West of Scotland Archery Association Constitution and Rules With amendments Adopted at the EGM of April 2010
History. Date Author Description Adopted 1988 C. Downie West of Scotland Archery Association November 1988 2003 S. Ward Origin 2003 2010 D.A.Tough Reprint without change. Mar-2010 July-2010 D.A.Tough G.M. voting change from Club to EGM Apr-2010 Individual, and associated proxy voting. Committee members to be elected by GM 10-Aug- 2010 D.A.Tough Edit omissions (of 2010 EGM changes) corrected. 2
1. Name The Association shall be known as West of Scotland Archery Association, hereinafter referred to as the Association. 2. Address The office of the Association for the time being, shall be the address of the General Secretary. 3. Objectives The objects of the Association shall be to promote, develop and encourage archery throughout the West of Scotland and to represent the area archery clubs within Regional and National Organisations. 4. West of Scotland This area will be defined as all clubs within the boundaries of the former regions of Strathclyde and Dumfries and Galloway. 5. Membership Membership will be open to all residents of the United Kingdom and any Foreign National who take up temporary residence provided they conform to the five following classes, namely: - i) Honorary Life Members are those whom the Association may wish to honour for services to archery. The Association may elect to honorary Vice Presidency for life any person whom it may wish to honour for especially distinguished services to archery. Nomination for election to honorary membership formally proposed and seconded by at least two individuals or Representative Members of the Association must be submitted to the General Secretary at least 14 days before the next Annual General Meeting OR ii) Honorary Clubs which are properly constituted and are either comprised entirely of permanently disabled archers or in a hospital are entitled to Honorary Membership and as such pay no fees. 3
iii) Associated Clubs which are properly constituted and pay their members fees to G.N.A.S., and S.A.A. through West of Scotland. Before such admission the club must lodge with the Association a copy of their constitution. Any club whose constitution conflicts with the G.N.A.S. constitution will not be eligible for membership until such conflicting provisions have been suitably amended to the satisfaction of the Association. Any Association member belonging to more than one Associated Club must declare in writing to the Secretary of the Association at the commencement of the season which club he / she will be represent when shooting at tournaments throughout the current season. In default of such declaration the member will be deemed to be representing the Club named on the entry form for his / her first open tournament of the season. Delegates are those members who vote on behalf of their clubs. iv) Representative Members are those archers who are fully paid up members of their associated clubs, whether adult or junior member (under 18). v) Individual Members are those who pay their subscriptions directly to G.N.A.S., whether adult or junior and wish to affiliate to the Association without going through an associated club. 6. Conditions of membership All members of the Association shall accept the jurisdiction of the Association as representing the G.N.A.S. within the area, and shall conform to this constitution also to such Rules and Regulations as may, from time to time, be determined by the executive committee. 4
7. Subscriptions i) The affiliation fees to the Association, in respect of the various classes of membership, shall be determined by the Association in general meeting. ii) iii) The affiliation fees to the Association together with those of G.N.A.S. and S.A.A. where appropriate, shall be due during September each year for the period 1 st October to the following 30 th September. They shall be paid before or on 30 th and shall be made payable to the S.A.A. The General Secretary shall ensure that each club is notified as early as possible but not later than 1 calendar month after the AGM of the fee due from each member for the following year. 8. Assets of the Association i) The property and the assets of the Association however derived shall, at the discretion of the Executive Committee, be used solely for the promotion and furtherance of the Associations objects. ii) The funds of the Association shall be deposited for the time being, with a bank nominated by the Association, and may be withdrawn by means of cheques signed by any two of the following: - President, General Secretary and Treasurer. iii) The Treasurer shall, at the end of the financial year, prepare a balance sheet and an Income and Expenditure Account of the Association s finances which shall be certified by Honorary Auditor(s). Copies of this Statement of Accounts shall be circulated before the Annual General Meeting, to all Honorary Members, Associated Clubs, Individual Members and the Executive Members. iv) The Financial Year of the Association shall end on the 31 st August each year and the Balance Sheet and Income Expenditure Account must be in the hands of the auditors before the AGM. v) An independent person shall be appointed at the AGM to inspect the accounts of the Area prior to the AGM. vi) While the Area Treasurer will be responsible for managing the day to day finances and accounts of the Area, the members of the Area Committee will bear a joint responsibility for ensuring that Area finances are managed in an appropriate manner. vii) Funds held in the Area are held in trust for the Scottish Archery Association and shall be applied only for the promotion of archery in the Area (in accordance with the objectives of the SAA set out in Article 13 of the Constitution.). 5
