Buntingford Cougars Youth Football Club

Founded 1971

Rules

1.                   NAME AND PURPOSE

Mission Statement:- “It is the intention of this Club to support Youth Football in Buntingford and the surrounding area, across as many age groups as can be reasonably accommodated, in the fairest sporting manor and to include as many of the youth population of the area as possible.”

  The Club shall be called the Buntingford Cougars Youth Football Club.

(a)    The purpose of the Club shall be:

(i)     to provide football facilities for the youth of Buntingford and surrounding areas.

(ii)    to promote a sporting attitude towards the game.

(iii)  to develop football skills.

(b)    The Club shall be affiliated to the Royston Crow Youth Football League, Herts F.A. and any other Youth Football League or Competition deemed necessary by the Management Committee.

(c)    The Club shall be bound by the rules of the Leagues to which it is affiliated and to the Herts F.A.

2.                   CLUB MANAGEMENT

(a)     The Club Management shall consist of:

(i)    Officers –  Chairman

Vice Chairman

Secretary

Treasurer

Fixtures Secretary

Registration Secretary

Fund Raising Secretary

Press Secretary.

Child Protection Officer/s

                                                                Youth Development Officer

                          (ii)   Minimum of Four Committee Members

(b)     The Club Management shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting for a period of one year by voting parents of players who have been members for one full calendar year (See rule 3c).

(c)     The Club Management is empowered to co-opt a maximum of 5 parents to the Committee to assist the Officers of the Club in their duties.

(d)     No Committee Member or Officer shall be considered eligible for re-election unless he/she has attended a minimum of 50% of Committee Meetings during the current year in office.

(e)     Officer or Committee Membership of the Management Committee shall lapse if the member does not attend, without satisfactory reason, three consecutive meetings of the Management Committee.

(f)      Committee Meetings shall take place at least once a month during the playing season at a venue and date to be advised -–either by the Secretary in writing or at the previous meeting. (It shall be the responsibility of the Committee Members not attending the previous meeting to ascertain details of future meetings.)

(g)     The Management Committee may appoint either a Special Sub-Committee or a Disciplinary Sub-Committee as necessary and may delegate all or any of its powers to such a Committee. The decision of all such Committees shall be reported to the Management Committee.

(h)     A quorum for a Sub-Committee shall be either THREE or FIVE people, one of which shall be an Officer of the Management Committee.

3.                   ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (A.G.M.)

(a)     The A.G.M. shall be held no later than 31st July in each year. At the A.G.M. the following business will be transacted:

( i)         Minutes of the preceding A.G.M. read and adopted.

(ii)    Presentation and adoption of Statement of Accounts.

(iii)  Chairman’s Report.

(iv)  Election of Officers and General Committee Members.

(v)  Appointment of Auditor from outside of Committee.

(vi) Alterations of rules (if any) of which due notice has been given.

(vii) Other business of which due notice has been given

(b)     “Due notice” shall be considered as being in writing to the Club Secretary no less than fourteen days before the A.G.M.

(c)     The Club Management Committee shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting by those players representatives present. The representative must be the parent or legal guardian of a player who has completed one year’s membership of the Club. There can only be one vote per family i.e. a parent of two member players can only have one vote.

(d)     All Officers and General Committee Members shall be entitled to one vote each.

(e)     All Officers and General Committee Members shall be elected by a simple majority. In the event of a tie only those involved in the tie shall stand again.

(f)      Copies of the Agenda and Minutes of the previous A.G.M. will be available by request from the Club Secretary for all members, fourteen days prior to the date of the A.G.M.

4.                   SPECIAL MEETINGS

(a)     Extraordinary General Meetings will be convened at written request to the Secretary summarising the nature of the business it is sought to bring before the Meeting.

(b)     Extraordinary General Meetings may be convened:

(i)        when accompanied by the signature of TEN parents or guardians of Club Members.

(ii)      at the discretion of the Club Management.

