Widnes and District Bowling Association

The Association will be called “The Widnes and District Bowling Association”.

The objectives of the Association will be to promote and foster the game of crown green Bowls in the Widnes and District area, and to encourage the spirit of sportsmanship, without Prejudice to race, religion or gender.

The Management of the Association, together with the Trophies and Funds of the Association, will be invested in the Management Committee, consisting of the ex-officio members of the Committee, i.e. Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and the Merseyside County Representative, plus any club representatives who request to be included at the annual A.G.M up to a maximum of 5 clubs. The Officers shall be elected annually at the A.G.M. Meeting as follows: President, Vice Chairman, Chairman, Hon. Secretary, Hon. Treasurer, Hon Auditors (2), Merseyside County Representative.

The A.G.M. Meeting will be held in February each year, and each affiliated Club must be represented. Clubs present will be allowed only one vote. The Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer will be allowed to vote, and in the event of a tie, the Chairman will have the casting Vote. The business of the A.G.M. will be: Hon. Secretary’s report; Hon. Treasurer’s report, Election of officers and Management Committee; Any other Business (i.e. suggested Alterations to the rules must be made 14 days prior to the A.G.M. in writing to the Hon. Secretary). A Half Yearly meeting will be held in October each year and all clubs must again be represented.

An Extraordinary General Meeting may be requested at any time, provided that such a Request is made by at least 4 clubs, the same to be sent in writing to the Hon. Secretary. The Secretary shall give all clubs at least seven day’s notice of such a meeting.

The duties of the Management Committee shall be:
To organise the League and other competitions, and to see that the activities of the Association are carried out efficiently.
To make all arrangements in respect of Competitions, Fixtures and Matches.
To award all prizes, consistent with the funds of the Association.
To have control of the finances of the Association, and to authorise necessary expenditure.
To consider all questions arising from the activities of the Association, and to adjudicate on All matters not covered by these rules.

All members of the Management Committee to vote, the Chairman having the casting vote.

Meetings of the Management Committee as the welfare of the Association demands.

The Duties of the Hon. Secretary will be as follows:
To summon and record all proceedings of all meetings.
To carry on the correspondence of the Association. To keep all records and have custody of the minutes of the Association, and if the occasion arises, to make a decision which will be upheld by the Management Committee.
To carry out all duties not assigned to any other member of the Association.

The Duties of the Hon. Treasurer will be as follows:
To have charge of the funds, and to keep the committee informed from time to time of the Finances of the Association.
To prepare and submit a Statement of Accounts, duly audited, to the A.G.M.

The 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 2 officers, viz: Chairman, Hon. Secretary, Hon. Treasurer.

Alteration of the Rules will be made only at the A.G.M. and notice of proposed alterations Must be sent to the Secretary, in writing, not less than 14 days before the date of such Meeting. No alteration will be made to any rule unless the proposed alteration is duly Seconded, and obtains a two thirds majority of those eligible to vote at the meeting, Such majority to be rounded up to the nearest whole number. No amendments to the Proposals can be taken at the A.G.M., as the necessary 14 days notice will not have been Served.

The status of the Association will be maintained by affiliation to the Merseyside Crown Green Bowling Association, and The British Crown Green Bowling Association.

Affiliation to the Association will be confined to the Clubs in Widnes And district, and all Clubs applying for admission to the Association must be elected by a majority of those Voting at the A.G.M. All clubs affiliated to the Association must register their players before their first match of the season is played, and all such players must be bona fide members of the clubs for whom they are registered, and must be paid up members of the B.C.G.B.A. Later registrations must be made to the Secretary in writing at least 24 hours before the Player plays their first match. The last date for registration is June 30th.

Transfer of players between clubs / teams may only be allowed following approval by the Management Committee, who will take into account the reason for the requested transfer.

The Annual affiliation fee to the Association will be reviewed annually, taking into account the financial position of the Association and any amendments must be approved at the A.G.M. Clubs may register any number of players and each team will comprise of 10 players.

Any club defaulting in payment of fees will be deemed to have resigned the Association, but will nevertheless remain liable for all monies due to the Association.

The Management Committee will decide which competitions will be played for each season.

The Match and Competition Rules appended to these Rules will be subject to the conditions Laid down in Rules 12, 13, and 20.

The interpretation of these rules, together with the Match and Competition Rules, is vested In the Management Committee, whose decision will be binding and from which appeals will be allowed to Merseyside C.G.B.A and ultimately the British C.G.B.A.

