RULES - UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2010

1. The League shall be called the "Tees Active Badminton League", hereinafter referred to as
the League and shall affiliate to the Durham County Badminton Association.

General or Extra-ordinary General Meetings.

2. An Annual General Meeting shall be held at the beginning of September of each year.

3. An Extra-ordinary General Meeting shall be called by the Honorary League Secretary upon

(a) Instruction from the Committee of Management or

(b) A request signed by not less than five Club Secretaries.

4. At each AGM nominations shall be received for the offices of President, Vice Presidents and also for an elected Management Committee, which shall comprise of Chairperson,

Secretary, Treasurer, Match Secretary and eight members to represent the Clubs (with a maximum of two Management Committee members from any one Club).
Members of the Management Committee shall be selected to represent the League at Durham County Badminton Association meetings and Yorkshire Badminton Association
Council meetings.

5. In the event of any vacancy arising in the Management Committee, the Management Committee shall have the power to fill such vacancy.

6. At each AGM the Management Committee shall retire from office but shall be eligible for re-election.

7. The Management Committee shall in all things act for and in the name of the League with full powers delegated to them.

Quorum.

8. At all General Meetings, ten members, including any officers present, shall form a quorum.

If within half an hour of the appointed time for holding a general meeting a quorum is not present, the meeting, if convened on the requisition of the Club Secretaries, shall be dissolved. In any other case it shall stand adjourned to the same day in the next week and if a quorum is not present within half an hour from the time appointed for holding the meeting the members personally present shall be a quorum and may transact the business for which the meeting was called.

9. At all Management Committee Meetings one third of the total members (but in any case not less than three) including officers, shall comprise a quorum.

10. Management Committee Meetings shall be held at regular times during the season (at least
once per quarter) for the purpose of conducting the affairs of the League.

Voting.

11. At all General Meetings every question shall be decided by majority vote. At the discretion of the Chairperson, a hand or card vote shall be used.

The voting power of the individual clubs shall depend upon the number of teams by which the Club is represented in the League. One vote per team shall be allocated to each Club.

A representative must be present for each team, to use that team’s vote.

(The Chairperson does not normally have an entitlement to vote).

12. In the case of votes being equal at any General Meeting or Management Committee Meeting, then the Chairperson shall have the casting vote.

13. Honorary General Secretary.

The Honorary General Secretary shall record the minutes of the proceeding of all general and special meetings and committee meetings and the attendance of the members of the committee at such meetings. The minutes shall be read and approved at the next appropriate meeting.

14. Honorary Match Secretary.

An Honorary Match Secretary may be appointed either at the AGM, or by the Management
Committee. The Honorary General Secretary shall be allowed to delegate any duties to the

Honorary Match Secretary.

15. Honorary Treasurer.

At the AGM, an Honorary Treasurer shall be elected and shall record receipts and expenditures and shall give up all books and documents when instructed by the Management Committee. The Honorary Treasurer shall render a full and clear account at each audit of the books and documents belonging to the League and shall prepare a balance sheet, which shall be audited and presented to the AGM.

16. Auditors.

The Management Committee shall appoint two of its members to audit the books and documents and certify the balance sheet as being properly drawn up so as to give a true and correct view of the affairs of the League and append their names thereto before the balance sheet is presented to the AGM for approval.

17. Fees.

The League membership fee shall be decided at each AGM and is payable directly to the

Treasurer before commencement of the season.

Leagues/Divisions/Matches/Players

18. The League shall be divided into divisions of normally seven teams each (but not more than eight). The teams, which shall play in each division, will be laid down by the Management Committee and confirmed at the AGM preceding the commencement of the season.

19a. For Leagues where the majority of Divisions consist of seven (or more) teams, at the end of
the season, the top two teams in each, except for the top Division, shall be promoted to the
bottom of the next higher Division. The two bottom teams in each Division shall be
relegated to the top of the next lower Division.

19b. For Leagues where the majority of Divisions consist of six (or less) teams, at the end of
the season, the top team in each, except for the top Division, shall be promoted to the
bottom of the next higher Division. The bottom team in each Division shall be relegated to
the top of the next lower Division.

In the event of resignation or new applications, the required number of teams shall be
deployed to make up the Divisions as laid down in Rule 18.

20. Teams applying for membership of the League, if accepted, will automatically start in the lowest Division of the League.

