Raincity Athletics

COMMUNITY CODE OF CONDUCT
V3.2

License: Creative Commons Attribution–ShareAlike 4.0 Based on: Geek Feminism, Seed&Spark, and XOXO, StoryHive Codes of Conduct
Aligned with: Raincity Operations Manual

Our Purpose

Raincity Athletics is built around a single idea: Find Your Fit.
That means building an inclusive, empowering space where people of all backgrounds, identities, and abilities can train safely and confidently – free from discrimination, harassment, or harm.

This Community Code of Conduct outlines our commitments as well as our expectations for all those enrolled in our classes and programs, private training and engaged in our online spaces. We acknowledge that everyone in our fitness community brings a diverse set of lived experiences, and we recognize that some may face systemic barriers or prejudice due to their intersecting identities. Raincity Athletics is committed to creating a space free from racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism and other forms of oppression, with the goal that everyone feels safe and supported so that they can actively pursue becoming the best (and fittest) version of themselves.

Who This Applies To

Everyone who takes part in Raincity Athletics, including:

• Members and drop-ins
• Coaches and apprentices
• Contractors and volunteers
• Parents and guests
• Event participants
• Anyone representing Raincity in person or online

These standards apply everywhere our community interacts: in classes, events, travel, social media, and digital spaces connected to Raincity or anytime you are representing the Raincity brand and community.

Our Shared Commitments

We commit to:

• Welcoming and respecting all individuals, regardless of gender, race, sexuality, age, ability, or background.
• Using inclusive, affirming, and accessible language.
• Keeping our community physically and emotionally safe for all individuals.
• Listening, learning, and correcting our own mistakes without shame 
• A culture that values feedback and accountability from all community members 
• Taking responsibility for our impact, not just our intent.

Expected Behaviors

Everyone is expected to:

• Follow all posted safety rules and instructions.
• Assume coaches are acting for the safety and benefit of the group, even if the reason isn’t obvious.
• Respect all personal boundaries; physical and emotional, ask before making physical contact, ask before taking pictures or videos that someone may be in the background of.
• Use names and pronouns correctly and update them if corrected.
• Keep conversations respectful, assume good intent, and avoid escalating unnecessary conflict.
• Maintain hygiene standards (clean clothes, deodorant, wipe down equipment after use).
• Communicate concerns early, no matter how small, using the reporting process.
• Default to kindness when witnessing someone struggling.
• If you’re unsure, ask (and assume good intentions when someone does ask).
• Share positively about each other, celebrate victories (and be conscious of the impact of the words you share).

Unacceptable Behaviors

Harassment, bullying, and discrimination of any kind are not tolerated.
This includes (but is not limited to):

• Intentionally creating a negative environment for any member of our community.
• Harassment, discrimination, or offensive comments: Including comments about gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neurotype, physical appearance, body size, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, language, or religion.
• Unwelcome comments about personal lifestyle choices: Food, health, parenting, employment, drugs, or other personal practices.
• Deliberate misgendering or use of rejected or dead names.
• Sexual content or behaviour in inappropriate spaces: Including sexual jokes, sexual imagery, or sexualized actions that do not belong in our environment.
• Physical contact without consent: This includes touching, simulated physical contact, or continuing after being asked to stop.
• Threats or encouragement of violence or self-harm.
• Intimidation, stalking, or following.
• Harassing photography or recording: Including any attempt to monitor or log someone’s activity for harmful purposes.
• Sustained disruption of class, discussion, or community spaces.
• Unwelcome sexual attention.
• Patterns of inappropriate or intrusive social contact: Repeated attempts to create unwanted intimacy or closeness.
• Ignoring requests to stop one-on-one communication.
• Outing someone’s private or personal identity without consent.
• Sharing private communication without consent: Even when it is not itself harassing.
• Knowingly making false or harmful claims about another person.

Raincity follows widely accepted best practices for community safety and therefore does not act on complaints about:

• Reverse racism, reverse sexism, or similar claims.
• Reasonable boundary setting, such as “leave me alone” or “I’m not discussing this.”
• Someone using a tone you personally do not prefer.
• Criticism of racist, sexist, transphobic, or otherwise oppressive behaviour or assumptions.

