The Association will be called “The Widnes and District Seniors Bowling Association” affiliated to Merseyside County Crown Green Bowling Association.
The object of the Association will be to promote and foster the game of bowls for seniors aged 55 and above in Widnes and District.
Membership will be open to any bona-fide bowling club situated within the above area and any such club can be voted into membership on a majority vote at the A.G.M.
The Annual Subscription shall be determined at the AGM and shall be paid on or before the fixture meeting.
The Management of the Association will be vested in a Management Committee. The Committee will consist of the Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary plus two representatives to be seconded from clubs who are members of the Association. The President, Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer, Auditor and Secretary shall be elected at the AGM.
The A.G.M. will be held in February of each year and the Half Yearly General Meeting shall be held in October of each year. Any club member may attend these meetings but in any voting each club is allowed only one vote per team of that club. The Chairman shall have a casting vote.
An Extraordinary General Meeting may be requisitioned at any time. Any such requisition must be in writing signed by a representative of each of 4 or more clubs, and sent to the Secretary. The Secretary shall give all clubs at least seven days notice of such a meeting indicating the purpose of the meeting.
Management meetings will be called as necessary at the discretion of the Secretary.
There must be at least three representatives of the six members to form a quorum.
Duties of the Management Committee
To organise the League(s) and other competitions and to see that the activities of the Association are carried out efficiently.
To make all arrangements in respect of League Fixtures, Competitions and other matches.
To award all prizes consistent with the funds of the Association.
To have control over the finances of the Association and to authorise all expenditure.
To consider all questions arising from the activities of the Association and to adjudicate on all disputes covered or not covered by the Association Rules.
Duties of the Honorary Secretary
To summon and record all proceedings of all meetings.
To Carry on the correspondence of the Association.
To keep all records and to have custody of the Minute Books and correspondence of the Association, and if necessary, should the occasion arise, to make a decision which will be upheld by the Management Committee.
To carry out all matters not assigned to any other officer of the Association.
Duties of the Honorary Treasurer
To have charge of the Association’s funds and to keep the Management Committee informed, from time to time, of the state of the finances of the Association.
To prepare and submit a Statement of Account, duly audited, to the A.G.M.
Funds of the Association: Funds of the Association shall be deposited in an agreed Bank, in the name of the Association, and all cheques and orders drawn on such an account must be signed by two of the three signatories, (two of which must be the Secretary and the Treasurer).
Alteration to rules: Alteration to these rules can only be made at the A.G.M. Notice of any proposed rule changes must be sent to the Secretary in writing not less than 14 days before the date such a meeting. No alteration to any rules will be made unless the proposed alteration is duly seconded and obtains a simple majority vote of those present at the meeting.
Interpretation of rules: The interpretation of these and match and competition rules is vested in the Management Committee whose decision will be binding and from which there will be no appeal.
Each team shall consist of eight players.
A player can be registered only after reaching the age of 55.
All players must be registered with the League Secretary before being eligible to play in any match. The Final date for registration in any season is 30th June. Any exceptions must be approved by the Management Committee.
A player can only play for the team he has been registered with and must be a bona-fide member of the Club to which the team belongs.
A player can only be registered for one team.
Teams shall play each other home and away and a match shall consist of 8 games. Pairings to be made by the captains before the match starts and after the interval before the second four take to the green.
All games will be 21 up all players starting from scratch. Visitors will have first throw of the jack. On a neutral green the two captains shall toss a coin to determine which members of their team will have the first throw of the jack.
All matches are expected to be played on the date shown in the official fixture programme, starting time 1.30 p.m. any change from this time must be mutually agreed by both captains.
At least 4 players of each team shall be available at the scheduled starting time of the match and the match shall start with four games on the green. After the interval, four more players shall be available to complete the game. In the event that any team does not have four players the non-offending team will be awarded 21 chalks for each absent player. If any team cannot provide any players they will forfeit the match 168-nil and in addition the non offending team will receive a 168-nil win plus two match points.
A visiting player will not be allowed on the green 24 Hours before the match irrespective of whether he is a member of the home club or not.
There shall be no practice during the course of the match.
It will be an offence to play an ineligible player. Any game involving an ineligible player shall be scored 21 chalks to nil for the non-offending team. The Secretary of any team alleging the playing of an ineligible player by the opposition must put it in writing to the League Secretary together with the result sheet of the match concerned.
Points shall be awarded as follows:- 2points for a win; 1 point for a draw. The winning team will be the team having the highest aggregate score including any handicaps. Winners of Division 1 shall, in the following season, concede 16 points in all home league games and 8 points in all away league games.
In the event of inclement weather the proprietor, the green keeper or home captain will decide if the green is fit for play but such a decision will only be made at the time the match is due to commence, or after the match has commenced.
The postponement or re-arrangement of any match other than on account of inclement weather can only be made by reference and approval of the league secretary.
The postponement or re-arrangement of matches must be notified to the League Secretary within four days of the date of the original match.
Postponed matches are to be played within 21 days of the original date fixed for the match, or at a date mutually agreed by both captains. The home captain must give the away captain at least 3 available dates to play the game. The away team Captain must pick one of those dates, or, if no agreement can be reached, the League Secretary will be informed and he will make the decision. The Secretary’s decision will be final.
Standard jacks are to be used for all matches. For all games played on a neutral green both teams will provide two jacks or the host venue will provide four jacks.
Score cards are to be kept by both teams and are to be checked every 5 ends. If there is a dispute which cannot be resolved the score will revert to the end where both cards last agreed.
The home team is responsible for providing the match sheet and for returning it to the League Secretary. The match sheet must be signed by both captains.
If a match is abandoned after the start of play, all scores of games completed will stand and the remaining pairs will be re-drawn when the match is resumed. Different players may be used.
For singles handicap competitions, practice is allowed but not in team competitions.
All players must have played in at least two league games before the round of 16 Isherwood cup Fixtures and at least four league games before the Quarter finals. The round of 16 will take place at the halfway point in the fixture list with the quarter finals onwards at the end of the season.
For qualification in the plate competition players must have played two league games before the preliminary round and four league games before the Quarter Finals.
In the Isherwood Cup all teams to be handicapped according to their positions at the start of the current season. Apart from the winners and runners-up from the previous season the handicaps will be calculated on the basis of the 1st team in division 1 will be off zero, the second team 3, the third 6 and so on with three points for each league position so that the team finishing bottom of the 2nd division will receive 3 points for each place above theirs. The games will be played on neutral greens with the aggregate scores to count.
In team cup-ties, in the event of a draw, the captains shall nominate two players one each from their respective teams to play a further 5 up game. The handicaps should be as follows:- 1st division teams zero, 2nd division teams 1 and 3rd division teams 2.
In the following year the winning team will be handicapped by 8 chalks and the runner up by 4 chalks.
A prize will be awarded at the end of the season,to the player with the best average in Division 1 and 2. To qualify for these prizes the following criteria will apply:-
A player must have played in 75% of the total league games played during the season ,of which, 50% must be away league games.
The average will be calculated as follows:-
Total points scored less total points conceded divided by number of games played.In the event of a tie resulting after the above the Management Committee will apply further criteria to determine the winner.