Scottish Orienteering

SOA Constitution

The Scottish Orienteering Association Constitution

 

1. Title:
   
   The Association shall be called The Scottish Orienteering Association.


2. Purpose
   
   
   
   1. The Association shall exist to develop and control orienteering throughout Scotland in accordance with the Memorandum and Articles of Association and Rules of the British Orienteering Federation Ltd.
   
   
   2. The Association shall conduct orienteering events and competitions in accordance with the Rules of the British Orienteering Federation and such Agreements as are from time to time entered into between the Association and the British Orienteering Federation.
   
   
   3. The Association and its members shall not discriminate in provision of facilities or services on grounds of race or (save in the organisation of classes for competition) sex.
   
   
   
   


3. Management
   
   
   
   1. An Honorary President and Vice-presidents of the Association may be elected at the Annual General Meeting.
   
   
   2. The affairs of the Association shall be conducted by an Executive Committee which shall meet and act as frequently as necessary to conduct the business of the Association but not less than three times per year. The Executive Committee, Office Bearers, officers, officials and employees of the Association shall be indemnified by members for all acts and omissions made by them or any of them provided the same were done or omitted to be done in good faith. An appropriate officer shall maintain a minute book and record in it the business of all Meetings and the names of those present. A quorum shall consist of not less than one third of the total strength of the Committee (excluding the Area representatives) including two Office Bearers.
   
   
   3. The Executive Committee shall consist of: President (Chair), Vice-President (Administration), Vice-President (Performance), Secretary, Treasurer, Competitions Convenor, Fixtures Secretary, Professional Officer, 3 Area representatives elected at the AGM.
      
      In addition there shall be :-
      
      
      
      1. an Administration Working Group to be convened by the Vice-President (Administration), as and when required.
      
      
      2. a Performance Working Group to be convened by the Vice-President (Performance) as and when required.
      
      
      
      
   
   
   4. The Executive shall have the power to:
      
      
      
      1. Appoint additional officers, but if these come from outside the Committee they shall not have a vote.
      
      
      2. Constitute sub-committees as may be deemed necessary.
      
      
      3. Co-opt up to four extra members, but these shall not have a vote.
      
      
      4. Fill any vacancy that may occur amongst the Office Bearers.
      
      
      
      
   
   
   5. The three Areas into which Scotland shall be divided for administrative purposes and for the organisation of Area instructional courses and competitions shall be determined by the Executive Committee and detailed in Bye-law 2.
      
      These areas shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Executive Committee but shall have delegated to them the organisation of orienteering up to Area level within the Area boundaries stipulated.  Control of the use of land for orienteering rests with the Executive Committee of the Association.
   
   
   6. Office Bearers, officers (including professional officers) and members of the Association shall be entitled to participate in discussions at any meeting of the Association and of the Executive Committee and of any sub-committee (being meetings in which they are otherwise entitled to participate) notwithstanding any interest they may have (whether commercial or otherwise, other than in the capacity in which they are attending the meeting) in matter of business under discussion but (a) shall require to declare the nature and extent of such interest before participating in such discussion and (b) shall not be entitled to vote on any such matt
   
   
   
   


4. Membership
   
   
   
   1. Membership shall be open to Individuals, Clubs, Associations or Organisations actively interested in promoting and developing orienteering as a sport, subject to the following conditions:
      
      
      
      1. That they comply with the Constitution and Bye-laws of the Scottish Orienteering Association.
      
      
      2. That they pay the Annual Membership fee prescribed by the Association
      
      
      
      
   
   
   2. Honorary Life Membership may be accorded to persons who have given outstanding service to or shown outstanding achievement in Orienteering and who have been recommended by the Executive Committee and their nomination approved at the Annual General Meeting.
   
   
   3. Definition of members:
      
      
      
      1. Senior and Junior men and women who have paid an annual membership fee, or who have been accorded honorary life membership as in (b) above.
      
      
      2. Families who have paid an annual membership fee.
      
      
      3. Clubs which have paid an annual membership fee. Where a Club is a member of the SOA all individual members of that member club shall themselves be considered to be members of the SOA with normal voting rights.
      
      
      4. Groups which have paid an annual membership fee.
      
      
      
      
   
   
   
   


5. Voting
   
   The voting rights at General Meetings shall be as follows:
   
   
   
   1. Senior members: one vote each.
   
   
   2. Families: one vote per parent.
   
   
   3. Groups: one vote per member of the group present up to a maximum of two votes.
   
   
   4. Juniors and Clubs: No votes.
   
   
   
   No proxy votes shall be allowed.


