Communication Policy

This Communications Policy sets out the standards and the requirements of Brisbane North Junior Cricket Association (BNJCA) in relation to communicating with its relevant stakeholders, including clubs, team officials, players and also with other interested parties including the media and the general public.

This policy aims to reflect BNJCA requirements that stakeholders be appropriately informed and that, where practicable, electronic communications are used to keep stakeholders informed in a timely manner.  BNJCA will endeavour to present balanced information that is understandable and clear.

The history of BNJCA starts well before the incorporation of the association when three gentlemen proposed organised cricket fixtures on the north side of Brisbane for children.  This was a bold move at the time to promote the game of cricket and provide opportunity for young people.  Years later when three zones amalgamated to form the current association, the driving factors were promoting the game of cricket and providing opportunity for young people.

The association has always been about cricket and young people, and about always moving forward; trying new strategies and ideas that will benefit both cricket and young people.  Our communications should also be about progress, about cricket, and especially about the young people that play the game.

There is a palette of colours available for BNJCA communications and this is defined below.  These colours are based on the colours of the three zones that amalgamated to form the Brisbane North Junior Cricket Association.  These colours being, Gold for Zone 6 (Sandgate/Redcliffe), Blue for Zone 2 (Valley/Norths) and Maroon for Zone 1 (Toombul).  Black, white and shades of grey have also been added.

All formal communications must use only the colours provided in the BNJCA palette with the exception of the risk policy and risk register where a series of colours from green through red can be used to indicate the various levels of risk.

The preferred font for all written communication is AkkuratStd but other san serif fonts such as Arial, Calibri or Tahoma may also be used.  All of these fonts are available in Microsoft Office.

The Association will communicate with Member Clubs by email. It is the responsibility of the Member Clubs to keep current email addresses of their delegates current.

All communication from BNJCA to clubs will be provided by the Administrator and will be sent to the delegates for the club(s) with the exception of the following:

Information on draws will be sent by a member of the draw committee and sent to the delegates for the clubs.

Requests for grounds information will be sent by a member of the grounds committee and sent to the delegates for the clubs.

The annual general meeting (AGM) and Delegate meetings of the Association are a primary forum for communication by the Association with its Member Clubs and an excellent opportunity for Club Delegates participation.  The Association will place all notices of Delegate meetings and accompanying explanatory material on the Association website.

Formal communication from BNJCA to representative players will come from a Junior Director of Coaching.  There may be informal communication between the representative team coach or manager and the players.

The BNJCA website (https://www.bnjca.org.au) contains key information about the Association.  The Association will place on its website all announcements, relevant news releases and any other information that is an official public release of information as soon as reasonably practicable after such information is made public.

Relevant news releases, Association business announcements and event presentations will be available on the Association’s website from the time they are to be made public for a period of three months or once the event has concluded.

The presentation of news and event items on the website are to include the BNJCA Reevette image that has been customised for the portfolio and right aligned at a width of 200 pixels.  The Reevette images are shown below.

In keeping to our theme, all comments on social media are to have a focus on cricket and junior cricketers. Our comments should focus on the players or the game wherever possible.

Where there is a need to acknowledge a volunteer for a specific contribution, this will always be made from the perspective of the association, using language such as “we” or “the association”.

If the comment about volunteer work is related to a team, a game, or a competition, the comment about the volunteer effort should come after any comments about cricket or junior players.

Comments must always be friendly and welcoming to encourage young people to continue participating. Any negative commentary about players, officials, games, volunteers, etc. must not be made public by posting to social media.
If there is an issue that needs to be addressed between two or more parties then this issue should be removed from the public arena and discussed between the parties concerned.

The President or their nominee will conduct all briefings and other communications with the media. If in any circumstances it is not practical for the President to communicate with the media, the Vice-President will act on behalf of the President.

The President, Vice-President or a nominee can speak at an event on behalf of BNJCA. All such speaking engagements must be approved in advance by the President or by the Vice-President if the President is speaking. A report of the event should be provided back to the Management Committee. The Management Committee may determine to update clubs and/or post to the Association website.

This policy is current from the published date at the beginning of this document.

This policy remains current until superseded by another Communications Policy with a later date of currency.

This policy is subject to regular review by the Administration Committee and will be amended (as appropriate).  Acceptance of a new release of the policy will be supported by a motion from a Management Committee meeting.

To the extent there is any inconsistency between this policy and the BNJCA Constitution, the Constitution will prevail.