Cleveland Constitution 2021/2022
TITLE :
1. The darts body is to be known as the CLEVELAND DARTS ORGANISATION (hereinafter referred to as the C.D.O.) and shall be a Full Member of the United Kingdom Darts Association (hereinafter referred to as the UKDA) and a Full Member of the English Darts Organisation. (Hereinafter referred to as the E.D.O.)
RULES:
2. The C.D.O. shall be governed by the contents of this Constitution.
2.1 Both Cleveland Men’s and Ladies Super Leagues which shall be an integral part of the C.D.O. shall comply with the contents of this Constitution, plus any other rules and regulations laid down in the Super League Playing Rules. The C.D.O. shall comply with the rules and regulations of both the UKDA and the E.D.O .in so far as Membership of those Organisations is concerned.
2.2 All Darts events ran under the jurisdiction of the C.D.O. shall be organised in accordance with the UKDA Playing Rules.
OBJECTIVES:
3. The C.D.O. shall organise and promote all aspects of the sport of Darts within the confines of the former “Cleveland Boundaries”* and shall not organise or promote darts outside of this boundary without the permission of the County effected.
*The Term “Cleveland Boundaries” in this instance shall not be that of a Geographical nature, but those boundaries accepted by the UKDA and any surrounding Counties as an area from which the C.D.O. Super League Teams may play, to the agreement of all parties concerned.
MANAGEMENT:
4.0 The C.D.O. Shall be managed by a Committee.
4.1 The Committee shall be made up of the following:
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:
Chairperson
General Secretary
Treasurer (Optional depending on volunteers/Nominations)
COUNCIL OFFICERS:
Men’s Super league Secretary
Ladies Super league Secretary
Men’s County Team Manager
Ladies County Team Manager
Competition Secretaries
Fundraiser Manager
Stage Managers
General Committee Member
4.2 The Organisation may, should they see fit appoint Honorary Members to their Committee these positions will be awarded in recognition of outstanding services to the Cleveland Darts Organisation and the Sport of Darts.
Any Honorary Members may if they so wish attend any and all Meeting’s of the C.D.O. In a non-voting capacity.
ELECTIONS:
5.0 The Executive Committee Members of Chairman, General Secretary and Treasurer, shall be elected to Office at the Annual General Meeting for a term of Office for Two (2) years. The Men’s and Ladies Super League Secretary’s shall be elected to office at the Annual General Meeting for a term of Office for Two (2) years. The remaining Committee Members shall be elected to hold Office for a Term of One (1) year.
5.1 At the Annual General Meeting all Officers, with the exception of any of the above, covered by the Two (2) year ruling shall retire from office, a retiring Committee Member may re-stand for election without being nominated.
These Committee Members shall be deemed re-elected unless at an Annual General Meeting the number of Committee Members and Nominee’s is greater than the required number of Committee positions.
In this case there shall be a secret ballot, with each Super League Team present being entitled to one vote.
All existing Super League Teams are entitled to vote.
The Organization may from time to time by Ordinary Resolution increase or reduce the required number of Committee Members.
5.2 All nominations for Committee Members shall be made by One (1) Super League team and seconded by another.
All nominations for any of the aforementioned positions shall be duly seconded and submitted in writing to the General Secretary not more than 21 days nor less than 14 days prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting. All nominations must be accompanied with a letter from the nominee showing their willingness to accept the nomination.
5.3 Ballot papers will be issued and shall bear the names of all retiring C.D.O.
Committee Officers who have elected to re-stand, plus the names of any nominee’s
which have been nominated in the correct manner and have given their assurance of their intention to stand as a C.D.O. Committee Officer.