21. Each team in any Division will play every other team in that Division at home and away.

22. A Fixture List, specifying a date for each mixed match, will be drawn up at the commencement of each season, by the Management Committee.

A Fixture Meeting will be held for Club Match Secretaries to arrange the Ladies and Gents Doubles matches.

Clubs with more than one team in a Division must play each other in the first period in each half of the season.

23. Clubs will have until the start of the season to re-arrange any match dates.

Club Match Secretaries, when receiving the Mixed Fixture Lists and when arranging
Ladies & Gents Fixtures, must take into consideration the dates of any matches or
competitions in which their players are likely to be representing their counties.

After the start of the season matches may not be cancelled or re-arranged except for one of
the following reasons :-

a) Non availability of the regular courts

b) Severe weather conditions

c) One or more team members on any County or Country duty

In the event of any cancellations due to the above, the League Match Secretary must be informed by both Clubs, by 5th of the following calendar month in which the original match was due to be played.

24 The League Match Secretary must be informed by both Clubs of dates for any re-arranged
matches. Both Clubs have 4 weeks, from the original match date, to agree a new date and
consequently inform the League Match Secretary.

If the League Match Secretary receives no score sheet or no notice of re-arrangement within the 4 week period, then the offending team/s will be deemed to have conceded.

25. A player must not play for more than one Club in the Mixed League during any season without the consent of the Management Committee. A player must not play for more than one Club in the Gents or Ladies League without the consent of the Management Committee.

26. Each Club entering more than one team in any one of the three leagues (Mixed, Ladies &

Gents), must submit a list of names of the six players for each of the teams - except the bottom team, to the League before that team's first match. Clubs are expected to select their
teams on merit.

No player shall be able to play in a team lower than the team he has been nominated for.

A player in a lower team may play for a higher team/s on three occasions without being tied.

If a Club wishes to change the players nominated for one of their teams, approval by the

Management Committee must be given.

If a tied player plays for a lower team, the scores for the games played will be awarded to the opposition 21-0, 21-0.

27. Play to be according to the Rules of Badminton as published by BADMINTON England.

28. A full Mixed team consists of 3 men and 3 ladies. A full Gents team consists of 6 men.

A full Ladies team consists of 6 ladies.
Each pair will play the opposing three pairs. All pairs must be nominated before commencement of the match. Pairs can play in any order.

Each match will therefore comprise of nine games, with each game being the best of three ends. (Subject to Rule 30).

A player cannot play in two (or more) matches at the same time. If circumstances require a player to play two matches, they must complete all their games in the first match, before starting to play in the second match.

29. Matches must be started within 15 minutes of the agreed time. Failure to comply may result in the defaulting team losing one end for each 15 minutes the other team is kept waiting.

Example - For a match starting at 7.00pm, if players were unavailable to play at 7.15pm, the “clock would start ticking.” If players were still unavailable at 7.30pm the first end would be awarded 21-0 and if players were still unavailable to play at 7.45pm the team would lose the first game 21-0, 21-0. Therefore for a match where two courts were available, if there were no opposition at 7.45pm (for a 7.00pm start) the team would lose the first two games.

All disputes to be referred to the Management Committee

30. Three points will be awarded for a win and one point for a 5-4 defeat.
If a team plays with only two pairs, the conceded three games will be awarded to the
opposition 21-0, 21-0.
If both teams play with only two pairs, then the match will consist of four games. A 4-0 or
3-1 score would result in three points for the winning team and a 2-2 result would mean one
point for each team. Games for and against would be recorded as 4-0, 3-1 or 2-2.
Any team consisting of one pair does not constitute a match and therefore the offending
team will concede.
In the event of any conceded match, the non-offending team will be awarded three points
with all nine games, 18 ends and 378 points. The team in default scoring nothing.

31 Each Club is responsible for sending a properly completed match score sheet, signed by the Home and Away Captains, to the League Match Secretary.

At the completion of the match, the two Team Captains must check that the players’ name and the individual game scores on both sheets tally. (Surnames must be identical to the Surnames used on the Badminton ENGLAND Membership database - Vision).

Before sending in the score sheet, the match result should be filled in with the name of the winning team, the winning team’s scores on the left together with the losing team’s scores on the right.

