Club Rules

Club Name
·  The Club shall be called ‘The Ashbourne Badminton Club’, hereafter called the Club.

Club Aims
·  The aims of the club shall be to foster and promote the playing of badminton according to the rules of
   Badminton Ireland to which it shall be affiliated.
·  The club shall be composed of adult members over 16 years of age and honorary members. The number
   of members will be decided by the Committee, as they see fit in light of prevailing circumstances.

Committee Functions
Operational Functions which are provided by the Club include

1)      Finance
2)      Team & Competition Coordination & Team Mentoring
3)      Communication- Internal & External ( including Facebook/ Email/ Twitter/ Texts)
4)      New Members
5)      Social & Fundraising
6)      Safety

Elected Committee
All of these functions shall be deputed to a Committee who shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting

·  Chairperson
·  Secretary
·  Treasurer
·  Match Secretary

Additional Functionality must be covered but can be combined or separate to above roles depending on skill set/ interest available for election at AGM.

·  Social Coordination
·  Safety Representative
·  New Member Coordinator
·  PRO

Elected Position
·  To be eligible for election, a candidate shall be a member for one full season.
·  All officers will retire each year but will be eligible for re-appointment.
·  An officer may remain in office for three consecutive years only, at the end of which time he or she 
   remains off the Committee for one full year, unless he or she is unanimously voted to remain in office at
   the Annual General Meeting.
·  Outgoing officers will ensure an effective handover of duties etc on stepping down
·  Chairperson shall have casting vote.

Sub Committees
·  The committee may delegate responsibilities for certain activities to individuals within the club. This 
   delegation will terminate at the same time as the completion of the committee year.

Notice/ Quorum
·  7 days notice of any meeting will be given to the committee by the Secretary.
·  At all meetings of the committee, four shall form a quorum

Finances
·  The income and property of the Club, shall be applied solely towards the promotion of Badminton within 
   Ashbourne Badminton Club.
·  No portion of the Club's income and property shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly by way of 
   dividend, bonus or otherwise howsoever by way of profit, to the members of the Club.
·  No Committee Member will receive any remuneration or other benefit in money or money's worth from the 
   Club apart from justified receipted expenses.
·  The Financial Year will run concurrently with the Club Season.

Club Fees
All annual subscriptions shall be payable on the 1st day of September in each year

a.  Full Adult Membership                         -  decided at AGM
b.  Student Adult Membership                   -  50% of Full Adult Rate
c.  Family Membership                             - 10% discount for couples
d.  Honorary Membership                         -  50% of Full Adult Rate, by invite only.

·     A minimum of 50% of Annual Subs is payable on or before the 30th September, with remaining balance 
      due on or before 31st October.
·     If annual subs have not been paid on or before the 31st October the defaulter will be open to one of the 
      following options to be decided by the Committee on case by case basis, ensuring fairness and
      consistency across the club.
a.   Continue to be a member of club, but be removed from team representation until fees are paid. In this 
      case, Club Secretary will inform Team Captain that a sub must be allocated.
b.   Cease to be a member of the club. He or she may be re-admitted to membership at the discretion of the 
      Committee on the payment of all arrears with/ without payment of any further fee. Further fees for 
      reentry will be applied if continuous record of defaulting is present.

AGMs
·   The annual subscription shall be set at the Annual General meeting
·   The Annual General Meeting of the Club will be held at the end of each season and notice of the exact 
     date shall be posted in the Club premises at least ten days in advance of such meeting.
·    Any two paid up members may propose any other paid up member for the said Committee and any 
     candidate receiving a larger number of votes than each of the other candidates shall be deemed elected. 
     In the event of a tie there shall be a vote taken in which paid up members shall vote for either of the two 
     said candidates and in the event of a further tie the Chairperson shall draw lots to elect the candidate.
·    Only fully paid up members of the club may participate in any vote.  Only members in attendance can 
     vote at AGM’s or EGM’s – no votes may be cast by proxy
·    Chairperson’s report will be put on record with the AGM minutes.
·    Quorum shall be 18 members, or a minimum of 30% of current years membership.
·    An EGM may be called at any point by the Chairperson, Committee or by signature of 15 members.

New Members
·    Club membership may be restricted to try to ensure members attending the club do not have too long a 
     wait between games.
·     If the membership limit is applied as no extra court capacity is available, a waiting list shall be drawn up 
      and offers of membership made in order as vacancies arise.
·     Potential new members shall be allowed to attend club nights for a maximum of 3 sessions before they 
      must decide on joining the club.  Should they decide to join, the membership fee is due before they 
      attend their 4th club night.
·     Associate membership shall be available to non playing individuals who wish to support the club and 
      take part in the social activities.
·     Student membership is available.  If a person ceases full time education during the course of the club 
      badminton season, they may continue as a student member until the next membership fee is due
·     Those members who join the club from 15th February onwards will be eligible to pay a reduced fee, but 
      will not be eligible to register for team participation at this stage in competitive season.

Club Rule Infringements
·     Due process & the Principles of Natural Justice will be upheld at all times during any hearing/ 
      investigations
·     All complaints of members who infringe the club rules / regulations / constitution should be presented 
      and submitted in writing to the Secretary.
·     The Committee will meet to hear complaints & has  the power to take appropriate disciplinary action 
      including the termination of membership.
·     The outcome of a disciplinary hearing should be notified in writing to the person who lodged the 
      complaint and the member against whom the complaint was made.
·      There will be the right of appeal to the Chairperson following disciplinary action being announced.
·      The decision of the Chairperson will be final in an appeals situation.
·      Any member ceasing to be a member of the club shall forfeit all right to claim upon the Club, its 
       property and functions/ any entitlement to fees paid / any entitlement to represent Ashbourne 
       Badminton Club at outside tournaments/ competitions.

Club Nights
·   Games on club nights should be of ten minutes duration.
·   A Peg Board or equivalent system will be applied

Home Competitive Match Nights
·   One Court is allocated to the Home Team for Match usage.
·   A second court may be made available
.   Time Constraints mean a 2nd court is required.
.   If agreeable with the players not involved in the match,
.   If there are less than 12 club members not involved in the match .i.e., the team can take the second 
    court if there are only eleven players there that are not participating in the game, as soon as the 12th 
    arrives, the members are entitled to re-take that court, but only after completion of the game (entire 
    three set game) in progress.
·    Any member who elects to play on a team or in competition outside the jurisdiction of the club shall 
     conduct himself in the best interest of the club.

Club Dissolution
·  A Resolution to dissolve the club can only be passed at an AGM or EGM through majority vote of 
   membership.
·  In the event of dissolution, any assets of the club that remain will become the property of Badminton 
   Ireland or some other badminton club with similar objectives to those of the club.

Club Rules Changes
·   Changes to Club Rules can only be made at the Annual General Meeting or at an Extraordinary General 
    Meeting at which two-thirds of those voting and present vote for said change.