1.0    TERMS AND CONDITIONS

sportsground.co.nz and schoolground.co.nz are networking and communication websites owned by Sportsground Limited, ("Sportsground") a limited liability company incorporated in New Zealand. Sportsground allows people to create and modify internet websites and web pages to communicate between sports organisations, sports clubs, schools, sportspeople, teachers, students, their families, coaches, supporters and others.

This Agreement includes Sportsground's policy for acceptable use of the Services and Content posted on the Website, your rights, obligations and restrictions regarding your use of the Services and Sportsgrounds' Privacy Policy. In order to participate in certain Services, you may be notified that you are required to agree to additional terms and conditions. Unless otherwise provided by the additional terms and conditions applicable to the Services in which you choose to participate, those additional terms are hereby incorporated into this Agreement.

1.1    Acceptance of terms and conditions: These terms and conditions are the terms on which Sportsground allows you to use the Services. By using the Services, you are deemed to have accepted these terms and conditions and are bound by them. If you do not accept these terms and conditions, you must leave the Website and refrain from using the Services.

1.2    Amendment of terms and conditions: These terms and conditions may be amended in whole or in part by Sportsground at its absolute discretion from time to time. Amendments will be effective immediately upon posting of the amended terms and conditions on this Website. If you do not agree with such modification you have the right to terminate your use of the Services. You agree to be bound by this Agreement and you are responsible for ensuring you are familiar with the latest terms and conditions. It is therefore important that you review this Agreement regularly to ensure you are aware of any changes. Your continued use of the Services represents your agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions as amended.

1.3    Terminology: In these terms and conditions, the following expressions have the meanings set out:

'Agreement' means these terms and conditions;

'Content' means any information posted to the Website by any Editor including but not limited to any text, files, images, photos, video, sounds, musical works, works of authorship, or any other materials.

'Editor' means any person who has requested and been authorised by us to have login access to add, modify, delete or otherwise administer Content on the Website, and including any other person who the authorised person shares their login access with;

'Parent Site' means any Sportsground website that is capable of having subordinate sub-sites. For example, a Sportsground website for a sports club or school may have a number of subordinate team or classroom websites associated with it and in such instances the club or school site is a Parent Site to such subordinate team or classroom websites;

'Services' means any one or more of the services offered by Sportsground from time to time, including the ability to create personalised websites, group e-mail notifications, TXT alerts, blogs and message boards, linked Sportsground content to external web sites and any other service that Sportsground may offer but specifically excludes advertising on the Website;

'Subordinate Sites' means any Sportsground website that is associated with a Parent Site. For example, a team website might me associated with a Sportsground website for a sports club or school, in which case the team website is a Subordinate Site to the school or club website. Similarly, a classroom website is a Subordinate Site to the school website the classroom belongs to;

'User' means any person who either simply browses the Website or who has registered their e-mail address or mobile phone number with Sportsground for the purpose of receiving e-mail and/or TXT notifications;

'we', 'us' and 'our' are a reference to Sportsground;

'you' and 'your' are a reference to you;

'Website' means any Sportsground website or sub-site through which the Services are offered;

2    SPECIFIC WARNINGS

2.1    The services: Sportsground provides a venue for Users to learn about and participate in sports and schools. Content on the Website is predominantly supplied by people from the broader community and Sportsground does not take responsibility for updating or maintaining any part of the Website. Please choose carefully the Content you post on the Website and that you provide to other Users. You may not include any of the following items: any profane language, photographs containing nudity, or obscene, lewd, excessively violent, harassing, sexually explicit or otherwise objectionable subject matter. Sportsground assumes no responsibility or liability for the display of material or products or services that is inaccurate, inappropriate, offensive or sexually explicit. If you become aware of misuse of the Services by any person, please contact Sportsground or click on the "Report Abuse" link at the bottom of any Sportsground page.

