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Constitution

June 2006

1. Name of the Club and Affiliation
The name of the Club shall be the Rugby Minis and Juniors Lions Rugby Football Club (hereinafter called “the Club”).
The Club is affiliated under RFU (Rugby Football Union) rules to “The Rugby Football Club Ltd” (hereinafter called “the Senior Club”)

2. Purpose of the Club
The purpose of the Club is to provide appropriate facilities and coaching for children aged between 5 and 16 (age of child on the 31st August) to play Rugby Football and to support participation in social activities and events organised by both the Club and the Senior Club.

3. Aims of the Club
To promote a safe and friendly environment in which children can learn and play Rugby competitively. To enable each child to socialise, participate in a team activity and to learn about individual and team responsibilities.

Each child should be treated individually but equally and without favour under the RFU equal opportunities guidelines.

Parents should be encouraged to actively participate in the Club’s activities and support their child / children’s involvement in the Club.

4. Membership
The club shall consist of ordinary members, associate members and honorary members.

Ordinary membership shall be open to all children from Rugby and the surrounding area upon payment of the appropriate membership fee.

Players must be members of the Club before they can play and be registered with the RFU in accordance with RFU regulations

5. Committee and Officers
The Club shall be managed by the following elected officers who will form the Committee.

Positions 1-7 are single and the "Other Officers" positions can be joint. The committee shall elect a Vice-Chairperson from any of the officers.

1. Chairperson
2. Treasurer
3. Secretary
4. Membership secretary
5. Fixtures secretary (optional one each for the Juniors and Minis)
6. Chief Coach (optional one each for the Juniors and Minis)

Other Officers will include:

7. Press & Publicity Officer
8. Kit Officer
9. Sponsorship secretary
10. Social Secretary
11. Age group representatives (maximum 3) from any age group not represented.
12. Child Protection Officer
13. Youth Liaison Officer
    

6. Management of the Club

The Committee
Committee members shall be made up of parents of the mini and junior section members.

The general management of the Club shall be undertaken by the Committee.

The Committee shall have full power to administer the affairs of the Club, and to make rules and regulations for the order and conduct of the club, but no such ruling shall conflict with the Constitution of the Club or in respect to the use of the Senior Club's premises or RFU rulings.

Committee Meetings, which are open to associate members, shall take place on a regular basis and as frequently as deemed essential to the proper running of the Club.

Six committee members shall form a quorum.

The Chairperson will preside over the Committee meetings or in his / her absence the Officers of the Committee shall elect an acting Chairperson to precede at that particular meeting.

The secretary shall draw up an agenda for the meetings and prepare the minutes. These minutes shall be distributed to the Officers and agreed as being a proper account of the business, at the beginning of the next succeeding meeting.

At a committee meeting any associate member can put forward a proposal for discussion at the meeting. A simple majority vote shall be sufficient for all resolutions except those relating to the constitution or dissolution of the club. Any proposal put forward to the committee can be only voted on by committee members.

Co - opted members
The committee shall fill any vacancies occurring by co-opting associate members so long as the number of co-opted members does not exceed the number of elected members. Co-opted members shall server until the next succeeding council elections. If at any time the number of Co-opted members exceeds the number of elected members the Secretary shall convene an EGM to elect a new Committee with 21 days.

Sub - committees
The Committee shall have the power to set up sub committees, working groups and invite advisers, to support the running of the Club, but such groups will have no vote on the committee although they may be given guidelines within which they can work.

The Managers
Each age group in the club shall have a manager.

The manager shall be responsible for the running of their age group, act as a communication channel between the Committee and their age group and undertake the administrative tasks only. These include: notification of and changes to fixtures, training, club events, organisation of and timely collection of subscriptions and membership.

Managers are requested to attend Committee meeting and Managers' meetings as required.

If a manager resigns, the chairperson must be informed as soon as possible. The Chairperson will inform the committee at the next available committee meeting. The parents of the age group affected by the resignation will nominate a suitable replacement who will need to be endorsed by the committee.

The Coaches
Each age group should have a minimum of one coach.

Club coaches should be suitably trained; appropriate RFU coaching course should be taken by new coaches as soon as practically possible. The Club will reimburse the cost of the course once passed.

Coaches (and managers) are encouraged to take suitable first aid courses, attendance of these should be agreed beforehand with the Chief Coach.

Coaches Guidelines & Requests – This document covers how the Club prefers to operate and should be adhered to as closely as possible. Coaches are requested to attend coaches' meetings as required.

If a Head Coach of an age group resigns, they must inform the Chief Coach of their section (Mini or Junior) as soon as possible, giving at least a month notice. The Chief Coach and the Committee can only appoint a new Head Coach for that age group.

7. General Meetings
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Club will be held within six weeks of the end of the Rugby season and no later than the end of May.

The business of the AGM shall be:

• To receive the Report and Statement of Accounts for the last financial year / season.
• To receive a report on the playing performance of the Club.
• To elect Officers of the Club.
• To discuss any other business of which proper notice has been given agenda must be raised and presented 14 days prior to the AGM to the Club Secretary.

