BRISTOL COUNTY POOL ASSOCIATION

CONSTITUTION AND PROCEDURES

The Organisation shall be called "BRISTOL COUNTY POOL ASSOCIATION" herein known as BCPA. It shall affiliate itself to the English Pool Association (EPA). It shall agree to be bound by the terms laid out in both this Constitution and the Constitution of the EPA. BCPA is formed for the purpose of promoting the game of pool amongst all playing members throughout Bristol.

 

 

COMMITTEE

 

·         The BCPA shall elect a Committee to manage all business appertaining to the BCPA.

·         The Committee shall consist of nine (9) officers: Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Regional Delegate, Trials Manager and 4 Team Managers (Men's A, Men’s B, Ladie’s & Youth’s).  It is possible for a committee member to hold more than one post.

·         All officers of the Committee will hold office for a period of one year. All retiring officers will be eligible to stand for re-election.

·         The Committee will appoint any member to fill any vacancy that may occur prior to the Annual General Meeting.

·         The Committee shall have full authority to make any decision that is deemed necessary or beneficial to its members.

·         Upon receipt of a request by at least two thirds of the members of the General Committee, the Secretary shall be empowered to call an EGM.

 

 

MEMBERSHIP

·         Membership of the BCPA will be open to all pool leagues that play in Bristol.

·         The Committee reserves the right to refuse membership to any league or individual person for any reason they deem to be injurious or harmful to the BCPA.

·         The affiliation fee to BCPA will be arranged at the AGM every year to be paid on a set date. Failure to comply with this will result in non-affiliation to the BCPA.

·         Only fully paid up members will be eligible to enter any closed competitions organised by the BCPA.

·         Any player playing in an affiliated league will be entitled to compete in the County Trials with a view to becoming a Bristol County player.  Final entry arrangements will be decided by the Trials Manager

·         Any county players will be able to put forward any ideas or thoughts they have regarding the running of the BCPA.   Any recommendation however can only be voted in at the Annual General Meeting

·         At least four of the Committee members shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of carrying on the business of a BCPA General meeting.

·         All leagues will supply a list of their league officials together with numbers of teams and estimated numbers of players in the league to the Secretary on request.

·         All leagues affiliated to the BCPA shall agree to abide by the BCPA Constitution.



 

 

 

FIXTURES

·         Transportation will be provided based on numbers of players travelling and no facilities will be provided in order to reduce costs to the county.

·         The A Team Captain gets first choice of 11 players and the B Team Captain chooses from the remaining squad.

·         If a player is selected for the A side and declines to play then they are made an A team reserve rather than dropping to the B side

·         It is the players responsibility to contact the Captain to inform him/her if they can or cannot attend the next game. Should a player not turn up to the next game or not notify their Captain, the Captain will reserve the right to drop the player for the next game. (Squad numbers permitted)

·         As a squad member you are fully committing yourself to attending all games, home and away. Failure to commit to the season will mean you losing your place in the squad.  The player must notify the Captain of non-attendance in advance

·         The BCPA encourage fair play and want to make every player aware of their status in the Bristol County teams and also to give players the chance to gain promotion to A team status where appropriate. 

·         The rankings list will not be the only thing taken into account when the Captain’s pick the team.  All three Captain’s reserve the right to pick any player and also to drop any player for their respective teams, regardless of averages.  Some reasons may include bad form over the season or a bad result in the last match, failing to turn up to a previous match regardless of reason and lack of commitment.

·         The Captain’s decision is final when picking the team.

 

 

SQUAD DETAILS

·         No Captain will be eligible to play for any other team than the team he/she is Captain of.  The Captain is not eligible to partake in the mid-season trials as the Captain must be in charge for the whole season. Should a Captain be eligible for end of season trials and as a result moves teams, he/she must step down as Captain of his/her previous team.

·         It is a player’s obligation to attend all trials they qualify for. Should any player refuse to play in the mid-season trials or end of season trials, the committee will reserve the right to ask that player to leave the team.

·         A total of 30 places will be available for selection in the mens squad (11 A team players and 19 B team players) and a total of 19 places will be available for selection in the ladies squad.

·         All players who are new or who haven’t played in the previous county season must trial in order to win a place in the squad.  To award commitment in the team, no new player can automatically qualify for the A team and must first trial for the B team, then win a place in the A team later in the season, to be considered A team status (subject to wildcard status)

·         Ranking positions will be determined by the EPA points system

 

 

A TEAM QUALIFICATION (11 Players)

·         The top 7 players in the A team ranking list for the previous season will retain their place in the A team for the following season

·         The remaining 4 A team players will compete with the top 4 players in the B team ranking list from the previous season in trial event one.  They will be joined by 2 wildcard entries chosen by the A team Captain making a total of 10 players playing off.  The top 4 places will be awarded A team places.

·         These 11 players will, if available on the day of the match, will be picked for the A team

·         Should the Captain require another player due to absence during the season, he will be able to choose from the squad of players available.  This player however must understand he will not become a regular A team player and is merely standing in for the absent player

·         The Bottom 2 ranked players in the 11 man A team may be dropped at any point in the year for any of the B team players. These spots will be known as the dropzone

 

 

B TEAM QUALIFICATION (19 Players)

·         The 6 players from the trial event one who did not qualify will be awarded B team places

·         The remaining B team players, apart from the bottom 5 players and squad members who did not play, will retain their B team place

·         The bottom 5 B team ranked players plus the remaining non playing squad members will retrial against the new trialists for a pre determined number of places to be communicated on the morning of play to compete for B team

·         The B team Captain chooses one wildcard place. The Captain will pick the player he sees fit to do a job in the B team. (This also accounts for someone he feels may have had a bad day at the retrial).  These player will then become a full B team squad player

 

 

TRIAL EVENTS

 

·         End of Season Event One (Mens Teams only)

A maximum of 7 players (the Bottom 3 A team players, the top 3 B team players and 1 wildcard places chosen by the A team Captain) will compete in a Round Robin competition under county conditions (One frame matches, play each other twice and under the shot clock).  The top 3 in the competition will be awarded A team places.  The remaining 4 players will be B team players.  The A team captain is exempt from the end of season trials, whilst he remains captain. If that captain is then replaced he will automatically be eligible to play in the end of season trials.

