CONSTITUTION OF SOUTHAMPTON HOCKEY CLUB
June 2008, as amended by the 2008 AGM
1. THE CLUB
1.1 The name of the club shall be Southampton Hockey Club to be referred to as
"the Club"
1.2 The Club is a non-profit making organisation. All profit and surpluses will be
used to maintain or improve the Club's facilities and operations. No profit or
surplus will be distributed other than to another non-profit making body or to
members on winding up or dissolution of the Club
1.3 The Club shall comprise the following sections, which shall report to The
Management Committee:
1.3.1 A Senior section herein after referred to as "The Senior Section" comprising
a women's section herein referred to as "The Women's Section" and a men's
section herein referred to as "The Men's Section"
1.3.2 A Junior section herein referred to as "The Junior Section"
1.4 The Club to be a shareholder of Southampton Sports Club Ltd
1.5 The Club premises to be the Sporting View, Thornhill Road, Southampton
1.6 The Club shall be managed by a Management Committee
1.7 The Club shall comprise the following sub committees, which shall report to
The Management Committee:
1.7.1 Disciplinary Committee
1.7.2 Women's Playing Committee
1.7.3 Men's Playing Committee
1.7.4 Development Committee
1.8 The Club shall be run in accordance with rules and regulations as defined in
this document, herein after referred to as "The Constitution" together with
any other applicable rules and regulations as required
2. OBJECTIVES
2.1 To provide opportunities and facilities for its members to play the game of
hockey
2.2 To promote participation in sports for both men and women
2.3 To introduce and encourage young people to participate actively in sport
through the development of Southampton Junior Hockey
2.4 To develop links with schools and other youth organisations
2.5 To foster good fellowship both on and off the pitch
2.6 To promote social activities for the benefit of its members and to provide
premises where suitable refreshments and amenities are present
3. MEMBERSHIP
3.1 All members shall be required to abide by the constitution of the Club
3.2 Every Full Member of the club shall, subject to these rules and by-laws for the time being in force, be entitled to partake in the Club's activities and to use and enjoy, in common with other members of the Club, the Club premises and the things therein, but shall not by reason of his or her membership be under any financial liability except for the payment of his or her annual subscription and match fees for the time being in force
3.3 Membership of the Club shall fall into the following categories: Full, Student, Social, Junior, and Honorary Life
3.3.1 Full; those who are aged 18 or over on the 1st September and are not in full time education
3.3.2 Student; those who are aged 16 to 18 or over 18 on the 1st September and are in full time education
3.3.3 Junior; those who are under 16 years of age on 1st September
3.3.4 Social; those who are non-playing members
3.3.5 Honorary Life; life membership can only be granted by election at an Annual General Meeting, for those who have given extraordinary service to the Club. No subscription to the Club shall be required for such members
3.4 Full, Student and Honorary Life members shall be entitled to:-
3.4.1 Take part in all the Club's activities
3.4.2 Hold any office in the Club, if required
3.4.3 Vote at all Annual and Extraordinary General Meetings of the Club.
3.5 Junior members shall be entitled to:-
3.5.1 Play for any of the Club's teams, if selected
3.5.2 Be invited to attend any of the Club's social activities.
3.6 Social members shall be entitled to:-
3.6.1 Take part in any of the Club's social activities.
3.7 The Committee reserves the right to admit or refuse and person, for any reason it sees fit, to the Club
4. SUBSCRIPTIONS/MATCH FEES
4.1 The annual subscription and match fees shall be decided by means of a resolution passed at the AGM. Subscriptions are payable by 31st October or by standing order on a basis agreed by the Management Committee
4.2 Match fees shall be paid on the day of the match. If payment is not made on the day of the match, that person may be suspended from playing for the Club until such time as payment is made
5. OFFICERS AND OFFICIALS OF THE CLUB
5.1 The officers of the Club shall be:-
5.1.1 The Honorary President
5.1.2. Chairperson (The Honorary Vice President - deleted)
5.1.3 Vice Chairperson
5.1.4 Secretary
5.1.5 Assistant Secretary
5.1.6 Treasurer
5.1.7 Assistant Treasurer
5.1.8 Senior Section Captains
The above Officers will form the Management Committee
5.1.9 Deputy Section Captains
The Officials of the Club shall be:-
5.1.10 Four Event Coordinators
5.1.11 Fixture Secretary for each senior section
5.1.12 Press & Publicity Officer
5.1.13 Director of Coaching
5.1.14 Membership Secretary
5.1.15 Discipline Officer
5.1.16 Kit Managers for each Section
5.1.17 Junior Development Officer
5.1.18 Umpire Liaison Officers as required
5.1.19 Four Southampton Sports Club Liaison Officers
5.1.20 Web Master
5.1.21 Four representatives are to be appointed at the Annual General meeting to act as Directors of Southampton Sports Club Ltd. Each appointment will take place biennially
5.1.22 Representatives to other bodies as required
5.2 All officers and officials shall commence their year of office at the Annual General Meeting at which they were elected with the exception of the 4 Directors of Southampton Sports Club Ltd.who will take office in the November after the SHC AGM at which they were elected to office
5.3 If a casual vacancy occurs in the Officers and Officials of the Club the Management Committee can appoint another full member or Honorary Life Member or Student member of the club to fill that vacancy until the next AGM
5.4 The Management Committee has the authority to appoint sub-committees with specific terms of reference but the Chairperson of each sub-committee must be an elected member of the Management Committee
6. MANAGEMENT OF THE CLUB
6.1 The affairs, assets and monies of the Club (except that regarding team selection and discipline and in respect of those matters reserved under the rules for the club in general meeting), shall be managed by the Management Committee
6.2 Accounts shall be prepared annually
6.3 A quorum shall be deemed to be formed if there be present more than one half of the elected members of any sub committee and the rule of simple majority shall apply
6.4 The Management Committee shall consist of the Officers of the Club as detailed in 5.1. and will meet as required. Quorum for Management Committee meetings will be 4 of which one will be either the Chairperson or the Treasurer.