2.2    At your own risk: any interaction, transactions or other contact between you and other Users are conducted entirely at your own risk. You agree that Sportsground takes no responsibility or liability including consequential loss for any misconduct of any Editors or Users including, without limitation, people who have registered under false pretences or who attempt to defraud you. Sportsground gives no undertakings, representations, or warranties in relation to the use of the Website, including as to the accuracy or truth of the Content or that the Services will meet your requirements or expectations.

2.3    Disclaimer: You expressly understand and agree that:

2.3.1    your use of the Services is at your sole risk. The Website and Services are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. Sportsground does not warrant timely, secure, error- and interruption-free provision of Services. Sportsground expressly disclaims any warranty of fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. Sportsground cannot guarantee and does not promise any specific results from use of the Services. The exclusion of warranties does not affect your right of withdrawal. To the maximum extent permitted by law and without limiting clause 2.2, Sportsground disclaims and excludes all implied conditions or warranties, including, but not limited to, any warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement;

2.3.2    Sportsground does not warrant that i) the Services provided will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error free, or ii) that any information (including feedback) provided on the Website is error-free or reliable. Furthermore Sportsground reserves the right at any time to temporarily or permanently discontinue the Services with or without notice and you specifically agree that Sportsground shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Services;

2.3.3    no advice or information that is obtained by you from Sportsground or anyone else shall create any warranty by Sportsground that is not expressly stated in these terms and conditions; and

2.3.4    responsibility for the content of advertisements appearing on this Website (including hyperlinks to advertisers' own websites) rests solely with the advertisers. The placement of such advertisements on the Website does not constitute Sportsground' recommendation or endorsement of the advertised product or service. Each advertiser is solely responsible for any representation made in connection with its advertisement.

2.3.5    Sportsground reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to reject, refuse to post or remove any posting (including private messages) by you, or to restrict, suspend, or terminate your access to all or any part of the Services at any time with or without prior notice and the liability of Sportsground is limited in value to a refund of any fees or charges paid or payable.

2.3.6    Sportsground may send emails or TXT messages to you if you are a User or Editor for the purpose of providing the Services, or relating to your activities on the Website, and for promoting and marketing other Sportsground products and services to you. Sportsground may also send electronic newsletters or product offers to you, and such newsletters or offers will contain clear and obvious instructions for how you can unsubscribe from the emailing list.

2.3.7    you must not attempt to impersonate another User or use another User's login ID or password to access the Website. You must not disclose your login ID or password to any other party or allow anyone else to access the Website using your login ID or password.

2.3.8    You may not sell, license or otherwise dispose of or encumber the unique Sportsground URL that Sportsground may at its sole discretion allow you to use to access the Website. Sportsground exclusively retains and reserves all rights to any URL that forms part of the Website and may at the sole discretion of Sportsground take over any such URL for its own use or the use of another party.

2.4    Liability: You agree that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, any and all liability and responsibility of Sportsground to you or any other person under or in connection with these terms and conditions, or in connection with the services, this Website, another User's acts or omissions, or your use of or inability to use, the services or this Website, is excluded regardless of whether such liability arises in contract, tort (including negligence), equity, breach of statutory duty or otherwise. Sportsground's liability and responsibility is excluded in respect of any and all loss or damage, whether direct or indirect, including, without limitation, loss of profits, loss of data, loss of business or anticipated savings, general and special damages, and consequential and incidental loss. Sportsground will not be responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate Content posted on the Website or in connection with the Services, whether caused by Users of the Services or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilised in the Services. Profiles created and posted by Users on the Website may contain links to other websites. Sportsground is not responsible for the Content, accuracy or opinions expressed on such websites, and such websites are in no way investigated, monitored or checked for accuracy or completeness by Sportsground. Inclusion of any linked website on the Services does not imply approval or endorsement of the linked website by Sportsground. When you access these third-party sites, you do so at your own risk. Sportsground takes no responsibility for third party advertisements which are posted on this Website or through the Services, nor does it take any responsibility for the goods or services provided by its advertisers. Sportsground is not responsible for the conduct, whether online or offline, of any User of the Services.

