This document was written in October 2022 to establish clear communication and attendance expectations for athletes participating in Sportable adaptive sports and recreation programs. The overall goal of this policy is to set and enforce consistent standards that allow Sportable to continue to provide a high level of programming for our entire athlete community.

 

Communication Policy

The most important expectation is for athletes to consistently communicate with program staff (i.e. Michelle Page, Forrest Lodge, Tyler Rowe, or Caitlyn Berry) about their intent to attend programs.

1. Athletes must complete all registration requirements on Sports Engine prior to attending any program.
2. Athletes must respond to ALL communications asking about “IN or OUT” status for a program by 12:00 p.m. (noon) on the day of the program.
3. Athletes must communicate with program staff as soon as possible if plans change and they will be late or cannot attend a program they said they were coming to.
4. Athletes must communicate with program staff if they have an extended period of absence from a program due to health conditions, travel, or any other reason.
5. Athletes must communicate with program staff if their distance from a program or any other barrier leads them to planning to attend a program less than 50% (half) of the time.

Communications Timeline: For all Sportable programs, athletes will receive a weekly reminder email two (2) days prior to the program date and a reminder text one (1) day prior to the program date. Athletes are expected to respond by 12:00 p.m. (noon) on the day of the program to one or both of these communications to say whether or not they will be attending that program. If no response is received, it will be assumed that the athlete will not be attending the program. Their equipment will not be brought to the program and, if applicable, their spot will be given to someone on the waitlist for that program date.

 

Attendance Policy

Sportable recognizes that people with disabilities have unique barriers and situations that can impact consistent on-time arrival and attendance at our programs. When athletes communicate consistently, we are willing to work with them and be flexible with our attendance policy. When athletes repeatedly fail to communicate and attend programs, we will enforce the consequences detailed below, especially for programs that are currently in high-demand with waitlists.

Attendance Expectation: Athletes are expected to attend and participate in Sportable programs they register for and communicate each week their intent to attend. If an athlete registers for a program they later decide they cannot or do not want to continue, they must email programs@sportable.org as soon as possible to communicate the situation and their intent (e.g. an athlete who decides wheelchair lacrosse is not the right sport for them after coming to practice should email programs@sportable.org and explain that they no longer want to participate).

Roster Removal: An athlete may be removed from the roster (i.e. list of registered participants) for any ongoing program if they do not attend the program for four (4) consecutive weeks AND do not respond to communications during those weeks, unless otherwise previously coordinated (e.g. a family traveling out of the country for the month must let program staff know prior to the trip about their child’s long-term absence from programming).

Future Participation Restrictions: For specific high-demand programs that often have waitlists (e.g. cycling, swimming), an athlete may be blocked from signing up for the next program OR put onto the waitlist for the program regardless of when they register if:
1. They attended less than 50% of program dates during the previous multi-week session OR
2. They “no showed” (i.e. said they were coming but did not come to the program OR arrived more than halfway through program time) 2 or more times during previous multi-week session

This attendance policy is meant to serve as a guideline and can be enforced at program staff’s discretion to account for extenuating circumstances or other situations that require reasonable flexibility (e.g. absences related to medical conditions or emergencies).