Leinster Hockey Association
Section Bye-laws
1. Governance
1.1 Committee
1.1.1 Duties
1.2 Powers
2. Liaison and Registration Meetings
2.1 Business to be transacted
2.2 Notice of Such Meetings
3. Section Sub Committees
3.A.1. Ladies Fixtures Committee
3.A.2. Powers
3.A.3 Registration Committee
3.A.4 Appeals
3.C.1 Schools Committee
3.C.2 Youths Committee
4. Competitions and Leagues Structures
5. Winners, Promotion and Regulations and Final League Positions
5.1 Final League Positions
5.2 Promotion & Regulation
5.2.A Ladies Section
5.2.B Men’s Section
5.3 Walkovers
6. Competition General
6.1 Cup Competition
6.2.A. Ladies Section Only
6.3. Cup Final Venues
7. Fixtures
7.1. Minimum Number of Players
8. Priority of Matches
8.1. Date of Matches
8.2. Start times of Matches
8.3. Duration of Matches
9. Grounds
10. Change of Scheduled Fixtures
11. Refix Dates
12. Automatic Postponements for lowest teams
12.1. Postponements for IHA Cups
13. Failure to fulfil a fixture
14. Re-fixing of unfinished matches
15. Priority of matches
16. Reporting of results Ladies only
17. Registration
17.A Ladies
17.A.1. General registrationdetails
17.A.2. Free registration
17.A.3. Floats
17.A.4 International players
17.A.5. Oversee players
17.A.6 Changing province
17.A.7 Infringement of registration
17.B Registration Men’s
17.B.1 Roles
17.B.2 Match Cards
17.B.3 Photographic Identification
17.B.4 Registration List
17.B.5 Free registration
17.B.6 Eligibility of players
17.B.7 Transfer of Players
17.B.7.1 Status of Transferred Players
17.B.8 Protests Regarding Eligibility
17.C SE Section
17.C.1 General Registration rules
17.C.2 Changing Club / Province
17.C.3 Substitution
Governance
The Leinster Hockey Association (LHA) is governed at three levels, namely at:
- Company level by the legal documents of the Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association, both registered with the Companies Office.
- Management Committee level by one set of General Bye Laws.
- Playing level by one set of Bye Laws for the Hockey Sections.
This document relates to all three Sections namely
The Ladies Section,
The Men’s Section and
South East Section
These Bye Laws apply to the three Sectionswhere differences occur then:
Sub Section A will refer to the Ladies Section only referred to as Ladies
Sub Section B will refer to the Men’s Section only referred to as Men and
Sub Section C will refer to the South East Section only referred to as SE.
The Memorandum of Association and the Articles of Association are the primary documents of governance of the LHA and the Bye Laws must be in compliance with them.
All Ladies Clubs situated in Leinster and such other Ladies Clubs as may be approved by the LHA Board are eligible for membership of the Ladies Section.
All Men’s Clubs situated in Leinster and such other Men’s Clubs as may be approved by the LHA Board are eligible for membership of the Men’s Section.
All Clubs situated in South East region and such other Clubs as may be approved by the LHA Board are eligible for membership of the South East Section.
All member Clubs and affiliated Schools shall be bound by the rules of the Irish Hockey Association (Hockey Ireland) and of the LHA.
1.1. Committee
A.LadiesCommittee.
The Committee shall consist of the following elected at the LHA AGM.
i)Chairperson
ii)Fixtures Secretary or delegate(s) from the Fixtures sub-committee
iii)Registration Secretary or delegate(s) from the Registration sub-committee
iv)Up to Six members/Club representatives
The Ladies Committee shall also consist of
v)A Delegate from the Leinster Hockey Umpires Association (LHUA)
vi)Ladies Secretary
No more than two (2) members of the same club shall sit on the Ladies Committee.
Five (5) shall form a Quorum
B.Men’s Committee
The Committee shall consist of a maximum of nine (9) members elected at the LHA AGM to include:
i)A Chairman who may also be a Member of the LHA Board.
ii)Fixtures Secretary.
iii)Registrations Secretary
iv)Up to 6 Ordinary Members
Five (5) shall form a Quorum.
