1 CONSTITUTION

1.1 MANAGEMENT

1.1.1 Cambridgeshire netball shall be played under the rules of the All England Netball Association. England Netball

1.1.2 With the approval of Cambridgeshire Netball Association County Committee (CNACC), all Cambridgeshire leagues shall be governed by a committee consisting of appropriate appointed officers and one voting representative per team.

1.1.3 Each league shall be organised and administered by a League Management Committee (LMC), the officers of which shall be elected at the relevant League AGM.

1.1.4 The Chairperson/Vice Chairperson of the CNACC shall be an ex-officio member of each LMC.

1.1.5 Where it is not possible to convene a meeting of the full LMC for a particular decision to be made, an Emergency Committee consisting of the Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer shall decide. Their findings shall then be put to the full committee for ratification.

1.2 AFFILIATION

1.2.1 All teams wishing to enter the leagues must pay their County affiliation prior to the commencement of the leagues. (see penalties)

1.3 AGM/COMMITTEE MEETINGS

1.3.1 An AGM shall be held once per year, 28 days notice of the AGM will be given.

1.3.2 The Quorum for an AGM shall be 30 members

1.3.3 Two representative from each club must be at the AGM to enter their respective leagues for the following AENA year (1^st September to 31^st August). (see penalties)

1.3.4 All general meetings other than AGM's shall be Extraordinary General Meetings (EGM)s. The CNACC may, whenever they think fit, convene an EGM. EGM’s may also be convened by no less than 50 members of the Cambridgeshire Netball Association.

1.3.5 There shall be no less than 2 committee meetings per year.

1.3.6 All clubs must appoint a league representative for each team participating in the league. Each team may then send one voting representative to a league meeting. Consult league rules for any penalties for non-attendance.

1.3.7 The quorum for a league meeting shall be one third of all teams.

1.3.8 A league EGM shall be convened by any league secretary at any time by order of the committee or upon receiving a written request by at least two teams from different clubs. Such a meeting shall be convened within 28 days of receiving such a request.

1.3.9 One person from the County coaching personnel has a voting right at CCNAC meetings.

1.3.10 Committee members should receive an appropriate monetary recompensation for attending committee meetings.

2 STRUCTURE OF THE LEAGUES

2.1 MANAGEMENT

2.1.1 The construction of the leagues shall be decided by the appropriate committees at the start of each season. League tables shall be drawn up at the end of the season which will determine the promotion and relegation of the teams involved.

2.1.2 Any team refusing to take up its appropriate position in the leagues will be barred from league competition for one year. Thereafter, their application to join their appropriate league shall be considered in the normal way. If a team is unable to take up it’s position through extenuation circumstances, this will be dealt with at the discretion of the relevant LMC in liaison with the CNACC.

2.1.3 The position of a new team may be assessed at the discretion of the relevant LMC utilising a play of if deemed necessary.

2.1.4 A new team shall be defined as a team with less than five original members of a previous team or at the discretion of the LMC if deemed appropriate.

2.1.5 Where a club has more than one team, it must name seven first team members and when appropriate seven second, seven third etc. team players. All players must be named to a team and registered with the LMC prior to playing. A named player may play down in the team immediately below once per season but may not return to her former team for the following two league matches. If she plays down more than once, that player is deemed a member of the lower team and will not be permitted to play up for the remainder of that season.

2.1.6 Only one named player may play in the team immediately below at a time.

2.1.7 If a player plays up for 2 full consecutive league games she will be deemed to be a named player of that particular team.

2.1.8 The relevant league secretary must be informed, in writing, of a proposed change in named players before the relevant fixture. The number of times a team may make such changes will be at the discretion of the LMC. (Section 2.1.5 – 2.1.7 see penalties)

2.1.9 Amy player may play in the county leagues provided that she fulfils the affiliation rules laid down by AENA and the league rules as approved by the leagues and the CNACC.

2.1.10 A maximum of 12 players may operate on each league date. The squad may include the umpire as a substitute provided that she is affiliated to that club and is of the appropriate standard for that league. The substitute umpire must hold an equal or higher qualification than the one she is replacing. However, any change in umpire during a match can only take place with the prior agreement of the two captains.

2.1.11 Fixture tables shall be drawn up by the LCs. Winter league fixtures should be completed before the AGM. Summer league fixtures should be completed before the end of July. LMCs must not schedule matches on County fixture days without the prior consent of the CNACC.

2.1.12 Players registered to play in both feeder and non feeder leagues will not have to pay the County proportion of the affiliation for the non feeder league.

