Warrington & North Cheshire Bowls Association [ founded 1904 ] |
RULES & CONSTITUTION PAGE 2 |
GENERAL RULES 1. Protests any protest must be submitted in writing to the General Secretary within 5 days of the incident to which it relates. The General Secretary shall forward a copy of such protest to the third party and all persons connected with the incident shall be entitled to attend the Management Committee Meeting at which the matter shall be resolved. A fine may be levied should the protest be deemed by the Management Committee frivolous or without proper grounds. 2. All other clubs in membership of the Association are expected to allow their greens to be used for league and competition matches when chosen. 3. Senior citizens shall be admitted free to all Association promotions where gate money is charged. 4. No player shall be allowed to take part in any Association promotions if he has failed to pay subscriptions for the previous season to any bowling club, league, Association or body of which he was a member. The name of any such player shall be forwarded to the General Secretary 7 (seven) clear days before the match in which he is involved takes place. The Management Committee shall adjudicate on the matter, but the player shall not be permitted to play until a decision has been taken. 5. All players must be in possession of a current BCGBA Registration Card. 6. The Management Committee shall view very seriously any falsification of result sheets and alleged offenders shall be required to appear before the Management Committee to explain any suspected discrepancy. In the case of absent players (without a replacement) the sheet must be clearly marked to indicate such absence. Any team playing an illegal player[s] in any League or Competition match will immediately forfeit the match and become subject to disciplinary action. 7. All cups, trophies etc., shall be returned to the General Secretary at least 7 days before the dates of the respective finals, and at least 28 days before the date of the Annual Prize Presentation. Failure to do so may result in a fine. 8. The Association will be responsible for engraving all cups and trophies etc. 9. Players who reside outside a 6-mile radius from the centre of Warrington will not be eligible to play in semi-finals and Finals of team competitions organised by the Association unless they have played in at least 1/3 (one third) of their team�s fixtures (prior to the date of the semi-final or Final). Clubs with players who live outside the 6-mile radius may appeal to the Management Committee (if there are extenuating circumstances) and the Management Committee shall have the power to rescind this rule. This rule, subject to Management Committee discretion, does not apply to clubs whose home green is in excess of six miles from the centre of Warrington. 10. An up to date copy of the Association rules will be displayed on the Association website and in the event of any infringement thereof, the offending club shall be liable to expulsion from the Association provided that a duly convened Council Meeting called specifically to debate the allegations confirm the expulsion to be justified. 11 The date of the start of the season will be determined by the Management Committee. Clubs will be given at least four weeks� notice, wherever possible, of this date. This date will normally be by publication on the Association website and by email to the clubs by the General Secretary. 12. Mobile Phones or pagers in active mode are not allowed on the green, except where a person is on �call out� or could be subject to emergency calls. In those circumstances it is expected that the opponent be pre-warned prior to the commencement of the game. 13. In instances where there is a POSSIBILITY that a team may be short the opposing captain should be informed so he can, if he desires, adjust his team. 14. Smoking and use of electronic cigarettes is not allowed whilst participating in a match. The offending player(s) shall receive no further score and the opponent(s) shall receive the maximum score 15 Monday and Friday league clubs cannot vote on rule proposals affecting only Parks League matters. Parks league clubs, in turn, are not permitted to vote on matters affecting only Monday and Friday league clubs Teams who have won a prize to be presented at the annual prize presentation must have a team member in attendance to receive the prize. Failure to comply will result in 50% of any prize money being forfeited. Any forfeited prize money will be include in the annual donation to Warrington hospitals league of friends. RULES GOVERNING LEAGUE COMPETITIONS 1. The Association will organize 3 (three) separate leagues, which shall be known as the 'Monday League�, 'Friday League' and Parks league. Matches should be played on the appropriate day with Tuesday being the designated day for the Parks league. 2. Each league shall be divided into a number of sections, with no section containing more than 10 (ten) teams. The Management Committee shall decide in which sections teams play. In certain circumstances the Management Committee may increase the number of teams allocated to a section to 12 (twelve). 3. Clubs may enter any number of teams in each league, providing they have 'green' availability and sufficient number of registered players per team who can reasonably be expected to complete a full season�s programme of matches. 4. Any bona-fide male member of an affiliated club (minimum age 10 years) shall be eligible to register as a league player. Registration of players shall be allowed up to a date specified by the management committee and notified to clubs by email 5 Late registrations must be submitted by email ONLY to the incumbent late Registrations Secretary whose name and email address is published on the Association website. Late registrations are permitted up to 48 hours prior to the start of the team�s next match Applications by previous section �A� players and equivalent out of town leagues to play in sections below will not normally be permitted The fee payable for a late registration will determined and notified by email to clubs prior to the start of the season Late registrations for teams in sections which are subject to a team handicap allocated at the start of the season will not normally be permitted The Late Registration secretary has the right to refuse a late registration application and a club has a right to appeal the decision to a three man panel made up of at least one Association official , the others being members of the Association Management Committee Late registrations are admissible up to and including 31st July each season See section 20 under cup competitions for separate rules relating to cup competitions New players who have only recently taken out BCGBA membership for the first time, and players who have taken up residence within our area after registrations close can apply for membership during the season but will not be subject to any late registration fees. 6. When completing registration forms supplied by the Association, clubs must indicate for which team each player is to be registered in each league. A player will not be permitted to play for a team other than that for which he is registered without prior permission of the Management Committee. 