For all matches played during any calendar month, the score sheets must be in the hands of the League Match Secretary by 5th of the following month. For all matches played during April, the score sheets must be in the hands of the League Match Secretary within 5 days of the official end of the season.

Scanned copies of the original score sheets, providing they are signed and correctly filled in, will be accepted.

If the season is extended (say because of adverse weather) score sheets for matches played in the extension period must be in the hands of the League Match Secretary within 3 days of the match being played.
Failure to comply will result in the offending team losing three points for that match.

32. A league table shall be compiled for each Division. Positions in the table shall be based on
the number of points awarded for each match played. If teams are level on points then the
total number of matches won decides. If teams are still equal then the number of games won decides. If still equal then the difference between ends won and lost decides. If still equal then the decision will be at the Management Committee’s discretion.

In the event of any team resigning from the League during any season all matches played by the resigning team in that season shall be declared void.

If a Team concedes two matches, then at the end of the season three points are deducted
from the final league table.

If a Team concedes three matches, then at the end of the season that team drops to the bottom of the table and therefore automatic relegation.

If a Team concedes four matches, then at the end of the season that team drops to the lowest division.

33. Visiting teams must comply with any local rules appertaining to the home team's courts.
The home captain/players must explain these rules to the visiting team captain/players
before the match commences.
Clubs with specific restrictions (e.g. clothing/footwear) must inform Clubs at the start of the season.

34. All matches will be played with feather shuttlecocks. The Management Committee recommends shuttlecocks of not lower standard than BADMINTON England Magnum/Swift.

35. All Clubs and Players in the League must be affiliated to their respective County Badminton
Association and BADMINTON England. All affiliation fees, (BADMINTON England,
County and League), must be paid not later than 30 September of each season. All Players
in a Club, irrespective of whether they pay their affiliation fee through that Club, must be
on that Club’s Affiliation List with BADMINTON England.
Failure to do so will mean expulsion from the League.

In addition all players must be registered with the League prior to playing any matches. The registration will include full name of player, name of Club, BADMINTON England
Affiliation Number and Leagues (Mixed/Ladies/Gents) for which the player is registered
with that Club. (A player can be registered before they are affiliated).

Failure to register will mean that the player’s results are null and void. This will continue for every match played up to when they become registered. Results will not be altered for the period a player is not registered.

General

36. New rules may be made or existing rules amended or altered at the AGM called for that purpose and only by a majority vote of members present.

37. At least 14 days notice will be given when any addition, amendment or alteration of rules is to be considered.

38. Any notice, which is required to be given to members, shall be deemed to be sufficiently given, if sent by email and/or post to Club Match Secretaries.

39. On all questions arising whereon these rules are silent or ambiguous the decision of the

Management Committee shall be binding.

40. Players will be expected to maintain acceptable standards of behaviour. It will be the responsibility of the team captain to take the appropriate action.
It is hoped that common sense will prevail and that the problem is resolved on the night.
If a problem is not resolved on the night, then a written complaint must be sent to the League Hon Secretary, with a copy to the opposing Club Secretary (Match Secretary).
The Management Committee will then investigate and take the appropriate action.

41. The League will operate an Equal Opportunities Policy. See appendix.

42. The League agrees to adopt the BADMINTON England Child Protection policy and
Implementation Procedures. All individual members, by affiliating to BADMINTON
England through their Clubs, are deemed to have read, understood and assented to the
BADMINTON England Code of Ethics and Conduct and as such recognise and adhere to
the principles and responsibilities in these documents.

43. Any Club who has under 18year olds playing for their teams in the League must, at a minimum, be registered for the BADMINTON England Club Accreditation Programme. Ideally Clubs should have attained Badminton Premier Club status, which is equivalent to Sport England Clubmark.

44. The League is a “not for profit” organisation. If, for whatever reason, the League should cease to exist, the Treasurer, with the assistance of the Management Committee, shall be responsible for discharging all liabilities. Any money that remains will be left on trust with BADMINTON England, for the development of Badminton in the Teesside Area.

NOTE

If any Clubs have problems complying with any of these rules, for whatever reason, please discuss with the League Secretary.

Rule changes approved at the League AGM held Wednesday 14^th September 2010.

