RULES
1. The League shall be called the "Torquay Skittles League". The League's year shall be from 1st June, to 31st May.
2. The objects of the league are to encourage the playing of skittles and to foster fellowship among the skittlers.
3. A Member of the League shall be a paid up Member of a registered team of the Torquay Skittles League.
The affairs and conduct of the League shall be managed by a Committee consisting of the Chairman who shall be ex officio, the Treasurer, the Secretary, the Assistant Secretary, Vice Chairman, Press Secretary together with a maximum of 30 other duly elected current Members of which a maximum of 3 players from any one team shall be elected to serve. The Committee shall meet when and as required.
4. The Committee shall be the deciding factor in any dispute (where details have first been submitted to the Secretary in writing) as well as in the interpretation of the Rules and Regulations and all other League matters.
5. In the event of the League acquiring freehold or leasehold assets the assets shall be vested in four trustees who shall be elected at the A.G.M. or any E.G.M.
6. The Officers and all other Members of the Committee shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting and deal with matters not expressly provided for in the Rules and Regulations and shall have the power to fill all vacancies on the Committee which may arise during the year.
7. The Annual General Meeting of the League shall be held not later than 30th June of each year. The Committee or 30% of the teams in the league shall be empowered to call any Extraordinary General Meeting which they may deem necessary.
8. An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called by giving 28 days clear notice in writing to the Secretary of the League and the secretary of each team. In the event that such Meeting is called for the purpose of considering a proposal to amend the Rules or Regulations then the notice given must contain details of the proposed amendments.
9. All teams must send at least one representative to the A.G.M. and any E.G.M. and may have a maximum of two voting delegates. Failure to provide at least one representative will result in a fine as stipulated in the regulations.
10. The Chairman will take the chair at all General and Committee Meetings. In the absence of the Chairman the Vice Chairman shall take the chair. 50% of the Members of the Committee shall form a quorum at all Committee Meetings.
11. (a) The Treasurer shall pay all the monies received into an account or accounts in the name and under the control of the League at the Trustee Savings Bank plc Torquay or such other Bank as the Committee may from time to time determine, and shall pay any account passed by the Committee by cheque to be signed by any two of the Chairman, Secretary or Treasurer.
(b) The Treasurer shall arrange with the League's Accountant to audit the Balance Sheet of receipts and expenditure for presentation to Members at the Annual General Meeting.
12. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to attend to all correspondence; record the proceedings of the Committee and General Meetings in a Minute Book, together with a record of the names of those present at each Meeting.
13. A current list of Members of the league shall be held by the Press Secretary.
14. Notification of the names of teams wishing to continue to play in the League together with the name and address of home alley and Secretary shall be sent to the Secretary by the 31st March each year for registration. Each team shall provide to the Secretary notification of the Members names together with their signatures for registration by the 31st July each year, together with the appropriate registration fee as stipulated in the regulations.
(a) A Member may only play for the Team for which the Member is registered.
(b) A Member may be transferred from one team to another, prior to 31st December each year by signing and sending to the League Secretary a Transfer of Registration form which shall give the Members name and the name of the team that is being left and the name of the team that is being joined. The Member may only play for their new team after the League Secretary has notified both team secretaries of the transfer.
(c) A person may become a Member after the 3lst July, by signing a Registration Form which shall give the name of the new Member and the name of the team that the new Member is to join.
In both cases, the duly completed form must be in the hands of the Press Secretary at least 24 hours before the start of any match in which the Member is to play.
15. New Teams to the League will be accepted on a "first come first served" basis but only when an existing team leaves the League.
16. There shall be no limit to the number of Members a team may register, and a club, public house or whatsoever else may enter a number of teams.
17 The Committee shall have the power to accept or reject any application to join the League. The minimum age of any Member shall be 14 years.
18. Any person having a grievance or complaint to make in connection with the League or any other matter of concern must state it in writing to the Secretary.
19. In the event of any Member being reported as guilty of any violation or acting in any way detrimental to the interests of the League, the Committee shall be convened, and an inquiry held to decide if there is cause for suspension or expulsion.
Each team shall be responsible for the conduct and behaviour of the members of their team. In the event, where the conduct or behaviour of the team or any member thereof, is considered to be detrimental or injurious to the League, the Committee shall have full powers, in addition to any action taken against any individual member, to take disciplinary action against the team. Such action may involve the imposition of a fine up to £25.00, the deduction of League points or elimination from Cup competitions and/or the suspension or expulsion of the team from the League.
The Committee shall have full powers to terminate or suspend the Membership of any person who fails to comply with the Rules or the Regulations of the League or whose general conduct in the opinion of the Committee is injurious to the character or interests of the League. The Committee shall reserve the right to terminate or suspend such Member without explanation to the League Member or his/her team or its representatives.
