MACCLESFIELD VETERANS BOWLING ASSOCIATION
RULES
(A Veteran will be deemed to be a bowler who is 58 years of age or over
during the current bowling season)
1. MANAGEMENT
1.1. Our name is Macclesfield Veterans Bowling Association and shall be open to clubs within a reasonable distance of Macclesfield.
1.2. The association shall be affiliated to Cheshire County Bowling association and the British Crown Green Bowling Association.
1.3 Any club wishing to join the association shall submit their application in writing to the secretary and shall be duly proposed and seconded
by two members of the management committee.
1.4. Any club wishing to resign from the association shall do so in writing to the secretary not later than 1st December.
2. OFFICERS.
2.1 The officers of the association shall consist of a Chairman, Treasurer and secretary, all of whom shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting each year. They will hold office until the following Annual General Meeting where they will retire but are eligible for re-election.
3. MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE.
3.1. The management committee shall comprise of the officers of the association and one representative nominated by each of the affiliated clubs. Representatives of the clubs will serve on the committee for as long as nominated by their clubs.
3.2. The management committee shall manage the affairs of the association in accordance with the rules.
3.3. Should an emergency committee be required to deal with an urgent problem it will comprise of the chairman, treasurer, secretary and one management committee member, not being a member from the same club as the elected officers.
3.4 A quorum shall be eight members.
3.5. All management committee meetings will be advised by the secretary of which at least seven days notice will be given.
4. GENERAL MEETINGS.
4.1. The Annual General Meeting of the association shall be held in October each year.
4.2. No business except the approval of the accounts, treasurer's report, secretary’s report, election of officers, scale of charges, honorariums or any business that the management committee may order to be inserted shall be discussed, unless written notice has been received by the secretary at least 21 days before the meeting.
4.3. Any notice of motion for rule amendments or additions from member clubs only shall be notified to the secretary in writing at least 28 days before the Annual General Meeting. Full particulars of such motions shall be stated in the notice convening the meeting.
4.4 All motions which should be proposed and seconded shall be put to the vote at each AGM. each member club shall have a maximum of two votes each.
5. FINANCIAL.
5.1. Annual fees as agreed by the management committee shall be paid to the treasurer by the 30th April each year.
5.2 Monies belonging to the association shall be banked under the Association’s name. Cheque signatories shall be the chairman, treasurer and secretary, of which two signatures are required on all cheques payable. When payments are made online by one official of
the association, confirmation of the payment must be carried out by a 2nd official logging in online to the association’s bank account and verifying the amount paid.
5.3 The expenses of the association, if the annual balance is adverse, shall be borne in equal proportion by each of the member clubs.
5.4 Accounts will be subject to audit on an annual basis.
6. MATCHES
6.1. League matches to be played to a score of 21 points, the visitors to lead the jack.
6.2. A mark shall not be less than 19 metres and not more than 38 metres. Objection to a mark must be made verbally after the first bowl has come to a rest. Only the opponent of the player attempting to set the mark may object.
6.3. All league matches to be played on a Tuesday and commence at 1400 hours and the whole team to be present by 1500 hours. Where clubs have three teams, third teams’ matches will start at 1030 hours and whole team to be present by 1130 hours.
Shortage of players
6.4 If a team is short of players, up to 2 players can be randomly drawn out to play twice. Use of the draw out rule is limited to 5 occasions per team during the season.
6.5 This will apply in all divisions for clubs with only one team, and to the lowest team where clubs have two or more teams in the league. Higher teams must take players from their lower team(s).
6.6 Prior to the commencement of the match, the captain of the team which is short of players will prepare score cards with the names of all their players and place them face down on the table.
6.7 The opposing captain will randomly select one or two of the unseen cards and the player(s) selected will play twice. If drawn out players cannot play then they each lose the 21 points to the opposing team
6.8 The players who have been selected to play twice will play one match in the first four and one match in the second four. The opponent of a player playing his/her second game will be allowed additional practice time of a maximum of four ends.
6.9 A penalty of 5 chalks per player playing twice will be applied to those teams who have to make use of this rule. This will be automatically deducted from the team’s total when the score is entered onto the website.
6.10 Players drawn out to play twice will only have the score of their first game counted towards their league averages. The player’s second game must be clearly marked with a (2) in brackets after their name on the result sheet.
6.11 Home teams to practice up to 13:45 hours. Away teams to practice from 13:45 hours to 14:00 hours. Morning games, home teams to practice up to 10:15 hours. Away teams 10:15 hours to 1030 hours. Away team captains may overlap home teams practice to allow for draws to be made.
