Ethics About:

This page will detail the steps you should take should you have a question about a process, an issue the Board should be aware of, an ethical issue that needs to be addressed or complaint that needs to be elevated appropriately. 

First and foremost, if you have an issue that involves the physical safety of a child, may be related to abuse, or have an issue that has legal ramifications, this is not the forum with which to engage.  You should reach out directly to local law enforcement as the NYSA is not a legal enforcement entity.  

So what is it we do here?  The NYSA Board of Directors has established an Ethics Committee as a way to give members an avenue in voicing concerns.  This committee is made up of an Ethics Committee Chair, a Vice Chair, and Ethics Committee members.  While the Chair and Vice chair are members of the Board, the vast majority of the members of this committee are rank and file members of the NYSA who are not Board members or Commissioners of a sport—this is on purpose. 

If an inquiry is undertaken, it is not the Board or other levels of leadership who are investigating, but people like you from within the membership selected who, as best we are able, are not conflicted by overlapping sports or affiliation to conduct a fair, fact-based look at the situation to present a recommendation to the Board of Directors for final approval and action if required.

While the Board does still hold final authority on actions, they are not the ones who are both investigating the matter and then taking also taking corrective action.

This committee is charged with looking and reviewing only the facts.  Period.  We understand that oftentimes when events unfold on a sideline or within a group chat, emotions may get the best of us.  An emotional response can be something to be mindful of, but this committee must hold ourselves to review the factual accounting of what happened from both sides of a situation devoid of what inflammatory embellishments may be more attributed to intensity than to the breaking of a rule.

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