Waterstown Warriors Running Club Constitution.
Article 1.
Name;
The name of this organisation shall be known as Waterstown Warriors and will be affiliated with Athletics Ireland
All club members including committee members, coaches and volunteers shall register annually with Athletics Ireland and will be subject to the rules and regulations of AI
The Club shall register club colours with AI
The club shall be an affiliation with its appropriate County Board and the Provincial Council of Athletics Ireland
Article 2.
Objectives;
The objectives of the above named Club shall be
- To foster and promote all forms of physical activity in particular running, for people of all genders and abilities aged over 18 years.
- To hold Annual General Meetings.
- To offer coaching, friendship and encouragement in all activities undertaken by the club.
- To promote wellbeing within the local community.
- To ensure a duty of care to all members of the club
- To raise funds and invite and receive contributions by way of subscription, donation or otherwise provided that the Club shall not undertake any permanent trading activities in raising funds for its primary objective.
- To provide all its services in a way that is fair, ethical and inclusive
- To ensure that all present and future members receive fair and equal treatment
Article 3.
Membership;
The Membership of the above Club shall consist of all paid up members. Those eligible for membership will be anyone who has reached the age of 18 years and is not a member of any other Athletic Club or Athletic Association. Athletics Ireland (AI) transfer rules apply for those who wish to change to another club or to join Waterstown Warriors from another AI registered club.
The committee shall have the right, for good and sufficient reason to terminate the membership of any person and may by resolution communicated to any member in writing and stating the grounds on which it proposed to act shall call upon that member to resign or withdraw as the case may be. The member in question shall have the right to attend and be heard by the committee before a final decision is taken. If the member fails to attend, or does not resign within fourteen days after being called upon to do so the committee may by resolution terminate the membership.
Termination of Membership.
For further information on termination of membership please refer to the Waterstown Warriors RC Disciplinary policy.
Officers.
The officers of the club shall be Chairperson, vice Chairperson,Treasurer Secretary, Membership secretary, Safety Officer and PRO as a minimum. A committee will be made up of a minimum of 9 people.
Committee members including Officers will be elected annually at the Annual General Meeting.
Committee members including all officers will retire at the AGM each year but will be eligible to stand for re-election
Members of the committee must attend a minimum of 8 meeting per year, Apologies must be sent prior to meetings, where possible.
Any committee member, with the approval of the committee, may form a sub committee, comprising of members of the club and providing that a committee member is on the sub committee
Article 4.
Duties of Officers;
Chairperson;
The Chairperson or in his/her absence a deputy appointed by him/her, or failing such, appointed by the meeting, shall chair all meetings of the Committee or other general meetings. He or she shall be a member of all regular or special committees and shall perform all such other duties as usually pertain to his or her office and will have overall responsibility for the running of the Club.
Vice-Chairperson:
The vice-Chair person deputises in the absence of the Chair person. In the absence of the chairperson, he/she will shall chair all meetings of the Committee or other general meetings. He or she shall be a member of all regular or special committees and shall perform all such other duties as usually pertain to his or her office and will have overall responsibility for the running of the Club.
Secretary;
The secretary shall conduct all official correspondence pertaining to the proper preparation and forwarding of all reports required of the Club. He or she shall notify all members of the Committee of all meetings and shall keep a true record of all meetings of the Committee. He or she shall notify all members of special or general meetings and shall keep and have custody of all books and documents of the Club except those of the Club Treasurer and Membership Secretary.
Membership Secretary:
The membership secretary will administer the records of the club pertaining to all members. He/She will also administer the application process and present any pending applications for membership at each committee meeting. He/She will ensure the timely issuing of membership cards and the issuing of correspondence relating to membership renewals and membership terminations
Treasurer;
The treasurer shall have charge of all funds and deposit such funds in a bank or banks as may be approved by the Committee. Such monies can be withdrawn by cheque signed by the treasurer/ Assistant Treasurer and countersigned by any other authorised member of the committee so designated by the committee. Bank transactions can also be carried out by the Treasurer/ Assistant Treasurer using other methods of banking – bank cards/in-bank transations. The treasurer shall keep an accurate account of all transactions and render a detailed report at meetings of the Committee when so requested. An annual report must be submitted by the treasurer at the annual general meeting of the Club. He or she shall be responsible for all funds such as annual fees, contributions, subscriptions of the Club.
Safety Officer
To advise the club on the requirements, policies and procedures for all aspects of safety and Event organisation. Assist the club to put in place policies and implementation plans for managing safety. Act as the first point of contact for club members, for any issue concerning health and safety within the club. Ensure all accidents and incidents are correctly reported in accordance with guidelines.
PRO(Public Relations Officer):
This person deals with the publicity side of the club. The PRO should attempt to open and maintain lines of contact and relationships with local newspapers and radio stations. A good idea for a PRO to have is a club promotional plan and a social media strategy
Article 5.
Meetings;
The Committee shall meet once a month throughout the year in person. The club secretary shall fix the time and venue of such meetings.
In the event that the committee cannot meet in person, the meeting can be held via a web based video conference/meeting tool on the likes of zoom or microsoft teams as examples. Invite to this form of committee meeting will be sent by the club secretary to committee members email addresses on the day of the meeting.
