National Beep Baseball Association

Code of Ethics

PREAMBLE

The National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA), its Members, partners, officials, athletes and volunteers affirm their commitment to true sportsmanship which is rooted in the history and tradition of fair and honorable sports competition.
NBBA’s history and tradition are based on the principles of excellence in sport, opportunity to participate in fair competition and enhancement of the dignity of athletes and sport.
This necessitates acceptance of the fundamental values of Honesty, Human Rights, Fairness, Justice, Non-Discrimination and Personal Integrity when carrying out responsibilities on behalf of the NBBA or when participating in NBBA events and competitions.
Members and others involved in the NBBA shall endorse the Vision, Mission and Values of the NBBA, shall respect this code, NBBA Policies and Rules.
Remedies for infractions of our Code of Ethics are included in this document.

SCOPE

This Code of Ethics shall apply to all games and events that represent the NBBA affiliation.
Any member of the NBBA, i.e. A person who accepts and assumes a function in the NBBA, or in association with the NBBA, regardless of whether it is a voluntary or paid position, elected or appointed, an athlete or team official, shall be subject to the provisions as laid down in this Code of Ethics when carrying out their responsibilities.

DIGNITY, INTEGRITY AND EQUALITY

1.1: Members of the NBBA shall abide by and respect the Code of Ethics at all times and in particular, adhere to the following ethical standards:

  1. Safeguard the dignity of the individual and the sport
  2. Fight against any discrimination on the basis of race, gender, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, philosophical or political opinion, marital status or sexual orientation. In particular, discrimination on the basis of Impairment or disability is forbidden. Athletic classification which promotes sports participation of athletes with disabilities is not discrimination but empowerment.
  3. Work for the Benefit of the entire blind sports movement and all its athletes and not just for a particular constituent such as a country, religion or sport.
  4. Safeguard the athlete’s interest, priorities and opportunity to participate in fair competition and excel in sports.
  5. Safeguard the athlete’s physical and mental health and equilibrium.
  6. Contribute to the creation of a Drug Free Sport Environment for all athletes in conjunction with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and all local, State and Federal laws governing controlled substances.
  7. Not tolerate any practice constituting any form of physical or mental injury. All forms of Harassment including physical, mental, professional or sexual are Prohibited Behaviors that are humiliating, intimidating or insulting will not be tolerated.
  8. Conduct business with integrity, maintain a high standard of personal conduct and avoid any behavior are action that would tarnish or give the impression of tarnishing the reputation of the NBBA and/or its members. Including but not limited to Social Media, the internet and other electronic forms of communication.
  9. Refrain from being involved with any firms, organizations or persons whose activity is inconsistent with the NBBA By Laws, Codes, Policies and Rules.
  10. Abstain from participating in, supporting or promoting “betting” related to NBBA competitions or any other NBBA event.
  11. Refrain from using NBBA to promote any political agenda other than the advancement of sport for persons with a visual impairment and democracy, empowerment, equality and the protection of human rights.

IMPROPER USE OF ASSETS

2.1 Members of the NBBA shall do all in their power to avoid any loss, damage, misuse or theft of property, records, funds or other assets belonging to the NBBA that may be in their possession. All assets must be used exclusively for conducting NBBA activities.
2.2 Proper use of funds is a fiduciary responsibility. No one shall make any illegal or unethical payments including, without limitation, bribes, kickbacks, grafts, unauthorized commissions or finder fess from the assets or resources of the NBBA or otherwise.

IMPROPER USE OF INFORMATION

3.1 Members of the NBBA shall safeguard confidentiality. No person shall use for their personal gain or disclosure outside NBBA any confidential information obtained through their association with the organization. This includes all material and information that a member should reasonably understand to be subject to a duty of confidentiality.
3.2 Members of the NBBA shall respect and protect from any inappropriate disclosure by oral, written or electronic means, the confidentiality of any private and personal information concerning athletes and other Members that is shared within the scope of their function.

