Constitution


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NORTH KENT LAWN TENNIS ASSOCIATION
Constitution Established 1936

 

 THE NORTH KENT LAWN TENNIS ASSOCIATION  CONSTITUTION (as at 1st January 2019)


1.    Title

   The Association shall be called the NORTH KENT LAWN TENNIS ASSOCIATION and shall be affiliated to the KENT COUNTY LAWN TENNIS ASSOCIATION, in accordance with General Rule 2 of that body.

2.   Definitions

  1. “the Association” means the North Kent Lawn Tennis Association;
  2. "the Chairman" means the person elected from time to time to be the chairman of the Association in accordance with Rule 7;
  3. "the Clubs" means tennis clubs as defined in the LTA's Rules (as amended from time to time);
  4. "the Game" means the game of tennis;
  5. "Honorary Secretary" means the person elected from time to time to be the honorary secretary of the Association in accordance with Rule 5;
  6. "the Honorary Treasurer" means the person elected from time to time to be the honorary treasurer of the Association in accordance with Rule 5;
  7. “the Officers” means the Chairman, HonorarySecretary and Honorary Treasurer, plus any other Officers as defined under Rules 5 and 6; and
  8. "the Trustees" means the persons appointed from time to time to be the trustees of the Association in accordance with Rule 6.
  9. Words denoting the singular number include the plural number and vice versa; and words denoting the masculine gender include the feminine gender.

3.    Objects

   The Objects of the North Kent Lawn Tennis Association shall be:

  1. The promotion of Lawn Tennis within the area (as defined in Rule 4.2).
  2. The organisation of competitive matches between its associated clubs.
  3. All such other things as the Council thinks fit to further the interests of the Association or to be incidental or conducive to the attainment of all or any of the objects stated in this Rule 3.
  4. The Association is constituted by these Rules as a Non-Profit-Making Members’ Association. In no circumstances during the continuance of the Association, nor at or after its dissolution, shall any assets or surplus funds be distributed to any member club or any other person nor to any organisation which is not itself constituted as Non-Profit-Making or as a charity.

4.    Eligibility and Area

  1. Any club, one of whose objects is the playing of Lawn Tennis and whose Headquarters and/or Ground are within the area defined in Rule 4.2 below, and who is, or undertakes to be, affiliated to the Kent County Lawn Tennis Association, is eligible for association, and may be admitted at the discretion of the Council.
  2. The Area of the North Kent Lawn Tennis Association shall be the Kentish Boroughs of Dartford, Gravesham and Sevenoaks, plus the Greater London Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich and Lewisham.
  3. A club, where referred to in these rules, shall be as defined in Rule 40 of the Lawn Tennis Association.
  4. Any club that wishes to become a Member must submit an application in such form as the Council shall decide in writing signed by their Honorary Secretary and addressed to the Association’s Honorary Secretary or other such person as the Association may appoint. Election to membership shall be in the sole discretion of the Council.
  5. A Member Club may withdraw from membership of the Association on a calendar month’s advance clear notice to the Association, prior to the summer season entries being due. If membership ceases during a summer or winter season, that membership shall not be transferable in any event and shall cease immediately on failure of the Member Club to comply or to continue to comply with any condition of membership set out in these Rules.

5.    Management

    The management of the North Kent Lawn Tennis Association shall be vested in a Council consisting of:

  1. Three Officers – a Chairman, an Honorary Treasurer and an Honorary Secretary, each of whom shall retire annually at the Annual General Meeting, but be eligible for re-election.
  2. Twelve Councillors, each of whom shall retire annually at the Annual General Meeting, but be eligible for re-election.
  3. Such additional officers as shall be appointed by the Council, in accordance with Rule 6.2 (b) below.
  4. All persons elected to Council shall be a member of a club affiliated to the Association.

  Nominations for Officers and Councillors should be made in writing, to the Honorary Secretary, not less than three days prior to the Annual General Meeting; nominations for Councillors may also be made verbally at that meeting.

