NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE AND DISTRICT CHESS
ASSOCIATION
CONSTITUTION
(Approved and formally adopted by the Annual General Meeting of 13th July 2015)
(1) NAME
The League shall be called “The North Staffordshire and District Chess
Association.”
(2) OBJECTS
The objects of the Association shall be: –
(a) to encourage the study and practice of chess in the area;
(b) to institute and maintain championship contests between member clubs and
individual players;
(c) to promote representative matches with Leagues in other areas;
(d) to promote and foster chess generally throughout the area.
(3) MEMBERSHIP
(a) Any club whose home venue is within twenty five miles of Hanley Bus Station
shall be eligible for membership of the Association.
(b) There shall be no limit to the number of teams that any club may enter in the
League, subject to the approval of the Annual General Meeting.
(4) SUBSCRIPTION
Each club shall pay a fee to be decided by the Annual General Meeting as a
subscription to the Association.
(5) OFFICERS
The Officers of the Association shall be:-
(a) a Chairman;
(b) a General Secretary;
(c) a Treasurer;
(d) a Results Secretary.
(e) a Grader (Adopted by the sixty-eighth Annual General Meeting, 11th July
2016).
In addition to these, an honorary President shall be appointed for a term of three
years by the Annual General Meeting. His/her duties shall be to take the chair at
any meeting which the Chairman is unable to attend and to chair any meeting of
the disputes committee. He/she shall be considered an ex officio member of the
League Executive Committee.
Also the Annual General Meeting shall have the power to nominate individuals as
Honorary Vice Presidents in recognition of their services to the Association. Such
individuals shall be entitled to attend Executive Committee Meetings but not to
vote. (Adopted by the sixty-eighth Annual General Meeting, 11th July 2016).
(6) GOVERNMENT
(a) The Association shall be governed by an Executive Committee consisting of
the officers of the Association and the following two Officials: –
(i) a Publicity Secretary/Webmaster;
(ii) a Tournaments Secretary;
together with a nominated member from each club not already represented by an
officer or an official.
(b) The Executive Committee shall meet as deemed necessary by the Chairman.
Other committees and sub-committees may be formed to deal with specific
aspects of League management at the discretion of the Executive Committee.
(c) The honorary President shall be elected every three years and all Officers
and Officials shall be elected annually at the Annual General Meeting. In the
case of the honorary President, he/she shall be elected at the first AGM after the
position becomes vacant.
(d) All retiring Officers and Officials shall be eligible for re-election.
(e) An auditor shall be appointed at the Annual General Meeting to examine the
Association’s accounts prior to their presentation at the next Annual General
Meeting.
(f) Six members of the Executive Committee shall be understood to constitute a
quorum for any meeting.
(g) A special meeting of the Executive Committee may be requested by three
members representing at least three clubs. The Executive Committee shall have
the right to call an Extraordinary General Meeting of the League. The General
Secretary shall give all clubs fourteen days notice of such a meeting.
(7) ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
(a) The Annual General Meeting shall be held during the month of July.
(b) At least twenty-one days’ notice of the Annual General Meeting must be given
in writing to all clubs by the General Secretary.
(c) Any proposal to be put to the Annual General Meeting must be submitted in
writing to the General Secretary at least twenty-eight days before the meeting is
to take place, and must be circulated to all clubs with the notice of the meeting.
(d) Any registered member of any club in membership of the Association is
entitled to attend the Annual General Meeting.
(e) The four Officers of the Association, together with the Honorary President
and two accredited representatives of each member club, are eligible to vote at
the Annual General Meeting.
(8) AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
Amendments to the Constitution may be brought about by the following
procedures: –
(a) Any proposed change of the Constitution must first be approved by a twothirds majority at a meeting of the League Executive Committee specially
convened for that purpose.
(b) If the proposed change to the Constitution is approved by a two-thirds
majority of the League Executive Committee, then it shall be placed before the
Annual General Meeting as a League Executive Committee recommendation.
(c) If the proposed change to the Constitution be then approved by a two-thirds
majority at the Annual General Meeting, then it shall be written immediately into
the Constitution and become operative from that time.
(9) CHANGE OF RULES
(a) Proposed changes of rules may be submitted to any meeting of the
Executive Committee.
(b) Any proposed change of rule approved by a simple majority of the Executive
Committee shall be placed as an Executive Committee recommendation before
the Annual General Meeting.
(c) Any proposed change of rule approved by a simple majority at the Annual
General Meeting shall be written immediately into the League Rules and become
operative from that time.
(10) DISSOLUTION
(a)In the event of the Executive Committee approving a proposal that the
Association, as constituted, be no longer a viable organisation; then an
Extraordinary General Meeting of the Association shall be called, which all
members of all clubs shall be entitled to attend.
(b)The only item on the agenda of such an Extraordinary General Meeting shall
be the dissolution of the Association.
(c) All decisions of this Extraordinary General Meeting shall be submitted in
writing by the League General Secretary or by his/her accredited agent to the
members of the League Executive Committee and to the Secretary of each
member club within one calendar month of such a meeting.
(d) A second Extraordinary General Meeting shall then be called, to take place
within two calendar months of the first such meeting.
(e) All decisions of this second Extraordinary General Meeting shall prove to be
binding on the Association, and shall be put into operation immediately
subsequent to such a meeting.
(f) On dissolution, the remaining assets of the Association shall be transferred to
the Staffordshire County Chess Association or donated to a local charity if the
Staffordshire County Chess Association no longer exists. Exceptionally, the
records of the Association may instead be passed for safe keeping to a local
museum, library or historical society that expresses an interest in them.
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