GIFTS, GRATUITIES AND PRIZES

4.1 Members of the NBBA shall not seek or accept gifts or gratuities for themselves or their families or friends from any outside organization or person having or seeking to have an involvement with the NBBA. Only gifts of nominal value that shall be determined by the NBBA Executive Board in accordance with prevailing local customs may be given or accepted by the NBBA representatives in the spirit of respect or friendship.
4.2 NBBA recognizing that the honor of winning competitions lies in sporting performance and excellence, will award only prizes of nominal value such as medal, trophies or other recognition awards to athletes and qualifying members. Prizes including money prizes given by others, such as sponsor and organizing committees, are not promoted by the NBBA but are acceptable if given in accordance with the spirit of sportsmanship and fair competition.

CODE OF CONDUCT FOR ATHLETES

In addition to the principles mentioned in above Articles 1 – 5 and their sub-articles:
All athletes shall participate in events, competitions and activities in the true spirit of fair play for the glory of the sport.
5.1 All athletes shall respect the performance of their fellow competitors and not cause any illegal obstruction, damage or bodily harm to them.
5.2 All athletes shall respect their coaches, officials and volunteers and not follow any illegal advice that would violate the ideals of fair play.
5.3 All athletes shall respect and abide by NBBA Policies and Rules. They must respect the final decision of officials (after all appeals have been exhausted) and understand that failure to do so may jeopardize their ability to participate in events and competitions (see discipline section for specific details)
5.4 All athletes shall respect and abide by the NBBA anti-doping and Substance abuse rules. It is recognized that athletes may have significant medical conditions that require treatment but the use of any technique or medication whose sole purpose is a sport performance enhancement while being detrimental or potentially detrimental to health will not be tolerated. Everything possible shall be done to contribute to the creation of a drug free sport environment for all athletes, members, volunteers and others (fans, family, friends, etc) associated with the NBBA.

6.0 See Substance Abuse policy (section 13.1)

Athletes shall not support or assist other athletes to gain any illegal or unfair advantage and shall report any infringement to this principle to the responsible officials.

CODE OF CONDUCT FOR COACHES AND OFFICIALS

In addition to the principles mentioned in above Articles 1 – 5 and their sub-articles:
7.1 Coaches and officials shall comply with the ideals in the spirit of fair play.
7.2 Coaches and officials shall never compromise true sportsmanship or the values and ideals of the NBBA to obtain personal, team or national advantage.
7.3 Coaches and officials shall observe and follow the NBBA Rules & Procedures, Policies, the NBBA Anti-Doping and Substance abuse rules and all other competition rules and regulations and shall report any irregularity to the responsible officials.

CODE OF CONDUCT FOR VOLUNTEERS

In addition to the principles mentioned in above Articles 1 – 5 and their sub-articles.
8.1 Volunteers and other officials must perform their duties courteously, competently, consistently and objectively for all athletes regardless of team or national origin.
8.2 Volunteers and other officials must declare any potential conflicts of interest.
8.3 Volunteers and other officials must not abuse their position or capacity to obtain advantage or benefits.
8.4 Volunteers and other officials must respect athletes and coaches and be sure that there is a courteous attitude during NBBA games, practices, tournaments and other NBBA affiliated events. They must maintain confidentiality of the athlete information and respect the dignity of all athletes.

CODE OF CONDUCT FOR ALL ELECTED OR APPOINTED DIRECTORS AND LEADERS

In addition to the principles mentioned in above Articles 1 – 5 and their sub-articles
9.1 Directors and leaders shall make all decisions with absolute impartiality in the best interest of the athlete, team and sport.
9.2 All Directors and leaders shall respect the democratic election process and not offer any material benefits, directly or indirectly, to voting constituencies to influence the result of an election.
9.3 No material benefits shall be offered to any voting member to influence the voting on any decision and or policy within the NBBA.
9.4 Directors and leaders shall declare any potential conflict of interest and shall not act in association with any national or vested interest.
9.5 Directors and leaders shall not abuse their positions or capacity in obtaining advantages or benefits.
9.6 There shall be no association with any agencies or persons that are inconsistent with the principles of the NBBA and its ideals.
9.7 Directors and leaders shall promote the Code of Ethics by role modeling, peer monitoring and peer support.

