St. Catharines Female Hockey Association
Social Media and Communications
Best Practices Guidelines
OVERVIEW
The objective of this document is to help guide all teams through the different challenges that may come when managing social media accounts for our Jr. Badgers teams. It’s important to highlight the major ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ when running these social media channels and have a guide to dealing with the obstacles you may face throughout the season.
The SCFHA has a handful of policies when it comes to media release and cell phone usage, which will be highlighted throughout this package. It’s vital to the welfare of the association as a whole that these policies are followed, without any exceptions, to ensure a positive image for the entire Jr. Badgers family.
Should you have any questions regarding this document or other aspects of social media and public relations, please reach out to one of our Directors of Public Relations.
Emily Caldwell - [email protected]
Mikayla Guarasci - [email protected]
Acceptable Content
The SCFHA is thrilled to see the rapidly growing engagement from all of our teams across social media. With that, it is important to highlight what is appropriate to be shared across these
platforms to ensure that we remain in compliance with the policies outlined by the SCFHA Board of Directors.
If you have doubts about the content you are wanting to post, that is a good indicator that it is not a good fit to be published on social media platforms.
Here are some important things to consider when deciding if your content is acceptable:
● You need to be aware that the content posted on the account must be approved by the players and no player will be forced into being a part of content creation (regardless of signing the media release form upon registration).
● To the best judgment of the account's admin, content must cater to families and children.
● When producing content for the teams, you have to be aware that any image you post does not just represent you, but the entire association.
To verify the appropriateness of the content you wish to produce, contacting a board member is always welcome.
We also recommend that to remain in compliance with policies outlined by SCFHA, there are two administrators for the social media accounts that belong to your team.
Cell Phone and Photo Policy
As per the OWHA and SCFHA policies, there shall be no use of cell phones in the locker rooms at any time. This includes players, coaches and parents. If a cell phone must be used, please step into the hallway before pulling it out.
To continue to protect the safety of our Jr. Badgers, we shall not under any circumstances be taking or posting images, videos or other recordings taken within the locker rooms. Any team or team member who fails to comply with this rule will face disciplinary action as the SCFHA has a zero-tolerance policy. This rule is in place first and foremost to protect all Jr. Badgers players from exploitation.
How teams choose to monitor this situation is in their hands but as previously stated, there will be absolutely zero tolerance for any offences that may occur. No accidents can happen as phones shall not be present at any time. Please inform players and families of this rule prior to the beginning of the season, and as the coaching staff, make sure you too are adhering to this rule.
OWHA Social Networking Policy
The OWHA has a social networking policy that covers any communication through online communities of people for all members of the community. This includes but is not limited to all social media platforms and YouTube. Inappropriate behaviour on social networking media is not tolerated under any circumstance and may be subject to disciplinary action from the SCFHA or OWHA. Examples of inappropriate behaviour include discriminatory bullying, reactive bullying and cyberbullying.
What to Post on a Jr. Badgers Team Account
It can be a daunting task taking on the responsibility of admin for sports team social media accounts. Though it isn’t a requirement, it provides a channel of communication and added support for players, parents, and Jr. Badgers fans all together.
When creating your team’s social media account, there are a few steps that you must take to keep a uniform and professional look to the entity.
KEY ELEMENTS MAY INCLUDE:
A short, yet descriptive username (EXAMPLE: @jrbadgersu11bb).
The NAME section must include the year that is currently in progress. This allows for the association's social media account to easily tag and include teams through our posts, without sifting through accounts from past years.
Templates on editing platforms like Canva are a great way to enhance the professionalism and branding of the account. This includes using official logos, colours, and vocabulary.
It is important to avoid using distracting post elements, such as music on all published posts, mass amounts of emojis in captions, using proper grammar and spelling, and using all capital letters when writing out the entire caption. This creates a post that is distracting and hard to properly digest the information being put out.
When creating content, it is crucial that as an association, we adhere to any guidelines surrounding disability and inclusivity to the best of our abilities. We have to be cognizant of the disabilities that people are affected by and we must look to produce content that is accessible and can be enjoyed by everyone. For more information on this, please contact the Directors of Public Relations for clarity on best practices regarding accessibility through online communication.
Sending Photos or Posts to SCFHA Social Media
If you have any photos of your team, please send them to [email protected], and we will keep them for social media, promotional use or year-end projects. If you have a success that you’d like to share on social media, such as a tournament win, please include the information in the email along with the photos, and we will post it. You can tag us in your team posts, and we will repost it on our SCFHA page.