PROCEDURAL DOCUMENT
Revised June 2015
This document forms the basis upon which the West Hockey
Association operates. It should be noted that items in italics can
also be located in the Articles of Association of the West Hockey
Association.
Content
Clause
1.Title
2.Aims & Objectives
3.Constituent Bodies
4.Membership
5.General Meetings
6.Dissolution
7.Officers
8.Finance
9.The Council
10.Standing Committees
11.Conduct
12.Discipline
13.Indemnity
1.Title
The Association shall be called the ‘West Hockey Association’ (hereinafter referred to as ‘The Association’) and shall, subject toany over-riding powers of England Hockey (EH) of which it is aconstituent body, be the governing body for all hockey within the West (which is defined in Clause 3.1) played to the rules of thegame authorised by the Hockey Rules Board and the International Hockey Federation, or to such other rules as approved from time to time by EH or The Association. It is now a Private Company Limited by Guarantee.
2.Aims & Objectives
These shall be to:
a)Promote, encourage and extend hockey (outdoor, indoor & mixed)for adults, young people and children in clubs and schools.
b)Arrange such Leagues and other competitions for all age levels as may be approved by the Council.
c)Select and train squads of players to represent the West.
d)Organise, maintain and improve standards of umpiringand technical officiating.
e)Organise, maintain and improve standards of coaching and playing.
f)Support clubs and schools seeking to improve playing facilities.
g)Raise funds by any means approved by the Council.
h) The Association is to be run as a non-profit makingorganisation. All surpluses shall
beused tofurther The Association’s aims and objectives.
3.Constituent Bodies
3.1The following County Hockey Associations and the West Hockey Umpires Association (WHUA), each of which shallabide by and be bound by this document, shall be theconstituent bodiesof The Association. Except where stated eachshall encompass men, women, girls and boys. Inaddition, eachshall encompass any mixed hockey within its area.
a)Avon (women, girls & boys only)
b)Channel Islands
c)Cornwall
d)Devon
e)Dorset
f)Gloucestershire
g)Herefordshire
h)Somerset
i)Wiltshire
3.2 The boundaries of the County Associations referred to in 3.1 shall be those pertaining on 31st May 1997.
3.3 A County within the boundaries of The Association pertaining on31st May 1997 and having a minimum of three affiliated clubs may apply to The Association for permission to form a County Association. EH, in conjunction with The Association, shall have the right to confer or withdraw County status.
3.4 Only with the prior approval of the Council of The Association and of England Hockey shall any association or combination of schools, clubs or umpires within The Association be formed.
3.5 Duties of Constituent Bodies are that each County Association shall:
a)In any year, hold its Annual General Meeting on a date prior to the date of The Association’s Annual General Meeting.
b)By 1st July each year submit to the Secretary of the Association:
i)Names & addresses of its Officers for the coming season.
ii)Names and addresses of its Representatives to the Council and
Committees.
c)Immediately inform the Secretary of The Association of anyamendments toits list of
affiliated members or to the name and/or address of the Secretary of one of its clubs.
d)Collect from each of its member clubs and schools the affiliationfees for the County and The Association and forward to The Association fees to the Hon. Treasurer. Counties may also berequired to collect fees for England Hockey.
4.Membership
Full membership, which shall be the only category of membership available to clubs
and schools, shall be by affiliation to the relevant County Association, to The Association and to EH. No club or school shall be accepted as a member until its affiliation fees for the current season have been paid to allthree associations.
All affiliated clubs and schools shall abide by, and be bound by, this document.
A bona-fide member of any affiliated County Association (which, by derivation,includes County Hockey Umpires’ Associations), club or schoolshall be deemed tobe a member of The Association.
On application from the club or school concerned, and with the agreement of therelevant County Associations, the Council of The Association and EH may permit a club or school to affiliate through any County Association.
