Tynemet Basketball League

Tynemet League Constitution

Adopted June 2008

NAME

The League shall be known as the TYNEMET BASKETBALL LEAGUE, hereinafter referred to as the League.

OBJECTS

The League shall promote and administer the game of basketball in accordance with the constitution of the England Basketball.

MEMBERSHIP

Membership of the League is open to any Club, affiliated to the EB, which agrees to abide by the constitutional rules of the League.

ORGANISATION

The League shall be organised under the jurisdiction of an Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall consist of:

Hereinafter, the League Executive Committee shall be referred to as the League Committee for the sake of expediency.

FINANCE

The League’s financial transactions shall be the responsibility of the League Treasurer. The Treasurer shall be charged with keeping an accurate and honest account of all financial transactions. The Treasurer shall also be responsible for the production of an annual, audited financial summary which shall be presented to all League members at the Annual General Meeting each year.

LEAGUE MEETINGS

Meetings of the League shall be convened by the League Committee at regular intervals. The purpose of these meetings shall be to ensure the smooth running of the League and to provide a forum for discussion of points of interest. These meetings shall be organised by the League Secretary who shall be responsible for circulating an agenda to all Club secretaries at least one week in advance of the meeting. (Club secretaries wishing to place an item on the agenda should forward the item to the League Secretary at least two weeks in advance of the meeting.) The League Secretary shall also be responsible for circulating the minutes of these meetings to all Club secretaries. The quorum for League Meetings shall be fifty percent of eligible Club or team secretaries.

League Meetings shall have a maximum duration of 1.5 hours.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

A yearly Annual General Meeting, hereinafter referred to as the AGM, shall be convened by the League Secretary. All League Club secretaries shall be required to attend or to send a proxy. The quorum for the AGM shall be fifty percent of eligible Club or team secretaries.

EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING

An Extraordinary General Meeting, hereinafter called an EGM, may be convened upon request by any member of the League, or may be convened by any member of the League Committee. All League members shall be given the opportunity to attend an EGM with notification being given by the League Secretary at least one week in advance of the meeting; if the League Secretary is unable to fulfill this commitment then any other League Committee member shall be so empowered; if no member of the League Committee is able to fulfill this commitment then any Club secretary shall be so empowered. The quorum for an EGM shall be fifty percent of eligible Club or team secretaries.

VOTING

For the purposes of agreeing policy and decision making each playing team in the League shall be entitled to one vote. Additionally, each member of the League Committee is entitled to one vote. In the event of a tied vote the Chairperson shall have the casting vote.

AMENDMENTS

Amendments to this constitutional document shall only be made at the AGM or following an EGM.

DISCIPLINE

Discipline within the League, which will include all matters relating to conduct and behaviour at all fixtures, shall be administered by the Disciplinary Committee under the jurisdiction of the League Committee. The Disciplinary Committee shall be elected at the AGM.

DISSOLUTION

In the event of the League being wound up or dissolved for any reason its assets shall be conveyed to England Basketball. They shall dispose of those assets as they see fit.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

Any issue not specifically covered within this constitutional document shall be decided by the League Committee and reported to the next AGM, and to club secretaries earlier if appropriate.

AFFILIATION AND REGISTRATION

The League and its member clubs must affiliate to EB and pay the appropriate affiliation fee(s) at the annual registration meeting.

The League affiliation fee of £10 must be paid by each team at the registration meeting.

Only teams who are present at the registration meeting, and who have completed all registration procedures shall be entered into the League.

Additionally, of those teams that played in the previous season, only those teams who filled at least 15 refereeing appointments shall be admitted to play in the League. The Refereeing Coordinator for the previous season shall have the final say on whether this criterion has been met or not. This criterion will come into effect for 2006-7 season and those seasons thereafter.

Any team which has unpaid fines from the preceding season must pay them at the registration meeting or entrance to the League for the coming season may be refused.

A representative of each team must be present at the registration meeting. Failure to attend this registration meeting may mean that such teams will not be entered into the League. A fine of £5 may also be imposed.

A registration form must be completed and all appropriate fees paid at the registration meeting. The registration form must list all players that wish to play in the League during the coming season.