2.5    Indemnity: You agree to indemnify and hold Sportsground, its subsidiaries, and affiliates, and their respective officers, agents, partners and employees, harmless from any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your use of the Services in violation of this Agreement and/or arising from a breach of this Agreement and/or any breach of your representations and warranties set forth above and/or if any Content that you post or activity you conduct on the Website or through the Services causes Sportsground to be liable to another.

2.6    Breach: Without limiting any other rights and remedies available to Sportsground, Sportsground may limit your activities on the Website, remove your Content, warn other Users of your actions, issue a warning to you, suspend or terminate your access to the Website, or refuse to provide our Services to you if you breach these terms and conditions or where Sportsground considers it appropriate.

2.7    Eligibility. By using the Services, you represent and warrant that all Content you submit to the Website is truthful and accurate and your use of the Services does not violate any applicable law or regulation.

2.8    Password. When you sign up to become a User, you will also be asked to choose a password. You are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password. You agree not to use the account, username, or password of another User at any time or to disclose your password to any third party. You agree to notify Sportsground immediately if you suspect any unauthorised use of your account or access to your password. You are solely responsible for any and all use of your account.

2.9    Non-commercial Use. The Services are for the personal and community use of Editors and Users only and may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavors except those that are specifically endorsed or approved by Sportsground in writing. Illegal and/or unauthorized use of the Services, including collecting usernames and/or email addresses or Content or unauthorised framing of the Website is prohibited. Sportsground reserves the right to take appropriate legal action for any abusive, illegal or unauthorised use of the Services.

3    TERM AND TERMINATION

3.1    This Agreement shall remain in full force and effect while you use the Services.

3.2    You may terminate your use of the Services at any time, for any reason.

3.3    Sportsground may terminate your access to the Services at any time, without warning. Without limiting the foregoing, Sportsground may terminate your access to the Services if a serious complaint or multiple complaints are received about you from other Users, if you breach these terms and conditions, if you impersonate another User, or if we, at our sole discretion, deem your behaviour to be unacceptable.

4    FEES

4.1    Although Sportsground intends to provide the Website and the Services free of charge to Editors and Users, if at Sportsground' absolute discretion it is unable to continue doing so, Sportsground reserves the right to alter, to depart from or to cease offering its services free of charge at any time, taking into account Sportsground's legitimate interests and reasonable consumer expectations.

4.2    Sportsground will inform Users by email if a service is to be offered in the future for a fee. You can then decide if you want to continue to use such service. Your continued use of the service after the proposed fee modification has been posted for at least one month will be deemed to constitute acceptance of the proposed fee modification. The same applies if fees are raised by Sportsground. If Sportsground terminates your access to the Services because you have breached the Agreement, you shall not be entitled to the refund of any unused portion of subscription fees.

5    PROPRIETARY RIGHTS IN CONTENT

5.1    Sportsground does not claim any ownership rights in the Content that you post to the Website. After posting your Content to the Website, you continue to retain all ownership rights in such Content, and you continue to have the right to use your Content in any way you choose outside of the Website. By displaying or publishing ("posting") any Content on the Website, you hereby grant to Sportsground a limited license to use, modify, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce, and distribute such Content on and through the Services. Without this license, Sportsground would be unable to provide the Services. For example, without the right to modify User Content, Sportsground would not be able to digitally compress Content to satisfy Sportsground' technical requirements, and without the right to publicly display your Content, Sportsground could not allow people to view your sub-site. The license you grant to Sportsground is non-exclusive (meaning you are free to license your Content to anyone else in addition to Sportsground), fully-paid and royalty-free (meaning that Sportsground is not required to pay you for the use on the Website of the Content that you post), sublicensable (so that Sportsground is able to use its affiliates and subcontractors such as Internet content delivery networks to provide the Services), and worldwide (because the Internet and the Services are global in reach). This license will terminate at the time you or Sportsground removes your Content from the Website.