Quorum;
The Committee shall transact no club business unless a quorum is present. The presence of five or more members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum. Ten shall be the quorum at an Annual General Meeting.
No Quorum;
If within one hour of the appointed time for a meeting a quorum is not present the meeting shall stand adjourned to the next convenient date.
Annual General Meeting.
The Annual General Meeting of the Club shall be held in the first quarter of each year. Notice of time, venue and Agenda shall be given to officers and members by e-mail not less than 21 days prior to the fixed date of such meetings. It is incumbent on all members to keep the membership secretary advised of their current e-mail addresses. Notice will also be posted on the clubs private facebook page and by email. The Committee shall fix the time and venue of such meetings.
Extraordinary General Meetings.
An Extraordinary General meeting of the Club may be held at any time upon the discretion of the Chairperson or upon request of the committee or upon demand in writing stating the object of such a proposed meeting signed by not less than 20% of fully paid up members who retain the right to vote. Notice of time, venue and object of any special meeting shall be given to all officers and members in writing or by e-mail not less than up to 48 hours prior to the fixed date of such meetings. The Committee shall fix time and venue of such meetings.
Business.
The business of the Annual General Meeting shall include;
The minutes of the previous AGM and previous extraordinary general meetings if any.
- The Chairpersons report.
- The secretary’s report.
- Membership Secretary’s report
- The treasurer’s report and presentation of previous year’s accounts.
- Such other business as the agenda may prescribe.
- The election of members at large to the Committee for the forthcoming year.
- Any other business.
Officers other than the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer shall deliver reports if so requested by the Chairperson, or if the secretary should receive in writing no later than 14 days prior to the AGM such a request from any member of the Club. In any event they shall stand ready to answer questions from the floor.
Nominations.
Nominations of candidates for election from the members at large must include the written consent of the member candidate and must be signed by a proposer and seconder who shall be full paid up members of the Club and must be submitted to any member of the committee, to be forwarded to the secretary, up to 24 hours prior to the annual general meeting.
A written list of candidates, their proposers and seconders shall be made available for perusal by members present at the annual general meeting. In the event that insufficient candidates are nominated to fill the vacancies, nominations shall be accepted from the floor. The nominee however must be present and must agree to stand.
In the event that the consentual forms for nominations cannot be given to the secretary in person. The form must be completed, signed by proposer and seconder by email, scanned/screenshot and sent to the Secretarys email. These must be submitted up to 24 hours prior to the AGM.
Voting.
Voting may be by ballot or by show of hands and shall be at the discretion of the Chairperson. In the event of a ballot the chair will nominate two members of the Club, not being nominees for election, to act as tellers. The secretary shall take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that full paid members of the Club shall only vote.
In the event that the voting has to take place via a web based video conference/meeting tool on the likes of zoom/ microsoft teams for example. A poll will be set up on zoom. The Secretary and Assistant Secretary will monitor the voting to ensure all votes counted as necessary.
Article 6.
An officer may be removed by a two third majority vote of the members present at any meeting called for the purpose thereof. No vote on removal may be taken unless 15 days notice in writing has been given to the officer in motion for the officer shall be given a full hearing at such special meeting at which a ballot on his or her removal is taken.
Article 7.
Amendment of the Constitution.
Amendment of the Constitution shall be made at either an annual general meeting or at an extraordinary general meeting. Suggested amendments which are to be submitted for consideration at an annual general meeting shall be forwarded to the secretary in writing not less than 14 days prior to such a meeting and must be supported, either by the Committee, or by a petition signed by no fewer than two-thirds of the club membership. Amendment by means of an extraordinary general meeting shall be conducted according to the provisions of Article 6. In order to be carried, a proposal for amendment of the constitution must be agreed by a two-third majority of members present and voting.
Article 8.
Legislation.
The committee shall have the power to legislate on any matter not provided for in the constitution, and to formulate and promulgate such byelaws, rules, regulations & policies as it may feel necessary or desirable.
Interpretation.
The Committee shall be the sole authority for the interpretation of the constitution and of the byelaws, rules, regulations & policies made there under, and the decision of the committee on any question of interpretation or upon any matter affecting the Club and not provided for in this constitution, shall be binding and final upon each member, but subject to appeal to a general meeting.
Discipline.
For further information, please refer to the Waterstown Warriors RC Disciplinary policy.
Article 9.
Non distribution of income, assets or profits to members.
No part of the assets, income or profits of the Club, however obtained, shall be distributed in any form to the members.
This Clause will not prevent the Club having normal arms-length trading or contract (including employment), arrangements with members, provided that the arrangements are approved by the Committee.
On a winding up or dissolution of the Club the assets or surplus arising shall be transferred to a body, approved by the Committee, having a Constitution with objects and restrictions similar to those set out in this Constitution.
Article 10.
Constitution.
A copy of the Constitution of the Club is available to all members as part of the application and joining procedure. Their signature on the application form is their agreement that they have read and understood the constitution and that they agree to abide by this constitution..
- This Constitution was adopted by the Club at its AGM on the 29th of March, 2017
- This constitution has been updated and approved by the club member at its AGM on the 13th of April 2021.