(c)     The Secretary shall give at least fourteen days notice in writing to all parents of Club members summarising the business, which will be brought before the Meeting.

(d)     Only the business specified in the Notice shall be considered at the E.G.M. No resolutions shall be deemed to be carried unless supported by a majority of two thirds of those present and voting.

5.                   MEMBERSHIP

(a)     No boy/girl shall be considered to be a member of the Club until he/she has:.

(i)       Completed a Club Registration Form and submitted the same with registration fee to the Registration Secretary.

(ii)       Paid the Club annual subscription fee for the current season in full – or as otherwise agreed with the Club Management

(iv)  Been accepted as a Club member by the Management Committee.

(v)   Paid all outstanding fees, fines and debts to the Club.

(b)     Subscription fee shall be as agreed at the A.G.M.

(c)     Registration fee shall be as laid down by the relevant League.

(d)     All teams registered in each age group shall include the majority of their members from the immediate Buntingford and surrounding area where adequate numbers are available.

(e)     All Club members are entitled to attend all matches whether playing or not.

(f)      Each Club member is to be given all reasonable opportunity to participate in Club activities during the current season.

(g)     All complaints from Club Members, parents, etc. relating to “acts of misconduct,” are to be referred to the Club Secretary in writing for consideration by the Club Management.

(h)      Offenders of misconduct should meet their own disciplinary costs.

(i)       Club Management reserves the right to suspend or expel a member for acts of misconduct considered bringing the Club into disrepute. No disciplinary action of this nature shall be considered valid unless agreed by a majority vote at a Club Management meeting.

(j)       All members are entitled to appeal in writing to the Club Secretary within fourteen days following notification of any disciplinary decision by a Disciplinary Sub-committee.

(k)     All such appeals will be heard by the full Management Committee who reserve the right to suspend or expel a member for acts of misconduct where it is considered that the act has brought the Club into disrepute. No disciplinary action of this nature shall be considered valid unless agreed by a majority vote of the Management Committee.

(l)       Offenders of misconduct should meet their own disciplinary costs.

(m)   Members will normally be allocated to a team as defined by the birth dates laid down by the Herts F.A. and the appropriate league. However, in exceptional circumstances and at the Committee’s sole discretion members may be allocated to an older age group team provided that the rules of the Herts F.A. and the appropriate League are observed. It will though be this clubs policy to keep players in their respected age groups.

(n)     Long Service Awards will be given for six years continuous membership from U10 to U16.

6.                   TEAM MANAGEMENT

(a)     The individual Team Management shall be decided by the Club Management following the A.G.M. and shall consist of one Manager and one Coach.  All applicants for Management will be interviewed by the Management Committee and must complete personal disclosure forms before taking up the post, All teams are required to be represented at all meetings.  In the event of a Manager not being able to attend a meeting he must nominate a representative to attend in his place.

(b)    Team Managers will have to obtain the Minimum FA coaching qualification in their first year of management. However it is the preferred policy of this Club for prospective Managers/Coaches to do the award in advance of taking up the post.

(c)     Team management shall assume full responsibility for the operation of the relevant team from August 1st to May 31st the following year.

(d)     The Team Manager must pass all Club Registration Forms and League Registration Forms to the Club Registration Secretary before they are sent to the relevant League.

(e)     The Team manager may delegate any person over the age of 16 to assist either himself or the Trainer subject to the approval of the Club Management.

(f)      The Team Management shall carry out the following duties:.

(i)    Select the team for all matches.

(ii)   Arrange adequate transport facilities to away fixtures.

(iii) Ensure clean kit is available for each fixture.

(iv) Contact Fixtures Secretary at least 4 days before any game to determine the venue of match, Kick Off time, and availability of Referee.

(v)  Consult League Handbook to determine opposition colours (if home fixture) and arrange a kit change if necessary.

(vi) Advise all team members of game arrangements.

(vii)          Complete result card if required and give to the Fixtures Secretary before 5.00pm on the day of the match.