4.1.1Clubs
4.1.1.1A club shall normally affiliate only through the County Association within whose boundaries its ground is situated. However:
a) A club, or the men’s or women’s sections of a club, may continue to affiliate through the County Association of which it was a member on 31stMay 1997;
b) If a club moves to a ground within the boundaries of another County, it may continue to affiliate through the County of which it was first a member.
4.1.1.2No club shall be accepted as a member unless its name clearly distinguishes it from any other club already affiliated
4.1.1.3No club shall change its name, nor incorporate any part of the names of a Sponsor in its title, without the prior permission of The Association and EH.
4.1.1.4Without the prior permission of the Council of The Association and EH, no affiliated club shall play a club not affiliated, unless the opposition is an invitation team raised for a specific event.
4.1.2Schools
A school shall normally affiliate only through the County Association within whose Boundaries its ground or building is situated. If, however, the school moves, or the location of its ground is changed, it may continue to affiliate through the County Association of which it was first a member.
4.1.3West Hockey Umpires Association
The WHUA shall be a member of The Association
4.2Honorary Life Membership
The Council may nominate as Honorary Life Members, past Officers of The Association or other persons who have rendered conspicuous service to The Association.Nominations shall be submitted to the Annual General Meetingfor approval. Honorary Life Members shall not be entitled to vote at any General Meeting.
5.General Meetings
5.1Annual General Meeting
5.1.1The Annual General Meeting shall be held in each year on a dateno later than 90 days after the end of the financial year and at a venue to be decided by the Council.
No later than 28 days prior to the Annual General Meeting any person or organisation entitled to vote at the Annual General Meeting shall submit to the
Secretary of The Association:
a)Any agenda items for the Annual General Meeting.
b)Nominations for President and Vice Presidents of The Association. These may be made by the Council, a County Association or an affiliated club or school. Nominations shall be submitted in writing to reach the Secretary of The Association no later than 28 days prior to the Annual General Meeting and shall include the written consent of the nominee. Nominations made by a club or school shall be seconded by another affiliated club or school or by the County Associationthrough which the club or school is affiliated.
5.1.2 Notice of the Annual General Meetingshall be sent to Members of Council, WHUA and the Hon.Secretary of each County Association as defined in Clause 3.1each affiliated club and each affiliated school at least 14 days before the date of such meeting, together with:
a)A copy of the Agenda
b)A list of nominations for President, Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer and Independent Examiner of Accounts.
5.1.3 Business to be transacted:-
a)Presentation of reports and accounts
b)Election of President, Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer and Independent Examiner of Accounts.
c)Consideration of any amendments to the Articles of Association.
d)Determination of affiliation fees for the following season;
e)Anyother items submitted for inclusiononthe agenda
f)Setting of date for the following Annual General Meeting
5.1.4Written notice of any proposed alterations to the Articles of Association and any other businessto be transacted at the Annual General Meeting shall be received bythe Secretaryno later than 28 days prior to the Annual General Meeting and shall be accompanied by thenames of the proposer and seconder. Proposals from the Council do not require a seconder.
5.1.5Except for proposals to amend the Articles of Association all business at the Annual GeneralMeeting shall be transacted by a simple majority of those entitled to voteand voting (in the event of there being an equal number ofvotes for and against amotion, the motion shall be deemed to have beendefeated).
A proposal to amend the Articles of Association shall require a majority of 75% of those entitled to vote and voting in favour.
5.1.6 The incumbent President shall be the Chairman. In the absence of the Presidentone of the Vice-Presidents shall take the Chair. In the absence ofthe President and both Vice-Presidents the meeting shall elect a member ofthe Council to Chair themeeting.
5.1.7The following shall be entitled to vote:
a)Clubs with both femaleand maleplayingmembers– two votes
b)Clubs with onlyfemaleplayingmembers– onevote
c)Clubs with onlymale playingmembers–onevote
d)Clubs which onlyplaymixed hockey– one vote
e)Affiliated schools one vote
f)WHUA one vote
No one present at the Annual General Meetingmay cast more than one voteirrespective of the number of capacities in which attending.