7. Separate team selections will apply in respect of the Monday and Friday leagues MATCH PROCEDURE 1. Each team shall play each other in its respective section on a 'home 'and 'away' basis and fixtures will be played as far as possible on Mondays and Fridays. (This will not apply to re-arranged matches). 2. Teams will consist of ten (10) registered players in each league (Monday, Friday and Parks). This number will be determined annually at the league Annual General Meeting. The number determined will apply to all league sections (Monday and Friday) No player shall be allowed to play for different teams / clubs in the same league. All league matches shall commence at 7 p.m. with the exception of greens without floodlights. Matches on greens without floodlights the start times are 6.30pm in April and August up to and including 15th August. Matches played 16th August and beyond must start at 6pm and 5 blocks maintained. Turning on of floodlights at the request of the AWAY captain is mandatory for clubs equipped with floodlights 4. No practice shall be allowed on opponents green within 48 hours of a scheduled league game, except to play in a pre-arranged competition or league of another Association, or the AWAY team practice as in item 5 below 5. All games shall be 21 up off level start. Practice is allowed for the home team up to 20 minutes before commencement of the match, at which time the green must be made available for the away team to have 10 minutes practice. 6. Absentees from any match shall not have any score recorded, their opponents being awarded the game 21-0. The sheet must be marked to differentiate between a walkover and a game having been played and won 21-0. The Management Committee shall have the right to allocate the number of points a club shall be awarded if any fixture is not fulfilled. 7. Standard BCGBA approved jacks shall be used in all league and competition matches organized by the Association. 8. Visiting teams shall lead the jack having allowed their opponents the opportunity of seeing the bias prior to delivery. Each club shall be responsible for providing in date standard jacks. 9. The captain of each team shall select four players(except in circumstances where there are no floodlights available and five players are stipulated to start in April and after 15th August) to start the match and the home team shall place those name in the order of play on the match result sheet and turn it face downwards. The away captain should then proceed to enter four names on the result sheet. Game scoring cards can then be written out allowing the match to start. Prior to the completion of the first game the above procedure should be repeated for the second four and so on until the result sheet is completed with either ten or twelve names as appropriate. (N.B. Except in team competition finals when captains must nominate all 12 players, and send their names to the General Secretary no later than 5 days after the Semi-Final has taken place to allow programmes to be printed etc.). 10. Players must play in the same order as written on the official match scoresheet. 11. Any player who is not present when due to play must be replaced by a reserve. If no reserve is available then the game must be forfeited (21-0) and the next game commenced. No player in attendance can be substituted except with the consent of the opposing captain. A member of an original team cannot return once his name has been erased from the team sheet. 12. Both teams are responsible for card marking, which shall be in accordance with BCGBA rules i.e., stand together and check and agree scores every third end. In cases of irresolvable disputes the home card shall be deemed to be correct. 13. A team can only claim points if 4 (four) blocks cannot be maintained on the green. 14. The home team shall be responsible for the appointment of a referee and the supply of a team sheet. 15. Home teams in each league match must post the result on the Association results website within 48 hours of the conclusion of the match or face the possibility of being fined. Fines will be �5 for the first offence and �10 for every subsequent offence. The result entries on the website must mirror the details on the official results sheet. 16. Clubs / teams failing to honour league matches in accordance with the scheduled programme shall be liable to disciplinary action to the extent of having their membership withdrawn, the right of any such action to rest with the Management Committee. Clubs / teams making mutually agreed re-arrangements owing to adverse weather conditions and within the match re-arrangement rules, shall be exempt from this rule provided the General Secretary is notified in advance. 17. Clubs / teams cannot change greens without prior permission is obtained from the Management Committee. This includes any reversal of fixtures. 18. Under no circumstances can 2 (two) matches organized by this or any other league or Association be played on the same green at same time. Failure to comply will result in disciplinary action. 19. The team with the highest number of points accumulated in accordance with section 21 detailing the scoring system during the season will be declared the winners of each league section In the event of a tie for Section winners then the highest aggregate score over the season shall determine the final positions. If league positions are still tied then the most individual winners will be used to determine final positions. In all instances where teams are tied in positions that carry prize monies, then such monies will be divided equally between the teams involved. 