Club Constitution

Greenhills Archers Club Constitution

1. The club shall be known as “Greenhills Archers Club“.
2. The club shall be run by a committee, to be elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). The committee shall consist of a minimum of five members, who shall be the club officers, and two other members.
3. The Executive Officers of the club (with the exception of Ordinary Members) shall be elected to their positions for a term of five 5 years and shall be as follows:

• Chairperson, who shall chair all meetings and ensure that equal time is allowed for debate and discussion. Shall advise the Secretary of meeting agenda and shall have a casting vote in the event of a tie. He/she shall pursue resolutions which have been passed and ensure that roles and duties are fulfilled.
• Secretary, who shall be responsible for the clubs correspondence, keeping the minutes of meetings and the keeping of club records and up to date membership lists.
• Treasurer, who shall be responsible for the clubs finances and the submission of an annual financial report to the A.G.M. He/she will also be responsible for the co-ordination of the clubs fund raising events.
• Ordinary Members, there shall be two Ordinary Members elected to the position of Executive Officer bi-annually.

4. The Non-Executive Officers of the club shall be as follows:

• Safety Officer, who shall be responsible for all matters relating to safety.
• First-Aid Officer, who shall be responsible for ensuring an adequate first-aid box is maintained and an incident report book is kept.
• Equipment Officer, who shall be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep and keep stock of the clubs equipment and assist members with the maintenance of their equipment.
• Children’s Officer, who shall be responsible for all matters relating to the welfare and safety of the clubs junior members and assume the role of “Junior Voice” at Committee level. He/she shall keep a record of any incidents involving junior members and maintain an up to date contact list of the parents/guardians of the junior members. This person must have undertaken the relevant training for this role.
• Designated Person , who shall have the responsibility of ensuring that all procedures as laid out in the Code of Ethics are adhered to and shall act as liaison between the club and the relevant authorities in the event of any incident occurring. This person must have undertaken the relevant training for this role.
• Coaching Administration Officer, who shall be responsible for the co-ordination of the clubs coaching programmes and beginners courses. He/she shall develop an annual schedule with the clubs coaches and Secretary. Public Relations Officer, who shall be responsible for press releases and all other media contact for the club.

5. The Committee shall meet at least at quarterly intervals. Additional meetings may be called by any of the club Officers at the request of any member. In order for such meetings to be considered quorate they must be attended by a minimum of two thirds 2/3 of the Committee members.
6. The committee shall have the power to make rules for the safe operation of the club and to discipline members for breach of those rules. Any member may bring a disciplinary matter to the attention of the committee. Any disciplinary action taken against any member shall be at the discretion of the committee and may include suspension, expulsion from the club and possible reporting of the matter to A.I.
7. The Safety Officer or Committee shall appoint a field Captain for each competition or practice session. All members must obey all signals or instructions given to them by the field captain.
8. All members shall be responsible for the safety of their own equipment. Committee members and the field captain shall have the right to inspect members’ equipment at any time, to bring any defects to the member’s attention and to caution them about shooting such equipment if it is considered unsafe.
9. Membership of the club shall be limited to those of ten 10 years and over. (Younger members may be allowed at the discretion of the committee)
10. Members shall be divided into two categories, Junior and Senior, which in turn will be divided into Youth/Cadet/Junior and Senior/Master as per current A.I. and World Archery guidelines.
11. The Committee shall have full discretion over who may be admitted to membership of the club.
12. All members shall abide by the constitution, and also by such rules as the committee may make for the running of the club.
13. All members shall have access to a copy of this constitution, and a copy of the club rules, at all times.
14. All members shall pay an annual club membership fee. This fee shall be payable before the 31st of November each year and will cover the period from December to November inclusive. New members joining after the 1^st of June shall be required to pay only half the set membership fee, which will cover the period from June to November inclusive. Separate fees shall be charged for senior and junior members. Fees each year shall be decided at the preceding AGM. All members shall be notified of due fees. Late payment of fees shall be at the discretion of the committee, (Amended at AGM 2013 to comply with new Archery Ireland Membership rules.)
15. An annual general meeting shall be held, at a suitable venue, in the final quarter of each year. All members, over the age of eighteen 18 and in good standing, shall be eligible to attend and vote. The primary purposes of this meeting shall be the election of Officers, the setting of fees and to allow for the Chairperson to deliver the annual financial report as provided by the Treasurer and technical report as developed in consultation with the Secretary and Coaching Officer.
16. The secretary shall give all members 28 days’ notice of an AGM. All nominations for election to the committee, and all motions to be put before the meeting, must be submitted in writing to the secretary at least 7 days before AGM. The secretary shall circulate an agenda, which shall include the nominees and motions submitted, before the AGM begins.
17. The AGM shall be asked to adopt the minutes of the previous AGM. This may be done by a show of hands.
18. The AGM shall elect a committee for the following year. Only persons nominated in advance of the meeting may normally be considered for election, but in the event there is no prior nomination, the chairperson may ask for nominations from those present. Nominations shall be for the offices of Executive and Non-Executive positions to the committee. Where only one person is nominated to a post, they shall be declared elected, subject to the approval of the meeting. Where there is more than one candidate to the post, a vote shall be held by secret ballot. The secretary shall distribute ballot papers for this purpose. The person gaining most votes shall be declared elected. In the event of a tie, the matter shall be balloted again until resolved.
19. The AGM may propose amendments to this Constitution which may be passed if approved by a two thirds 2/3 majority of those members in attendance. Voting shall be by a simple “show of hands”.
20. The AGM may consider other motions, which shall be voted on by a show of hands and shall be deemed passed if a majority is in favour.
21. In the event of the dissolution of the club (I.e. the club ceasing to exist) no individual club member may benefit materially or financially from such dissolution. If such an event takes place, the assets of the club must be transferred to another organisation with similar interests and activities. (I.e. another archery club) Articles 22 and 23 added in January 2013 to comply with banking regulations.
22. All responsibility for the management of the CLUB bank account and related finances shall rest with the Committee. Decisions regarding the use of these funds shall also rest with the Committee. Details of how these funds have been used shall be shown in the Treasurers report at the A.G.M. each year.
23. Signatories on the Club bank account shall be: The Chairman, The Secretary, The Treasurer and the President. Any two signatures from the four shall be required on all cheques issued by the Club and for any withdrawals from the account.