Club Development
Club Operations Manual
The Swim BC Club Operations Manual was prepared by the Sport Law and Strategy Group for generic use in all provinces in Canada. Swim BC has revised and edited the content of the document to align with Swim BC operations and to the statutes in effect in the Province of BC.
The purpose of this manual is to provide Swim BC clubs with an overview of multiple topic areas that clubs face in their regular operation. The manual can be used as an effective tool for both new or rebuilding clubs as well as established organizations looking to update or address emerging policy trends or gaps. Templates for specific policy areas are provided and can be modified by each club.
Many of the template policies in this document are generic sport templates and will look different than Swim BC policies. They remain a very good guide to the type of policy your club should consider adopting, however you have the option of utilizing Swim BC policy as a template or developing your own.
- Club Operations Manual (2021-04-21)
Templates
The following are Word document versions of the templates available in the Club Operations Manual. Feel free to download and edit as much as needed for your club’s needs. If you do use our templates but make sure at minimum you read through them thoroughly and update them with your club name.
- Nominations Committee Terms of Reference
- Finance Committee Terms of Reference
- Coaches Committee Terms of Reference
- Discipline and Complaints Policy
- Dispute Resolution Policy
- Appeal Policy
- Code of Conduct and Ethics
- Human Resources Policy
- Employment Agreement
- Volunteer Agreement
- Fundraising Policy
- Financial Policy
- Privacy Policy
- Confidentiality Policy
- Travel Policy
- Social Media Guidelines
- Team Manager and Chaperone Policy
- Social Media Use Policy
- Waiver
- Assumption of Risk
- Registration Form
Club By-Laws Guide
Swim BC partnered with the Sportlaw and Strategy Group to develop a comprehensive “BC specific” resource to support and guide clubs towards a pragmatic review of their bylaws. For those of us who have lived in the sport administration space for many years, we know that a strong stable effective club is the foundation for progressive athlete development, athlete retention and coach retention. We encourage you to use these resources to review your current bylaws, and to re-visit and address any non-aligned elements of your bylaws you may discover on an annual basis.
The Swim BC By-laws Guide touches on all the critical elements required in your bylaws, the importance of your Constitution, Compliance and record keeping, the elements of governance within your club, through to ensuring your clubs bylaws are appropriately transitioned to the ‘new’ BC Societies Act. Our review of all clubs’ bylaws over the past two years has indicated there are not many clubs that have properly transitioned to the new act.
The Common Issues resource touches on examples taken from a sample of current club bylaws and addresses unnecessary and unclear content, samples of “not good governance” and non-compliant content.
- The Swim BC By-laws Guide (2021-04-21)
- Common Issues Resource (2021-04-21)
Employment Resources
Swim clubs are employers and club boards should be aware of their responsibility as an employer. The following resources are great starting points.
Club Development Series
The Club Development Series is intended to be a learning experience to continue to support our volunteer members undertaking the challenging task of serving as Board members for Swim BC and MSABC clubs. Themes included roles and responsibilities, conflict resolution, and policy development. You can watch the recordings of these talks on the Swim BC youtube linked below:
Swim BC gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Province of British Columbia.
Address
305-4420 Chatterton Way
Victoria, BC V8X 5J2
Contact
778-430-9100
Email