6.5 All meetings of The Management Committee may be attended by any members of the Club as non-speaking observers, unless The Management Committee unanimously decides otherwise
6.6 The Management Committee shall meet at regular intervals as required
6.7 The Management Committee shall be answerable for all its decisions regarding the running of the Club, to any members of the Club at an Annual or an Extraordinary General Meeting
6.8 Sub committees are required to meet as necessary and report significant outcomes to the Management Committee. The following sub committees are comprised of:
6.8.1 Players Committees
i.e. Ladies Section and Men's Section
Section captain
Team captains
Others as required
6.8.2 Disciplinary Committee
Club Discipline Officer
Senior Section Captains
Junior representation and others as required
6.9 The Club has a Sponsorship Policy. All sponsorship shall be approved in advance by the Management Committee excluding tour kit
6.10 The Club has a Development Plan which will be reviewed and updated on an annual basis
7. MEETINGS
7.1 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
7.1.1 The Annual General Meeting shall be held annually before the end of July, the date and location to be set by the Management Committee
7.1.2 Every member of the Club entitled to vote shall be given written notice of the date and a copy of the agenda for the Annual General Meeting at least 28 days in advance of the meeting
7.1.3 The purpose of the Annual General Meeting shall be to:-
7.1.3.1 Amend the Constitution (deleted - where necessary, any amendments to be ratified at the next Management Committee meeting)
7.1.3.2 Present the accounts for the current year whether audited or not and confirm if necessary that the previous year accounts have been audited
7.1.3.3 Presentation of annual written reports from Officers and Officials as requested by the Management Committee
7.1.3.4 To fix the subscriptions for the coming year
7.1.3.5 To fix the match fees for the coming year
7.1.3.6 Elect Officers and Officials to serve the Club for the coming year. Notice of the resignation of Officers/Officials to be handed to the Secretary as soon as is practical before the AGM
7.1.3.7 Elect Honorary Life members and Honorary President, nominations for whom must have been received in writing and ratified by The Management Committee
7.1.3.8 Any other business as notified to the Secretary 14 days before the AGM and notified to the members 7 days in advance of the AGM should the Management Committee deem it appropriate
7.1.4 All playing members are invited to and allowed to speak at the AGM but only fully paid up members, student members and Honorary Life Members will be able to vote. This does not include Social and Junior members
7.2 EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETINGS
7.2.1 An Extraordinary General Meeting shall be convened under the following circumstances:-
7.2.1.1 The Management Committee is requested to do so by notice in writing, signed by at least 21 members with voting rights in accordance with The Constitution
7.2.1.2 By majority decision of the Management Committee. Where the split is even the Chairperson shall have a casting vote
7.2.2 The date of the Extraordinary General Meeting shall be within twenty eight days of the above request being received
7.2.3 No other items will be accepted for the agenda of the EGM once it has been published
7.2.4 All members of the Club with full voting rights in accordance with The Constitution shall be given written notice and a copy of the agenda of the Extraordinary General Meeting at least fourteen days in advance of the meeting
7.2.5 The quorum of an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be 15 members with voting rights in accordance with the Constitution
7.2.6 Under NO circumstances will an Extraordinary General Meeting discuss any motion amending The Constitution unless it first be received in writing and hence placed on the agenda
7.3 GENERAL MEETINGS
At all General Meetings of the Club, the voting shall be confined to full playing members, Officers and Officials, President, Past Presidents and Honorary Life Members and only these categories of members shall be entitled to move resolutions, and to give one vote upon every question put to a vote, provided that in the case of equality of votes the chairperson of the meeting shall have a second or casting, vote
8. SELECTION OF PLAYING SIDES
8.1 Each section shall have its own team selection procedures as deemed necessary by that section
8.2 Each section will be solely responsible for implementing that section's team selection procedures and shall have no rights whatsoever to interfere in the selection process of the other sections
9. COMPLAINTS
9.1 If any member of The Club wishes to make a formal complaint about any matter of the Club they must do so in writing and forward the SIGNED complaint to a member of the Management Committee
9.2 Upon receiving a complaint, the Management Committee member must bring this to the attention of the Chairperson so that it may be placed upon the agenda of the next Management Committee meeting and the complainant so notified that it has been placed
