Name
The name of the association shall be The Birmingham Badminton League.
Object
The association shall exist to organise and control the various Badminton Leagues, Tournaments and other Competitions amongst the Members of the League, and to promote any other activities of a sporting or social nature for the well being of the game of Badminton.
Membership
Any Club of which the object, or one of the objects is badminton having its hall situated within a radius of eight miles from the Birmingham Town Hall shall be entitled to become a member of the League.
- Member Clubs whose hall is outside the area may remain members
- Any Club outside the area may be elected to membership by a majority vote at an AGM
Annual General Meeting
An Annual General Meeting shail be held in September of each year for the following purposes:
- Receiving reports from the officers
- Electing officers and Committee members for the forthcoming season
- Fixing and collecting fees
- Arranging fixtures
- Other general business
Special General Meetings
A Special General Meetings may be convened in Birmingham at any time by the League Secretary upon the request in writing to do so from at least five member Clubs. Such meetings shall be convened by the League Secretary within one calendar month of the request. The business of such a meeting shall be limited strictly to the purpose stated in the notice of the meeting
Conduct of general meetings
- Fourteen days’ notice will be given of meetings
- Each Club is required to be represented
- Each Club is entitled to one vote
- Voting shall be by show of hands unless a minimum of 1/5 of those present and eligible to vote demand a ballot
- In the event of a tie the chair shall have the casting vote.
Amendments to the constitution and its appendix
This constitution and its Appendix may be amended at a General Meeting if approved by two thirds of the votes cast. Proposed amendments shall be made in writing, and reach the League Secretary by the end of July. The notice convening the meeting shall specifically mention the proposed amendment.
The Committee
The day to day management and control of the League shall be vested in the Committee, whose members are required to belong to Clubs in the League.
League Fees
The League fees for each season, shall be decided and collected at the Annual General Meeting, the intention is that such fees will cover the Committee expenses, and provide a working balance for the furtherance of the League’s activities.
Winding Up
If upon winding up, or dissolution of the League, there remains, after satisfaction of all debts and liabilities, any properties or assets, they shall be disposed of at the discretion of the remaining members
Appendix to the Constitution
(Being the rules relating to the Management and Composition of the Leagues in Birmingham)
League Structure
a) There will be three Leagues, namely Mens Doubles, Ladies Doubles and Mixed Doubles. Where more than seven Clubs desire to enter any League, such Leagues shall be divided into Divisions. Each Division shall, where possible, consist of six teams, but shall not consist of less than four teams or more than seven teams.
b) Where any League consists of more than one Division, then depending upon the number of teams, it will be constituted as follows :
Grade 1 1 Division
Grade 2 1 Division
Grade 3 1 Division
Grade 4 1 Division
Grade 5 & subsequent grades 1 Division
For succeeding seasons, the top team in each Division, except for Grade 1, shall be promoted to the next highest grade and the bottom team shall be relegated to the next lowest grade.
The teams that finish second in any division shall have the right to challenge the second from bottom teams in the next highest Division. All challenge matches shall be arranged and played at a venue chosen by the team in the higher Division on a mutually agreeable date. The match shall be played with shuttles chosen by the higher team (Rule p) applies).
The hall hire and shuttle costs must be shared equally by both teams. The challenge must be made, the fixture date agreed and the League Fixtures Secretary informed in writing by the 30th of April. A minimum of three dates should be offered. Failure to do this will be taken to indicate that the challenge has been conceded by the defaulting Club. The match shall be played by the 31st May (Rule h) applies). The dates are not negotiable. Normal League rules apply.
c) Any team entering or rejoining a League shall be placed in the lowest Division and any vacancy in a higher Division shall be filled by promotion from the Division immediately below, except insofar as the Committee is empowered to decide otherwise by a specific direction given at any General Meeting.
d) The top team in the Mens Doubles, ladies Doubles and the Mixed Doubles (or the top team in Division one if more than one Division) shall be eligible to represent the Birmingham Badminton League in the Inter-District League Championship of the Warwickshire Badminton Association.
Match Format
- e) A team in any Mens Leagues shall consist of three pairs. A match shall consist of nine rubbers, each pair playing all three pairs of the opposing side. Each rubber shall be the best of 3 games using the rally point system. The order of play for each match shall be as given below unless mutually agreed otherwise. Home Team 1 2 3 2 3 1 3 1 2 Away Team 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
- A team in any Ladies League and Mixed League shall consist of four players. A match shall consist of six rubbers. Each rubber shall be the best of 3 games using the rally points system. The match shall be decided on rubbers, then games, then points to produce a winner in the event of the number of rubbers being equal. in the event of rubbers, games and points won being equal then a draw will be recorded in the League records. The order of play for each match shall be as given below unless mutually agreed otherwise. Home Team 1 & 2 3 &4 3 &4 1 & 2 1 & 3 2 &4 Away Team A& B C & D A & B C & D A & C B & D
- The rally point scoring system will be used in all divisions of the League.