  The Council shall meet at least four times during its year of office, and more often as it shall deem fit.

   At a Council Meeting, six elected Officers and/or Councillors shall form a quorum, and the Chairman shall have a casting vote.

6.   Powers and Duties of the Council

(1)   The Council, as constituted in Rule 5 above, shall administer the Association in accordance with this constitution and in particular shall:

  1. Control and administer the finances of the Association.
  2. Organise and control such inter-club and other competitions as seem desirable, and issue regulations for their conduct.
  3. Organise and control such social activities as may seem desirable.
  4. Keep, or cause to be kept, a complete record of all business decisions and financial transactions of all Council and Association meetings.

(2)   The Council may:

  1. appoint individual Councillors as Officers responsible for the day to day operation of specific Council activities (e.g. competitions);</ li >
  2. appoint up to four additional Officers for specific duties, if and when they consider it necessary. Such an appointed Officer shall have full Council rights, except the power to form part of a quorum (see Rule 5.4) and shall vacate his office at the Annual General Meeting following his appointment;</ li >
  3. appoint Sub-Committees as they see fit and delegate to those Sub- Committees such powers as they consider desirable; and</ li >
  4. fill, by co-option, any vacancy that may occur in their number.</ li >

(3)   The Council may inflict penalties on associated clubs, or members thereof, for any infringement of the rules of the game, or of the rules and regulations of this Association.

(4)  All members of the Council, including the Trustees, shall be entitled to an indemnity out of the assets of the Association for all expenses and other liabilities properly incurred by them in the management of the affairs of the Association.

7.    Management

    Trustees

  1. The Trustees of the Association shall be the holders, for the time being, of the Offices of Chairman, Honorary Treasurer and Honorary Secretary.
  2. The Trustees shall deal with the property of the Association as the Council, from time to time, direct by resolution.
  3. Should any Trustee resign whilst in office, then the Chairman is hereby nominated as the person to appoint new Trustees of the Association within the meaning of Section 36 of the Trustee Act 1925, and he shall, in writing, appoint a person or persons to be appointed Trustees in accordance with these rules. Any statement of fact in any such deed of appointment shall in favour of a person dealing with the Association or the Committee in good faith be conclusive evidence of the fact so stated.

8.    General meetings

(1)   The following shall apply to all General Meetings:

  1. A notice convening the meeting shall be sent to the Secretary of each associated club at least fourteen days prior to the date of the proposed meeting.
  2. Such notice shall include the agenda of the meeting and the precise terms of any resolution of which notice has been given.
  3. The chair of the meeting shall be taken by the President or the Chairman of the Association or such other person as the Council shall appoint.
  4. The Chairman of the meeting shall have a casting vote.
  5. Each associated club may be represented by two delegates with power to vote but no delegate shall exercise more than one vote.
  6. Officers and Councillors of the Association shall not be deemed to represent - any club of which they may happen to be members, but shall be entitled ex officio to vote at all general meetings.
  7. Members of associated clubs, other than delegates (see Rule 8.1.e) may attend general meetings of the Association and may, at the discretion of the Chair, be heard but shall not be entitled to vote.
  8. Business shall be determined by a simple majority of votes, except as stated in Rule 9.2.
  9. A quorum shall be twelve persons present and entitled to vote.

(2)  Annual General Meeting

a.  The Annual General Meeting of the Association shall be held in November of each year.

b.   The business of the meeting shall be to:

  1. approve the minutes of the previous A.G.M. and of any Special General Meeting held subsequent thereto;
  2. receive and adopt the retiring Council’s report;
  • receive and adopt the Financial Statement and Balance Sheet for the past year;
  1. determine the entrance fee and annual subscription fee for the following year;
  2. consider any motion that has been submitted in accordance with Rule 8.4;
  3. elect Officers and Councillors for the ensuing year in accordance with Rules 5.1 and 5.2;
  • elect a President and not more than ten Vice-Presidents, as nominated by the retiring Council, who shall be entitled to attend and speak at Council and General Meetings but not to vote in that capacity;
  • elect an Honorary Life Vice-President, such distinction to be reserved for those who have rendered outstanding service to the Association. An Honorary Life Vice-President shall be entitled to attend and speak at Council and General Meetings but not to vote in that capacity, and, being elected for life, need not be re-elected at subsequent Annual General Meetings;
  1. elect an Auditor for the ensuing year, who will independently check only the annual accounts; and
  2. consider any other business that may be taken without notice (refer Rule 8.4.