9.3 If the member is not satisfied with the resolution of their complaint by the Management Committee they shall be entitled to call an Extraordinary General Meeting in accordance with paragraph 7.2.1
10. DISCIPLINE
10.1 The Club will enforce suspensions for red card offences and Match Day Misconduct Order by reference to the disciplinary code of the English Hockey Association, and where appropriate, with consideration to the guidelines of the county and / or regional hockey association of the relevant section for persistent yellow card offences by a member
10.2 Each case will be judged on its merits, with the county and/or regional hockey association code of the relevant section serving as a guideline
10.3 A special disciplinary hearing must be convened within the minimum suspension period following the date of the offence. The hearing will be by the Disciplinary Committee. The Club Disciplinary Officer will Chair any such hearing
10.4 The umpire's report will be used as the basis for the special disciplinary hearing and a report from the offending player's captain and/or manager. They shall also invite the offending player to give an explanation of his/her conduct during the incident
10.5 The special disciplinary hearing will determine if any further penalty, in addition to the minimum period of suspension, shall be imposed. The offending player shall be informed of his/her right of appeal where the minimum period of suspension exceeds thirty days and/or where any further penalty has been imposed by the county, regional or national association's disciplinary officer
10.6 It is the responsibility of the offending player not to partake in any form of hockey during the period of suspension imposed. This includes the minimum for the offence, and any further period of suspensions imposed by either the Club or the county, regional or national association's disciplinary officer. If the player has the right of appeal and has elected to do so they may not play for any club until the appeal has been heard. If they so do, then the offending player will be suspended for a period not less than double that for the original offence
10.7 The relevant county association's disciplinary officer shall be informed of the Club's decision within the minimum period of suspension for the offence
11. DISSOLUTION
11.1 In the event of it becoming impossible, impracticable or inadvisable, to carry on the Club or Section of the Club, the Management Committee shall have the power to call an E.G.M. in accordance with paragraph 7 to move that the Club or Section be dissolved, in which event it shall be competent for the Management Committee to dispose of any of the Club's or section's property left after discharging the liabilities of the Club or Section
11.2 In the event of such dissolution, the residue of funds remaining, after all debts have been discharged, shall, in the case of dissolution of a Section belong to the Club, and in the case of dissolution of the Club belong to the members of the Southampton Hockey Club
12 GENERAL
12.1 Minutes of all General Meetings and Management Committee meetings shall be kept by the Club Secretary and available to all club members
12.2 Books of account shall be maintained by the Treasurer and shall be available for inspection and subject to annual audit by the auditor as elected at the AGM within six months of the end of the financial year
12.3 Financial control of the Club shall be vested in the Management Committee
12.4 The Club may affiliate to any association of a non political or non-denominational cause upon a resolution placed by the Management Committee at a General Meeting of members
12.5 The Club colours shall be royal blue shirts, black shorts/skirts and black, blue and white hooped socks
12.6 Alternative strip is to be white shirts, black shorts/skirts and black, blue and white hoped socks
13 CONDUCT OF MEMBERS
13.1 If any committee considers that the conduct of any member either on or off the Club premises is contrary to the interests of the Club or injurious to its reputation they may recommend to the Management Committee that the said person's membership be suspended or terminated
13.2 Such action may be taken at the next meeting of the Management Committee. The rule of simple majority shall apply
13.3 A member who has been suspended or whose membership has been terminated has the right of appeal. Such an appeal must be made in writing to the Secretary within fourteen days of the Management Committee's decision to suspend or terminate membership
13.4 Any member whose membership is terminated shall be immediately removed from the list of members and be excluded from the Club premises and shall have no claim against, the Club it's committee or any member thereof, except that any unexpired portion of his or her membership, less any outstanding dues, be refunded on a pro rata basis
13.5 The Secretary shall convene a meeting of the Management Committee to consider an appeal against termination of membership and afford the member a personal hearing if they so wish
14 INTERPRETATION
14.1 The Management Committee shall be responsible for all interpretations of The Constitution
