Community Guidelines

The community side of Badminton Village — clubs, sessions, reviews, messages — works because most people behave like good sportsmen and women. This is how we keep it that way.

The Spirit

• Show up. If you book, attend. If you can't, cancel before the cutoff so someone else can take the slot.
• Play it forward. If a beginner's nervous, slow your serves. Pair up with strangers. Bring your good shuttles.
• Lose well. Call lines honestly even when it goes against you. Don't coach across the net.
• Win well. Don't pile on. Acknowledge good shots from the other side.
• Tidy up. Pick up your dead shuttles. Wipe down shared gear. Don't leave drink bottles courtside.

Specific things we look for

In session chat and messaging

• Keep it about the session, the game, or arranging to play.
• No spam, MLM pitches, or off-topic ad blasts.
• No DMing strangers to ask them out — there's no “sliding into the DMs” on Badminton Village.

In reviews

• Specific is better than vague. “Courts were clean, sessions ran on time, mix of skill levels” helps. “Bad” doesn't.
• Critique service, not people. “The coach yelled at a junior” is fair. “The coach is a bad person” is not.
• Disclose conflicts. If you're reviewing your own club or a competitor, say so.
• Wait until you've attended a session before reviewing.

For organisers responding to reviews

• Be professional. The internet remembers.
• Don't dox the reviewer.
• If a review contains untrue facts, flag it for our team.

For coaches

• Run a clear contract: what's covered, what isn't, what happens if either of you can't make a session.
• Junior coaching: parents/guardians should be welcome to observe. Never coach a junior alone in a closed space.
• Keep client information confidential. Don't discuss one student with another.

Junior players (under 18)

• A parent or guardian should agree to your account and ideally attend sessions.
• Tell a trusted adult if any coach or player makes you uncomfortable.
• If you spot something wrong involving a junior at a session, report it immediately to safety@badmintonvillage.co.nz and to the club organiser.

Inclusivity

Badminton Village is for everyone — every skill, every body, every background. Clubs that ban players based on protected characteristics (race, gender, sexuality, disability, religion) under the Human Rights Act 1993 don't belong here.

We do permit:

• Women-only or men-only sessions where the purpose is genuine (e.g. cultural, religious, body-confidence).
• Skill-banded sessions (E/D-grade only, A-grade only).
• Junior-only or senior-only sessions.
• Member-only sessions when membership is genuinely open.

If you screw up

Everyone has a bad day. If you said something heated and regretted it, message the affected player and apologise. Edit or delete the message. We don't penalise honest mistakes that get fixed.

Patterns of behaviour matter more than single incidents. We track, we listen, we follow up.

Reporting

See Acceptable Use Policy for the reporting channels.

Questions? Email legal@badmintonvillage.co.nz or use the contact form.