Clubs with more than one team must register at least 5 players to their 1st team at the beginning of the season. None of those players will thereafter be permitted to play for a lower team.

Holders of senior National League licences will only be permitted to play in TML Division 1 and 2, with a maximum number of senior National League players in Division 2 being limited to 3 per team at the start of the season. Players who achieve National League status during the season will be allowed to continue playing even if it brings the number to more than 3. Transfers of senior National League players will not be allowed into Division 2 teams after the season has started.

All registrations must be accepted by the League Committee. Any queries regarding registration will be discussed with the team representative at the registration meeting.

Teams fielding players who have not been formally registered will forfeit points for that game(s) and will incur a minimum fine of £10 per unregistered player per game played.

Individual player registrations during the season must be made in writing, accompanied by the appropriate fee, to the League Secretary seven days before the player may participate in a fixture.

No player may transfer from one team to another without informing the secretary of his present club and obtaining permission from the League Secretary.

No transfer will be allowed between team of the same club playing in the same division.

Players from a team in a lower division may play for a team in the same club in a higher division up to nine times in the season. On the 10th occasion they will be deemed to have transferred to the team in the higher division and may not then play again for the team in the lower division.

Clubs may apply to the League Executive in writing for permission to transfer payers in situations which transgress the other provisions only if there are extreme extenuating circumstances.

A team that disbands or resigns from the League must pay all outstanding debts to the League and the EB. Players from the defaulting team will only be eligible to register with another team when all debts have been paid, the League Secretary has accepted the resignation and all other league teams have been informed by the League Secretary.

FIXTURES

The duration of each season, and Knock-Out and Handicap programmes, shall be arranged at League Meetings. Teams will be divided equally between the divisions withautomatic promotion and demotion, usually affecting the top two and bottom two teams of each division as appropriate.

All league games must be played before a date as agreed by all present at a league meeting held before the start of each season. This date is to be circulated to all participating Clubs by the League Secretary.

Three points shall be awarded for a win; one point for a loss. In an unfulfilled fixture the defaulting team shall receive no points.

If a fixture must be rescheduled – with the agreement of both teams – then all Officials shall be informed at least 24 hours in advance. Additionally, the Fixtures Secretary and Refereeing Coordinator must be informed. The defaulting teams shall be responsible for organising new Officials for the rescheduled fixture. The rescheduled fixture shall not in any way disrupt the timings of the season, including the Knock-Out and Handicap programmes and must in any event be played before the agreed end date of the season. If this cannot be managed by the defaulting teams then both teams shall forfeit the fixture equally, and no League points awarded to either team. No game shall count for double league points under any circumstances.

If a team fails to either attend a fixture, cancels after the 24 hours limit, or fails to inform the opposition and the designated match officials about a cancellation, that team will be fined an appropriate amount to cover referees fees, scorer’s fees, and any other relevant match expenses, including hiring fees for the venue.

On appeal the League Committee shall decide the outcome of fixtures not played because of ‘Acts of God’ conditions, for example adverse weather conditions and accidents. These will not include instances of maladministration.

All abandoned fixtures will be dealt with by the Disciplinary Committee, using the guidance in the Disciplinary Code of Conduct.

CUP AND PLATE COMPETITIONS

All Knock-Out and Handicap programme fixtures shall be subject to league rules. In addition:

TROPHIES

At the AGM all trophies shall be presented to team representatives. Teams awarded a trophy shall be responsible for having it appropriately engraved. The team secretary shall be fully responsible for the trophy during the season and shall re-present it to the League Secretary upon request for presentation at the close of the following season.

MATCH PLAYING CONDITIONS

Each team must provide the following before their registration will be accepted by the League Committee:

The referee shall note on the reverse of the scoresheet forwarded to the Fixtures Secretary any missing items. Each missing item will incur a £1 fine for each and every fixture they are missing.

An emergency procedure shall be in place in the event of an accident occurring during the game.

The visiting team have the right to an observer at the table.

Table officials must remain for a minimum of one quarter.

A team starting the game shall be deemed to have accepted the playing conditions.

Teams must play in numbered shirts (numbered front and back) which must be of the same colour. If teams clash in colour the home team must change to their alternative.