RELATIONS WITH PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS

10.1 All relationships and activities with partners, supporters and sponsors, must be done in the spirit of promoting the athletes and sport in the true spirit of fair play and in compliance with NBBA values and ideals.

SUSPECTED BREACHES OF CODE OF ETHICS

11.1 Suspected breaches of this Code of Ethics shall be governed by NBBA regulations governing the procedure for dealing with complaints regarding alleged breaches of the code of ethics.
The use of the Incident Reporting document is the tool for reporting actual or suspected breaches of athletes, teams, volunteers, coaches, officials and/or Directors and leaders.
Completed forms should be submitted to ethics@nbba.org
Incomplete forms will be returned to sender before any action is taken on the subject matter by the NBBA.

Process flow for suspected breach of code of ethics – See Appendix “A”

SOCIAL MEDIA

12.1 This policy is in regard to the use of any form of communications in the capacity of membership or representation at any level the NBBA (i.e., Local, District, State, Provincial, District, National or International).

Those representing themselves as NBBA members or NBBA leaders in any capacity must refrain from any communication, whether written or spoken, that tends to degrade or demean any person or group. Violation of this policy, in the opinion of the Ethics Committee will be considered not in the best interest of the NBBA, and may result in action by the Board of Directors up to and including removal of the person from such capacity..

Upon an individual’s addition to the roster of an NBBA affiliate team, any actions or behaviors on any and all social media platforms deemed harmful to other members of this organization or may in any way tarnish the public image of the NBBA will be punishable in accordance with the guidelines listed within the code of ethics.

This in no way is meant to interfere with any person’s right of free speech. It is intended only to ensure that any person refrains from making any statements that demean any person or group, while acting in their capacity as a representative or leader at any level of the NBBA. It also is important to note that local, state, provincial or national laws take precedent over this policy if there is a conflict.

NBBA Digital Media Guidelines

1: Introduction
Digital Media has the potential to engage a new audience and broaden the reach and appeal of the NBBA and Beep Baseball.
Therefore, the NBBA actively encourages and supports athletes and other Accredited Persons to share their experiences on Digital Media with their friends, family, and supporters. The NBBA needs to control how Digital Media is used in certain aspects in order to protect the rights of other athletes and participants and the intellectual property of the NBBA. Therefore, Digital Media activity must be carried out according to these guidelines as well as other applicable rules and policies listed in these guidelines and previously approved policies by the NBBA.
These guidelines will apply to all Accredited Persons of the NBBA.
2: General Principles
2.1 Permitted Use
Please share your Games experience on your own Digital Media Accounts. Postings should be polite, courteous, and respectful to others and MUST NOT.
• Contain any form of political, religious or racial propaganda.
• Use discriminatory, offensive, hateful, profane, vulgar, sexually explicit or defamatory language or images.
• Intrude upon the privacy of participants (without the consent of such participants, persons and entities).
• Be for commercial and/or advertising purposes and must not create or imply an association between third party and the NBBA (unless such association actually and lawfully exists).
• Make us of any of the official NBBA trademarks in any way that creates an association with any third party or any third party’s products or services that may give the impression that such third party’s products or services have an official relationship with the NBBA (unless given permission from the NBBA to do so-prior approval required).
• Apply or make use of any of the NBBA trademarked symbols, logos, etc. except when the image being used naturally contain the marks and reflects your personal experience.
3: Liability
You are responsible for any legal consequences arising from your Digital Media, including content that is deemed to be obscene, offensive, defamatory or otherwise illegal or infringing on any third party’s rights. This may also apply if you have authorized a third party to manage or post to your digital media source or to express opinions on your behalf.
4: Responsibility and monitoring: The NBBA will monitor online content to ensure that these guidelines are
being complied with. The NBBA ask for the support of all Accredited Persons in controlling any ambush activity or any sites engaged in conduct which is offensive to or adversely affects the goodwill associated with the NBBA. The NBBA asks that Accredited Persons discovering unauthorized content to please report it immediately to the NBBA Ethics Committee: ethics@nbba.org
5: Amendments/interpretation
The NBBA reserves the right to amend these guidelines as it deems appropriate.