Consequences

If someone’s behavior violates this Code, Raincity may:

1. Issue a verbal warning (for minor infractions)
2. Issue a written warning (for second offenses, or major infractions)
3. Terminate membership, contract, or coaching role (if requested changes are not respected)
4. Contact external authorities if safety or legality is at risk.

Every situation will be reviewed fairly and privately according to our Reporting Procedures from the Raincity Operations Manual.

Overview

The Canadian Functional Fitness Federation (CFFF) is committed to transparency, athlete wellbeing, and the long-term growth of our sport in Canada. Following the 2025 competitive season, and Canada’s participation in the IF3 Junior and Senior World Championships, we reviewed feedback from athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers, and provincial partners through direct communication and formal event feedback surveys.

This summary focuses specifically on the 2025 CFFF domestic season and Canada’s participation in the IF3 Junior and Senior World Championships. A separate report addressing the IF3 Masters World Championship will be prepared once IF3’s findings from that event are formally released. Feedback related to the Masters event continues to be collected and will be incorporated into that subsequent report.

This review also includes reflection on national leadership responsibilities. A consistent theme in the feedback was that we need clearer role definition, stronger delegation, and expanded on-site national representation at major events so athletes, coaches, and families feel supported and connected to CFFF leadership. That is on us to improve, and those lessons are already being built into how we plan and staff future seasons.

What follows outlines what we heard, what we learned, and what we are doing next to strengthen athlete experience, improve alignment across the sport system, and ensure Canada continues to meet international and Sport Canada expectations.

Key Themes Identified

1. Athlete Experience and Event Expectations

Athletes value clear communication, consistent standards, and visible leadership presence at national and international events. Feedback reinforced how important it is to know who to approach, what support exists on-site, and how national leadership is represented in real time.

Key takeaway: Athlete experience is directly tied to clear roles, accessible support, and consistent expectations across provincial and national levels.

2. Funding and Event Scale

CFFF Nationals are currently funded primarily through registration fees and modest annual athlete memberships. Without predictable, shared funding alignment across provinces, national events face limits in scale, production quality, and athlete services.

Key takeaway: Sustainable growth of Nationals requires stronger national and provincial funding alignment, and shared responsibility for national programming.

3. Communication, Governance, and Leadership Structure

Feedback pointed to confusion caused by fragmented communication pathways and unclear escalation processes. In some cases, this was compounded by insufficient clarity around national leadership roles and the scope of on-site responsibilities at events.

Key takeaway: Clear governance structures, defined communication pathways, and well-supported national representation are essential for trust, consistency, and effective engagement.

4. Coaching Standards and Athlete Development

Observations at international competition reinforced the importance of emotional regulation, respect for officials, equipment safety, and coach behaviour as part of long-term athlete development, particularly for youth and junior athletes.

Key takeaway: Competitive success must be balanced with psychological readiness, safety, and development principles that support athletes over the long term.

Alignment With Long-Term Athlete Development

These themes align closely with the Functional Fitness Long-Term Development (LTD) Framework. When competitive intensity increases faster than developmental readiness, challenges can emerge related to stress management, behaviour, and athlete autonomy.

CFFF remains committed to reinforcing LTD principles across all levels of the sport to support athlete wellbeing, retention, and sustainable performance.

What Happens Next

This is where we move from “themes” to “implementation.”

The actions below are designed to be practical, non-punitive, and focused on clarity, consistency, and sustainability. They are not about calling out individuals. They are about building a stronger system that supports athletes, protects officials and volunteers, and improves the experience for everyone involved.

1) Stronger National Representation at Major Events

• Clearer, published role definitions for CFFF representatives at major competitions (so athletes and families know who does what, and where to go for what).
• Expanded delegation and on-site support, so national leadership presence is not dependent on one person trying to do everything.
• Better advance planning for event-specific responsibilities (including presence management), so athlete support does not get lost inside logistics.

2) National and Provincial Alignment on Funding and Responsibility

• Formalizing a shared funding model that supports Nationals and national programming. This includes a phased approach for implementation beginning in 2026, with the goal of full alignment by 2027.
• Clear annual reporting on how national funds are allocated, including Nationals production quality, athlete services, judge and volunteer development, and standards enforcement.
• Stronger integration of provinces into national planning so expectations and realities are aligned early, not debated under pressure later.