Tip-off time, date and any other relevant information shall be correctly inscribed on the scoresheet.

The home team shall be responsible for sending the top (white) copy of the scoresheet for each fixture to the Fixtures Secretary to arrive within seven calendar days of the date of the fixture, otherwise a £5 fine will be imposed.

Scoresheets of unplayed fixtures, with an explanation, shall be forwarded to the Fixtures Secretary in the same manner as for a played fixture.

MATCH OFFICIALS

All Clubs must name at least two qualified floor officials and at least one England Basketball qualified table official otherwise their registration will be refused. A floor official may register with one club only. Named officials will be listed in the League handbook.

All fixtures shall be officiated by two qualified floor officials and at least one qualified table official. This does not include apprentice referees.

Selected fixtures will be officiated by officials allocated by the League Committee. All other appointments will be filled initially by referees selecting fixtures themselves. All remaining fixtures will be club commitments, allocated by the Refereeing Coordinator. Teams, or officials representing teams, failing to fulfill their club commitment will be fined the referee’s rates for the first offence. For a second offence the penalty will be the referee’s rates plus £10. A £15 fine will be added for a third offence.

Floor officials shall be paid at the following rate per fixture:

Qualified table officials shall be paid £6 per fixture.

A game will not begin until the officials have been paid.

Qualified officials must be suitably dressed:

Officials unable to fulfill a personally selected commitment must find a suitable replacement. If a replacement cannot be found then the Refereeing Coordinator must be informed at least 24 hours before the fixture.

In line with advice received from the legal department of England Basketball, a game will not be allowed to start with only one floor official. If a floor official becomes incapacitated during the game, the game may continue with only one official.

If no floor official attends a fixture and one of the competing teams refuses to play the fixture must be rearranged. If both teams agree the fixture may be played, with one qualified, licensed floor official from each team.

If a fixture is played without neutral floor officials this should be recorded on the reverse of the top (white) copy of the scoresheet.

The table officials must delete the names of any listed players who were not present at the game. This should be done in conjunction with the team secretaries/captains/coaches and floor officials when the game is finished.

DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES

These are outlined, along with details of all penalties, in the separately annexed document TyneMet Disciplinary Code of Conduct.

OTHER DISCIPLINARY MATTERS

All other disciplinary matters within the jurisdiction of the TyneMet League will be dealt with by the League Committee.

Any complaint or protest must be made in writing to the League Secretary by an official representative of the team concerned within one week (seven calendar days) of the incident. Teams making a complaint or protest shall send a copy to all parties involved.

Any person or group of persons reported for any reason shall have the right to present verbal or written evidence to the Committee concerned before action is taken.

The Disciplinary Committee, excluding those members directly involved with the complaint or protest, will consider all reports and the decision will be made known to all parties involved as soon as possible after the deliberation is complete. Where appropriate, all team secretaries will also be informed.

APPEALS

Any team or team member not accepting a decision made by the Disciplinary Committee shall have the right of appeal.

Appeals against a Disciplinary Committee ruling shall be made in writing to the League Secretary within seven calendar days of the initial ruling being reported.

The appeal will be heard by an Appeals Panel comprising three members of the League Committee, excluding those members involved as complainant or defendant. Members of the League Committee who made the ruling being appealed against shall also be excluded from the appeals meeting, apart from the Disciplinary Chairperson who shall be required to present evidence to support the Disciplinary Committee’s initial ruling.

Any appeal to the League Committee must be accompanied by a fee of £10 which may be forfeited to the League in the event of the appeal being rejected. Costs to cover expenses incurred to hear the appeal may also be awarded by the Appeals Panel.

Any person or group of persons involved in an appeal shall be given notice of the hearing and shall have the right to appear before the Appeals Panel to present evidence.

Any person or group of persons may also be made the subject of a subpoena by the Appeals Panel, the minimum length of notice being seven calendar days. Such persons are obliged to appear before the Panel. Failure to appear before the Panel whilst under subpoena may result in a person or group of persons being expelled from the League.

This constitutional document was accepted by a quorum meeting of the TyneMet League held during June 2008.