20. Any Member may resign Membership by Notice in writing to the Secretary of the League and the Secretary of the registered Team of that Member.
21. Any member resigning, or having Membership terminated or suspended shall forfeit all rights or claims upon the League, its property or funds and the right to play in the League.
22. The Rules and Regulations may only be altered at the Annual General Meeting or by an Extraordinary General Meeting called for that purpose and a majority of two thirds of those voting shall be required to carry a proposal to amend the rules, but a simple majority only shall be required to carry a proposal to amend the regulations.
All proposals to amend the rules and regulations at the Annual General Meeting shall be received by the Secretary, duly seconded, in writing before 28th February and the Secretary of each team in the League shall be notified by the Secretary in writing of the proposals by 31st March and any amendments to the proposals shall be in writing and received by the Secretary by the 30th April.
23. No proposals or amendments to proposals will be received at the A.G.M. unless complying with the requirements of Rule 22 except proposals or amendments which the Committee in their absolute discretion shall deem necessary in the interests of the League.
24. All matters not provided for in the Rules or Regulations may be dealt with by the Committee who may refer them to the next General Meeting, or, if urgent, may make a decision and such decision shall be final
REGULATIONS
1. Each team taking part in any match shall consist of 8 members, each of whom shall personally sign the score card. The complete scoring record of each member shall be shown opposite to the signature of the member. Each captain will be responsible for ensuring the details are correct on the score card and shall check and sign to confirm the match scores and result. Failure to comply will make the offending team(s) liable to a fine of £10.00.
2. Matches will start at 8.15 p.m. sharp, unless otherwise stated by the Secretary. It is the responsibility of both captains to ensure that matches start on time and that the score card is signed by the Members before match commences.
3. Captains shall ensure that the score is correct on the scoreboard and the card at all times and it shall be confirmed as correct at the end of each leg.
4. Any team playing a non Member or a Member registered for another team, or a Member who has not complied with the requirements of Rule 14 shall be fined £10 in respect of each such member and lose any points gained in the match, which shall be awarded to the opposing team or shall be disqualified from any cup competition with opposing side progressing to the next round.
5. If a selected Member of any team is not present at the time of starting, the captain can bring in another Member registered for that team, but this person must continue to play throughout the game. If no other Member registered for that team is present, then the team must play one short. If the selected Member makes an appearance after the game has started the Member will not be eligible to play.
6. If a selected Member with a legitimate excuse wishes to "play off his legs" the Member may do so at the start of the match but only one member per side in a match may do so and then only with the consent of both Captains.
7. The Captains and only the Captains shall be the deciding factor in any dispute during a match and other team Members shall be silent.
8. Two Members of the Nonthrowing team shall be responsible for the standing up of the skittles.
9. Match fee of £1.50 shall be paid by each player of which total sum £6.00 will be paid to the Home alley and £18.00 to the League. The home team shall be responsible for the payment to the proprietor of the alley of the requisite alley fee.
10. In the event of a team failing to be represented at the Annual General Meeting or any E.G.M. by a Member registered for that team then that team shall be fined £10.00.
11. Fees: -Registration Fee referred to in Rule 14 shall be £40 per team per annum. Failure to submit the member’s registration card or failure to pay the registration fee by the date stipulated in Rule 14 shall result in a fine of £10 to the team concerned.
League fee are payable on the 1st December £162.00 (Divisions 1, 2, 3 & 4 ) & £144.00 (Division5) Failure to pay such fees by the stipulated date shall result in a £10.00 fine. If the League fee is not received by 31st December, in addition to the fine and until such time as the fee is paid, the team will lose any points gained in a League match and be disqualified from any cup competition with the opposing side being awarded the points or progressing to the next round.
In respect of cup matches, the away team shall pay to the home team the sum of £12.00 at or before the termination of the match. Failure to do so shall result in a fine of £10.00 for the team concerned. The home team shall send the cup fee of £18.00 together with the score card to the Treasurer within 72 hours of the completion of the match. Failure to do so shall result in a fine of £10.00.
12. Score Cards Home Captains shall be responsible for sending score cards to the Press Secretary. The score cards shall be in the hands of the Press Secretary within 3 days (72 hours) of matches being played. Teams that play on Friday shall be allowed until first post the following Tuesday morning. Failure to return score cards within the stipulated time will make the offending team liable to a fine of £10.00.
13. All fines imposed on Members or teams shall be paid within 21 days of notification in writing of the imposition of the fine.