(viii)        Pay the Referee the standing match fee as stipulated by the relevant League Council (N.B. Any fee refused by the Referee is considered a donation to the Club and the Manager should advise the Treasurer accordingly).

(ix) Provide one linesperson for each fixture.

(x)  Comply with any League rulings applicable to all fixtures.

(g)     The Team Trainer shall carry out the following duties:.

(i)   Organise and activate all training session venues, time and methods of training subject to the approval of the Team manager.

(ii)   Ensure that the following equipment is available for each game:

(1)   Suitable First Aid Kit.

(2)   Two Match Balls.

(3)   Goal Nets.

(4)   Corner Posts.

(5)   Pitch Markings.

(6)   Linespersons Flags

(h)     Each Team should possess the following equipment as a minimum at the commencement of each season:.

                  13 Shirts (Blue with Club badge). 13 Shorts (Blue). (All Prostar Brasillia)

                  13 Pairs Socks (Blue).

                    2 Goalkeepers Shirts

                    2 Match Balls

                    1 First Aid Kit.

                    1 League Handbook.

(any purchases of the above should be done with agreement of the Committee and with the knowledge of the Treasurer before hand)

(i)       At the termination of each season (i.e. July 7th of the current year) Team Managers shall return the above equipment to the nominated Committee Member for inventory on the “designated kit day”.

(j)       Managers are responsible for ensuring that all members observe all rules displayed within the Changing Rooms used by the Club.

(k)     A Manager will be required to pay the Club any monies which the Club has had to pay to a League or the Herts F.A. for fines incurred as a result of that Manager’s failure to deal with administrative matters.

7.                   GENERAL

(a)     The membership shall understand that the Club is a non-profit making organisation run on a voluntary basis. Membership is therefore only accepted on the basis that no claim of any kind will be entertained as a result of any accident sustained during club activity including travel to and from any such activities.

(b)     Any member attending a Club activity will be assumed to be there with parental permission. It will be the responsibility of the parent to ensure that the Club member is in sufficiently good health to participate in the Club’s scheduled activities.

(c)     Out of season activities shall be managed as follows:.

(i)    First option for management of teams involved in out of season activities (i.e. between       June 1st and July 31st) shall be with the Manager and/or Trainer completing the current  season.

(ii)   Second option shall be with the Manager and/or Coach commencing the following season.

(iii) Managers shall return all kit to the Secretary within 5 days of any out of season activity.

(iv) No persons other than appointed Managers shall enter any activity under the name of Buntingford Cougars Youth Football Club or use any item of the Club’s equipment without first securing the approval of at least three current serving Officers of the Club Management.

(d)     All Club fund raising activities must be with the approval of the Club Management Committee. All fund raising carried out in the name of the Club shall be considered on behalf of the Club as a whole. Any monies received therefore shall be deposited with the Treasurer for the use of the Club.

(e)     All expenditure on behalf of the Club – with the exception of standard fixture expenses – are to be approved as follows:.

(i)    Under £200 refer to the Treasurer.

(ii)   Over £200 refer to Treasurer for full Club Management Committee approval.

(f)      The Financial Year shall be from 1st April to 31st March.

(g)     The Building Fund, or monies within the Building Fund, can only be used for other purposes by Agreement at the A.G.M. or by the calling of  an E.G.M.

(h)     All requests for transfer will be referred to the appropriate Team Manager before formal agreement is made.

(i)       The Club accepts no responsibility for loss of personal property.

(j)       Buntingford Cougars Youth Football Club fully endorses and adopts the F.A. Policies on “Child Protection”, “equal opportunities” and ‘Kick Out Racism’. Any proven breach of either of these, then the Management Committee shall have the power to exclude or deal with at their discretion any Club Member, Parent or Club Official whose conduct has, in their opinion been objectionable Under the club rules and procedures.

(k)    Disposal of Club assets (such as loaning/sale of kit etc) can only be undertaken by agreement of the Committee.