Shuttles Badminton Club Constitution

1. Club name and affiliation

1.1 The club is called The Shuttles Badminton Club (“the Club”) and will be affiliated to Badminton England.

1.2 This version of the Constitution was adopted by the Management Committee (“the Committee”) in October 2023 and supersedes any previous versions.

2 Aims and Objectives

2,1 To provide recreational and competitive badminton to all its members

2.2 Offer badminton coaching opportunities to members

2.3 Provide duty of care and protection to all members

2.4 Make sure all the Club members are treated equitably

3. The Constitution

3.1 This Constitution can be changed only by a majority of Committee members.

3.2 The purpose of this constitution is to provide a means for the efficient operation and management of the Club.

3.3 A copy of the Constitution shall be available on the Club website.

4 Running of the Club

4.1 The Club will be run by Committee consisting of:

• Chair Person

• Treasurer

• Secretary

• Match Captain(s)

The current holders of these positions are given in Addendum 1

4.2 The quorum for Committee meetings is more than 50% of Committee members.

4.3 The Committee has the authority to amend this Constitution at any time during the year, provided the change is carried by a majority of Committee members.

5 Finance and Accounts

5.1 All the Club’s monies will be banked in an account held in the name of the Shuttles Badminton Club. This is held at the Rickmansworth branch of Lloyds Bank, the Sort Code  & Account Number are not available online.

5.2 The accounts will be kept by the Treasurer and will be made available to any member of the Club upon request.

5.3 The Chairman will arrange for the Accounts to be independently verified annually.

5.4 The financial year of the club will run from 1st September through to the 31st August.

5.5 Any cheques drawn against club funds will be signed by any of the Club’s signatories. Currently the Signatories are those of the Chair Person and Treasurer.

5.6 The Club will be run on a not-for-profit basis with fees set at a level to cover costs and ensure an adequate level of funds accrue to ensure its smooth running.

5.7 Should the Club no longer be viable and the accounts need to be wound up then any residual funds, after all creditors have been satisfied, shall be donated to a club or organisation with similar aims and objectives to the Club. The destination of such funds would be decided by a majority vote of the members of the Club at the time of winding up.

6 Membership

6.1 Membership of the club shall be open to anyone interested in badminton (and in the opinion of the Committee, of a suitable standard) on application regardless of sex, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, religion or other beliefs.

6.2 Membership shall consist of adult members only (i.e. 18 years of age or above).

6.3 All members will be subject to this constitution and the codes of conduct adopted by the Club as described in its Etiquette Notes (see Addendum 5 Club Documents).

6.4 Normally visitors may play at the Club for a maximum of 6 occasions before the Committee decides whether or not they will be invited to join the Club.

6.5 There will be two categories of Membership depending on how the fees are paid: the main one is Standard Member (where the member pays once at the beginning of each session) the other category is Ordinary Member (where the member pays a reduced session fee, but then pays each Wednesday he/she plays at the club). The Ordinary Member category is aimed at those who cannot play regularly (such as shift-workers) but who still want to be part of the club.

6.6 All Members of the Club will be required to be Badminton England Registered.

7 Subscriptions

7.1 Fees will be set and reviewed as required by the committee. Current fees are shown in Addendum 2

7.2 Subscriptions for all members of the Club will be collected as Session Fees which cover three 4-monthly sessions in the year: September through to December, January through to April and May through to August. The Session Fees will become due by the start of each session.

7.3 Visitors will pay a Visitor’s Fee on each occasion that they visit the Club. A visitor who has paid Visitor’s fees immediately prior to joining the Club will have their Visitor’s Fee(s) taken into account in working out that member’s Session Fees.

7.4 Members taking part in league and friendly matches shall pay Match Fees at an amount that shall be agreed from time to time by the Match Captain.

7.5 No Session Fees will be returned to any member who may wish to resign from the Club or is unable to play for whatever reason. Any member who has been unable to play for the whole or the substantial part of a session (through, say, illness) may be offered a rebate for the subsequent session at the discretion of the Treasurer. A basis for such a rebate is outlined in Addendum 3.