3) Governance Representation and Clear Communication Pathways

• Encouraging each province to have formal representation within national governance and operations, including Board and committee involvement.
• Strengthening national committees (Athlete Development, Coaching and Education, Technical Officials and Standards) with broader provincial participation so decisions reflect real on-the-ground context.
• Defining clear, consistent communication and escalation pathways so athletes, clubs, and provinces know where “official updates” live, and how concerns are raised and addressed constructively.

4) Coach and Guardian Expectations That Match the Level of Competition

• Implementing a formal Coach Code of Conduct for CFFF Nationals and IF3-sanctioned events, aligned with Safe Sport and long-term development principles.
• Requiring acknowledgment of that code as part of coach accreditation or nomination processes (without creating new, parallel disciplinary systems).
• Standardizing a mandatory pre-event orientation for coaches and guardians attending Nationals and Worlds, delivered annually (roughly 60 to 90 minutes), covering:
  • international event realities and rule clarification processes
  • access limitations at IF3 events
  • expectation setting, escalation pathways, and athlete support best practices

This is a simple step that prevents a lot of avoidable conflict.

5) Consistency Through Shared Tools, Event Sanctioning, and Continuous Improvement

• Improving visibility of sanctioned events, standards, and expectations so athletes are not relying on informal channels to stay informed.
• Developing clearer event sanctioning protocols across levels to support consistency and quality.
• Expanding committee and volunteer involvement to reduce over-reliance on individual roles and build a more resilient federation structure.
• Continuing to use athlete and member feedback to guide ongoing refinement, with a stronger cadence of review and follow-up.

A Shared Responsibility

The continued growth and credibility of Functional Fitness in Canada depends on collaboration between athletes, coaches, clubs, provincial federations, and national leadership. Strong provinces help shape national standards. National alignment ensures consistency, fairness, and international credibility.

Our objective is simple: build a system where athletes feel supported, informed, and proud to represent Canada, with leadership structures that are clear, accessible, and resilient.

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who contributed feedback and engaged constructively throughout the 2025 season. Your input directly shapes how CFFF evolves and improves. Ongoing feedback is always welcome at: www.cfff.fit/feedback

Simon Damborg

CFFF President

Coach / Bossman Thor here - I didn’t want this to get lost in a newsletter, so I’m adding it to the website blog that many didn’t even know we had :D

In my 10+ years of owning Raincity Athletics there are many moments where you could say ‘proud coach’ but there are no bigger moments than what went down last weekend at the IF3 World’s Masters / Juniors world championships.

For those that don’t know - on top of owning Raincity Athletics and the Functional Fitness League, I am also the president of the BC Functional Fitness Sports Association; the non-profit governing body of the sport of Functional Fitness in BC which includes being on the board of the Canadian Functional Fitness Federation. For a full breakdown of how all the FFFFFs work and what that means, you can check-out a little video I posted a few weeks ago.

The Qualifiers

A few months ago we convinced a handful of athletes into spending their weekend doing the IF3 Candian online qualifiers. Aaron & Michelle have been doing these qualifiers for a couple of years now, and Michelle qualified last year and flew out to Aruba to compete at this same event in 2022! Since the championships were in BC this year we managed to convince a few others to join in. In the end 5 qualified, one of them being the Dentist who unfortunately has had to withdraw from competitive weightlifting and functional fitness due to injuries :( we miss him… more on the other athletes later.

The Call For Help

About 6-8 weeks prior to the IF3 World Championships coming to Vancouver (which I had intended to volunteer for, but wasn’t planning to have a major role in running) I got an email from the IF3 President Gretchen. There had been some personal issues for our Canadian President who was in charge of the event, and they were in need of quite a bit of help. At that point we had over 200 athletes registered, and only about 15 volunteers - I knew we were in trouble.

Raincity SHOWS UP

This is where the proud coach moment comes in. Not only because of our epic athletes that threw down that weekend but also the 30+ of our members/community who SHOWED UP to volunteer. Who went above and beyond to help ensure this event not only happened, but was an amazing time for the 300+ international athletes that flew in from all over the world for it. This doesn’t even include the dozens who reached out to let me know they were sorry they couldn't help <3

This is the type of community that makes me proud.

