CHESTER & DISTRICT BADMINTON LEAGUE

RULES AS AMENDED MAY 2010

1. The Association shall be called “The  Chester & District Badminton League”

2. The league shall be open to one or more teams of affiliated Clubs situated within the districts of Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston or within a radius of fifteen miles of Chester Cross or at the discretion of the League Management Committee. Such Clubs must be affiliated by subscription to the County Organisation in whichever County they are resident.  Applications and resignations to the League Secretary on or before the 1st June.

3. The Annual General Meeting shall be held in the month of May in each  year, when the        Audited Accounts shall be submitted and General Business transacted.   A copy of the Agenda shall be forwarded to each Club Secretary not less then seven days prior to the  date of the  General Meeting. An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called at the discretion of the Executive Committee or on the requisition of not less than one fifth of the Clubs in membership, each requisition to be sent in writing, to the League Secretary and signed by the Clubs concerned.  Each team representative together with the Officers of the League and any member of a registered Club shall be entitled to vote at a General Meeting and take part in the discussion.   The season’s fixtures shall be arranged at a special meeting to be called for that purpose.

4. The business of the League shall be conducted by an Executive Committee consisting of a President, Past Presidents, Vice Presidents (who shall be non voting), Chairman, Vice Chairman, Hon. Secretary, Hon Minutes     Secretary, Hon  Treasurer, Hon. Tournament Secretary, Hon. Match Secretary and Press Liaison Officer who shall be elected at each Annual General Meeting, and one elected representative from each team, eleven to form a quorum.  In the absence of an elected representative another member may attend. The Executive Committee shall have            the power to appoint any Sub-Committee for specific purposes and to define their duties.  The Chairman, Hon Secretary, Hon Match Secretary and press Liaison Officer shall ex-officio be members of such sub- committee.

5. The League shall be divided into division the number of teams in each division to be decided by the Executive Committee.  Clubs having more than one  team must register their  eight strongest players (four men and four ladies) as its “A” team. Clubs having more than two teams must register their next strongest eight players (four men and four ladies) as its “B” team and so forth, and each match shall consist of eight events (four mixed, two  mens and two ladies doubles), each event being the best of three games of fifteen aces. The winners shall be the team winning the most events. Should events  be equal then results shall  be allocated after each match, win 2 points, draw 1 point, lose 0. Captains of teams shall simultaneously exchange team sheets and no alterations shall be permitted during the course of the match It is not necessary for the best two players in a team to play together, but the pairs must be arranged in order of strength.

The teams which have scored the highest number of points throughout the season shall hold the championship of their respective Division. If points tie then events shall count, if events tie then the winning team shall be decided as that team having the highest game average. The top team in Division 2 will be promoted to Division 1. The bottom team in Division 1 will be relegated to Division 2. The bottom 2 teams in Division 2 will be relegated to Division 3 and the top two teams in Division 3 will be promoted to Division 2. This pattern of promotion and relegation will be repeated throughout the remaining Divisions, subject to any amendments within the authority of the Match Secretary as a result of resignations and applications.

Clubs wishing to withdraw a team or teams from the League subsequent to the Fixture Meeting or during the season will be required to withdraw the lower or lowest ranked team/s

Captains are required to indicate on the score sheet any reserves playing, by adding a letter “R” after their name, a report of the substitution is also required on the back of the score sheet, this should include the name of the player missing and the number of consecutive matches missed.

6. The time of commencing matches shall be as stated in the Fixture Book.  It is the responsibility of the Home Team to contact the visiting team at least 48 hours prior to the match in order to arrange a different starting time should this be necessary and which would enable the match to be played to a finish.     Any player arriving half an hour after the time stated shall forfeit 2 events 15 aces to love, unless a different time has been previously mutually agreed.

Unfinished events in matches which have started at the correct time may, by mutual consent, be completed at a later date.   Confirmation of conceded/claimed matches must be notified by both teams in writing to the Match Secretary.  All other undecided matches will be reported to  the League Committee for their own attention.

8. Home and visiting captains shall be responsible for filling in score sheets which will be jointly signed by the match captains.  All score sheets must be approved Chester League score sheets. The home captain will fill in two sheets one to be forwarded to the Match Secretary and  one to  the press Secretary.  The away captain will fill in one score sheet which must be forwarded to the     Match Secretary.  All score sheets to be received by the Match Secretary and Press Secretary within 21 days of the match being played.If the sheet is not received within 21 days of the match, the home team will forfeit one point for each offence from the total league points.

9. Only bonafide members of a Club, who are liable for its full subscription and have been registered seven days, may represent it in a league match. Each Club Secretary shall send a list of all team players to the League Match Secretary at least seven days before the first match of the season. These lists may be amended at any time up to the 1st March of that season, but the players shall not be eligible to play in League matches until seven days from the date of their registration.  No members of a higher team may play for a lower team unless registered seven days before the match.  A player remains registered in his/her present position until the new registration date takes effect which is seven days.  A Club must at all time have eight bonafide first team players (four men and four ladies) registered as its first team. A player is no longer considered a bonafide team member if he/she misses four consecutive matches without the permission of the League Match Secretary.  No player shall be registered for more than one Club at the same time.

For Clubs with more than one team, if more than one match is arranged for the same night the higher registered team must take precedence. If a club has 2 teams in the same division the higher team takes precedence and teams must be played in order of strength, i.e. the higher team must take its reserves from the lower team in that division in the first instance. The lower team should then take their reserves from lower teams and so on.

Matches involving 2 teams from the same club in the same division must be completed by 31st December.