All League Matches of the Association shall be played on Monday and/or Friday evenings, With the exception of where a club with only one green and a maximum of three teams using that green. Such clubs will be allowed to play on other evenings as specified by the Management Committee. Clubs should endeavour to have their greens available on all Mondays and Fridays during the season for League and Cup Games.

Each team shall play each other Home and Away, and the winning team will count two points In the league table. In the event of a tie each team will count one point. The winning team will be the one with the highest aggregate score. The Home Team Captain is responsible for entering the result of the match directly onto the website in a timely manner after the match. Any issues should be referred to the Secretary immediately.

League positions will be determined by the number of points gained by teams during the season in accordance with rule 2. The Top 2 Teams in Division 2 will be promoted to Division 1 in the following season, and the bottom 2 team in Division 1 will be relegated to Division 2 In the following season. For promotion and relegation purposes, if more than one team have the same number of points at the end of the league season, positions will be decided by the following formula:

The difference between chalks scored and conceded

The number of individual games won

The results of matches played between the two teams.

The Management Committee will also determine any additional promotion / relegation of teams to provide as far as possible, Divisions of equal number of teams..

Any players who are members of teams winning League Prize Money (I.e. 1st or 2nd place) will only be eligible to play for teams in the following season as follows:
a) Division 1 prize winners will only be eligible to play for any team in Division 1 unless Otherwise approved by the Management Committee.
Prize winners in Division 2 can play for any team in any division the following season.

Each team will consist of ten players. All games will be of 21 points duration, visiting players to have first throw of the jack.

All fixtures (League and Cup) MUST be played on or before the date stipulated in the official fixture list. Matches brought forward must be with the agreement of both teams, and in the case of Cup matches subject to the availability of the nominated green. Failure to agree will result in the original match date in the fixture list standing.
Postponement of matches will only be allowed due to play being prevented by inclement Weather, or by the direction of the Management Committee.
Once any postponed game as been rearranged between the teams the Hon. Secretary MUST be informed of the new date to enable the website to be updated which then allows the Home team captain to enter the results directly onto the website. Failure to inform the Secretary means that the home team Captain MUST provide the Score Sheet to the Secretary In a timely manner after the match to enable entry onto the website.
League match and cup match start times will be as follows:
April – 6.30pm
May, June ,July – 7.00pm
August – 6.30pm
September 6.00pm
Clubs with floodlights may start their fixtures at 7pm providing agreement is reached with their opponents.
Each team shall have at least four players available at the scheduled or arranged start time and the match will start with four games. Thereafter as each game is completed, a player from each team shall be available to start another game, until ten games have been or are being played.
Should either team not have a player or players available, then the Captain of the opposing team may claim 21 chalks for each player not so available. Such claims must be made to the opposing Captain.
A visiting player who has practiced on the venue green on the same day will not be allowed On the green, whether they be a member of the venue club or not. A visiting player who has played on the venue green on the same day for a team in a separate league, will be allowed on the green.
Any team unable to play a fixture will have a score of 0-210 awarded to that team, whilst the Non offending team will gain the two points.

It will be an offence to play an ineligible player. Any game involving an ineligible player shall be scored 21-0 in favour of the non- offending team. The Secretary of any team alleging the playing of an ineligible player in an opposing team must put it in writing with the result sheet from the game concerned forwarded to the Hon. Secretary.

All protests and objections must be sent to the Hon. Secretary within 3 days of the incident In question, for the Management Committee to adjudicate on.

The results of all League Matches must be entered onto the C.G.League website in a timely manner by the Home Team Captain following the game, and before 7 days elapse, after which time only the Hon. Secretary can update the website and they will need to be provided with a copy of the match result sheet via either email or WhatsApp if possible.
All Match results sheets must be kept, in the event of a query following the result being Posted on the website.
All Cup Match Result Sheets Must be forwarded to the Hon. Secretary following each game by the Home Team, again via email or WhatsApp if possible.
Postponement of matches due to inclement weather should in most cases be made at the Green side at the match start time and must be by mutual agreement of the team captains concerned or by taking into consideration the likelihood, or otherwise of the match being completed due to the condition of the green. The Home Greensman or Home Captain in his absence shall have the final decision of the condition of the green. In the event of a match being postponed the Hon. Secretary must be advised. The Home club must then provided 3 alternative dates to the visiting team to enable the match to be replayed within three weeks of the original fixture date. Should this not be possible the Hon. Secretary must be informed of the issues for the Management Team to make a decision.
Matches abandoned after the commencement of play shall follow the above rules. In this Instance, results of completed games will stand. Games in progress at the time of abandonment will be resumed with the scores standing at the time of abandonment. Should a player not be available to resume their game on the agreed date, then their score at time of abandonment will count as their final score and their opponents score will be 21. At the end of the season any outstanding Matches must be played within 7 days of the final League Fixture.