2.2 PREMIER LEAGUE

2.2.1 The Premier League (PL) is considered to be the premier division of all feeder leagues. Therefore no team may enter both the PL and a feeder league concurrently.

2.2.2 The PL shall consist of a minimum of 8 teams.

2.2.3 The winners of the appropriate feeder leagues shall be promoted to the PL.

2.2.4 Relegation shall be at the discretion of the PL committee.

2.2.5 Each team shall name seven players for the PL.

2.3 FEEDER LEAGUES

2.3.1 Clubs may enter any number of teams in the leagues.

3 RULES

3.1 All matches will be played in accordance with the current rules of AENA.

3.2 A player may represent one club at a time. A player may move only once during a season and must re-affiliate to the County through the new club. The player may not then return to the original club in that season.

3.3 A layer who is not affiliated to AENA may play as a guest player once in a season. If she wishes to play again for the same team or a different team, she must be affiliated to the County before the next match. The name of the player must appear on the scorecard with ‘GP’ marked next to her name. Only one guest player may be used in a team at any one time. (see penalties)

3.4 All games must start within 5 minutes of the agreed start time.

3.5 All teams are expected to provide a regulation ball and set of bibs.

3.6 Clubs must pay the specified entry fee to the appropriate league Treasurer by the date laid down by the league.

3.7 The signatures of named players, where appropriate, must be sent to the relevant league Secretary by the date specified by the LM. (see penalties)

3.8 No player may participate in a league game of netball whilst she is pregnant.

4 LEAGUE POSITIONS

4.1 League positions shall be determined by the awarding of points as laid down by the appropriate LMC. Consult your league Rules.

4.2 League tables shall be compiled in descending order of points obtained. Where point are equal, the team with the superior goal average will assume the higher position. Where points and goal average are equal, the team scoring the most goals will assume the higher position. Where all the foregoing is equal, the teams will share equal positions.

4.3 Goal average will be calculated by adding the number of goals for and against and dividing the former by the latter and dividing again by the number of matches played.

4.4 In the event of a draw, any goals scored for or against a defaulting team will be deleted from the clubs concerned.

5 APPOINTMENT OF UMPIRES

5.1 All clubs must provide a qualified umpire. A side without an umpire must withdraw a player, suitably qualified, to umpire.

5.1.1 Where pool umpires are used consult your league rules.

5.2 Umpires must be qualified to the standard laid down by the relevant LMC. Consult your league rules. (See Penalties)

5.3 Umpires are expected to conform to a standard of physical fitness which allows them to keep pace with the speed and variability of the game. If age, injury or pregnancy is likely to affect the umpire’s movement and positioning to the detriment of the game, she/he is required to withdraw from officiating. It is strongly recommended that pregnant umpires do not officiate beyond the 20^th week of pregnancy.

6 RESULTS

6.1 Results must be confirmed on an official scorecard provided by the relevant league, within seven days of the fixture.

6.2 Teams are responsible for ensuring that the result cards are filled in correctly (consult your league rules) i.e.:

• That the scores are correct
• That each participating player has signed the card, including substitutes (indicating portion of game played ½, ¼, ¾, ) and guest players (indicating GP)
• That the umpires have signed the card, stating their qualification.
• That the card is received by the relevant league official within seven days, or that proof of posting within seven days is provided. (see penalties)

7 CANCELLATION OF MATCHES

No match may be cancelled except for snow, ice, fog or thunder and lightning, or special circumstances at the discretion of the relevant LMC. In the event of such a cancellation, the fixture shall be re-arranged on a date agreeable to the teams concerned. The relevant league Secretary must be notified in writing within one week of the original fixture. If such a date cannot be found, no points will be awarded to either team. If there are any disputes, the LMC shall be the final abiter. Matches may be abandoned only by mutual agreement. The scores at the time of abandonment will stand.

8 MISCONDUCT

If a complaint regarding the conduct of a club or player is made, this will be investigated on receipt of the complaint in writing, accompanied by any relevant evidence, by the appropriate LMC. If misconduct is found to have occurred, a club may have points deducted or, in exceptional circumstances, may be suspended or expelled from league competition. The affected club/player will have the right of appeal to the CNACC, whose final decision shall be binding.

9 PENALTIES

1.2.1	Loss of any points for matches played before the payment of affiliation.
1.3.3	Clubs failing to send two representatives to the County AGM will not be allowed to participate in any county affiliated league for the following AENA year.
2.1.5 - 2.1.7	Points will be deducted for the relevant matches.
3.2 - 3.7	Points will be deducted for the relevant matches.
5.2	Points will be deducted for the relevant matches.
6.2	One point will be deducted for failure to comply.

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