5.2    You represent and warrant that: (i) you own the Content posted by you on the Website or otherwise have the right to grant the license set forth in this section, and (ii) the posting of your Content on the Website does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, intellectual property rights (including copyrights), contract rights or any other rights of any person. You agree to pay for all royalties, fees, and any other monies owing any person by reason of any Content posted by you to the Website.

5.3    The Website also contains Content that is posted by Sportsground ("Sportsground Content"). Sportsground Content is protected by copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret and other laws, and Sportsground owns and retains all rights in the Sportsground Content and the Services. Sportsground hereby grants you a limited, revocable, nonsublicensable license to reproduce and display the Sportsground Content (excluding any software code) solely for your personal use in connection with viewing the Website and using the Services.

5.4    The Website contains Content of other people who use the Website. Except for Content posted by you, you may not copy, modify, translate, publish, broadcast, transmit, distribute, perform, display, or sell any Content appearing on the Website.

6    MISUSE AND ABUSE

6.1    Sportsground may delete any Content that in the sole judgment of Sportsground is in breach of this Agreement or which may be offensive, illegal, or violate the rights, harm, or threaten the safety of any person. Furthermore if you are the Editor of any Sportsground website, you specifically agree that the Editor of any Parent Site to your website is entitled to delete or modify any Content on your website that at their sole discretion they believe to be offensive, illegal, or violate the rights, harm, or threaten the safety of any person. If you are Editor of any Parent Site, you may modify or delete content from any Subordinate Site only if such content would reasonably be considered to be offensive, illegal, or violate the rights, harm, or threaten the safety of any person.

6.2    Sportsground assumes no responsibility for monitoring the Services for inappropriate Content or conduct. If at any time Sportsground chooses, in its sole discretion, to monitor the Services, Sportsground nonetheless assumes no responsibility for the Content, no obligation to modify or remove any inappropriate Content, and no responsibility for the conduct of the Editor submitting any such Content.

6.3    You are solely responsible for the Content that you post on the Website or through any of the Services, and any material or information that you transmit to other Users and for your interactions with other Users. Sportsground does not endorse and has no control over the Content. Content is not necessarily reviewed by Sportsground prior to posting and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Sportsground. Sportsground makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the Content or to the accuracy and reliability of the Content or any material or information that is transmitted on the Website or through the Services.

6.4    The following is a non-exclusive list of the kind of Content that is illegal or prohibited to post on or through the Services. Sportsground reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in Sportsground' sole discretion, violates this provision, including without limitation, removing the offending Content from the Website or Services and terminating the access to the Website of such violators. Prohibited Content includes, but is not limited to Content that, in the sole discretion of Sportsground:

6.4.1    is patently offensive and promotes racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual;

6.4.2    harasses or advocates harassment of another person;

6.4.3    exploits people in a sexual or violent manner;

6.4.4    contains nudity, violence, or offensive subject matter or contains a link to an adult website;

6.4.5    provides any private telephone numbers, street addresses, or personal email addresses of any person under the age of 16;

6.4.6    promotes information that you know is false or misleading or promotes illegal activities or conduct that is abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory or libelous;

6.4.7    promotes an illegal or unauthorized copy of another person's copyrighted work, such as providing pirated computer programs or links to them, providing information to circumvent manufacture-installed copy-protect devices, or providing pirated music or links to pirated music files;

6.4.8    involves the transmission of "junk mail," "chain letters," or unsolicited mass mailing, instant messaging, "spimming," or "spamming";

6.4.9    contains hidden text or images;

6.4.10       furthers or promotes any criminal activity or enterprise or provides instructional information about illegal activities including, but not limited to making or buying illegal weapons, violating someone's privacy, or providing or creating computer viruses;

6.4.11       solicits passwords or personal identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes from Users;

6.4.12       involves commercial activities and/or sales without our prior written consent such as contests, sweepstakes, barter, advertising, or pyramid schemes;

6.4.13       includes a photograph of another person in a way that is exploitive.