6.12 The rules of the British Crown Green association shall govern the play.
6.13 In the absence of an official referee the captains of each team shall officiate as referees whose decision will be final
6.14 Results of each match to be forwarded to the secretary by the home team captain within 48 hours of the end of the match. Any team caught altering result sheets shall be expelled from the league immediately from the date of the offence They will then serve a 12-month
expulsion period from the start of the next season, and then be required to apply for re-election.
6.15 Before canceling a match, the captain of the team wishing to cancel shall contact the secretary giving reasons for requesting a cancellation,
although as a general rule matches may only be cancelled where greens are unfit for play. The secretary shall then inform the opposing captain who will offer two alternate dates for the match to be played to the captain seeking the cancellation. All re-arranged matches for whatever reason must be played within 3 weeks from the original fixture. No rearranged matches shall be played after the end of the season.
6.16 Players shall be suitably dressed and wear appropriate footwear when on the green.
7. PLAYERS.
7.1 Clubs shall submit names of players each season showing their BCCBA and CCBA Registration numbers to the secretary before the commencement of the first league game.
7.2. Additional names may be registered up to 48 hours before the match in which they are required to play, however no additional players may be registered after the 31st July. Additional names must be confirmed showing BCCBA and CCBA Registration numbers in writing within 7 days of request
7.3 Competing teams shall comprise of eight players in league matches and six players in the knockout competition.
7.4. Where a club has more than one team in the association, no player may play for more than one team on the same day.
7.5. Where a club has more than one team in the League, all the registered players are allowed to play four times for the first team and still be eligible to play for the second or third teams.
7.6. A first team player having played up to four games for the first team will only be eligible to play for the second team any time during the season providing he/she has a minus average for the games played with the first team. On the same basis a second team player will
only be eligible to play for the third team providing he/she has a minus average for games played with the second team.
7.7. A zero average shall not be accepted as a minus average.
7.8 A first team player may not play for a third team.
7.9 The 6 players selected by their clubs to play in the league knockout competition will be governed in accordance with the existing rules in paras 7.1 to 7.8 and must have played two League games during the season.
7.10 No player may play for two different teams in the competition
7.11 No player shall practice on the match green on the same day as the competition.
7.12 In the event of a drawn match in the League KO competition, each captain will randomly draw 2 cards from the opposing team to play deciding games of 5 ends. All 6 cards of the players that played the drawn match must be made available for the random draw. In the event of a player being drawn out to play not being available, a score of 10 – 0 will be awarded to the opposing team. Both teams will have a block to start and will receive a total of 10% of the team’s handicap (0 to 0.4 rounded down, 0.5 and above rounded up), which will be added to the total points scored in the play-off. In the event of a tie after the 10 additional ends have been played, the team winning the greatest number of play-off ends will be the winner. Should the number of play-off ends won also be a tie, a toss of a coin will determine the winner.
7.13 Any player deemed to be bringing the Macclesfield Veterans Bowling Association into disrepute will be investigated by the management committee and appropriate measures such as fines or suspension will be enforced. The management committee’s decision will be final and no appeals considered.
8. Cup Competition Rules
8.1 All three cup competitions shall be held in the summer months of June, July and August.
8.2 As far as possible competition venues will be rotated around all club greens. The committee will decide the venues.
8.3 All competition entrants shall be registered bowlers of the Macclesfield Veterans Bowling association and hold BCGBA registration cards and must have played a minimum of two league games in the current season.
8.4 All competitions will be completed within one day with finishing times no later than 5.30pm. The management committee has the authority to set start times and entry levels.
8.5 Fees for cup competitions as agreed by the management committee shall be paid on the day. The management committee will decide the
prize monies.
8.6 No player shall practice on the green on the same day as the competition.
8.7 The MVBA will give to the host club a sum of money, as agreed by the management committee, to enable them to provide free tea and biscuits. At their discretion clubs may provide other refreshments, charge for them, and retain the proceeds.
8.8 Handicaps for competitions – all players to start off at +6, then the following criteria apply:
1) Any player playing in a competition on their home MVBA green will receive a reduction of 2 from their handicap.
2) The winner from the same competition in the previous year will receive a reduction of 3, the runner up will be reduced by 2 and the two losing
semi-finalists will receive a 1-point reduction.
If a player matches both of the above conditions, then all applicable handicaps are applied.
3) Only section 1 of the above handicap rules will apply to the Capper Cup (Pairs competition).
9. Penalties for breaking rules.
Other than the penalty described in Para 6.7 any team or teams found guilty of breaking the association Rules will be deducted 42 points and fined a sum as decided by the management committee that shall be no less than £5.00 and no more than £25.00.