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NR13 3AA

NORFOLK COUNTY BOWLS ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION




Constitution

    1.   The Association shall be called The Norfolk County Bowls Association'. All Championships and Indoor Championships shall be confined to Male Members only of Clubs affiliated to the County with the exception of any mixed of any mixed or open competitions as arranged by The County or EBF governing body.

    2.   It shall consist of Bowls Clubs and Leagues whose headquarters or playing green are situated in the County of Norfolk, and of Honorary Life Members resident in the same area.

    3.   The objects of the Association shall be:

    (a) To adopt rules for the governance of the game, championships, leagues and tournaments.

    (b) To appoint or act as arbitrators in cases of dispute.

    (c) To do all such things as may be necessary for the encouragement and regulations of the game of Bowls.

    (d) To affiliate to the English Bowls Federation and compete for the Adams and Newton, Reg Wright, Eversley, Derbyshire and Durham Centenary Trophies.

    4.   Each Club and League seeking affiliation shall make application to the Secretary and shall forward, if requested, a copy of its rules and constitution.


    5.   The Subscriptions to the Association and charges for Handbooks will be decided at the Annual General Meeting and will be published in the County Handbook. All of these payments shall be made by 31st March each year. Additional Handbooks may be purchased if the order is submitted with the yearly invoice.

    6.   Any Club, League or Vice President whose subscription is one month in arrears shall forfeit all privileges of membership of the Association so long as subscription remains unpaid.


    7.   (a)The officers of the Association shall consist of - (1) President (2) Vice President (3) Junior Vice President (4) Immediate Past President (5) Chairman (6) Vice Chairman (7) County Secretary (8) Treasurer (9) Match Secretary (10) Press Officer (11) E.B.F. Delegate (12) Outdoor Competition Secretary.

    (b) All shall be open for re-election and appointed annually at the County Annual General Meeting, with the exception of 1,2,3,4(above). A Junior Vice President will be elected annually and will be automatically succeed to the office of Vice President the following year then to office of President 12 months later.

    (c) Captains of the Adams, Newton, Reg Wright, Derbyshire and Eversley teams shall be elected annually at the Annual General Meeting.

    (d) The Officers above shall have the power to appoint at their discretion the following: - (1) County Cup Secretary, (2) Handbook Editor, (3) Additional Delegates as and when required. The Executive shall be responsible for the appointment any sub committees.


    8.   The County shall be divided into four Areas. Each shall have an Area Secretary, two selectors and six committee members eligible to serve on the Executive Committee. Each Area will hold meetings of all Clubs in their Area, at least 4 weeks prior to the Counties Annual General meeting in order to elect their secretary, committee and selectors. The said members names and addresses then being forwarded to the County Secretary in good time before that Annual General Meeting.


    9.   The general business of the Association shall be transacted by the Executive Committee comprising of: -

    1. The Officers from Rule 7.

    2. The Area Representatives from Rule 8.

    3. Captains of the Adams, Newton, Reg Wright, Eversley & Derbyshire teams.

    4. The County League Controller and 3 elected representatives.

    5. The County Coaching Delegate, Safeguarding Officer, Competition Secretary & County Cup Secretary.

The Executive committee may set such fees and expenses as may be found necessary. Nine shall form a quorum so long as they do not all come from the same area.


    10.   The Area Committee has the power to disqualify a sub-standard Green within its Area, from use in County and National Competitions.


    11.   An emergency Committee shall be appointed to deal with all matters of urgency and shall consist of the 4 area secretaries and 1 committee member from each area and the County Secretary. In the event of an Area Secretary being unavailable a second member of that Areas committee may deputise. The County President, Vice President, Chairman or Vice Chairman shall chair the meeting. The County Secretary shall not be eligible to vote.


    12.   The Appeals Committee shall consist of 5 Honorary Life members with no declared interest in the matter for appeal, chaired by a serving or retired Justice of the Peace. The Secretary shall attend and record the meeting. They will preside over issues dealt with by the Emergency Committee where the appellant is not satisfied with the result. The complaint shall be made in writing and forwarded to the Secretary within three days, together with a fee of £5. This shall be returned if the complaint is upheld. The Secretary shall arrange a meeting of the Committee at which all parties involved may give evidence. The Committee decision shall be final and will be forwarded to all concerned by the Secretary.


    13.   The Annual General Meeting of the Association shall be held annually either of the first two weekends in November. The date shall be chosen by the Officers in order to avoid clashes with pre-arranged County commitments. It will be held for the election of officers and the transaction of any necessary business. Honorary Life Members may attend and vote. The Executive Committee may attend. Each affiliated Club and League may send two representatives. The Controller, League Press Officer and 3 elected members will represent the County League. Officers of the County may vote in their own right. Other members of the Executive, Clubs and Leagues may vote on any given proposal as long as 2 votes per Club or League is not exceeded. Except for the Chairman, persons attending the AGM who can vote, may vote only once on any given matter, irrespective of holding more than one position. The Chairman may have a second casting vote in the event of a tie.


    14.   (a) The financial year of the Association shall be from 1st September to 31st August.

(b) The accounts shall be audited at the end of each year, a statement of the financial position of the Association submitted to the Annual General Meeting, and a copy sent to the President, Vice Presidents and to each affiliated Club, League and Honorary Life Member 14 days prior to that meeting.