6.5    The following is a non-exclusive list of the kind of activity that is illegal or prohibited on the Website and through your use of the Services. Sportsground reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in Sportsground' sole discretion, violates this provision, including without limitation, reporting you to law enforcement authorities. Prohibited activity includes, but is not limited to:

6.5.1    criminal or tortious activity, including child pornography, fraud, trafficking in obscene material, drug dealing, gambling, harassment, stalking, spamming, spimming, sending of viruses or other harmful files, copyright infringement, patent infringement, or theft of trade secrets;

6.5.2    advertising to, or solicitation of, any User to buy or sell any products or services through the Services. You may not transmit any chain letters or junk email to other Users. It is also a violation of these rules to use any information obtained from the Services in order to contact, advertise to, solicit, or sell to any User without their prior explicit consent. In order to protect our Users from such advertising or solicitation, Sportsground reserves the right to restrict the number of emails which a User may send to other Users in any 24-hour period to a number which Sportsground deems appropriate in its sole discretion. If you breach this Agreement and send unsolicited bulk email, TXT messages or other unsolicited communications of any kind through the Services, you acknowledge that you will have caused substantial harm to Sportsground, but that the amount of such harm may be extremely difficult to ascertain. As a reasonable estimation of such harm, you agree to pay Sportsground liquidated damages in the sum of  $50 for each such unsolicited email, advertisement, junk emails or chain letters or other unsolicited communication you send, acting culpably, through the Services, regardless of the number of recipients of such email. Sportsground may be entitled to additional compensation of damages  on proof of loss.

6.5.3    covering or obscuring the banner advertisements on your sub-site, personal profile page, or any Sportsground page via HTML/CSS or any other means;

6.5.4    any automated use of the system, such as using scripts to add friends or send comments or messages;

6.5.5    interfering with, disrupting, or creating an undue burden on the Services or the networks or services connected to the Services;

6.5.6    attempting to impersonate another User or person;

6.5.7    selling or otherwise transferring your profile;

6.5.8    using any information obtained from the Services in order to harass, abuse, or harm another person;

6.5.9    displaying an advertisement on your profile, or accepting payment or anything of value from a third person in exchange for your performing any commercial activity on or through the Services on behalf of that person, such as placing commercial content on your profile, posting blogs or bulletins with a commercial purpose, selecting a profile with a commercial purpose, or sending private messages with a commercial purpose; or

6.5.10       using the Services in a manner inconsistent with any and all applicable laws and regulations.

7    COPYRIGHT POLICY

7.1    You may not post, modify, distribute, or reproduce in any way any copyrighted material, trademarks, or other protected proprietary information belonging to others without obtaining the prior written consent of the owner of such proprietary rights. It is the policy of Sportsground to terminate access and Editor or User privileges of any Editor or User who repeatedly infringes the copyright rights of others upon receipt of prompt notification to Sportsground by the copyright owner or the copyright owner's legal agent. Without limiting the foregoing, if you believe that your work has been copied and posted on the Services in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide us with the following information: (i) an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest; (ii) a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed; (iii) a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Services; (iv) your address, telephone number, and email address; (v) a written statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; (vi) a statutory declaration statement by you,  under the Oaths and Declaration Act 1957, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorised to act on the copyright owner's behalf.

8    GENERAL RULES

8.1    You must not damage, interfere with or harm the Website or Services, or any network, or system underlying or connected to them, or attempt to do so.

8.2    You may not use a robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access the Website or information featured on it for any purpose.

8.3    Content you add to the Website must only relate to sports, schools, clubs, teams, classrooms or players based in New Zealand.

8.4    The maximum size for the total of all Content posted to a Parent Site is 50 megabytes and the maximum size for the total of all Content posted to a Subordinate Site is 2 megabytes.

