Message to Clubs from the Senior Vice President

To All Clubs,

Over the last few weeks the SMCA has been inundated with requests for official umpires to be supplied to the lower grades due to historical issues between clubs and teams.  Whilst the SMCA would ideally love to be able to meet these requests, unfortunately, the truth of the matter is, there just isn’t enough to go around.

The SMCA Committee over the last few seasons has been constantly warning clubs about player behaviour and has toughened its stance to a zero-tolerance approach for anyone who breaches the SMCA’s Code of Conduct.

In all games, especially where an Official Umpire is not present, it is the responsibility of both Captains to ensure that the game is played with goodwill,  sportsmanship and within the boundaries of normal acceptable community standards.  Each Captain is responsible for the behaviour of their players, officials and spectators and will face sanctions if they fail to uphold the standards expected by the SMCA.

The SMCA Administrator put a comprehensive Information for Clubs document together that each captain should have a copy of.  The document covers a wide range of topics, is clear and precise on what the SMCA expects from our Clubs, Captains, Players and Officials.

Please ensure that each Captain is given a copy of the ‘Information for Clubs’ and that they have it with them on game day.  It covers all the common issues of Pre-Match Responsibilities, Team Lists, Fielding Restriction, No balls and Wides etc.

Finally, please stress to all your players the importance of playing within the ‘Spirit of the Game’ so that everyone can enjoy the game as they have the right to.

Kind regards

David King

Senior Vice President