C.SE Committee
The Committee shall consist of:
i)Chairman
ii)Secretary/Club Liaison
iii)Fixtures and Registration Secretary
iv)Representative from each Club
v)A Delegate from each sub-committee or Association
vi)Interpro Squad
vii)Youth
viii)Schools
ix)Umpires
A season shall be deemed to run from 1st July each year until 30th June in the following year.
Officers shall take up appointments with effect from 1stMay each year, unless an appointment is made to fill a vacancy during the season.
1.1.1DUTIES OF MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE(S)
All titles refer to either gender
Chairperson
The Chairman shall act as chair at the Section Committee meetings and at Liaison, Registration or any Section Meetings. In the absence of the Chairman the meeting shall elect a chair.
The term of office for the Chairperson of the Ladies shall be for two years.
A.Ladies Secretary
The Secretary shall carry out all necessary duties in connection with the running of the section. This to include taking minutes, submitting reports to the LHA Administrator as requested, and for the LHA AGM
Fixtures Secretary
The Fixtures Secretary shall plan and organise the LHA calendar. Ladies Fixtures sub-committee and Men’s League Managers shall share the task of administration and control of those matches.
C.Secretary / Club Liaison
The Secretary shall carry out all necessary secretarial duties in connection with the running of the section
A and B Registrations Secretary
The Registrations Secretary shall carry out all necessary duties in connection with the registration and monitoring of players.
C.Fixtures and Registration Secretary
The Fixtures and Registration Secretary shall carry out all duties in connection with the league and cup competitions, in connection with the registration rules of the SE section. A report recording the winners of the SE competitions shall be prepared for the LHA AGM and as requested by the LHA Administrator.
B.Ordinary Members
The Ordinary Member(s) shall carry out all necessary duties as assigned by the Section Committee.
1.2. Powers
- The hockey playing affairs shall be administered by each Section Committee
Leinster Ladies Leagues and Cup competitionsby the Ladies Section Committee Leinster Men’s Leagues and Cup competitions by the Men’s Committee South East Leagues and Cup competitions by the SE Committee.
The Committee (s) shall communicate/meet regularly to consider and deal with all matters relating to fixtures and results for their respective competitions.
Copies of the Minutes of any meetings of the Committee shall be kept. A report will be sent to the LHAadministrator for the monthly Management meeting.
- Each Section Committee has the power to establish Sub-Committees as required subject to the approval of the LHA Board. Such sub-committees shall be entitled to co-opt extra members as required subject to the ratification of the relevant Section Committee.
- The Section Committees or the Fixtures Secretary or the Registrations Secretary under the powers delegated to themmay impose such penalty or penalties as it thinks proper having regard to the precise breach of Bye Laws. For the avoidance of doubt, such penalties may include, but are not limited to, the imposition of a fine, the awarding or deducting of league points, the re-fixing or replaying of matches. A guideline list of fines can be found on the LHA website. It is not an exhaustive list.
- The Section Committee will invite a submission from the Club(s) involved when deciding whether to expel or suspend a team from a competition. These submissions must be furnished within 7 days of the request. Power to make these decisions shall not be delegated to the Fixtures Secretary or to the Registrations Secretary.
2.Liaison and Registration Meetings
Each Section may hold a Liaison or Registration Meeting during the season as the Section committee sees fit.
Entitled to attend and speak.
- The Section Committee members
- Delegate from each sub-committee
- One delegate from every Club affiliated to the Section
- Delegate from the LHUA
- Members of the LHA Board
- Any persons invited by the Section Committee
- Delegate from the other LHA Section Committees
- Honorary Life Members of the LHA
2.1BUSINESS TO BE TRANSACTED
The agenda for such meeting will be determined by the Section Committee
2.2NOTICE OF SUCH MEETINGS
At least fourteen (14) days’ notice in writing or by electronic communication shall be given of the holding of such meetings
3.SECTION SUB COMMITTEES
3. A.1Ladies Fixtures Committee
The Committee shall consist of a maximum of four (4) members.
A Chairman shall be elected from the members.
Three (3) shall form a Quorum.