9    GENERAL PROVISIONS

9.1    System Integrity: Sportsground will use its reasonable endeavours to ensure the availability of the Website and Services, subject to any downtime required for maintenance. However, Sportsground takes no responsibility for any system unavailability, or for any loss that is incurred as a result of Website or Services being unavailable. Further, Sportsground assumes no responsibility for the corruption of any data or information held by Sportsground. In addition, Sportsground assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorised access to, or alteration of, any User or User communication. Sportsground is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any email or players due to technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or on any of the Services or combination thereof.

9.2    Resolution of disputes: As Sportsground is not a party to any transaction between you and another Editor or User, you agree not to involve, or attempt to involve, Sportsground in any dispute or in the resolution of disputes that arise between you and another Editor or User as a result of the Services provided.

9.3    Sportsground Message Boards: Sportsground provides Message Boards for the use of Sportsground Editors and Users. The Message Boards may not be used to promote auctions, websites or any commercial or business activity. Sportsground is not responsible for any of the opinions expressed in the Message Boards. By posting a message to the message board you agree to take full legal responsibility and liability for your comments, including for offensive or defamatory statements.

9.4    Force Majeure: Sportsground has no liability for any lack of performance, unavailability or failure of the Services or the Website, or for any failure of Sportsground to comply with these terms and conditions where the same arises from any cause reasonably beyond the control of Sportsground.

9.5    No Waiver: If we do not exercise or enforce any right available to us under these terms and conditions, it does not constitute a waiver of those rights.

9.6    Partial Invalidity: If any provision of these terms and conditions becomes or is held to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal for any reason, and in any respect, that provision shall be severed from the remaining terms and conditions, which shall continue in full force and effect.

9.7    Governing Law: These terms and conditions are governed by the laws of New Zealand. You submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of New Zealand.

9.8    Entire agreement: These terms and conditions supersede all previous conditions, understandings, commitments, agreements and representations whatsoever whether oral or written, and constitutes the entire agreement, between the parties, relating to the subject matter of these terms and conditions.

9.9    Privacy: Sportsground collects personal information about you through your use of the Services and the Website, in accordance with our Privacy Policy . 

You agree that Sportsground may use this personal information to assist us to provide the Services to you, for internal research purposes, to verify your identity, for promoting and marketing other Sportsground products and Services to you, and for any other use that you authorise.

We will not sell or allow third parties to access your personal information without your consent. We release account and other personal information only when we believe release is appropriate to comply with law; facilitate court proceedings; enforce or apply our terms and conditions; or protect the rights, property, or safety of Sportsground, our users, or others. Please review our Privacy Policy . 

10    ONLINE ADVERTISING ON SPORTSGROUND SITES

10.1    At the discretion of Sportsground schools and sports clubs and organisations may elect to use the Sportsground website relating to them and/or their Subordinate Sites to raise funds through the sale of advertising in the banner positions on these websites.

10.2    If a school, sports club or organisation elects to use the advertising banner positions on their Sportsground website or Subordinate Sites, any funds raised from the sale of such advertising will be remitted directly to the school or sports club or organisation less Sportsground's commission.

10.3    Each school or sports club or organisation that raises funds through Sportsground shall implement their own internal policy for how funds shall be distributed within the school or sports club. For the avoidance of doubt, funds shall be remitted to the schools or sports clubs or organisation to which the Parent Site relates, not paid directly to teams or players even if the advertising was placed through a team's or player's Subordinate Site. It remains at the absolute discretion of the school or sports club or organisation to determine what funds if any they distribute on to any team or player.

10.4    Any advertising placed on any Website must comply with Sportsground's advertising standards as described in the Advertising Terms & Conditions .

10.5    Irrespective of whether a school or sports club or organisation elects to raise funds through the sale of advertising in the banner positions on Sportsground websites relating to their school, sports club or organisation, Sportsground may itself elect to sell and place advertising in any such banner position and in such instances the retention or distribution of all or part of such funds if any shall be at the absolute discretion of Sportsground.