20. If a team withdraws from the league at an inconvenient stage of the season the Management Committee shall convene to discuss the options available to the remaining members of the team 21 Home teams must retain the official signed league match score sheets for inspection if required by the Association until 30 th September 22 The away team in Monday and Friday league matches receives a ten point start to be added to the aggregate match score 23 If a third game is required in any section between two teams who play on the same green and have already played home and away � this game must take place on a neutral green. The league general Secretary will allocate the neutral green and email the club Secretary / Delegate with the details. 23 MONDAY & FRIDAY LEAGUE SCORING SYSTEM All away teams in all sections shall receive a handicap start of 10 points and this shall be added to the team total to give their final aggregate score. All away teams in section A shall receive a handicap start of 10 points as well as a team handicap and these shall be added to the team total when calculating their final aggregate score. The match result is determined as follows: - Each individual winner scores ONE POINT. The teams aggregate scores are then totalled and further points awarded as follows: - 2 POINTS for the home team if their aggregate is higher 3 POINTS for the away team if their aggregate is higher If the aggregate scores are level then the home team receives ONE POINT and the away team TWO POINTS. MATCH ARRANGEMENTS 1. Any league or cup tie matches rearranged other than for inclement weather must have a rearranged date agreed in writing between the two teams prior to the date of postponement. The rearranged date must be within 21 days of the original date if taking place after the original scheduled fixture date. The League General Secretary must be informed in writing of the new fixture date by the home team and include a copy of the away teams� written agreement in their submission to the league. In the case of a cup tie the team listed first will be deemed the home team 1a. Teams who cannot fulfil fixtures on a Bank Holiday Monday must inform their opponents in writing on receipt of the fixtures suggesting a minimum of three alternative dates. The League Competition Secretary must be informed as soon as possible and the Management Committee shall adjudicate. 2. Teams failing to fulfil a fixture shall forfeit the match and the league points. 3. Any match postponed or not completed through inclement weather shall be re-arranged for a date within 21 days of the original fixture (except at the end of the season when all re-arrangements must be completed within 7 (seven) days of the date of the final match). Re-arrangements dates shall be by mutual consent with the home team initially supplying the away team in writing with three proposed dates. If teams cannot agree the League Competition Secretary must be informed in writing, by the home team, within 7 days of the original fixture to enable the Management Committee to decide on a date when the match must be played. The period provided for in this rule may be extended by a further 7 days if on the re-arranged date inclement weather again prevents completion of the match. The General Secretary again must be informed without delay. 4. In the event of an uncompleted match being rearranged all completed games scores will stand. If on the rearranged date any of the original team players are not available they can be substituted by a reserve (s). Any uncompleted games will continue from the score at the time of the postponement from a point on the green as near as possible to where the last end was completed. If a reserve takes the place of an absent player in an uncompleted game the procedure will be as outlined above. HANDICAPPING The winners of �A� section in both Monday and Friday leagues will carry an additional penalty of 12 points home and away for the following season. PLAYER OF THE YEAR 1. At the end of the season a knockout competition shall be held for the 'Player of the Year'. 2. The competition shall be open to players from all sections of Monday and Friday leagues that record the most wins in the league programme regardless of the number of matches played. Any games awarded during the season shall count towards the total of most wins. In the event of a tie in any section each player shall be allowed to participate in the competition. 3. The League Competition Secretary will compile a schedule of eligible players� form the results entered in Association results website and publish the schedule prior to the competition date on the website 4. All games shall be 21 up off scratch and be played on neutral greens. GENERAL RULES COVERING ALL COMPETITIONS 1. 5 minutes practice shall be allowed in the event of a previous walkover. 2. Approved standard jacks to be used in all matches. 3. All arrangements for competitions (including fees) shall be left in the hands of the Management Committee. 4. All entries must be submitted on forms provided by the Association. 5. Entry fees will be invoiced to a player�s club prior to the end of season 6. Closing date for entries and dates of each round will be published on the Association website. 7. Minimum entry for all competitions is 16 players (32 for 4 handed competitions) 8. No practice will be permitted on selected greens once the draw has been made, and players drawn to play on greens of which they are a member shall not practice on that particular green within 48 hours of the competition, except for officially pre-arranged matches. 9. Teams or players not reporting to the person in charge of the match within 15 minutes of the advertised time will be scratched, irrespective of weather conditions. 10. Winning captains / or individuals must retain the completed result sheet until 30th September for inspection if required by the Association 11. Winning captains to telephone results to COMPETITION SECRETARY by noon the day following the match. Failure to comply may result in the team being fined and being scratched from the competition. 12. In the event of a team winning a competition which incurs a penalty handicap for the following season (i.e. Challenge, Finlayson, Silcock, Stan Bann and Centenary Trophy) and is also promoted to a higher section with a resultant reduction in section handicap then they will only carry which ever penalty is the greater, i.e. the competition penalty or the reduced section handicap |
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