Constitution of the National Stoolball Association

The current constitution was adopted at an Extraordinary General Meeting held on 9 March 2008.

1. Name

The Association shall be called the National Stoolball Association and shall be deemed a non-profit making organisation.

2. Aims

The promotion and expansion of stoolball in the UK and worldwide
To seek to link together existing associations and to encourage the formation of others
To act as the governing body of the sport
To formulate and interpret the rules of stoolball and to undertake a review every three years.

3. Terms of membership

Affiliated membership: A properly constituted stoolball association or league may become an affiliated body.
Associate membership: Individual clubs may become an associate member. These clubs do not have the right to vote at the Annual General Meeting or any General Meeting, although they can attend these meetings.
Vice Presidents: The title may be conferred at the Annual General Meeting on any person who has given outstanding service to stoolball.

4. Annual subscriptions

Each affiliated body or associate member shall pay an annual fee, the amount to be decided annually at the Annual General Meeting. These fees must be paid to the National Stoolball Association's Honorary Treasurer before 1 April of each year.

5. Officers of the Association

President
Chairman
Vice Chairman
Honorary Secretary
Honorary Treasurer

A minimum of five Executive Officers to carry out specific roles within the Association.

The term of office for each officer shall be for one year and each officer may be available for re-election.

6. Management Committee

The affairs of the Association shall be managed by the Officers and Executive Officers who will operate as a Management Committee. At committee meetings a quorum shall be no less than five Management Committee members and, in the event of a tied vote, the Chairman shall have a casting vote.

The Management Committee shall have power to co-opt additional Executive Officers as and when deemed necessary to carry out specific roles within the Association. Such additional Executive Officers shall serve in this capacity until the next Annual General Meeting at which time they should stand for election alongside the other Executive Officers.

7. General Committee

The General Committee shall consist of the Management Committee (Officers of the Association, Executive Officers and co-opted additional Executive Officers) and an elected representative from each affiliated body or their substitute.

8. Vacancies

If a casual vacancy occurs amongst the officers of the Association by virtue of the death, resignation, suspension or expulsion of a member, then the Management Committee shall have the power to appoint a person to fill that vacancy until the next Annual General Meeting.

9. Accounts

All funds shall be banked with any bank or building society agreed by the Management Committee
The financial year shall end on 30 September and a balance sheet shall then be prepared by the Honorary Treasurer and the books duly examined independently
All cheques, drafts etc drawn on the account(s) shall be signed by any two from three: Honorary Treasurer, Chairman and Honorary Secretary
Inspection of the books and all financial documents may be open to any member upon written request to the Honorary Secretary.

10. Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting must be held before 1 December of each year. Not more than thirteen months shall elapse without a General Meeting being held. The purpose of the Annual General Meeting shall be for:

The election of the President, new Vice Presidents, Officers of the Association and a minimum of five Executive Officers
The presentation of the independently examined accounts
A report on the year's work of the Management Committee
To agree the amount of the annual affiliation and associate membership fees for the ensuing year
To elect the Honorary Independent Examiner.

The agenda for the Annual General Meeting must be sent to each affiliated/associate member ten days before the date set for the meeting.

11. Voting at Annual General Meeting

Each affiliated body representative shall have one vote. Associate members do not have a vote. The President, Vice-Presidents, Officers of the Association and Executive Officers shall have one vote each. In the event of a tied vote, the Chairman shall have the casting vote. In order for an item to be discussed, the proposer and seconder must be present at the meeting.

12. Quorum for Annual General Meeting

The quorum for an Annual General Meeting shall be nine voting members. No motion shall be put to a meeting attended by less than that number.

13. Extraordinary General Meeting

The Officers of the Association and Executive Officers or three Affiliated members of the General Committee shall have power to call an Extraordinary General Meeting. 28 days' notice of the business to be discussed at the meeting shall be sent to all members of the Management Committee and each affiliated/associated body in membership. Such meeting must deal only with the business specified in the request.

14. Amendments to the constitution

Amendments to the constitution shall be approved at an Annual General Meeting or at an Extraordinary General Meeting called for that purpose.

15. Dissolution

A motion for the winding up of the Association may be put at an Extraordinary General Meeting called for the purpose, on appropriate notice in writing to all paid-up members. At such a meeting, at least 75% of the voting membership must be present. Any assets of the National Stoolball Association, after payment of all debts and liabilities, shall be devoted to a purpose(s) designated by the meeting on the agreement of a simple majority.

16. Conduct of affiliated/associate membership

If the conduct of any affiliated/associate organisation shall, in the opinion of the Management Committee, be injurious to the character or interest of the National Stoolball Association, a special meeting of the General Committee shall be called to consider the matter. At least 14 clear days' notice in writing shall be given by the Honorary Secretary to the affiliated/associate organisation in question summoning a representative of the affiliated/associate organisation to attend. Such notice shall contain a statement of the charge against the affiliated/associate organisation. If two-thirds of the members of the General Committee present agree that such affiliated/associated organisation is guilty of the charge, they shall be expelled. Written notice shall forthwith be given by the Honorary Secretary and the affiliated/associate organisation shall thereupon cease to be a member of the National Stoolball Association. They will forfeit all rights immediately.

17. Drug Abuse

The National Stoolball Association undertakes to observe Sport England's policy against drug abuse.

18. Equity Statement

The aims of the National Stoolball Association are to:

ensure that everyone has a genuine and equal opportunity to participate in stoolball at all levels and in all roles, whether playing or non-playing
ensure that all members of the Association receive fair treatment
develop disciplinary procedures to ensure that all members of the Association comply with this statement
continue to research equity issues to identify areas of concern and set goals or targets to enable the stated aims to be achieved

19. Child protection

The National Stoolball Association has a Code of Conduct policy in relation to the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults.

In order to ensure that the Code of Conduct is adhered to, the Association has a Welfare Officer who is responsible for overseeing the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults.

The Welfare Officer will ensure that:

the Code of Conduct is available for distribution to all members
in the event of a member of the Association being accused of abuse, the Association may suspend that person from being connected with stoolball pending an internal or external investigation, as appropriate
criminal record checks shall be carried out on all adults who work, largely unsupervised, with children and/or vulnerable adults.

20. Complaints

All complaints shall be dealt with in accordance with the National Stoolball Association's published Complaints Procedure.