·         End of Season Event Two (Mens Team only)

The bottom 5 B team players and new triallists will compete under the Swiss system (see the EPA England section for further details).  The shot clock will be used along with standard county dress.  The top players will be invited to the squad as B team players.  The number of players required will be pre determined on the day and communicated to players prior to the start of play (but normally would be the 5 places being given up)

 

 

·         End of Season Event Three (Ladies Team only)

The bottom 8 Ladies team players plus any non playing squad members and new triallists will compete under the Swiss system.  The shot clock will be used along with standard county dress. The top players will be invited to the ladies squad.  The number of players required will be pre determined on the day and communicated to players prior to the start of play

·         Mid-Season Trial (Mens team only)

 

The Mid-Season trial will take place within a one month period following the fifth game of the county season (for example the 2010 season would see the trial take place in July) with the top 3 B team players competing with the bottom 3 A team players in a round robin event. The top 3 players in the round robin event will be made A team players and the bottom 3 players will be made B team players for the last five games of the season. All players must make themselves available for these matches. Failure to do so may result in that player playing the remainder of the season in the B team or being dropped all together.

 

 

BRISTOL COUNTY TOURNAMENT

·         The Bristol County Open will be held at the end of each county season.  The competition will be a straight knock out event.

·         Handicaps in force will be A team players -1 frame, B team player scratch, Ladies +2 and any other player +1. The county committee would reserve the right to alter a handicap should they see fit. Matches would be at least Best of 9

·         The cost of this event is £10 to squad members (this fee is included in the subs)

·         Non county members are welcome to enter the event at a cost of £10 payable on the day of the tournament

 

GENERAL MEETINGS

·         The BCPA shall hold General Meetings approximately each Wednesday following a Region 6 county fixture.

·         The Chairman will issue an agenda prior to the meeting

·         The BCPA General Meeting shall have the authority to make any decision which is deemed to be necessary and/or in the best interest of it's members, except constitutional changes (see Annual General Meeting).

·         The BCPA General Meeting shall have the right to change any fixtures they deem necessary.

·         Any player wishing to add any item to the agenda must notify the County Secretary at least seven days prior to the meeting.

·         A copy of the BCPA accounts, with all data, must be shown at all BCPA meetings.

·         Each Committee member shall be entitled to one vote at General meetings. The Chairman will have the casting vote in the event of a tied vote.

·         It is compulsory for all committee members to attend all regular committee meetings as part of their duty.  The Chairman has the right to ask a committee member to leave should committee members not attend.

 

 

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM)

·         The BCPA AGM shall be held as near as possible to the end of the season. But no later than 31 December.

·         The Secretary will issue an agenda prior to the meeting.

·         Any alteration to the Constitution can only be made at the AGM or an EGM called expressly for that reason.

·         All decisions previously reached and passed at the AGM and General Meetings shall be honoured until such time as they become unworkable, or detrimental to the BCPA or the good of the game.

·         All Motions for debate must be submitted to the Secretary no less than seven (7) days prior to the AGM.

·         Each Committee member and county players shall be entitled to one vote (except Chairman) at an AGM. The Chairman will have the casting vote in the event of a tied vote.

·         All voting shall be conducted by a show of hands unless a ballot be demanded by delegates or the Chairman decides it is necessary.

·         Any motions for debate which fail to get a seconder at the AGM shall not be debated.

 

 

EXTRA-ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING (EGM)

·         Upon receipt of a request by at least two thirds of the Committee, the Secretary shall be empowered to call an EGM.

·         An Extra-ordinary General Meeting can be called by the Committee if circumstances are considered exceptional.

·         At least seven days notice shall be given of an EGM together with an agenda of the business to be transacted.

 

 

FINANCE

·         Subs are set at £45 (£25 for committee members) for the season. This includes a £5 fee which will be retained by the committee should a player fail to attend the Annual General Meeting at the end of the season.

·         Any subs that are unpaid will result in that player ineligible to play for the following season.  It will be the responsibility of the Treasurer to notify the Captain’s.  (ie any unpaid subs in 2007 will result in that player being ineligible for the 2008 squad)

·         The Treasurer, together with the Chairman and Secretary shall be responsible for the finances of the BCPA.

·         All cheques must have two (2) signatures which will include the Treasurer and one other member of the full Committee. Three signatures must be recognised by the Bank all of which should be committee members.

·         The Treasurer will provide an up-to-date balance at each meeting and will produce a balance statement upon request of the Committee.

·         The BCPA financial year will be concluded on 31 December each year and the Treasurer will provide a balance sheet for the AGM.

·         All monies held by the BCPA - after the deduction of managerial expenses - will be used for the benefit of all the members of the BCPA.

·         All fines imposed by the BCPA must be paid to the Treasurer before the next Ordinary Meeting.

·         The BCPA will endeavour to reimburse all reasonable out of pocket expenses incurred by any representative while conducting any business on behalf of BCPA. These will require approval at an Ordinary Meeting.

 

 

DISCIPLINARY

 

·         Any player found playing in another league or competition affiliated to a group other than the EPA will receive an automatic 12 months ban from the Bristol committee and will be reported to the EPA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Update to document made : 3 February 2010

Reason for update : Passed proposals in the 2009 AGM