An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) shall be called by the Secretary within 21 days of receiving a written request, from the Committee, or from at least 10 associate members ( from separate families) or from one fifth of the members of the club, whichever is the less. The request must propose an agenda for the meeting and no other business may be undertaken at such a meeting.

The secretary will arrange the date, time and location of the Extraordinary General Meetings and will give associate members notification by placing a notice on the notice board and notifying all the Officers and the Managers of each age group. Each Manager is responsible for communicating appropriate information to all associate members in his / her age group. Alternatively, postal notification can be used to all members.

The Chairperson, in his/her absence one of the committee shall Chair the Extraordinary General meetings.

Twenty members shall constitute an Extraordinary General Meeting.

8. Election Procedure
Elections shall take place at the AGM or at an EGM. Appointments shall date from the day following All newly elected committee members will take their new positions at the next Monthly Committee Meeting the meeting.

The secretary, or in his/her notification of the date of the AGM / EGM shall invite nominations for the post being vacant / vacated. All nominations, must have the signed agreement of the nominee, a proposer and a seconder who are associate members or committee members of the Club, and should be delivered to the Secretary in writing not less than 14 days before the meeting.

Current Committee members standing for re-election should notify the Secretary at least 14 days prior to meeting, a proposer and seconder are not required.

. No further candidates can be nominated for a post after the 14 day deadline unless no candidates have been nominated prior to the deadline. In this instance nominations remain open until the General Meeting and can be given verbally to the current Secretary or Chairperson.

If there is only one candidate for a particular position, the candidate shall be declared by the Secretary to be duly elected.

If there is more than one candidate for a position, the Chairperson shall ensure the following procedure is followed:

• Only associate members of the Club present at the meeting shall be entitled to vote.
• Elections shall be by simple majority.
• The Chairperson shall appoint two tellers to supervise the voting.
• In the event of two or more candidates receiving equal votes the Chairperson shall have the casting vote.
• The tellers shall advise the Chairperson of the number of votes for each candidate and the Chairperson shall announce those who have been duly elected

The Secretary shall post a list of those duly appointed on the Club Notice Board.

9. Finance
The Committee, shall through the Treasurer, control and regulate all income and expenditure of the clubs funds. It is the responsibility of the Treasurer to advise the Chairperson if he/she believes there is a risk of insolvency and an emergency committee meeting should be held.

The principles of how the Club’s funds shall be managed are set out in Financial Principles and Guidelines, copies of which are available from the Chairperson, Treasurer or Secretary.

It is the responsibility of the Committee to make financial decisions regarding Club income and expenditure that relates to the benefit of all playing members of the Club.

The Club shall not accept any liabilities which have not been approved by the Committee.

The Club shall ensure that they have indemnity and insurance as required by the RFU. Additional insurance for special events should be purchased as necessary.

All issues of late payment (over three months), of subscriptions or membership, should be brought to the attention of the Treasurer and Chairperson by the appropriate Manager (Coach or Membership secretary) who will review with the manager the most appropriate course of action, which may include expulsion from the Club.

10. General Conduct of Players, Parents and all Club Members
It is the responsibility of all parents to maintain discipline and good behaviour of their playing members, siblings and pets. Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action and if necessary, expulsion from the Club.

It is the responsibility of all Club members, managers and coaches to ensure that parents and non-club members conduct themselves in an appropriate manner while at the Club, in the grounds or at away fixtures.

11. Disciplinary Procedures, Expulsion and Suspension
All disciplinary procedures of playing members should be dealt with by the Chief coach. If the matter can’t be resolved, the Chief coach must inform the Chairperson and where necessary it should be raised at the next available committee meeting. The Committee has the right to request the attendance of all parties involved in the incident / dispute.

Details of the Disciplinary Procedures are set out in the Disciplinary & Complaint Procedure

The elected members of the Committee shall be empowered to expel or suspend for such a period as they see fit, any Member or Associate member who may bring the Club into disrepute

A players disciplinary committee consisting of

• Chairperson
• Chief Coach of the appropriate age group
• Child Protection Officer (who sits in an advisory capacity)
• Parent / Guardian of the player / players involved
• Youth Liaison Officer (If required)

If one of the above is involved in the disciplinary process then the chairperson shall appoint an additional suitably experienced person to the committee in order to ensure that there are two members plus the chairperson on the committee.

The player / players attendance will only be required with the full parental/ guardian consent.

12. Dissolution
If at a General Meeting a resolution for the dissolution of the Club is passed by a majority of associate members present, a Special meeting shall be called, notice of which shall be given in writing to each associate member within 14 days, the meeting to be held within one month thereafter.

If the Special meeting confirms dissolution by a majority of two-thirds of those present, the committee shall then or on a future date to be specified, proceed to realise the property of the Club and after discharge of liabilities, distribution of any remaining funds should be voted on by the majority of the membership.

Upon completion of which, the club will be declared dissolved.

13. Interpretation and Alteration of the Constitution
On all matters relating to interpretation of this Constitution, the decision of the Committee shall be final.

The Constitution shall only be altered by a resolution passed at an Annual or an Extraordinary General meeting of the Club. The resolution shall be passed only if at least two-thirds of the members Parents present support it, either by a show of hands or if desired by the supporters of the resolution being passed a secret ballot.