Arranging Fixtures
f) Fixtures shall be arranged at the Annual General Meeting as mentioned in Rule Three. All matches shall be played before the 1st of April. A team failing to complete its fixtures shall be deemed to have conceded the unplayed matches and will automatically be relegated. Clubs will have the right to appeal in writing not later than two weeks after the end of the season.
g) Clubs will be circulated with a list of the fixtures arranged at the fixture meeting. This list will confirm the arrangements made between Clubs and unless the Fixture Secretary is notified immediately, the fixture will be played as listed with no further confirmation being necessary.
h) Before the start of a rubber the home team will fill in the full names of their players, then pass the scorecard to the away team to add their players’ full names. The Score Card shall be sent to the Fixture Secretary by the winners of the match within seven days of the date of the match. Failure to submit a Score Card within the prescribed time will result in a letter/ email being sent to the match secretaries of the teams involved. If no scorecard is received within fourteen days of the date of the letter/ email, no win will be recorded for the match, but the rubber count will be recorded when known.
i) All players in a match must carry their own recognizable photo ID (photocopies are not acceptable). This must be shown to the opposition if requested. Failure to do so will mean that the player concerned cannot play in the match and this must be noted on the scorecard.
Match Difficulties
j) Any matches cancelled because of the unavailability of the hall, weather, or any other good cause, (which does not include unavailability of players), shall be re-arranged within seven days, the responsibility for making fresh arrangements resting with the Club who cancelled the fixture. The cancelling Club will confirm in writing the cancellation, the new date, time, and the venue, both to the match Secretary of their opponents and to the League Fixtures Secretary. Failure to do this will be taken to indicate that the fixture has been conceded by the cancelling Club.
- k) Should a fixture be forfeited, then a score of nine (six for ladies) rubbers to nil shall be recorded against the defaulting team.
- Where, owing to an incomplete team, nine (six for ladies) rubbers are not completed, two games scored 21-0 shall be recorded for each incomplete rubber against the defaulting team.
- If due to injury during a match, or for any other reason, a player retires and takes no further part in the match, a substitute shall not be allowed. If a player retires during a game, their score shall stand but the rubber shall be awarded to their opponents.
- The time of commencement of a match shall be decided by the Home team and shall NOT be before 18:45 hours for an evening match, unless mutually agreed. The match must not start later than fifteen minutes after the agreed starting time.
- Both teams must have one pair available to play at the agreed starting time. Failure to do so means that the defaulting team shall forfeit one rubber which can only be claimed at the start of the match.
- Where a match is played on two or more courts, the second pair, and the third pair if three courts are available, must commence play within fifteen minutes of the agreed starting time. Failure to do so means one rubber shall be forfeited by the defaulting team for each rubber unstarted. These rubbers can only be claimed at the time they fall due.
- After thirty minutes from the agreed starting time, a rubber shall be forfeited for each court not in use due to the non-arrival of players. These rubbers can only be claimed at the time they fall due.
- A match shall be deemed conceded if no pairs arrive within one hour of the agreed starting time.
- Unplayed or unfinished rubbers can only be claimed by the Away team after the hall becomes Unavailable, and previously claimed rubbers have been accounted for.
- Where players’ names are incomplete or do not match the names on their Club’s registration list, their corresponding rubbers for that match will be lost.
Registration
l) Players must be bona-fide members of the Club for which they play, and no player may play for more than one Club in any one League. At the annual fixture meeting, or within seven days of that meeting, all Clubs shall register a pool of players from which their teams are selected. Additional registrations must be made in writing and will be allowed until 31st December. After January 1st additional registrations may be considered but will be at the discretion of the Committee. If agreed, the player concerned will only be eligible to play fourteen days after the written request has been received by the Fixture Secretary. The Committee reserves the right to refuse or terminate any registration at any time.
m) Where a Club enters two or more teams in any one League, then at least seven days before its first match of any description, it shall send to the Registration Secretary the names of four players (three for Ladies & Mixed) nominated for each of the teams, other than the lowest, and those players shall not then be allowed to play for the lower team, and must then play in at least 25% of the matches their teams contest in any one season. (If Teams play 10 Fixtures in a season, then the nominated players must play at least 3 Fixtures). Failure to do so will result in their team being moved down a maximum of two positions within its division at the end of the season. In addition, any player having played three times for a higher team in one season shall not then be allowed to play for any lower team in the same season.
n) A Club shall be allowed to have more than one team in the same Division of the League, in such cases all players in the higher team must be nominated, thus not being eligible to play for the lower team. Players in the lower team will be allowed to play for the higher team as in Rule m). In addition, the matches between such teams shall be played before any other matches.
Others
o) The Home Team Captain shall explain the local Club ruling as to lets and faults before commencement of the match.
p) Shuttles of a type approved by Badminton England shall be used. The choice of shuttles will be with the Home team, except that all matches played in Division One shall be played with feather shuttles. The League recommends the use of cork based plastic shuttles.
Conceded Fixtures
q) A team conceding one match prior to Jan.1st will have a 9/6-0 defeat recorded against it with no further action. A team conceding a second match prior to Jan. Ist, or a team conceding a match with effect from Jan.1st, will have its results expunged from the League records and will be automatically relegated. Clubs will have the right to appeal in writing not later than two weeks after the date of the conceded match.