5.1.8Postal voting by Members is permitted on the form to be dispatched with the notice of a General Meetingand is on the same basis as if the Member was present at the meeting. In the case of an equality of votes following a postal ballot the result of the ballot shall be decided by recounting the votes on the assumption that all Members that had participated in the ballot had one vote each.
A postal vote shall, using the postal ballot form issued in an electronic communication or otherwise, be returned to the place or email address as is specified for that purpose in the notice convening the meeting not less than 48 hours before the time for holding the relevant meeting.
5.2Special General Meeting
5.2.1The Secretary shall convene a Special General Meeting at any time:-
a)By order of the Council;
b)Upon receiving a requisition signed by an Officer from each of at least ten Member clubs. Every requisition shall state clearly the reason for such request.
5.2.2.A meeting called under 5.2.1shall be held within 28 days of the receipt of the requisition.
5.2.314 days’ notice of a Special General Meeting and of all resolutions to beproposed thereat, shall be given to each member as defined in Clause 5.1.2. No other business shall be transacted.
5.2.4The provisions of Clauses 5.1.5 to 5.1.8 inclusive, shall apply to a Special General
Meeting.
6.Dissolution
A resolution to dissolve The Association shall be put to a General Meeting and shall require a majority of 75% of those entitled to vote and voting in favour. If the resolution iscarried, the Council shall realise theassets of The Association and shall makeprovision for The Association’s liabilities. The remaining assets at the date of dissolution shall be distributedin such manner that benefits the sport of Hockey as shall be determined by a GeneralMeeting or, if such ameeting so decides, by theCouncil.
7.Officers
The Officers, who shall be the directors of West Hockey Association (a Private Company Limited by Guarantee), shall be the President, two Vice-Presidents (of whom one shall be a man and one shall be a woman), the Secretary and the Treasurer.
Officersshall be electedat the Annual General Meeting.They shall all take office at the end of that meeting and shallhold office until the conclusion of the next following Annual General Meeting.
If an Officer does not complete the term of appointment, theCouncil shall fill the vacancy until the next Annual General Meeting.Nominations may be made by the Council or by County Associations.
8.Finance
8.1The assets of the Association shall be the responsibilityofthe Treasurerwho shallapply and deal with them in such manner as the Council or a General Meetingmay, from time to time, direct.
The income of The Association shall be derived from the affiliation fees and subscriptions of members and, subject to the approval of the Council, from any other appropriate source.
Such income shall only be used for the furtherance of the aims and objectives of The Association as defined inClause 2 and for such otherpurposes as a General Meeting or the Council may determine.
Any surplusesof TheAssociation shall not be distributed to theaffiliated clubs or members.
8.2Affiliation fees shall be determined by the Annual General Meeting and shall be dueby 31stOctober in each year.
Failure to meet this date may result indisaffiliation.
Fees for clubs and schools shall be forwarded annually to The Association by the Hon.Treasurer of each CountyAssociation.
8.3The Treasurer may be required to act as agent for England Hockey in the collection of various fees.
8.4The financial year end for West Hockey Association Limited and standing committees shall end on 30th April.
9.The Council
Subject to the over-riding powers of a General Meeting, The Association shall be governed by a Council.The Council may, however, delegate to a Committee or to an appointed person such of its powers as it may think fit.
9.1Membership of the Council
9.1.1The Council shall consist of:-
a)The five Directors.
b)One representative from each County Hockey Association as defined in Clause 3.1 (irrespective of whether or not the County is one joint or two separate men’s and women’s associations).
c)One representative from each Standing Committee as defined in Clause 10.1.
d)Two representatives from EH (non-voting)
9.1.2If the President is unable to attend a meeting, one of the Vice-Presidents shall take the Chair. In the absence of the President and both Vice-Presidents, the voting members present shall appoint one of their number to be in the Chair for that meeting.
9.2Voting
Each member shall have one vote, irrespective of the number of capacities in which attending, other than the Chairman who shall also have a casting vote. Decisions shall be made by a simple majority.