8 Annual General Meeting

8.1 The AGM will be held ideally in the Summer Months and will be organised by the Secretary. At least 14 days’ notice will be given to the Committee.

8.2 The Agenda will include:

• A report from the Chair Person on general matters.

• The Treasurer’s report and the year’s Accounts

• The Match Captain’s report

• At the meeting, the Management Committee members will all resign but will be eligible for re-election

• Any Other Business

8.3 All members have the right to vote at the AGM.

9 Other Matters

9.1 Any dispute arising out of or not covered by the Constitution shall be referred to the Committee whose majority decision or interpretation shall be final.

9.2 Information on members will be held on the Club’s Members Database. It is noted that this information is given for the sole purpose of the administration of the Club by its Committee Members. None of the supplied information will be used for any other purpose and the Committee Members agree to take all reasonable measures to safeguard that information.

9.3 The Club abides by the prevailing Badminton England Club Policies and Rules such as:

* The Equality & Diversity Policy

* Safeguarding Adults Policy

* Code of Ethics and Behaviour

* Anti-Doping Rules   

Addendum 1 – Committee Members

Chair Person: Abe Jacobs, 07767 154710, abe.jacobs@ntlworld.com

Secretary: Keith Hill, 07989 672464, hill.keith@virgin.net

Treasurer: Joe Franks, 07970 988323, joe@thefranksfamily.com

Match Captain, 1st Team: Henry Ip, 07885 629243 , henryip23@hotmail.co.uk

Match Captain, 2nd Team: Onkar Singh, 07877 569167, oskhalsa@gmail.com

Match Captain, Hybrid Team: Vanessa Ong, 07881 385909, vanessakh@hotmail.co.uk 

Addendum 2 – Club Fees

The following are the current Fees for the four month Session, September 2023 – December 2023:-

Standard Members Session Fees are currently – £80 per 4-month Session

Ordinary Member Session Fees are currently – £15 per 4-month Session plus £6 per visit

Visitor Fees are currently – £10 per visit

League Players Fee is currently £6 per Home Fixture

The annual Badminton England Registration Fee is currently £17.50 per Member

Addendum 3 – Basis of Fee Rebate due to extended Absence

If in a 4 month playing session a member is absent continuously for many weeks through no fault of their own (illness, work, etc.) then it would be fair to the member to reduce the following session’s fees as a proportion of the missed weeks. However in practice most members do not turn up 100% of the time so it is reasonable that the subsequent session fee should also reflect this fact. Typically most members miss about 1 in 5 evenings (i.e. 20%)

So, in the following formula, let X be the number of playing weeks in a session, Y be the number of continuous weeks missed, Z be the uplift factor (20%) and £ is the next session’s subscription: then the reduced session fees will be calculated as follows:-

(X-Y) / X * Z * £ = the member’s reduced subsequent session fee (rounding to the nearest £1)

As an example, if in a session with 14 playing weeks a member could not play on 8 consecutive weeks and the session fee is £75, then in the subsequent session the fee would be reduced to:-

(14-8) / 14 * 1.2 * £75 = £39 (rounding to the nearest £1)

Though the above will be the general rule, obviously each case should be treated on its merits when a member requests a reduction.

 

Addendum 4 – Club Documents – Welcome Notes

www.shuttles.org.uk

We meet at the Sports Centre at Brunel University, Uxbridge on Wednesdays from 7:30 pm – 10: 30 pm.

We hope you enjoy the social and competitive games that we play in the hall. Due to our popularity we frequently have a good turnout of players, so to maximise the number of games you play and minimise the waiting time between games please do use the Peg System – when the numbers warrant it. Please do familiarise yourself with the Peg System notes.

Visitors can play on a Pay-As-You-Go basis for up to 6 visits, after which the Committee will decide on inviting the player to join the club as a Full Member. Full Members pay subscription fees 3 times a year, at the beginning of the September, January and May session periods. Those joining in the middle of a session period will pay on a pro-rata basis taking into account any fees already paid. In addition all members need to be registered with Badminton England. Please speak to a Committee member about this if you are not already registered.