3.A.2POWERS
The Fixtures Committee shall carry out all duties in connection with the League and Cup competitions save as hereinafter provided.
The Fixtures Committee shall submit to the LHA Board a record of all winners of the respective Ladies competitions during the previous season
3. A.3. Ladies Registration Committee
The Ladies Committee may form a Registration Committee to assist the Registration Secretary.
The Committee would consist of a maximum of four (4) members.
A Chairman would be elected from the members.
Two (2) would form a Quorum.
3. A.4. APPEALS
A right of appeal against a decision made by a Section Committee or sub-committee shall exist to the LHA Appeals Committee
3. C.1 SCHOOLS COMMITTEE
The affairs of the Schools shall be managed by the Schools Committee.
The Committee shall consist of:
A. Chairman
B. Secretary
C. Treasurer
D. Cup Secretary
E. Three (3) other members no two of whom shall be connected with the same school and all of whom shall be elected by the affiliated schools at a General Meeting of such schools.
3. C.2 YOUTH COMMITTEE
The Committee shall consist of:
A. Chairman
B. Secretary
C. Three other members, from affiliated clubs
Three (3) shall form a quorum.
The Committee shall be responsible for the development and the general administration of all under age girls’ club hockey at level in the SE.
The Treasurer shall keep the Committee’s accounts in consultation with the Honorary Treasurer of the LHA. Copies of the Minutes of meetings of the Committee shall be sent to the Secretary of the SE within 14 days of the meeting(s).
4. COMPETITIONS AND LEAGUES STRUCTURES
The Section Committee(s) shall, on the recommendation of the Fixtures Committee as soon as possibledetermine the teams which shall constitute each league and the divisions thereof and the teams which shall be permitted to play in the various cup competitions. They shall endeavour to ensure that each Division within the Leagues shall have ten (10) teams. However, in certain circumstances the Committee may make decisions to amend this and the Committee(s) reserves the right to alter the composition of any League Division or to alter the promotion/regulation rules per League.
Having more than one team per club in any division will where possible be avoided.
Ladies Section, Divisions 1to 10 shall consist of no more than one team representing any Club. The Ladies Section Committee reserves the right to amend or alter the composition of, and the promotion/regulation rules for any league division.
Clubs shall be informed of any changes or alterations as early as possible.
All LHA league and cup competitions shall be subject to the jurisdiction of their respective Section Committee.
Each team shall abide by the rules and regulations set out for the appropriate division.
The league competitions shall be decided by points. Each team shall play home and away with each other team in the same league or division. Games shall be played on a home and away basis, unless by mutual consent one or both games are fixed for the ground of either club or for a neutral ground.
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions the Section Committee(s) shall have the power to determine the number of games to be played in any league or division and the venue(s) at which games shall be played.
Three points will be awarded for a win
One point each for a draw and
Zero point for a loss.
Cup matches shall not be played for league points without the prior sanction of the Section Committee.
5. Winners, Promotion and Relegation and Final League Positions
5.1. Final League Positions
The team having the greatest number of points to its credit at the end of the season or when the competition has finished shall be declared the winner for that season.
If two or more teams in a division of a league finish the season or competition with an equal number of points for any place, they shall be ranked according to:
1)Number of matches won
2)Goal difference
3)Goals ‘for’
4)Result(s) of the match(es) played between only those teams involved in tied match(es)
5)Playoff matches (es) if necessary.
5.2. Promotion & Relegation
5.2.ALadies Section
Two teams will be promoted and two demoted between each Division, with the following provisos:-
(a)Only 1st X1's teams may play in Division 1.
(b)If a 1st X1 finishes top in Div. 2 they will be automatically promoted to Division 1. The 10th place team in Division 1 will be relegated.
(c)If two 1st XI teams finish in 1st and 2nd place in Division 2, they both shall be automatically promoted as (a) above. The 9th and 10th place teams in Division 1 will be relegated.
(d)If neither (a) nor (b) above occur then the highest placed 1st XI team in any of positions 3 to 8 of Division 2 shall have a play-off game against the 10th placed team in Division 1. The winner of this game will be promoted to Division 1 and the loser of this game relegated to Division 2.