9.3Quorum
Seven voting members, who must include one Officer of WHA andthree county representatives,shall form aquorum.
9.4Co-opted/Invited persons
The Council may co-opt or invite any person for all or part of any meeting. A co-opted or invited person shall not be entitled to vote.
9.5Frequency of Meeting
The Council shall meet at least three times in each Association year on dates to be to be notified in advance.
9.6Agenda
Notice of any matter which any member of the Council wishes to be included on the Agenda for any meeting shall be received by the Hon. Secretary atleast 21 days before the date of the meeting concerned. The Agenda shall bereceived by members at least 14 days before the date of the meeting. Unlesswith the permission of the majority of the Council, no business,other than thatincluded on the Agenda shall be discussed.
9.7Business to be transacted
The Council shall:-
a)Prescribe the policies of The Association;
b)Be responsible for the long term plans and budgets;
c)Approve the annual budgets of Standing Committees
d)Receive and consider reports from the Standing Committees and take any necessary action;
e)Prescribe Terms of Reference for Standing Committees;
f)Appoint the Regional Disciplinaryannually;
g)Set remunerationfor any to any official of the Association and the expenses of any honorary official or member who performs services to the Association.
h)Appoint the member on the Regional Consultative Committee;
i)Take any other action which it may think fit.
In an emergency, decisions may be made by the Officers of The Association. The Officers shall also act as the arbitration panelin the event of any disputes, other than those arising under Clause 12. Anydecision made shall be reported in writing to Council members within 14 days.
10Standing Committees
10.1The Standing Committees shall be:
a)Competitions
b)Men’s League
c)Women’s League
d)Umpiring
e)Performance
f)Masters
10.2The members of each Committee shall be appointed annually. If an appointed member does not complete the term of appointment, anyreplacement shall be appointed by the body which madethe original appointment.
10.3Each Committee shall elect its own Chairman Hon. Secretary and Hon.Treasurerwho shall be the Officers of the Committee annually. If the Chairman is unable to attend a meeting, the voting the members present shall appoint one of their number to be in the chair for thatmeeting.
10.4Membership
Chairman
Hon. Secretary
Hon. Treasurer
One representative from each County Hockey Association as defined in Clause 3.1 (irrespective of whether or not the County is one joint or two separate men’s and women’s associations).
The Council may appoint members to a Committee if necessary to enable the Standing Committee to fulfil its Terms of Reference
The Officers of The Association shall be ex-officio members of all Committees but shall not be entitledto vote inthis capacity.
The Umpiring Committee shall appoint an ex- officio member to the Competitions, Men’s League, Women’s League, Performance and Masters Committees but shall not be entitled to vote in this capacity
10.5Meetings
The Hon. Secretary shall:-
a)Arrange the meetings of the Committee;
b)Prepare Agenda and circulate to members of the Committee;
c)Record the minutes of the meetings and circulate to members of the Committee;
d)Prepare and present reports from the Committee for meetings of the Council and for the Annual General Meeting;
e)Undertake any other tasks required by the Committee.
The Hon. Treasurer shall:-
a)Prepare the annual budget for the Committee for the next financial year no later than 31st December for ratification by the Council;
b)Manage the finances of theCommittee in such manner as the Committee may, from time to time, direct;
c)Submit a set of accounts for the Committee to the Treasurer of The Association no later than 28 days prior to the Annual General Meeting.
10.6Voting
Each member of a Committee shall have one vote, irrespective of the number of capacities in which attending, other than the Chairman who shall also havea casting vote. Decisions shall be made by a simple majority.
10.7Quorum
Five voting members, who must include two county representativesand an Officer of the Standing Committee, shall form a quorum.
10.8Co-opted/Invited Persons
Each Committee may co-opt or invite any person for all or part of any of its meetings. A co-opted or invited person shall or shall not be entitled to vote at the discretion of the Committee.
10.9General Terms of Reference for all Committees
Each Committee shall: -
a)Be responsible to Council;
b)Act on Terms of Reference prescribed by Council;