Department of Youth, Sport & Recreation

Foreword
Sport has always been heralded as the laboratory for health, skills and social development of individuals.

The mastery of skills in various sports presents opportunities for individuals to excel and to experience the thrill of competition. Opportunities for social development are provided through social contacts, gender experiences, team work and other situations. Also, such principles as sportsmanship, fair play, courage, social poise and confidence are all outgrowths of the sport experience.

The Code of Ethics and Conduct for Sport is presented to all who are involved in sport as a reminder of the context and purpose of sport, and the need to adhere to high standards of fair play and ethical behaviour in its organization, administration, and implementation.

Athletes, parents, coaches, officials, administrators, the media and others all play a very important role in transmitting the values of sport, and in doing so, should employ good-faith efforts to honour the words and spirit of this code.

Henry Ward Beecher said that ‘expedients are for the hour, but principles are for the ages’. The sports community is therefore encouraged to adopt and to be guided by the code, and to entrust these principles to the experience of all those involved in sport at whatever level.

The Ministry of Community Affairs and Sport has been pleased to lead this initiative with our partners, the National Governing Bodies of Sport in Bermuda, to develop a Code of Ethics and Conduct for Sport for Bermuda, to which we can all subscribe.

The Hon. Dale D. Butler, JP. MP.
Minister of Community Affairs & Sport

Proper Conduct and Good Sportsmanship
‘Sportsmanship, the Goal of the Game’
Proper conduct and good sportsmanship lie at the heart of fair and honourable play in sport.
This means that as a player, coach, official, parent or spectator you should always:

1. Treat other persons as you know they should be treated.
2. Regard the rules of your game as agreements that you should not evade or break.
3. Treat officials and opponents with respect.
4. Accept absolutely and without quarrel the final decision of any official.
5. Honour visiting teams and spectators as your own guests and treat them as such. Likewise, behave as an honoured  guest when you visit another play site.
6. Be gracious in victory and even more gracious in defeat.
7. Be cooperative within the spirit of competition.
8. Remember that your actions on and off the field of play reflect on you and your team.
9. Comply with the letter and spirit of the code of the Bermuda Council for Drug Free Sport.

The Code of Ethics is categorized into 7 parts. Click the links below to view the various codes.

• Players' Code
• Parents' Code
• Officials' Code
• Administrators' Code
• Coaches' Code
• Spectators' Code
• Media Code