CONSTITUTION

Lichfield Hockey Club, Collins Hill, Eastern Avenue, Lichfield, Staffordshire WS13 7SQ

Clubhouse: 01543 387014 Website: www.lichfieldhockeyclub.co.uk

Club Constitution

1 Name

The Club shall be called Lichfield Hockey Club (’the Club’) and will be affiliated to England Hockey, Midlands HockeyandtheStaffordshireHockeyAssociation. LichfieldHockeyClubisasub-sectionofLichfieldCricket & Hockey Club Ltd.

2 Aims and Objectives

The main purposes of the Club are to provide facilities for and to promote participation in the amateur sport of Hockey in Lichfield, Staffordshire.

The aims and objectives of the Club will be:

1. To offer players, coaches, umpires, volunteers and administrators opportunities in hockey as players,leaders/coaches, umpires and administrators at participation, developmental and performance levels.
2. The recruitment and development of children and young people into the sport of hockey.
3. To provide a safe, effective and child-friendly environment in which to play and learn hockey.
4. To provide all its services in a way that is fair to everyone.
5. To ensure a duty of care to all members of the Club.
6. To ensure that all present and future members receive fair and equal treatment.
7. The Club is a non-profit making environmental body. All surplus income or profits are to be reinvested in the Club. No surpluses or assets will be distributed to members or third parties.

3 Membership

1. Membership of the Club shall be open to anyone interested in the sport on application regardless of age, sex, disability, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, religion or other beliefs. However, limitation of membership according to available facilities is allowable on a non-discriminatory basis.
2. All members will be subject to the regulations of the constitution and by joining the Club will be deemed to accept these regulations and codes of conduct that the Club has adopted.
3. The Club may have different classes of membership and subscriptions on a non-discriminatory and fair basis. Members will be enrolled in one of the following categories below:
   • Full member,
   • Associate member,
   • Junior member,
   • Life member.
4. Membership is not applicable until a member has filled in a registration form and paid, or made a commitment to pay appropriate fees. Parental consent is required for members while under the age of 18.
5. The Club will keep subscriptions at levels that will not pose a significant obstacle to people participating. Fees for all membership categories will be set annually and agreed by committee or determined at the Annual General Meeting.
6. All fees will be paid at the start of the season.

4 Officers of the Club

1. The affairs of the Club shall be managed by the committee except for matters reserved for the Club in Annual General Meeting.
2. The committee shall consist of chairman, secretary, treasurer and captains who shall be elected by the Club in the Annual General Meeting. The committee may invite one or more additional members to join the committee for such purposes as it sees appropriate.
3. The treasurer in consultation with the Club committee shall be responsible for recording all financial income and expenditure of the Club and for presenting accounts at each Annual General Meeting of the Club.

5 Meetings

1. General meetings
   A General Meeting shall be called by the committee or by written request, signed by not less than ten members. Fourteen days’ notice of such meetings must be given by the Secretary to the membership and at least one such meeting should take place each year.
2. Annual General Meeting/ Election of Club Committee
   The election of Officers of the Club Committee shall take place at the Annual General Meeting of the Club following the end of the winter season.
3. Quorum
   Quorum at General Meetings and the Annual General Meeting shall be no less than ten members.
4. Voting
   Every member of the Club shall be entitled to be present and to vote at any General Meeting of the Club and should there be equality on any voting issue the Chairman of the meeting shall have the casting vote.
   Only current, registered members or those affiliated by membership form and subscription are entitled to vote.

6 Amendments to the constitution

This constitution and its rules may be altered, added to or revoked, in accordance with Clubs and Association law, by majority comprising two-thirds or more of the members present and entitled to vote at any General Meeting of the Club.

7 Subscriptions and match fees

These must be set at the AGM but may be reviewed and altered in extreme circumstances by the committee.

8 Dissolution

1. If the management committee decides that it is necessary or advisable to dissolve the Club, it shall call a meeting of all members of the said Club of which no less than twenty-one days’ notice shall be given stating the terms of the resolution to be proposed.
2. If the Club shall pass in General Meeting, by a majority comprising two-thirds or more of the members present and entitled to vote, a resolution of intention to dissolve the Club, the committee shall take immediate steps to convert all of the assets of the Club into money.
3. Where grants are received, and these are made under terms that can seek repayment on the dissolution of the club, these will be repaid under the terms of the grant before the final distribution of funds.
4. If upon the winding up or dissolution of the Club there remains, after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities, any property whatsoever, the same shall be paid to or distributed to another registered community amateur sports club for hockey, to the governing body for use in community related hockey initiatives, or to a charitable organisation.

9 Discipline and appeals

1. The Club committee must adopt and comply with the England Hockey policies and procedures and ensure all members of the Club do also.
2. All complaints regarding the behaviour of members should be submitted in writing to the secretary.
3. The Disciplinary committee, either the Ladies or Men’s selection committee, will meet to hearcomplaints within seven days of the complaint being lodged. The Club committee may refuse membership, or remove it, only for good cause such as conduct or character likely to bring the Club or sport into disrepute. The outcome of a disciplinary hearing should be notified in writing to the person who lodged the complaint and the member whom made the complaint within seven days of the hearing.
4. There is a right to appeal against refusal or removal of membership which may be made to the LichfieldCricketandHockeycommitteefollowingdisciplinaryactionbeingannounced. Nomemberof the selection committee may sit on this appeals committee. This committee should consider the appeal within seven days of the secretary receiving the appeal.

10 Child Protection

Lichfield Hockey Club has taken as part of its constitution the Child Protection Policy, the Good Practice Guidelines and Equity Policy of England Hockey.

11 Paid appointments

1. At the complete discretion of the Club committee, appointments may be made for paid part-time staff for specific coach development projects.
2. The appointment of any paid member of staff must be reviewed by the committee at the end of each season and confirmed for the beginning of the next.

12 Constitution Approval

This constitution has been agreed and approved by the Club’s committee and all members of Lichfield Hockey Club. We the undersigned, as elected officers of the Club, confirm the validity and accuracy of this constitution, with no changes.

Signed: _________________________________

Position: …… Chairman ………

Signed: ________________________________

Position: …… Secretary ……

Date: …1st September 2014 …….