5.4 A first ballot shall be held for the post of General Secretary, Chairman and Treasurer.
A second ballot shall be held for the positions of Men’s Super League Secretary, Ladies Super League Secretary, a third ballot shall be held for the remaining Committee positions. (Numbers decided by the Members)
5.5 Any losing nominee’s standing for the positions of General Secretary, Chairman, Treasurer, Men’s Super League Secretary, Ladies Super League Secretary, in the first and second ballot, may with the permission of the floor be entered into the third ballot for a position of Ordinary Committee Member if they so wish.
5.6 A minimum of Two (2) Delegates shall be elected from the floor for the purpose of scrutinising and counting the ballot papers. Any spoilt papers shall be declared void.
5.7 From their numbers the Committee shall select Two (2) Members to represent Cleveland at the Full Council Meetings of the UKDA AND England Darts Organisation.
5.8 In the event of any Committee Member leaving during their Term of Office, (for whatever reason) the Committee shall be empowered to co-opt new Committee Members to take their place,
5.9 The Committee shall be empowered to appoint members of the Committee and Super League Delegates for the purpose of forming a working Committee to organise particular functions on behalf of the C.D.O.
5.1.0 Any Committee Member considered by the Committee to be failing to carry out his/her elected responsibilities may be asked to resign from Office.
The Committee Officers may also call an Extra Ordinary Meeting to replace any of the Executive Councillor’s if they also fall under the “failing to carry out elected duties” rule.
COMMITTEE OFFICER ROLLS
6.0 Committee Officers shall be paid no remuneration with the exception of an agreement by the Financial Committee and any one of the other Committee Members that out of pocket expenses incurred by any other Committee Member whilst acting on behalf of the C.D.O. (i.e. Telephone, Postage, and Stationary) be reimbursed.
All claims for expenses must be submitted to the Chairperson/General Secretary/Treasurer before reimbursement can be made.
6.1 At the first Committee Meeting following the Annual General Meeting the Committee shall choose from their numbers elected at the A.G.M. People to fulfil the required positions as mentioned in 4.1.
The General Secretary will appoint his/her Assistant; the Chairperson will appoint the Vice Chairperson, from within those numbers with the approval of the remaining Committee Members.
6.2 An appointed Minute Secretary from the elected Committee, shall record the proceedings of all C.D.O. Meetings. These Minutes shall include the number of votes cast both for and against any proposals, together with the number of abstentions.
6.3 A C.D.O. Committee Member may be allocated the responsibility for such activities as Fund Raising; assisting the Competition Secretary in the running of all Tournament’s associated with the Stage Management, Youth Promotion and the compiling of Statistics, Results, and Averages etc.
6.4 Any New Committee Officer must serve one FULL TERM as a Committee Officer before becoming eligible to be elected as a Principal/Executive Officer, unless requested by and agreed by a Majority of the General Committee before his/her first Term is completed.
MEETINGS
7.0 The C.D.O. shall each year hold an Annual General Meeting and shall specify the Meeting venue and time not less than 21 days prior to such meeting, not more than fifteen (15) months shall elapse between the date of one A.G.M. and the next. The purpose of the A.G.M. being to receive accounts, elect the Committee Members for the forthcoming season, to register new teams and to amend any rules if so required.
At an A.G.M. each team will be allowed one vote, Committee Members are not allowed to vote or represent a team from the floor.
7.1 An Extraordinary General Meeting shall be called by the Committee or Committee Member, if the need arises to amend (adding to) this Constitution or to amend Super League Playing Rules, or if during the season an issue which is deemed too urgent or important to wait until the following A.G.M arises.
The purpose of an E.G.M shall be for that relevant issue only.
7.2 Committee Meetings will be held at regular intervals to be decided by the Committee.
On all issues concerning a vote, all Committee Member’s with the exception of the Chairman shall have one vote; in the instance of a tied vote the Chairman would then have the casting vote. No Committee Member may vote by Proxy.