Being fit and winning competitions will come and go, but being a community that is willing to step up to support the greater good (in this case the FF community) when called upon is a trait that sticks around. I couldn’t be more proud that we’ve attracted so many of those people to Raincity Athletics.

The RAthletes

Although I never like to prioritize ‘winning’ events - for those that don’t know…

The Raincity Rules of Competition; Make friends Look good Have fun Don’t lose

And in terms of that last rule, as long as you hit the first 3 then whatever place you end up in is irrelevant…

Honarary RAthlete Theron

Thank you for being the (sometimes too) calm collected mind and providing guidance for Dillan in his first competition. It’s always awesome to have an athlete with so much experience to help guide the newer groups. However when it comes to Theron; please do what he says not what he does ;)

OUR FF PRO MICHELLE

This was her second time competing at this event (after flying out to Aruba last year) and I couldn’t be more proud to have her represent Raincity & Canada both at home and internationally. Michelle embodies everything I want to see in a Raincity Athlete on the workout floor. Always has a smiling face whether she’s winning or losing. If she’s not winning, it’s only because she’s too busy admiring her fellow competitors and being inspired by them :D

COACH KATIE

When coach Katie casually mentioned she might take part in the qualifier, we got pretty excited. Katie is one of those elite athletes not because she tries to win, but because she loves the process. If you ever want to be elite in this sport - that’s the only way. So I appreciate what it means for Katie to step off the training floor and onto the competition floor. She even managed to take first place in an event (in a pretty stacked division of athletes) while simultaneously making sure our whole crew was taken care of and had what they needed both weeks prior and all weekend. Thank you for being coach as well as athlete in a time when I could not <3

THE REAL ATHLETE DILLAN

I have to say this is the guy I’m most proud of. On a whim (and with some force from me) he was convinced to join in on the qualfiier weekend and have some fun. Next thing he knew he was registered for his first-ever competition which happened to be on an international stage with hundreds of athletes from all over the world. That is NOT an easy first comp… and although Dillan’s nerves were on display leading up to the event, it was the final week where we could see them really started to take a toll… but in the end, I think we can easily say Dillan had the most fun of any athlete out there! Thank you, Dillan for blindly trusting me when I threw you into the deep end and promised you it would be ‘fun’ - even when you didn’t understand how that would be possible - you showed up and crushed the Raincity rules of competition #somanynewfriends.

Thank you

Again, there are no words for how proud I am of our community, and how much gratitude I have for everyone who stepped up and helped us make sure this event was a huge success, and it was. I want to give one extra special shout-out to my right-hand Assistant Head TO who helped me manage multiple competition floors all weekend; Donal.

When I decided to go all in on this event I knew what I was getting myself into, I have run many competitions in the past, and volunteered at short handed ones too. Donal stepped up early and offered his experience as a head judge from prior CF events, and was rewarded (ha) with an assistant head TO position. In the end this meant he was on the floor with me for upwards of 10 hours a day with very short breaks (as there was only 1 of each of us). I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty impressed with how many hats I was able to productively wear throughout this weekend, I made some magical sh*t happen - but the ONLY reason I was able to do that was because Donal gave me 100% confidence in his ability to manage and communicate with me the needs of our judges & floor at all times.

SO MANY Familiar Faces

Again, THANK YOU to all of you (whether you were able to help or not) for embracing and encouraging a community that gives back <3

If you’re interested in getting involved in Functional Fitness as an athlete, board member, or anything in between, make sure to follow BCFFSA & IF3 online and don’t hesitate to reach out :)

Simon Damborg aka Thor Owner; rncty.ca & league.fit President: bcffsa.org

It was also a special year in that I got to watch two people I consider good friends and special people make it to Regionals for the first time. As some of you may know, Taryn has competed at Regionals as an individual previously, but Janel and Charli had not-- Janel had gone on a team before, but shockingly, for Charli, Regionals this year was probably her third career Crossfit competition.

