The Constitution of the Hartley Country Club Petanque Section.
January 2006

• Name

• The section shall be registered as a Petanque Club with the English Petanque Association (EPA) at the start of every year under the name of Hartley Country Club Petanque.

• Membership

• Membership of the section shall be available to all Hartley Country Club (HCC) members who have paid in full the required HCC subscription.

• There shall be no limit on the number of members in the section.

• There shall be four categories of membership:

• Full membership - where annual subscription will be the section fee plus EPA registration and applicable club sports fee.

• Playing membership - where annual subscription will be the section fee and applicable club sports fee.

• Social membership - where annual subscription will be the section fee only.

• Junior membership (Under 16) – no section fee but EPA and club sports fee as applicable.

• The secretary will be responsible for distributing the relevant EPA registration forms to the membership.

• The secretary will compile a list of all section members and provide all members with a copy and will lodge a copy with the HCC secretary.

3. The committee

• The section committee shall be made up of seven members of the section. Thecommittee shall comprise of a Chairman, a Treasurer, a Secretary plus four other committee members.

• The committee shall preside for one year starting and finishing with the section AGM.

• The section committee shall be elected by the section as follows:

• A list for the committee positions of chairman, secretary, treasurer and the four other positions shall be posted on section notice board one month prior to the AGM. The names of members willing to stand for these posts should be entered under the appropriate section together with the name of a seconder, who must also be a section member.

• At the section AGM if there is more than one nomination for any of the posts a paper vote will be cast by all members present. If there is only one nomination for each of the posts those nominated will be automatically elected.

• In the event of a tie for any of the posts a re-vote will be taken of the tied names only.

• The committee officers can only serve for a maximum of three consecutive years.

• The committee shall form sub committees to carry out specific tasks, and a member of the main committee shall act as chairman of any sub committee.

• The section secretary shall be responsible for taking minutes of all committee meetings and these minutes shall be posted on the section notice board for the information of all members.

• The section committee shall hold a minimum of four committee meetings during the year.

• A committee meeting shall comprise four committee members to form a quorum.

• General Meetings

• An Annual General Meeting (AGM) shall be held in the January of every year.

• An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) can be called at any time by:

a) The section committee; or

b) A member of the section with the named support of at least 10 members of the section. The proposal or subject matter for which the meeting is being called shall be notified in writing to the Secretary at least 15 days prior to the EGM.

5. Rules for voting

• Voting for proposals shall be made by a paper vote or by a show of hands.

• The proposal shall be considered as being accepted by a straight majority of votes of those attending.

• The presiding chairman of a meeting will hold the deciding vote for any tied vote.

6. Amendments to the Constitution

• No amendments shall be made to the constitution without a formal proposal and voting by the section membership at the AGM or an EGM

• A quorum of not less than 60% of the section membership is required at the AGM or EGM in order that amendments can be made.

• Proposals for amendments to the constitution are to be logged with the secretary not less than 15 days prior to the AGM or an EGM.

• The proposal shall be recorded with a proposer and a seconder who are both members of the section.

• The section secretary shall post all proposals on the section notice board not less than 5 days prior to the AGM or EGM.

• Section Finances

• It shall not be the aim of the section to amass funds that are carried over year to year. The general principle shall be to spend funds for the benefit of all section members on a yearly basis so that the residue of funds at the end of any year is minimal, unless a ‘carry over’ of funds is required for a specific project.

• At every section AGM, the section committee shall propose the annual subscription for the coming year.

• The treasurer shall keep simplified accounts recording income and expenditure, which shall be presented and minuted for every committee meeting. The accounts shall be collated by the treasurer into an overall record of the section accounts and presented at the section AGM every year.

• The section funds shall be included with the HCC central banking system. The section will not hold funds in a separate account.

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HCC Petanque Section - General Information (not part of the constitution)

Amended Dec 2009

Club sessions

• The section ‘club’ sessions for friendly petanque play and practice are held on:
• Tuesday evenings
• Wednesday mornings
• Sunday mornings

League Play

• Members are required to play with registered and calibrated boule for league matches and organised competitions.

• Teams representing the section are entered into the Kent Summer League and a Winter League at the beginning of every season.

• Summer League teams are selected by the main committee, based upon any directives or requirements as discussed and agreed by a majority vote of the members of the Petanque Section.

• The method of deciding on the number of teams and any directives or requirements that the main committee must take into account when selecting the teams is agreed by members intending to play in the leagues at the AGM.

• Each team is managed by a team captain who takes full responsibility for running the team. The captain of each team is elected by team members.

• The team captains are expected to adhere to any requirements agreed at the section AGM and report any concerns to the main committee..

Club Competitions

• Summer and winter competitions are held and organised by a member of the main committee usually helped by a small sub committee. The main competitions are Singles, Doubles, and Triples – a main competition and a plate competition.

• Other competitions may be held when the occasion arises.

Box matches

• Members can enter the ‘boxes’ a monthly competition.

Regional and National competitions

• Teams may be entered for regional or national competitions when the occasion arises.

Exchange visits

• HCC petanque section is twinned with Cauchy A La Tour, a French Petanque club. Meetings are held once a year, alternating between home and away.

The Section AGM

Agenda

• Minutes and matters arising.

• Outgoing chairman’s report.

• Outgoing treasurer’s report.

Presentation of end of year accounts, to be accepted on membership vote.

• Outgoing secretary’s report

• Constitution (chaired by outgoing chairman)

Proposals for changes to the constitution notified in advance. To be agreed on membership vote.

• Section subscriptions (chaired by outgoing treasurer)

Level of subscription for the following proposed by treasurer, discussed and agreed on membership vote.

• New committee (chaired by the outgoing secretary).

Membership vote to establish new committee for the following year.

• Members Proposals (chaired by outgoing chairman).

Proposals must be presented to the secretary 15 days prior to the AGM.

• Any other business

An opportunity for members to put forward topics for discussion that will not require voting by the membership.