Where a club enters two teams in the league in separate divisions, they must register a minimum of ten players per team. Once a player in the higher division as played their fourth game for that team, then they can only play for the lower division team with the approval of the management Committee, who will take into account all the reasons for a request to move teams once received. The Management Committee will make a judgement on the situation and their decision is final. Players in the lower division team will be allowed to play a maximum of three games for the higher division team, but will then be considered a member of the higher division team unless a submission is made to the Management Committee who will make a judgement after consideration of the facts, the decision made Is final.
Where a club enters more than one team in the league and they are both in the same division, the club must register a minimum of 10 players for each team. Once players have played their fourth game for a team they shall remain with that team for the remainder of the season, unless a request for a player to move to the other team is made to the Hon. Secretary who will discuss the reasons for the request to move with the Management Committee, who’s decision is final.
Where a club enters three teams in the League, two teams in a higher division and one in a lower division, the club must register a minimum of ten players for each team. As above once a player as played their fourth game for the higher Div they shall remain with that team unless a request is made via the Hon. Secretary to allow the player to move to a team playing in the same division or a lower division. After considering the reason for the request to move the Management Committee will make a judgement on the situation and their decision is final. If a player in the lower division plays three games for the higher division team they shall remain with that team unless a request to move back to the lower division team is sent to the Hon. Secretary for consideration by the Management committee who’s decision is final.
Where a club enters three teams in the league, one in the higher division and two in the Lower division they must register a minimum of 10 players in each team. As above once a Player in the higher division has played their fourth game they shall remain with that team, Unless a request for them to move to a lower division team is submitted to the Hon. Sec. For consideration by the Management Committee, who’s decision is final. Once a player from the lower division has played three games for the higher division they shall remain with that Team unless a request to return to the lower division team is submitted to the Hon. Sec. for Consideration by the Management Committee, who’s decision is final.

The Competition will be a challenge competition confined to teams competing in the league Competition winners will hold the trophy for 12 months. The entrance fee will be included in the Annual Affiliation Fee to the Association. Handicapping of each team will be reviewed Each season. Entry into this competition is mandatory.

The competition will have a waterloo draw, and be played on neutral greens fixed by the Management Committee.

Before commencement of the match, the two captains shall toss a coin to determine which Player is to lead off with the jack in each game. The Captain winning the toss will have the choice of leading off in either the odd or even numbered games.

Venue clubs were possible should provide a referee who will be responsible for completing the result sheet. In the absence of a referee both Captains will be responsible for ensuring the result sheet is completed and result forwarded to the Hon. Secretary.

A Player is not eligible to play for a team in the semi – finals or final, unless they have played four games for the team during the season in the league or the Walwyn White Cup. Two of these games must have been League games.

With the exception of the foregoing, the Constitutional and Match Rules shall apply where Appropriate.
In the event of a Draw in any round of the Competition the first team out of the hat will Progress.

Following the A.G.M. the elected Management Committee will complete the draw for the Competition, taking into account any prelims required. Appointment of Greens will be made Nearer to the date of the first games.

The Management Committee will review the handicap of all teams taking into account the Position in the previous years divisions and their results in the previous competition.
The handicaps are allocated as follows:
Division One : up to 40
Division Two : 45 upwards to a max. of 70

The team that wins the competition will be deducted 15 chalks for the next season. The Runners up will be deducted 10 chalks and the semi finalists 5 chalks each. These will be Deducted after allocation of handicaps according to the foregoing rule 2.

The Management Committee reserve the right to re-handicap a team after the first round, If they believe a mistake has been made. This right will be used sparingly.

Losing teams in the preliminary round and first round proper of the Walwyn White Cup, will be entered into the Walwyn White Plate.

Teams will carry their handicap forward to this competition.

The Winner, Runner Up and Semi-Finalists of this competition will only be re-handicapped in Subsequent plate competitions, and not in the Walwyn White Cup Proper.

The same deductions will be made as for the Walwyn White Cup.

Only the net handicap will be printed in the draw for each round of the competition.