So, for me, as their coach and their friend, I felt a real sense of pride at the beginning of the weekend, seeing the three of them walking around with their athlete badges and their big name placards on the floor. I saw a lot (but probably not all) of the hard work and sacrifice that went into them succeeding in the Open and qualifying for Regionals. The hours spent training, the hours spent recovering, food-prepping, analyzing their workout performances, etc, etc. For the three of them -- Charli, Janel, Taryn, getting to Regionals is an awesome feat.

I also felt very impressed and proud of the way all three of them handled themselves at Regionals all weekend. The competition itself can be a pretty intimidating experience -- you walk into the warm-up area and Emily Abbott, Carleen Matthews, and Alex Parker are there staring you down (not actually) and looking really, really fit. There’s a million judges on the floor, the crowd and music are super loud, and before each workout, you have to stand around for 10-15 minutes in a “corral” not exercising and over-thinking the workout that’s about to happen.

And that’s not even taking into account what the workouts actually were!

As many of you may know, this was the first Regionals to not feature any barbells in any of the six events over the weekend. There was running on a weird new type of treadmill, odd object lifting, dumbbell lifting (but heavier than the open!), and many, many bodyweight gymnastics movements.

Based on each event, and their individual strengths and weaknesses, we came up with a game plan and practiced pacing/running each event with said game plan in the weeks leading up to Regionals.

Sidenote -- qualifying for Regionals is super exciting and a big deal. Training for Regionals, once the workouts come out, is pretty fucking boring. Charli, Taryn and Janel did strict HSPUs twice a week once the workouts were announced. They did accessory work for strict HSPUs at least once a week. They did ring dips, they did some more ring dips. They did some muscle-ups, they practiced strict and weighted muscle-ups, and then they did some more regular kipping muscle-ups.

Anyways, when it came down to #gameday for the Regionals workouts themselves, all three athletes did a great job of executing their own individual game plans. I would say they were able to go as fast or faster than training on 90% of the Regional workouts, which is not easy, considering things like the variability of judging, high-level competitors next to you going at break-neck pace, remembering to do all the little weird things like move the dumbbell forward every seven reps and face the right way while doing toes to bar, blah blah blah.

I also thought all three athletes did a great job not “leaderboarding” during the weekend. It’s easy to get bogged down in the high of your best event or the low of your worst, or to spent a ton of emotional energy looking at your placing before and after each individual event, but my thought, as a coach, is that generally does not help with the athlete’s overall goal - to complete each individual event to the best of their ability. If you are too caught in emotions related to an event that have already happened, you cannot focus your efforts in the next workout! And, during Regionals, the athletes only get a short break -- 90 min max -- before they have to clear their brains from whatever they’ve done in the earlier part of the day before refocusing and warming up for the second event of the day. If you are caught up in how fast the person in the next lane is doing muscle-ups, you cannot focus all of your energy on your best/fastest/most efficient reps.

Once the final day’s events were over, we celebrated by eating Mexican food, not being able to drink beer at the restaurant due to our Canadian IDs, and eating a shitton of oreos (one thing my native country does well -- Oreo flavors). This week, these three amazing athletes get to rest, and the week after, we embark on their plan for 2018!

- Coach Liz

For more checkout...

@cnano89  //  @tarynemilyh  //  @janelbrine

   #VFLPT on IG      Athlete Inside on Facebook

A post shared by Athlete Inside (@athlete_inside) on May 6, 2017 at 11:40am PDT

#Repost @crossfitwhl ・・・ We are so proud of our coach @cnano89 for completely beasting the CrossFit Open this year, earning her spot to compete at Regionals. She is strong, intelligent, skillful and has the killer instincts of an apex predator...which is why this shirt had to be made to support her journey. These will be printed on tanks - colours will include black and black aqua, both men's and women's sizes. Stay tuned, we will be announcing the mockups and release dates soon! ALL profits will go towards getting Charli to Regionals and prepped for the challenge that awaits her. Please support your local athlete, she is making our city proud! More info please go to @crossfitwhl #CrossFitWHL #CrossFit #WORKHORSENATION #roadtoregionals #roadtoregionals2017 #raincityathletics #RAthlete #infinitcanada #rathletes #rathletics #athleteinsideprofiles

A post shared by Athlete Inside (@athlete_inside) on May 10, 2017 at 6:14pm PDT