viii) Inspected accounts shall be submitted annually for information to the National Council. ix) In the event of the dissolution of an Area any remaining funds shall be remitted immediately to the National Council which, after settlement of the Area s affairs, shall disburse the monies among the clubs in the Area on a pro rata basis in accordance with the number of affiliated members (senior or Junior) in each club. 9. Honorary Auditors Removed see paragraph 8 10. Management i) The management of the Associations affairs shall be entrusted to an Area committee, which shall consist of the following officers and members, each of whom shall be a representative or individual member of the Association and shall have a two year term of office. (c) (d) (e) one year. (a) (b) President Vice President General Secretary Treasurer Ordinary Representative Members may be elected, to serve for The following are members who may be co-opted as required by the Committee. Records Officer Affiliation Secretary Minute Secretary Representative to SAA Team Manager Tournament Secretary Public Relations officer Junior Representative Other posts relevant to the activities of the Association. 6
ii) The election of Officers of the Committee shall, with the exception of the Area Coaching Organiser, take place at the Annual General Meeting in the following manner; a) Nominations for the Election of the Executive Committee will be accepted prior to or during the Annual General Meeting. b) All candidates shall be nominated by a Representative or an Individual Member and must be seconded by another. c) One half of the Committee shall retire biannually but may, subject to this rule s provisions, submit themselves for election to the same or another office at the expiry of their term of office. d) If no nomination for a particular office is received, the previous holder of that office may be declared re-elected. e) If the previous holder is unwilling to be declared re-elected, the committee shall have the right to co-opt a member to that office. iii) The Associations Executive Committee shall meet as often as may be necessary, but no fewer than four times a year, exclusive of any General Meetings. iv) The Executive Committee will remain in office until the end of the due Annual General Meeting. v) The Area Committee shall be responsible for upholding the objectives of the SAA. And shall, at the request of the national Council, assist in organising SAA shoots held in that Area. 11. Co-option i) The Executive Committee shall have the right to co-opt a member to fill a vacancy on the committee. ii) Co-opted members shall be eligible to serve for the full period, or the remainder of the period, of the term of office of the member whose position they have filled. 12. Quorum A Quorum of the Executive Committee meeting shall be 1/3 of the Elected Members of the Executive Committee. 7
13. Discipline Procedures Disciplinary powers rest with the governing body of the sport (G.N.A.S.) and any potential discipline matter must be handled by them. 14. Ad Hoc Committees i) The Executive Committee shall have the right to set up ad hoc committees to consider and make recommendations on any matter for which such a committee may be desirable. ii) Any recommendations made by an ad hoc committee shall not be binding on the Association, but if ratified by the Executive Committee shall have the force of an Executive Decision 15. General i) Voting members, or their proxy representatives, in numbers equal to, or greater than, 10% of the total voting membership shall be required to form a quorum, subject to a minimum of ten (10) voting members being present. ii) The Agenda for the AGM shall contain the following items: - a) To elect suitable people to Honorary Life Membership as set out in rule 5. b) To consider the financial statement for the year just ended. c) To elect members of the Executive Committee as detailed in Rule 10. d) To appoint auditor(s) for the ensuing year. e) To discuss and vote on any permissible proposition from Members and Clubs. iii) Notice of the AGM together with an agenda for the meeting, the name and Club memberships of those nominated for election to the Executive Committee, shall be sent by the General Secretary at least 28 days before the meeting to every Club Secretary, Honorary and Individual member of the Association. iv) Propositions to be discussed at the AGM shall be proposed and seconded in writing and submitted to the General Secretary at least 6 weeks prior to the date of the meeting. 8