    15 The Association shall have the power to elect Honorary Life Members for services rendered to the Association. Nominations should be made in writing to the Secretary. The County Executive shall ratify the nomination prior to the Annual General Meeting. Honorary Life Members shall only be elected at the Annual General Meeting.  Honorary Life Members will be entitled to attend Executive Meeting and the Annual General Meeting. They will have the right to speak and vote at both.


    16. One Honorary Auditor shall be elected annually unless the role of Secretary & Treasurer is carried out by one person whence there should be two Honorary Auditors.


    17. The Selection Committee shall consist of the Area Selectors and the Captains of the Adams and Newton teams. They will elect a Chairman from within their ranks. The Selection Committee will be responsible for identifying players for county trials, the trial format for each season and will select the players for the Adams and Newton squads. Only players selected as part of the Adams and Newton squads at the start of the season can be selected to play in the teams. Selectors should rotate their presence at the Adams and Newton games, their role will be to analyze the performance of the players and to provide advice to the appropriate Captain about possible changes and make suggestions about alternative players or positional changes. These discussions should take place immediately after each county game. The Captains job is to make the final Team selection and the management of the team during matches.


    18. (a) The Under 25 (Reg Wright) Captain’s and Vice Captain’s together with a team of up to 4 selectors shall, following trials, select the team and reserves to represent the County in that season. The selectors shall include one woman selected in conjunction with the NCWBA and three others preferably from across the Association. The captains shall make the final decision on team members.

The Indoor Executive Captain shall select the Eversley team.

The Derbyshire Captain shall select the Derbyshire team.

Captains of all teams may select vice captains to assist them. They will not be members of the Executive and have no right to vote at meetings if that is their only capacity when attending.

All team captains may play for the team that they captain providing they are eligible.


    19. A player who has played three times for a County Team will be awarded a County Badge.

    (a) A player playing three times for a particular team will be awarded a Flash for that team.

    (b) A player must be awarded his Newton Flash before being considered for the Adams team.

    (c) A player playing three times for the Under 25 Team will be awarded the Under 25 Badge.

    (d) A current player representing the County 50 times will be awarded a ‘50 Games’ tie and on playing 100 times will be awarded a ‘100 Games’ tie and badge.


    20. (a)  A Male Player or Female Player in Mixed Competitions who wins a County Championship will be awarded a County Badge. He / She will also receive a County Lapel Badge, or swinger to denote the year of achievement, or any National badge or swinger as appropriate.

(b) In the County and Subsidiary Cup Competitions, the winning team members will receive a county lapel badge, with a swinger to denote the year of achievement. Extra badges may be purchased at the discretion of the Executive Committee.


    21. No alteration to this Constitution, County Competition, Championship Rules, or the Laws of the Games shall be made except at the Annual General Meeting of the Association. Notice of any suggested alterations shall be given to the Secretary by the 1st October and notice there of shall be sent to all of the Executive, Honorary Life Members, affiliated Clubs and Leagues at least 14 days before the Annual General Meeting of the Association. Any club or individual proposing or seconding any changes to the rules or constitution should attend the AGM to put forward their proposal and answer any questions. If you don’t attend the proposal will not be put forward.

    22.    The Secretary shall convene a Special General Meeting at any time, on receiving a requisition to that effect, signed by the Secretaries of not less than 10 Clubs belonging to the Association. Such requisition to state the object of such General Meeting.

    23.   Any team forfeiting a game in the County Cup, County Subsidiary or Durham Centenary Cup shall be liable for all game fees and refreshments where provided.

    24. That Cup donors be approached if available and offered the opportunity to award them on finals day. That were possible Cup donor’s names be printed in the County Handbook with register of past winners.

    25. Norfolk County Bowling Association fully accept its legal and moral obligation to exercise its duty of care and to protect all children and vulnerable adults participating in its activities, and to safeguard their welfare. We are committed to do this by acknowledging that:

The welfare of the individual is paramount;

Each individual irrespective of age, gender, religion, race or disability has the right to protection from abuse;

Each individual has a right to be safe, and to be treated with respect and dignity

We shall use our best endeavours to ensure that:

All allegations of abuse are taken seriously;

The response to them is swift and appropriate;

The effectiveness of our policy is reviewed annually;

A responsible person shall be appointed annually as Safeguarding Officer to whom members can address any concerns

All parents, carers, children and volunteers must sign and agree to abide by the relevant code of conduct.

Our Safeguarding Officer is: - Jane Watson.

    26. Sponsorship – No company or individual(s) may sponsor County teams or individual players without the express consent of the Executive committee. Any company or individual(s) wishing to put such sponsorship in place must give written notice of the proposed sponsorship to the Secretary in order that it may be placed before the next Executive committee meeting for consideration. Sponsorship means ‘Any money, service or property of any kind’. The company or individual(s) will be notified of the committee’s decision and must await approval before sponsorship may be put in place.

Notice- All enquiries respecting Adverts, or any other matter in the 'Official Bowls Handbook' should be addressed to the Hon. Editor. N. C. B. A. Secretary.

REGULATIONS FOR TOURNAMENTS

A license may be necessary if prize monies are over £500 in cash or in kind. Applications to the National Secretary at least one month before the Tournament is held.

Annual Fees

The Annual Fees of a club affiliating to the Federation are as follows: -

National per capita charge per player = £1.40 County per capita fee per player = £1.25

National Club affiliation = £11. County Club affiliation = £15

National Handbooks = 2 @ £3.00 each. County Handbooks = 2 @ £2.

Female Associate Members = £2 each. Vice Presidents = Minimum £10. Affiliating Leagues = £6