7.3 Delegates Meetings / Super League Meetings will be held at regular intervals to be decided by the Committee.
A Superleague A.G.M will take part at the end of each season prior to the County A.G.M. This meeting will be chaired by the Superleague Secretaries (representing the committee). Any Super League Team wishing to make amendments to the Constitution/Superleague Rules shall put those amendments in writing to the General Secretary not less than fourteen (14) days before the Superleague A.G.M any such amendments received will be placed before the Superleague A.G.M and voted on in the normal way. New teams are not yet accepted and as such have no vote.
On all issues concerning a vote each Super League Team (one team, one vote) with the exception of the Chairman shall have one vote, in the instance of a tied vote the Chairman appointed* for that Meeting would then have the casting vote. No Super League Delegate may vote by Proxy.
* At Super League Meetings a Chairperson will be appointed prior to the start of the meeting.
7.4 In the instance of all Meetings organised by the C.D.O. the Committee will decide the time and venue for such Meetings, giving notice when such meetings will take place and in all cases there must be a quorum of more than 50% of the Committee or Teams present before ANY Meeting may proceed.
7.5 Any item a Delegate may wish to place on the Agenda of either an A.G.M – Delegates or Super League meeting should be in writing and handed to the General Secretary not more than Twenty One (21) days not less than Fourteen (14) days prior to the date of the Meeting.
FINANCES
8.0 The Committee shall be responsible for maintaining the Organisation’s Finance in good order and shall appoint an Auditor and shall present such Auditor with such information required to enable him to prepare a simple income/expense, profit/loss account for the close of the current season’s accounts for the floor’s approval. For Audit purpose the end of the Financial Year shall be 30th June in each season.
The Committee may, should they wish to, form a separate Finance Committee, headed by the Treasurer to manage the Organization’s Finances.
8.1 All monies shall be made payable to Cleveland Darts Organisation or C.D.O and shall be banked into an account of that name, at a Bank or Building Society. All cheques issued must be signed by the Treasurer and any one of another two (2) named Officers of the Organisation.
8.2 The Full Committee Membership shall be empowered at the beginning of each new season to decide the level of Entry Fee’s and how they are to be paid by Super League Teams wishing to join the Super League.
8.3 The Full Committee Membership in considering the League Income, Expenditure and Reserve Balance for County games will decide the Prize Structure which will paid at the end of each season.
8.4 The Treasurer shall be responsible for keeping a record of the financial transactions of the Organisation, and producing a financial report at the end of each season.
8.5 A copy of the Audited Accounts, together with a copy of the Financial Report, must be distributed to all persons authorised to receive then at the A.G.M.
8.6 All Financial records, together with all correspondence relating to the Organisation, remains the property of the Organisation, and not any one (1) Member of the Committee. In the event of a Committee Member leaving the Committee under any circumstances, all such correspondence and records shall be handed back to the C.D.O.
8.7 All Principal Committee Officers shall be empowered to enter into negotiations and formulate contractual arrangements with potential sponsors on behalf of the C.D.O.
All offers of sponsorship arising from these negotiations shall then be brought before the Full Committee Membership who shall be responsible for any Major negotiations carried out with potential sponsors on behalf of the C.D.O.
8.8 In the event of the C.D.O being wound up, the Assets, Funds, Equipment and any proceeds derived from such winding up shall be transferred to another darts body, and not to any Member of the C.D.O.
COUNTY TEAM SELECTION
9.0 The selection of players to represent Cleveland in the UKDA National League shall be done by a selection committee. This committee to comprise
of:
Chairperson
Men’s Team Manager
Ladies Team Manager
Men’s Super League Secretaries
Ladies Super League Secretary
Men’s Team Captain
Ladies Team Captain
Team managers are to put forward their selection for each meeting.
This to be discussed and where required a vote to take place to determine which players are selected to play and which players shall be on reserve.
The Team Managers and Super League Secretaries shall present to the selection meeting all the required playing records and averages for the benefit of the other members.
9.1 The method of selecting a player to represent Cleveland in the National League shall be the use of averages obtained by a player playing in a previous Inter County game, their current Cleveland Super League averages, their current form and their previous availability.