v) An EGM (Extra Ordinary) may be convened by the Executive Committee or called at the request of no fewer than one quarter of the clubs in the area. The request by clubs must be submitted, stating reasons for the EGM in writing to the General Secretary, as soon as possible. vi) A quorum at a General Meeting shall consist of representatives from 1/3 of all associated clubs. 16. Voting i) Every adult, registered with the SAA Membership Secretary on the last day of October each year, as a member of the West of Scotland Archery Association, shall be entitled to vote at General Meetings. ii) iii) iv) Any member of the Association, unable to be present, may record their (postal) vote with the Association Secretary not less than seven (7) days prior to the announced date of the meeting. Proxy form "A" (appendix 1 to this Constitution), or a near equivalent format, shall be used. This form shall be re-composed to serve the voting needs of each general meeting. Any member of the Association, unable to be present, may appoint another member of the Association to vote on their behalf and under their direction. Such appointment shall be in writing and shall be deposited with the Association Secretary no less than seven (7) days prior to the announced date of the meeting. Proxy form "B" (appendix 2 to this Constitution), or a near equivalent format, shall be used. Revocation of the instrument of proxy must be deposited with the General Secretary at least 6 hours prior to the meeting. v) Forms of proxy are available from the General Secretary or must be presented thus: Appendix 1. vi) In the event of a tie ballot, the Chair shall have the casting vote. 9
17. Championship Meetings i) The Association shall hold annually an Open Tournament, the rules of which shall be drawn up by the Executive Committee. Participants in the Open Tournament shall be members of the G.N.A.S. or F.I.T.A. ii) The Association shall also hold annually an Area Championship Tournament, the rules of which shall be drawn up by the Executive Committee. Participants in the Area Championship Tournament shall be members of this Association laid down in this Constitution. A competition shall be held within the Championship Tournament for separate awards. iii) An Indoor Championship. iv) The Committee will attempt to further archery development in the West of Scotland by organising events. v) The Shooting Rules, G.N.A.S. or F.I.T.A., whichever may be appropriate, shall be the Shooting Rules at all Championship meetings. vi) Trophy Winners shall be responsible for the safekeeping of the trophies and there return to the Tournament Secretary prior to the Tournament. All winners must sign a receipt before taking the trophies away. vii) No West of Scotland trophies may be won by a professional archer unless previously donated for such purposes. Professional archers will only be permitted providing they are not competing for prizes for amateur archers. 18. Area Representation i) The selection of a team to represent the Association shall be entrusted to the team manager liasing with the area selection representative. In the event of a disagreement they shall consult the Executive Committee. ii) Only Honorary, Representative or Individual Members (Senior or Junior) shall be eligible to represent the Association. iii) Anyone representing the Association as a full shooting member shall be eligible for an Area Team or Area Junior Team Flash. 10
19. Amendments to the Constitution i) Any proposal to amend or add to the constitution may be made by the Executive Committee and may be submitted to the Association in General Meeting. ii) Alternatively, any proposal to amend or add to the Associations Constitution shall be in writing submitted to the General Secretary by the 1 st November each year. iii) The General Secretary shall give each member at least two weeks notice of any proposed changes or additions to the Constitution. iv) Any amendments or additions to the Constitution shall require to have the majority of votes cast at a General Meeting to become adopted. 11
Appendix 1 The forms appear on the following two pages. 12
West of Scotland Archery Association PROXY VOTING FORM (A) NOTE: This form shall be developed to reflect the voting requirements of each General Meeting. To record a postal vote at a General Meeting. VOTER S NAME... CLUB... Print name & GNAS No... I wish to record my vote at the General Meeting of the WoSAA to be held on... at... as follows :- Motion 1 Agree [ ] Disagree [ ] Abstain [ ] Motion 2 Agree [ ] Disagree [ ] Abstain [ ] Motion 3 Agree [ ] Disagree [ ] Abstain [ ] Signed... This form MUST BE RECEIVED by the Secretary of West of Scotland Archery Association not less than seven days prior to the meeting. 13
West of Scotland Archery Association PROXY VOTING FORM (B) To appoint a WoSAA member to vote in person on my / our behalf at a General Meeting. CLUB... PROXY VOTER Print name & GNAS No... Signed... We the undersigned, being members of the above WoSAA club, hereby authorise the above named to vote on our behalf at a General Meeting of the WoSAA to be held on... at... We understand that it is our sole responsibility to give adequate direction to the proxy holder. Print name & GNAS No... Signed... Print name & GNAS No... Signed... Print name & GNAS No... Signed... Print name & GNAS No... Signed... Print name & GNAS No... Signed... This signed form MUST BE RECEIVED by the Secretary of West of Scotland Archery Association not less than seven days prior to the meeting. 14