It is expected that all members exercise good Badminton manners. As maybe a reminder to visitors and new members, please do acquaint yourself with our Badminton Etiquette notes.

The club has a League Team, offers its members formal Coaching sessions and arranges competitions and social events from time to time. We hope you will enjoy playing Badminton with us.

Please feel free to discuss any matters regarding the running of the club with any member of the Committee.

Currently the Committee consists of:-

Abe Jacobs – Chair Person, 07767 154710 abe.jacobs@ntlworld.com

Keith Hill – Secretary, 07989 672464, hill.keith@virgin.net

Joe Franks – Treasurer, 07970 988323 joe@thefranksfamily.com

Match Captain, 1st Team: Henry Ip, 07885 629243 , henryip23@hotmail.co.uk

Match Captain, 2nd Team: Onkar Singh, 07877 569167, oskhalsa@gmail.com

Match Captain, Hybrid Team: Vanessa Ong, 07881 385909, vanessakh@hotmail.co.uk 

To enable the club to keep you updated – have we got your contact details? If not can you please fill in the Members Information Form and pass it on to a Committee Member. Thank you.

Addendum 5 – Club Documents – Etiquette Notes

To help everyone enjoy their games, please do play in a friendly, fair and sporting manner.

Players are responsible for adding their peg on to the box on arrival. When leaving at the end of the evening please return your peg to the right alphabetic card, ready for the following week’s play. After every game please ensure your peg is returned to the “waiting” section of the box.

During a game, the player on whose side the shuttle lands and is closest is responsible for calling the shot “in” or “out”. In the event of the caller being uncertain the other players may be consulted. If the point remains uncertain, it is sporting to call a “let” and replay the point. However if the caller is certain about a call, please do accept it with good grace promptly, whatever you may really think (it’s only a game after all!).

To ensure players do not forget the score it is good practice for the server to call out the score before serving.

Please do not distract your opponents during a rally. It is acceptable to call out to your partner “Mine!” or “Out!”, but it is not acceptable to make other remarks during a rally (such as commenting on your opponents’ play). A distracted opponent is within his/her rights to claim the point.

Please do not walk past a court while a rally is in progress as this can be distracting for the players; wait until the rally is finished, which is usually a matter of a few seconds at most. Under no circumstances should spectators encroach on to a court – beyond the obvious Health & Safety reasons it is very off-putting.

Feather shuttlecocks are expensive, please treat them with respect and don’t abuse them by kicking them or pushing them across the floor with your racquet against the tips of the feathers.

If you are a visitor please pay your evening’s court fee as soon as possible, rather than waiting until the end of the evening.

Sorry if this sounds too obvious for you, but below are some rules on serving:-

• The feet of the server and receiver must not touch the service lines

• Some part of both feet of the server and receiver must be in stationary contact with the surface of the court until the service is delivered

• The server’s racket must initially hit the cork base of the shuttle

• The whole shuttle must be below 1.15 metres from the surface of the court at the instant of being hit. The waist is considered to be an imaginary line, level with the lowest part of the server’s bottom rib.

• Once the players are in position the first forward movement of the server’s racket is the start of the service. There must also be no delay from the completion of any backward swing of the racket to the start of the service

• The movement of the server’s racket must continue forwards from the start of the service until the service is delivered

We hope you enjoy your Badminton!

Addendum 6 – Club Documents – Peg System

Peg System

Can everyone please place their Peg on the front of the Box, on the right hand side, as soon as you arrive.

To save time, before a court becomes free can the player who is at the extreme left on the Box:-

1 choose 3 others from the next 6 names to play on the next available court (for variety, try not to choose more than 1 player from your previous game)

2 tell the 3 players they have been chosen & place their pegs next to yours on the left of the Box

3 Inform the player whose name is on the left of the list of remaining Pegs that he/she will be choosing for the following game.

Remember

When you finish a game & come off a court can you please place your Pegs to the right of the Box with the winning players before the losing ones. Also when you have finished playing at the end of the evening, can you please place your peg back on the alphabetic card – it makes it quicker to find it next week! Thank you.

Have fun!