(3)   Special General Meeting.

a.   A Special General Meeting of the Association may be called by the Council at any time. It shall also be so called by the Honorary Secretary, within twenty-eight days of the receipt of a requisition in writing, stating the business to be enacted from the Honorary Secretaries of any six associated clubs.

b.   Only such business as is shown in the notice convening the meeting may be dealt with at a Special General Meeting.

(4)   Notice of Motion.

Any matter which any associated club wishes to bring up for consideration, at an Annual or Special General Meeting, and which either comes within the scope of Rule 9 or is designed to become a directive to the Council, must be notified in writing to the Honorary Secretary of the Association, at least twenty-eight days prior to the meeting at which it is proposed the question shall be considered.

9.    Alteration of Rules

  1. The Rules of the Association may be altered only at an Annual General Meeting or at a Special General Meeting called specifically for the purpose; in either case due notice must have been given in accordance with Rules 8.1 and 8.4.
  2. No alteration of rule shall be valid unless supported by at least two thirds of those present and entitled to vote.

10.    Finance

  1. All monies payable to the Association shall be received by the person authorised by the Council to receive such moneys and shall be deposited in a bank account in the name of the NORTH KENT LAWN TENNIS ASSOCIATION.
  2. Cheques drawn on the Association’s account shall bear the signatures of any two of three Officers formally nominated by the Council.
  3. The financial transactions of the Association shall be recorded in such manner as the Council thinks fit by the Honorary Treasurer.
  4. Full accounts of the financial affairs of the Association shall be prepared each year. A report on these accounts shall be prepared by an independent person. The independent person shall be appointed at the Annual General Meeting each year and, for the purposes of title only, will be called Auditor under Rule 8.2.b.ix. The accounts must be made available to every Member when notice concerning the annual general meeting is given.
  5. The Association year, for accounting purposes, shall be from 1st November in the one year to 31st October in the next.
  6. Each club, upon first admission or re-admission to the Association, shall pay an entrance fee of such sum as was determined at the previous Annual General Meeting.
  7. Each associated club shall pay to the Association an Annual Subscription of such sum as was determined at the previous Annual General Meeting.
  8. The Annual Subscription, together with such other sums (e.g. competition and other fees) as shall be detailed on a statement to be issued to each club by the Honorary Treasurer, or another officer, duly authorised by the Council, shall be due for payment not later than 31st March of each year.
  9. A club shall not be eligible to participate in the Association’s league or other competitions unless it has paid its relevant subscription, fees etc. as previously notified by the Council

11.    Property including Trophies

  1. The property of the Association shall be vested in the Trustees of the Association, as appointed under Rule 6.
  2. All trophies, for perpetual competition, shall be insured by the Association.
  3. Each perpetual trophy shall be presented annually to the winning club of the relevant competition. Subject to the Council’s requirement for adequate safeguards being accepted by the winning club, the trophy may be transferred to that club’s custody for the year following the competition in which it was successful, on the understanding that the trophy shall be returned to the Association on demand in good and proper condition.

12.    Cessation of Activities

In the event of the dissolution of the Association, all funds and other assets shall, after settling liabilities, be handed to the County or next higher Lawn Tennis Authority, for use in promoting the interests of the game within the area defined in Rule 4.2.

13.     Other Matters

Any matter not covered in the foregoing rules shall be dealt with by the Council at its discretion.