APPENDIX

Equal Opportunities Policy

STATEMENT OF INTENT:

· The Tees Active Badminton League (The League) is fully committed to the principles of equality of opportunity and is responsible for ensuring that all volunteers and members receive equitable treatment on grounds of age, colour, disability, ethnicity, parental or social status, nationality, religious belief, social status and sexual preference.

· The League will ensure that there will be open and fair access to all those who wish to participate in the sport.

SO THAT:

· Equal opportunities are promoted at every level by heightening awareness and encouraging all members of the League to treat all others with respect

IN PLAY:

· All players, irrespective of gender, ability, ethnicity, religion or social circumstance, will be encouraged and advised as to the best way of accessing the resources available to

1. The Tees Active Badminton League

2. Members of the League

so that they can make the greatest progress possible.

· The League will place equal value on the achievements of all its members.

· The League will ensure that a safe and secure environment is provided for all activities organised by the League and will require that all of its members have an approved Equal Opportunities Policy.

TYPES OF DISCRIMINATION

Discrimination can take many forms. Listed below are various examples of prevalent types of discrimination.

DIRECT DISCRIMINATION:

· This means treating someone less favourably than you would treat others in the same circumstances.

INDIRECT DISCRIMINATION:

· This occurs when a requirement or condition is applied equally to all, which has a disproportionate and detrimental effect on one sex or racial group because fewer of that group can comply with it and the requirement cannot be justified in relation to the task to be performed.

HARASSMENT:

· Harassment can be described as inappropriate actions, behaviour, comments or physical contact that is objectionable or causes offence to the recipient. It may be of a sexual or racial nature or it may be directed towards people because of their age, their sexuality, a disability or some other characteristic.

· The League is committed to ensuring that members are able to conduct their activities free from harassment or intimidation.

· The League is committed to ensuring that any individual representing either the League or a Member of the League are able to conduct their activities free from harassment or intimidation.

The League regards discrimination and harassment, as described above, as serious misconduct and any employee or Member of the League will be liable to disciplinary or legal action.

VICTIMISATION:

· When a member or individual is treated less favourably than others because they have taken action against the League.

· When someone is treated less favourably than others because he/she has taken action against any member of or visitor to the League.

· When someone is treated less favourably than others because he/she has provided information about discrimination.

ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE LEAGUE

RULES:

· A copy of this document will be available to all Clubs who are members of the League.

· The League will provide annually, an up to date copy of its rules and list of officers to all its Clubs.

· On joining the League, clubs will receive a copy of the current rules and list of officers. All members of the League will be expected to abide by the conditions laid down in the rules.

· Before new clubs are granted membership of the League, a club must provide a copy of its Child Protection Policy and Equity Policy.

ORGANISATION:

Prior to the start of the season all Clubs of the League will receive information on the proposed duration for the current season and dates of any competitions and activities organized by the League, including the Annual General Meeting.

· The League will inform all clubs of any additional activity/competition at least one month prior to the proposed date for the activity.

· The League will endeavour to give adequate reasons for and notice of any cancellations, postponements etc. of competitions and meetings.

RESPONSIBILITY OF THE MEMBERS OF THE LEAGUE

· All members of the League have responsibilities to respect, act in accordance with and thereby support and promote the spirit and intentions of this policy.

THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE LEAGUE

· The League will take measures to ensure that its practices are non-discriminatory.

· The League will ensure that no member, individual is disadvantaged by requirements or conditions which are not necessary or which constitute unfair discrimination.

· The League will adopt a planned approach (see organisation and management above) to avoid discrimination.

· The League will ensure that volunteers working for the League can demonstrate their commitment to the principles and practice of equity.

· The League may take positive action or introduce special measures for any group that is currently under-represented in its membership.

· The League Management Committee will have overall responsibility for the implementation of this policy. The League Management Committee is responsible for ensuring that this Equal Opportunities Policy is followed and to deal with any actual or potential breaches.

· The League will regularly monitor and evaluate this policy, practices, procedures and operations on an ongoing basis and will inform members of its impact.

Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures:

· To safeguard individual rights under the policy, a member or individual who believes they have suffered inequitable treatment, within the scope of the policy, may raise the matter by contacting the Honorary League Secretary.

· Appropriate disciplinary action will be taken against any member or individual who violates the League’s Equal Opportunities Policy.

· The League is concerned that individuals feel able to raise any grievance and no member or individual will be penalised for doing so unless it is untrue and not made in good faith.