9.2 It shall be the responsibility of the Super League Secretary’s to provide up to date averages to the Team Manager’s as soon as possible prior to a forthcoming Inter County game.
9.3 Only players who are officially registered with the C.D.O Super League shall be eligible for selection onto the County Team.
9.4 In order to be eligible to be selected to play UKDA National League games for Cleveland a Super League Player (Men’s and Ladies leagues) should attend not less than (25%) of Super League games available to them.
This (25%) to be calculated on available games from the date a player signs their registration form and not necessarily the entire Super League season. Also this (25%) to be calculated on a player’s attendance to games, not necessarily playing, as sometimes a player may be present at their game but not selected to play.
9.5.1 Should a player selected for an “A” team place miss a game with a VALID reason then that player shall be considered for an “A” place in the next game, depending upon results. Should an “A” team place not be available then every effort MAY be made to provide a place in the “B” team, this again, dependent upon previous results. If no actual playing places are available then a reserve place shall be made.
9.5.2 Should a player selected for a “B” team place miss a game with a VALID reason then that player shall be considered for a “B” team place in the next game, depending upon results. Should a “B” team place not be available, again depending upon results, the player MAY be named as reserve.
9.5.3 Should ANY player miss a game WITHOUT A VALID reason then every effort MAY be made to find them a place in the team, however, depending upon results this MAY NOT always be possible.
9.6 In all instances of selection, regarding ANY form of dispute the Executive Committee shall have the right to overrule or change any selection they see fit to do so.
9.7 Players representing the C.D.O at Inter County matches, must wear the uniform provided and dress trousers or skirts in either Navy Blue or Black.
Players MUST NOT wear Jeans or Jean type Trousers or Corduroys or Track Suit Bottoms.
Players MUST NOT wear headgear without the express permission of the Committee.
At all times players must conduct themselves as befitting representatives of the CLEVELAND DARTS
ORGANISATION.
9.8 In the instance of an “incident” occurring in an event in which a Cleveland player/team is participating, the respective Committee Member deemed responsible for the C.D.O party shall be empowered to suspend any Player or Official from all activities pending the result of a Disciplinary Hearing.
9.9 The C.D.O shall adopt the procedure laid down by the UKDA Code of Practice on Disciplinary proceedings in any matters concerning the discipline of any C.D.O player or Official.
9.10 The General Committee through their elected Officers will be responsible for Organising and Running of the County Darts Team and hold the final Responsibility for the Super League Rules and Discipline within the Organisation.
9.11 The General Committee through the powers invested in them at the A.G.M be the deliberative body regarding all the Organisations Policies.
All suggestions, enquiries or complaints, should be sent in writing to the General Secretary for consideration by the Committee.
Any items requested to be on the Full Council Agenda Rule 7.5 to apply.
ELIGIBILITY OF PLAYERS AND OFFICIALS
10.0 No person who is, or becomes, a Member or Official of or plays for, any Outside Darts Body other than the UKDA and/or Modern Amateur Darts Ltd (hereinafter referred to as MAD), shall be eligible to be a Super League Delegate or Committee Member, Players from other organisations may play Super League or be selected to represent the National League. They are also available to play in Open Competitions that do not carry any points for the WDF/EDO/Tri Nations events. (PDC associate members are not affected by the above clause)
10.1 The Cleveland Committee shall have the power to declare any Match. Tournament, or Event as an “Open” event to which the rule of Eligibility will not apply.
This power shall be exercisable not withstanding that the Match, Tournament, or Event has already taken place.