14. Any Appeal in respect of the fine will be made in writing to the Secretary within seven days of receipt of the notification of the fine. And in such case, payment of the fine shall be deferred pending resolution of the Appeal, but in the event of the fine being affirmed, it shall be payable within seven days of receipt of notification that the fine has been affirmed.
15. In the event of any fine not being paid within the stipulated time, then the Member or team concerned shall be suspended from the League until such time as the fine is paid.
16. Any matches which were due to be played by the team during the period of suspension will be awarded to the opposing team, and in the event of a League match, the opposing team will receive the two points, and in the event of a Cup Game, the opposing team will progress to the next round of the Cup in question. All League and alley fees remain due and payable by the suspended team.
17. All alleys to be marked with lines to define throwing area and all players to have both feet within the throwing area at the time ball is delivered. Should the front foot touch the foot line, it will be deemed a 'No Ball'. In the event of a no ball the pins knocked down will not count and will be replaced on the diamond. The opposing team must supply a person as line judge for each leg and this line judge to pay particular attention to the player's delivery of the ball as well as the "line".
18. All pins outside the diamond to be out of play.
19. All alleys, Pins, Balls and the size of the diamonds to be approved by the Committee and shall conform to the following regulations:
.1 Minimum length of 28.5ft from head pin to the back of the throwing area.
.2 Throwing area to be at least 6ft in length.
.3 Diamonds must have a ball clearance of 1.5in between each pin and there must be a 1.5in line around the outside of the pins.
20. The winners of a match shall be the team that scores the highest aggregate score over six legs. In a League match the winners shall be awarded two points, and in a Cup Match the winners shall progress to the next round of the Cup. In the event of a draw in League Matches, each side shall be awarded one point, and in Cup Matches a further "leg" or "legs" will be played until one side totals a higher aggregate score than the other.
21. If on the completion of the League Fixtures, two or more teams are equal in match points, then those teams who are equal in match points in a position for Championship or Runners up of their Division or alternatively relegation from their Division, shall playoff on neutral alleys. Such venues to be decided by the Committee.
22. A team that wins the League Division One title for three successive seasons will receive a replica of the League Cup.
23. The winners and runners up of Division Two, Three, Four & Five, will be respectively promoted to Divisions One, Two, Three & Four.
24 The bottom two teams in Divisions One, Two, Three & Four will respectively be relegated to Divisions Two, Three, Four & Five.
25. Teams are no longer allowed to postpone any games. In the event of a team cancelling a match, or otherwise failing to fulfil any fixture, the offending team will be deemed to have forfeited the match and shall be liable to a fine of £5.00 in addition to the fees. When both captains consider it irresponsible to travel in bad weather conditions, i.e. ice/snow, such cancellations should not incur a fine. If the Secretary is unable to re-arrange a match then each team should be awarded one point, as a drawn match, and the fees waived.
26. All Team Cup Competitions will be played on a "knockout" basis with the Semi-Finals and Finals being held on Finals' Day. There shall be such competitions for the Gordon Stone Challenge Cup, the Channon & Co. Cup and The Roy Perry Trophy and such other Cup or Trophy as the Committee shall from time to time decide.
27. There will be no rearrangement of Cup Matches. In the event of a team wishing to cancel a Cup Match, it will be responsible for the full amount of the League and Alley fees and for advising the League Secretary, the opposing team Secretary and the alley proprietor concerned in writing at least 72 hours before the match is due to be played. Failure to comply with this will result in a £5.00 fine in addition to the fees. Entries for each of the Cups shall be submitted to the Treasurer by the 3lst July in each year, together with an entry fee of £3 per team per competition.
28. The Committee have the power to reject any entry to any Cup Competition and no Member can play for more than one team in any Cup Competition.
N.B. In the event of a transfer, a player will not be eligible to play for his new team if he has already played in that particular cup competition for his previous team.
29. Any team winning a Competition for three consecutive seasons will receive a replica of the Cup or Trophy awarded for that Competition.
30. The Committee will on behalf of the League enter such Championships as it from time to time deems appropriate, and appoint a Captain who will have the ultimate responsibility for the team. The team for such competitions will be selected from the ten highest average scorers in the League who have played a minimum of twelve League Matches by the 10th April in each year and who are available for selection.
A selected player must confirm availability to the secretary for both DevonCounty and South Devon competitions in order to be eligible. Non-attendance of a selected player after confirming their availability will render that player being reported to the committee regarding his/her eligibility for future seasons
31. The Committee shall determine from year to year what if any individual or teams' trophies shall be awarded in respect of the highest scores on any particular alley. In the event of a tie for any such Trophy, there will be a playoff and the runners up will receive a memento.
32. Honorariums of £400.00 each to be granted to the Secretary, Treasurer and press Secretary. An Honorarium of £275.00 shall be granted to the Assistant Secretary.