $70.00 online at Amazon they are $36.00

Smart Players Stay Safe