Broadlands Badminton Club Constitution
Name
The name of the club shall be Broadlands Badminton Club, hereafter called ‘the club’ and will be
affiliated to Badminton England.
Objectives
- The club will provide facilities for its members to play badminton at an agreed venue.
- The club will maintain affiliation to competitive local leagues for the purpose of providing its members with the opportunity to play representative badminton for the club.
- To promote the club within the local and badminton community.
- To provide duty of care and protection to all club members.
- To make sure all club members are treated equally and fairly.
Membership
Membership shall consist of adult members.
Membership of the club will be open to all badminton players on an annual basis who are able to demonstrate a competent standard of play. Members are automatically affiliated to Badminton England and the Avon Badminton Association.
Social members are always welcome.
All members will be subject to the constitution and codes of conduct adopted by the club.
The following are the club etiquette rules given to all members:
- Members are expected to arrive on court wearing suitable attire.
- No person shall walk onto or near the court on which a game is being played.
- Shuttles cost money and should be treated with respect on and off the court.
- Players should show respect towards partners and opponents alike and sporting conduct must be observed at all times.
- While waiting to go on court players must be tolerant and abide by any decision made by a committee member.
Membership fees
Membership fees will be set annually and agreed by the management committee at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
Fees will be paid annually on a quarterly basis.
Officers of the club
The officers of the club will be:
- Chairperson
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Any other relevant position
There are additional positions within the club which do not form part of the committee; these include a fixtures secretary and publicity officer.
The club will have a selection committee that are responsible for standards of play – this sub committee will contain 5 Senior Club members, of which 1 is the Club Captain. They are responsible for team selection, fixtures meetings and assessing ability of potential new members.
Officers will be elected annually at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
All officers will retire each year but will, with their agreement, be eligible for re-election. It is recommended that officers only complete five consecutive terms of office*.
*It is recommended good practice to rotate committee positions every five years, although not compulsory.
Committee
The club will be managed through the management committee consisting of the chairperson, secretary and treasurer.
Only these posts will have the right to vote at meetings of the management committee.
The management committee will be convened by the club secretary and held no less than at least four times per year.
The quorum required for business to be agreed at management committee meetings will be: THREE.
The management committee will be responsible for adopting new policy, codes of practice and rules that affect the organisation of the club.
The management committee will have powers to appoint sub-committees and working groups as necessary and appoint advisers to the management committee as required to fulfil its business.
The management committee will be responsible for disciplinary hearings of members who infringe the club rules/regulations/constitution. The management committee will be responsible for taking any action of suspension or discipline following such hearings which will be conducted in accordance with the Badminton England Disciplinary Regulations.
Club Policies
The club adopts the following policies and Codes of Conduct (Appendix 1):
Badminton England Equality Policy.
Badminton England Safeguarding & Protecting Young People policy.
Badminton England Codes of conduct for players, coaches, volunteers, officials and parents.
Set of rules for children and young people.
Match fees
Match fees are to be agreed on a yearly basis by the club at the Annual General Meeting.
Visitors
Visitors fees are to be agreed on a yearly basis by the club at the Annual General Meeting.
A player can attend the club as a visitor on three occasions after which they may be invited to join the club. At such time the visitors fees previously paid will be deducted from the subscription to become a full member of the club.
Annual General Meetings and Extraordinary General Meetings
The club shall hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM) in the month of May to:
- Approve the minutes of the previous year’s AGM.
- Receive reports from the chairperson and secretary.
- Receive a report from the fixtures secretary.
- Receive a report from the treasurer and approve the annual accounts.
- Elect the officers on the committee.
- Agree the membership fees for the following year.
- Consider any proposed changes to the constitution.
- Deal with other relevant business.
Notice of the AGM will be given by the club secretary with at least 14 days notice to be given to all members.
Nominations for officers of the committee will be sent to the club secretary prior to the AGM.
Proposed changes to the constitution shall be sent to the club secretary prior to the AGM, who shall circulate at least 7 days before an AGM.
Only members personally present at such a meeting may vote at the AGM.
Non‐members may attend by invitation of the committee but may not vote.
The chairperson of the club shall hold a deliberative as well as a casting vote at general and committee meetings.
Members have the right to call an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). It shall be held at the request of at least 25% of members. Notice for an EGM will be the same as for an AGM.
Finances
All club monies will be banked in an account held in the name of the club.
The treasurer will be responsible for the finances of the club.
The financial year of the club will end on 31 March.
An audited statement of annual accounts will be presented by the treasurer at the Annual General Meeting.
Any cheques drawn against club funds must hold the signatures of the treasurer plus up to two other officers.
Match Selection (Friendly and League)
Initially, all members of the Management Committee shall be responsible for selecting and where appropriate nominating teams, whose decision must be regarded as final in respect of the first matches played. Thereafter, the Captain of a team, also to be nominated by the Management Committee, may make permanent changes to their team.
Data Protection Act
Information about club members, such as contact details, provided to the committee of the club may be held on a computer and distributed to other club members as deemed necessary for the running of the club. Club members who do not wish their contact details to be passed on should make this clear in writing to the club secretary. Members who wish to view their record should contact the club secretary.
Disciplinary Procedure and Appeals
All complaints regarding the behaviour of members should be presented and submitted in writing to the club secretary.
The management committee will meet to hear complaints within 14 days of a complaint being lodged. The committee has the power to take appropriate disciplinary action including the termination of membership.
The outcome of a disciplinary hearing should be notified in writing to the person who lodged the complaint and the member against whom the complaint was made within 14 days of the hearing.
There will be the right of appeal to the management committee following disciplinary action being announced. The committee should consider the appeal within 14 days of the club secretary receiving the appeal.
The club will work to best practice in dealing with disciplinary issues as laid down in the Badminton England Disciplinary Regulations.
Dissolution
A resolution to dissolve the club can only be passed at an AGM or EGM through a majority vote of the membership.
In the event of dissolution, any assets of the club that remain will be split between the remaining members of the club with each members share being calculated as a percentage of the total and based on the number of years that they have been members subject to a maximum of 10 years.
Amendments to the constitution
The constitution will only be changed through agreement by majority vote at an AGM or EGM.
Declaration
Broadlands Badminton Club hereby adopts and accepts this constitution as a current operating guide regulating the actions of members.
Appendix 1
Equity Policy
This club is committed to ensuring that equity is incorporated across all aspects of its
development. In doing so it acknowledges and adopts the following Sport England definition of sports equity:
- Sports equity is about fairness in sport, equality of access, recognising inequalities and taking steps to address them. It is about changing the culture and structure of sport to ensure it becomes equally accessible to everyone in society;
- The club respects the rights, dignity and worth of every persona and will treat everyone equally within the context of their sport, regardless of age, ability, gender, race, ethnicity, religious belief,
sexuality or social/economic status; - The club is committed to everyone having the right to enjoy their sport in an environment free from threat of intimidation, harassment and abuse;
- All club members have a responsibility to oppose discriminatory behaviours and promote equality of opportunity;
- The club will deal with any incidence of discriminatory behaviours seriously, according to club disciplinary procedures;
Adopted May 2015
Reviewed March 2023