Definitions:

“Accredited Persons” means all persons who are current members of the NBBA (National Beep Baseball Association)
“Digital Media” refers to all digitized content (text, audio, graphics, video) that can be transmitted over the internet or via computer/mobile networks, including but not limited to website and apps.
NBBA means National Beep Baseball Association

ANTI – DOPING – SUBSTANCE ABUSE

13.1 The use of Alcohol, Tobacco, Drugs and Profanity are prohibited during all NBBA affiliated tournaments.

As stated in Section 1.6 of the NBBA Code of Ethics, The National Beep Baseball Association is a drug free non-profit athletic organization with a zero-tolerance stance against all illegal substances, drug and/or alcohol abuse. The NBBA, its member teams, players and volunteers are prohibited from the consumption or distribution of illegal, drug related substances in accordance with federal, state and local statutes. Furthermore, the consumption or use of tobacco or alcohol is strictly prohibited in and around the field of play at all NBBA affiliated events. Tobacco use may be permitted in the parking area with approval of the host venue and officials.

All drug or public intoxication related incidents should be reported to local authorities prior to the completion of the NBBA incident report. All violations will be investigated by the Ethics and Disciplinary Committee who will present each case to the board of directors for the final determination of consequence.
All violations related to the above policy will automatically be elevated to a major offense and will be eligible for fines, suspensions and punishments in accordance with this tier of breach to the code of conduct.

DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS FOR BREACH OF CODE OF ETHICS

14.1 The levels are not sequential; the disciplinary action level is determined by the BOD and takes into account the actual incident. Substance Abuse & Harassment incidents of any kind are Major Infractions.

Minor Infractions: (per incident/individual)

Level 1: Verbal counseling

Level 2: Written letter of warning to Individual/team, (Optional $50.00 fine)

Level 3: Up to a Three (3) game suspension (player) or revert to Major Infraction 1st step.

Major Infractions: (per incident/individual)

Level 1: A Three (3) game suspension, with a $100.00 Individual/Team.

Level 2: Up to One (1) year suspension with a $150.00 fine accessed to the Team.

Level 3: Up to a Life Time suspension from the NBBA & a $310.00 fine to the Team.

All Fines are payable in full before the start of the next game or before the next season Team registration will be accepted.

Weapons of all kinds are banned from all NBBA events and activities in accordance with State & Federal Laws.

Appendix A

Breach of Code of Ethics – Incident / Infraction Flow Process

Process Flow:

    1. 1. Infraction Occurs / Suspected
    1. 2. Incident Report written and submitted to

ethics@nbba.org

    1. 3. Individuals involved are informed and Ethics Committee investigates.
    1. 4. Next Action Occurs (1 of 4 things)
      1. a. No further Action is taken – Incident filed.
      1. b. Verbal counseling with participants of the incident report.
      1. c. Written warning letter drafted if needed.
      1. d. Ethics committee refers the matter to the Board Of Directors of the NBBA.

5. Prior to the Board taking action for Major Infractions relating to Suspension and/or monetary fines:

      1. a. The Individual/Team can appear in person (if possible) or via conference call to defend their position as notified by the Board.

6. The Board renders the final decision.
7. Disciplinary Action goes into effect immediately after the Board renders the final decision.
8. All decisions made by the Board Of Directors are FINAL.

For questions regarding this form contact the The NBBA Ethics Committee at ethics@nbba.org

NBBA Code of Ethics Incident Reporting Form

If you would like to submit a NBBA Code of Ethics incident report, navigate to NBBA Code of Ethics Incident Reporting Form.

Document Last Revised

This document was last revised and approved by the board on April 17, 2021.

form Submission