10. Matches may be re-arranged for the following reasons:
(a) Unavailability of the Hall
(b) Inclement weather

Provided that the League Match Secretary and press Liaison Officer are notified within 48 hours of the cancellation and they are given a re-arranged date for that match within TWO weeks.

In addition the Match Secretary may authorise the re-arrangement of a match for reasons not covered above provided both Clubs involved are in agreement and he considers the application for re- arrangement to be legitimate.  Application for such re-arrangements must reach the match Secretary not less then 48 hours before the match was due to be played and his decision shall be final in all cases.  Details of the re-arranged date must be notified to the Match Secretary and Press Liaison Officer within TWO WEEKS.

Any match which is re-arranged without the Match Secretary’s permission will  be considered void.  Teams unable to fulfill a fixture on the scheduled date or on an agreed re-arranged date will have two points deducted.  In exceptional circumstances the Hon. Match Secretary will consider a re-arrangement for single team clubs and last teams of multi-team clubs.  In the event that the team concerned cannot play on the re- arranged date with a full team, then the minimum requirement to fulfill this fixture will be 2 men and 2 ladies.  If a fixture is postponed by the away team, and a new date is agreed by both clubs and the home team has to hire the hall specifically to play the re-arranged fixture, which is subsequently cancelled by the away team for a second time, any cost that the home team has incurred in trying to complete the fixture is to be paid in full by the away team. All re-arranged matches must be played as soon as possible to the original date, but no later than 28th February.

All teams throughout the League are required to play their matches with an approved brand of cork based shuttle. Teams in the first, second, third and fourth division must use FEATHERED shuttles.  Approved brands of shuttle will be specified at the AGM of the League.

11.  An annual subscription shall be payable in respect of each team entered in the League.  A player registration fee shall be payable in respect of each player registered to play in the League.

12.  Subscriptions, player registration fees and entry fees to be determined at the AGM of the League. Details of all subscriptions, player registration fees and entry fees to be forwarded to the League Match Secretary on or before 1st October or 7 days before the Club’s first league match, whichever is earlier, together with the appropriate remittance. Cheques to be made payable to ‘Chester & District Badminton League’.  IT IS TO BE REMEMBERED THAT NO REGISTRATION WILL TAKE EFFECT UNTIL THE CORRECT FEES HAVE BEEN PAID.  Failure to comply with this rule in its entirety could result in the suspension of all benefits of membership of the League.  County Affiliation fees shall be forwarded to the County Representative for onward transmission to the County, together with cheques payable to ‘Cheshire County B.A.’ before the end of October in each year.  Failure to comply with this rule in its entirety could result in the suspension of all benefits of membership of the League and County.

13.  Any Club wishing to make a complaint or claim against another Club shall first notify their opponents within one week of the fixture and then BOTH parties will send a written letter to the Match Secretary within a further week The Disputes Committee will convene a meeting within one month of the fixture, at which both parties will be represented and three members of the Disputes Committee shall be present.  Their decision, which shall be final, will be reported to the next League Meeting.

Should either party not submit a written letter, or fail to attend the arranged meeting, they will be considered to have defaulted from the disputes process and the decision will automatically be awarded against them.
14.  Alterations and additions to these rules shall only be made at a General Meeting if twenty-one days notice in writing is given to the Hon. Secretary. The proposed alterations shall be included in the Agenda and circulated to Club Secretaries not less then seven days prior to the date of each meeting.

15. Clubs failing to comply with any of the foregoing rules shall be liable to forfeit one or more points as the Executive Committee may decide.

16. In the event of any question arising, not provided for in the foregoing rules it shall be dealt with by the Executive Committee, who shall be the sole interpreters of the rules and whose decision shall be final.

17.  Any Club not represented at a League Fixture Meeting will, at the discretion of the League Officers,  be debarred  from participating in the League for the ensuing season.

18. The League and all fixtures made for the League Championship take priority over all other events. All League matches must be completed two weeks prior to the League Dance.
19.  It is expected that all teams will make every endeavor to comply with both the letter and the spirit of the foregoing rules.

20. All League trophies and the Parker Trophy to be returned to the Match Secretary by the 31st March. All tournament trophies and Arthur Capper Trophy to be returned to the Tournament Secretary one week prior to the following season’s tournament.

21. The Executive Committee shall have the authority to waive a rule in exceptional circumstances and when they consider that it would be in the best interest of the League to do so.

22. If, upon winding up or dissolution of the League, there remains after satisfaction of all the League’s debts and liabilities, any property whatsoever, the same shall not be to or distributed among the members of  the league, but shall be given or transferred to  some other body or bodies, institutions, having objects similar, wholly or partially, to the objects of the league.  Such body or bodies, institution or institutions, to be determined by a simple majority of the members of the league at or before the time of dissolution and, in so far as effect cannot be given to the aforesaid provision, then to some charitable object.

23. Those clubs affiliated to the Chester & District Badminton League and who also affiliate to Cheshire County Badminton Association agree to abide by the Child Protection Policy as detailed in the Appendices below.

24.  All Chester & District Badminton League Clubs not affiliated to Cheshire County Badminton Association must abide by the Child Protection Policy of the      County Organisation in whichever County they are resident in.

25.  Chester & District Badminton League recognises the need to have all volunteers and coaches associated with Juniors registered with the Criminal Records Bureau.

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APPENDIX:

SUBSCRIPTIONS, ENTRY FEES AND REGISTRATION FEES

Annual Subscription £5 per team
Parker Trophy Entry Fee £5 per team
Player Registration Fee £1 per player