6. Contracts Any contracts constituted or evidenced by probative deed shall be executed on behalf of the Association by the President, the Secretary, and the Treasurer for the time being of the Association in the presence of two witnesses, and any property or investments of the Association shall be held in the name of such Officers from time to time as Trustees ex officiis for the Association.


7. Finance
   
   
   
   1. Affiliation fees for all classes of membership for the following year shall be prescribed at the Annual General Meeting.
   
   
   2. The Financial Year of the Association shall run from 1 January to 31 December each year.  The accounts of the Association shall be balanced at 31 December each year and submitted, after independent audit, to the next Annual General Meeting.
   
   
   3. All cheques written against the Association funds shall be signed by two of the following: President, Secretary, Treasurer, Professional Officer.
   
   
   
   


8. Annual General Meeting
   
   The Association shall hold an Annual General Meeting not later than 30 June each year.


9. Extra-Ordinary General Meeting
   
   An Extra-Ordinary General Meeting shall be called by the Executive Committee on an application in writing to the Secretary which is supported by at least 10% of the voting strength within the Association.  Such a meeting shall take place within 28 days of the application.


10. Bye-laws
    
    The Executive Committee shall be empowered to publish and enforce such Bye-laws as they feel will be beneficial to the affairs of the Association except to the extent they conflict with this Constitution and any Bye-laws made hereunder any Codes of Conduct or Discipline promulgated by British Orienteering Federation shall apply to members of the Scottish Orienteering association with the substitution throughout of Scottish Orienteering association for British Orienteering Federation, President for Chairman, Executive Committee for Council and Association for Federation and otherwise mutatis mutandis.  Not less than two-thirds of the Executive Committee must approve of the Bye-law before it is operative.  Any such Bye-laws are appended to the Constitution.


11. Notice
    
    
    
    1. Any amendment to the Constitution shall be proposed in writing to the Secretary at least 42 days before the Annual General Meeting or any Extra-Ordinary General Meeting.
    
    
    2. A copy of the Constitution and of all Bye-laws shall be available from the Secretary on request.
    
    
    3. The Agenda of the Annual General Meeting and of any Extra-Ordinary General Meeting shall be sent to each member not less than 14 days before the meeting.
    
    
    4. A copy of the Financial Statement for the previous year shall be sent to each Member not less than 14 days before the Annual General Meeting.
    
    
    5. A copy of the draft Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting, together with details of the proposed amendments to the Constitution and details of the Association’s activities since that meeting, shall be sent to each member not less than 14 days before the Annual General Meeting.
    
    
    
    


12. Alterations to the Constitution
    
    Alterations to the Constitution shall require a simple majority of votes at the Annual General Meeting or Extra-Ordinary General Meeting at which they are proposed.


13. Dissolution
    
    In the event of dissolution of the Association, any assets thereof must not be distributed amongst the members of the Association in any way whatsoever.

Bye-law 1: DRUG TESTING

The BOF Drug Control rules (Appendix 5) shall apply at all competitions and activities held under the auspices of the SOA, with the substitution throughout of SOA for BOF, President for Chairman, Executive Committee for Council and sportscotland for Sports Council.

Penalties imposed on competitors by other organisations shall be recognised by the Association. Drug testing may take place at any event organised by the SOA.

Bye-law 2: AREAS

The 3 Areas will be as follows:

• NORTH: Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Highland, Moray, Orkney, Shetland, Western Isles.


• WEST: Argyll & Bute, East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, Dumfries & Galloway, East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, Clackmannanshire, Falkirk, Stirling.


• EAST: Scottish Borders, Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian, Dundee, Perth & Kinross, Angus, Fife.

Bye-law 3: DISCIPLINE

BOF Bye-laws numbered 1 and 2 (together with procedures for dealing with contravention’s of Bye-law 1), relating to members who bring the sport of orienteering into disrepute, shall be adopted by the SOA - with the substitution throughout of SOA for BOF, President for Chairman, Executive Committee for Council and Association for Federation. The penalties which may be imposed by the Executive Committee include suspension and expulsion from the membership of the Scottish Orienteering Association

SOA Constitution 2004.doc

Posted on 01st Jan 06
by Admin -

Filed under: Administration • Handbook

 

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