Moreover a person shall not become ineligible under this rule as a result of playing in an Event organized by:
A) World Darts Federation and its Members
B) UKDA and its Members
C) Welsh Darts Organisation and its Members
D) Scottish Darts Organisation and its Members
E) Irish Darts Organisation and its Members
F) England Darts Organisation and its Members
G) Independent Dart Players Association and its Members
H) World Professional Darts Council and its Members
I) Irish National Darts Organisation and its Members
J) MAD and its members
K) PDC and its affiliates
10.2 Any dispute concerning the eligibility of any person under this rule may be referred in writing at the insistence of any Officer, League Delegate, or by the person concerned, to the General Secretary for inclusion on the Agenda of a Committee Meeting at any time.
Prior notice of such meeting and the subject matter thereof shall be given to the person concerned and all C.D.O Committee Members, at such meeting the person concerned shall be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
The decision of such a meeting that a person is ineligible shall be found by a unanimous agreement of the Committee.
At any such meeting any written report received by the General Secretary that the person concerned is or has been a Member, Official, or Played for an Outside Darts Body, and that person fails to attend to refute the allegation therein, the Meeting may infer there from that the allegation is well founded, always providing that the person has been given notice of the allegation and the time and place of the Meeting.
I.E. Such items shall not be subject to the normal“3” days notice
10.3 Any person who becomes ineligible under this rule shall remain so for a period of “18” Months.
This period shall commence from the time and date of the offence when he/she was last a Member, Official, or Played for an Outside Darts Body.
10.4 If circumstances arise where a decision is required concerning the “Eligibility” of any person under this rule, prior to a Full C.D.O Committee Meeting being held, then in such cases the General Secretary shall be empowered, after making initial enquiries into the matter, to make a temporary decision pending a final decision being reached by the Full C.D.O. Committee.
10.5 The C.D.O Committee may reduce this time period if they consider it to be in the best interests of the Cleveland Darts Organisation to do so.
QUORUM
11.0 Any Meeting of the C.D.O shall not be quorate for the purpose of decision making unless more than half the people entitled to vote are present at the Meeting.
This ruling shall apply to Committee Meetings, Delegates Meetings and Super League Meetings.
SUPER LEAGUE RULES
12.0 All Super League teams are to play on the UKDA sponsored board (Currently Samurai Mission 2). CDO will supply the first board of the season to all registered Super League teams. Any teams that drop out during the playing season before 75% of the games have been played will be liable to pay back the cost of the supplied board to CDO.
If no payment is received, all registered super league players for the said team will be frozen from playing or registering for Cleveland Super league until payment is received.
12.1 If teams turn up for their game and the board is not in situation you should in the first instance ask for the board to be installed for the game to go ahead. If the home team will not use the board as mentioned in 12.0, the game should not be played. The away team should inform the Super League Secretary of the issue at the earliest opportunity.
12.2 The committee have the authority to overrule any rule changes if it’s in the best interests of maintaining the league.
12.3 If the Super League Secretary deems the issue needs to be reported to the CDO Executive Committee, the Committee will hold a Disciplinary hearing with guidance from the UKDA Disciplinary Board. Sanctions that can be imposed will be the game awarded 9 0 to the away team, possible fine under the UKDA rules. These actions are not exhaustive.
12.4 Super League formats will be proposed and voted on at the AGM, the decision of the vote for that year will be final and Men’s and Ladies’ will play there relevant Super league games under the voted format for that playing year.
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
13.0 The Committee shall be empowered to recommend amendments or additions to this Constitution at any time, the recommendation to be put before a General Delegates Meeting, an Annual General Meeting or an Extraordinary Meeting for a simple majority approval.
13.1 Other amendments may only be made at an Annual General Meeting.
Any Super League Team wishing to make amendments to the Constitution shall put those amendments in writing to the General Secretary not less than fourteen (14) days before the A.G.M any such amendments received will be placed before the A.G.M and voted on in the normal way.
In the case of anything arising within the County of Cleveland, whether it be Rules, Discipline or any other subject not covered within the Cleveland Darts Organization Constitution, County or Super Leagues Rules, in all such cases UKDA/DRA rules will apply.
2021/2022