(e)Where a team in all the other Divisions cannot be promoted as a result of “no more than team from a club in each division from 10+” then the next best placed team will be invited to be involved in a play-off match with one of the relegation teams to decide promotion.
(f)Where relegation results in two (2) teams from the same club being in the one Division, in accordance with bye-law 5.2.A the lower ranked club team will be relegated to the Division below.
(g) Where the Branch has had to amend the league structure in any given season, these changes will be brought to the attention of the clubs as soon as possible.
In the case of a playoff match not being played, a decision will then be made by the Fixture Committee on how to decide the outcome of the playoff situation. Play off matches shall be on ground determined by the Committee with appointed umpires.
B. Men’s Section
Promotion between Division 1 and 2
a) If two1st xi teams finish in positions 1 & 2 in Division 2, they will both be promoted automatically. Teams in the 9th and 10th position in Division 1 will be demoted.
b) If only one 1st xi finishes in either position 1 or 2 in Division 2, that team will be promoted and the team in 10th position will be demoted. The next highest ranked 1st XI team imposition 3-8 has the option to playoff against the 9th placed team in Division 1.
c) If no 1st team finishes in position 1 or 2 in Division 2, the highest ranked 1st XI team from position 3-8 has the option to playoff against the 10th placed team in Division 1.
5.3 WALKOVERS
Applications to approve a walkover must be made to the appropriate Committee. The decision to allow a walkover lies with this Committee. In the case where a walkover has been allowed by the Committee, the team giving the walkover will concede the match as a 1-0 victory to the opposition. The team giving a walkover will also incur a fine. This fine must be paid within twenty-one (21) days to the LHA Administrator or the team will be disqualified. If any team gives a second walkover in the same season it will take up the first relegation spot at the end of the season.
6. COMPETITION GENERAL
The Committee(s) shall nominate a date at the end of each season by which the league programme in each division must be completed.
A club withdrawing a team from the leagues must, as a general rule, eliminate their last team. However, in certain exceptional circumstances the Committee may make decisions to amend this.
6.1. Cup Competitions
a.Cup competitions shall be played on a “knock-out” system
b.All affiliated teams shall be eligible to compete in Cup Competitions appropriate to their League Division.
c.Draws for the Cup competitions shall be made in the presence of at least two (2) Committee members. The draws of all cup competitions will be published.
d.There will be an entrance fee for each cup competition.
e.All finals shall be played at venues decided by the Section Committee(s) in conjunction with the LHA Board. Umpires shall be appointed by the LHUA.
f.There shall be no replays in any rounds of any of the cupcompetitions. Drawn matches will be determined by a penalty competition as determined by the LHA
g.The dates for all rounds shall be fixed by the Section Committee.
h.No cup match shall be postponed by any team without the consent of the
Section Committee representative unless the ground is unplayable or weather is so bad as to render play dangerous. If a walkover is given in a cup competition, the team which does not fulfil the fixture shall not be allowed to enter the competition in the following season and the club will be subject to a fine.
i.Any breach of these regulations may result in a disqualification.
j.Any fines imposed for breach of any regulations for a particular team must be paid before the next round of the cup or the team will be disqualified.
k.Two teams from the same club may not be drawn against each other in the 1st round of any cup competition
l.The Leinster Senior Cup (Jacqui Potter Cup) competition shall be an open draw in all rounds.
m.The names of the teams entered for a competition shall be drawn in pairs and the first team drawn in each tie in the first round shall have home advantage.
n.The duration of each cup match shall be seventy (70) minutes.
o.Un-played matches at all levels shall be played within eight (8) days except if closed dates intervene, when the match shall take place on the nearest available date. In the event of a dispute the Section Committee representative shall decide the date.
p.Match cards shall be sent to the Registration Committee within four (4) days. Cup match results shall be recorded on the LHA website by the home Club. Any breach of these regulations may result in a disqualification.
q.Each member of any competing team shall be a bona fide member of the club and shall have played in at least part of one league match before the first round or at least part of two league matches before subsequent roundsinthe current season.