The name of this
organization shall be the Yankee Volleyball Association.
The purpose of
the Yankee Volleyball Association is to promote volleyball in
The mailing
address of the Association shall be that of the current Registrar of the
Association.
Section 1: Membership in Yankee Volleyball
Association shall be open to any player, coach, official, or individual
interested in following or promoting volleyball in
Section 2: The membership year shall run from
September 1 to August 31, to coincide with the USA Volleyball (USAV) membership
year. All memberships shall expire on August 31, regardless of when during the
year the individual joins.
Section 3: Annual membership fees shall be
established by the Executive Board.
Section 4: Members are entitled to participate in
tournaments (as per guidelines for each tournament) and other activities of the
Association; vote in elections and at membership meetings; and to hold elected
or appointed positions.
Section 5: Members may be suspended or fined for
violations of the code of conduct, serious violations of the rules, or other
disciplinary problems, as voted by the Executive Board. Suspended members are
not eligible to participate in Yankee tournaments in any capacity. Fined
members may not participate in Yankee tournaments until the fine has been paid.
Members under suspension by NERVA/USAV will not be eligible to participate in
Yankee tournaments in any capacity.
Section 1: Governing Body
The governing
and administrative body of the Yankee Volleyball Association shall be the
Executive Board, consisting of the Elected Positions and Appointed Positions
listed below. The Executive Board shall be responsible for conducting the
business of the Association including but not limited to:
1) Voting on
changes in the Rules and Policies of the Association;
2) Approving the
annual budget and proposed expenditures;
3) Making
decisions regarding any disciplinary problems that are brought up because of
actions at a Yankee tournament or in the conduct of Association-related
business;
4) Creating
appointed positions and standing committees as necessary.
Section 2: Elected Positions
Elected
positions are filled by vote of the membership. The term of all elected
positions is two years commencing on July 1st and terminating on June 30th.
Each elected position carries with it voting privileges (one vote) at meetings
of the Executive Board. No individual shall hold more than one elected position
with the exception of an individual being temporarily appointed to hold a
second elected position in an "acting" capacity; that person shall
not have a second vote on the Executive Board.
Elected members
of the Executive Board may be removed only by a 2/3 majority vote of the other
elected members. Reason for removal could include consistent non-attendance at
meetings, dereliction of duty or gross misconduct.
Any open
position on the Executive Board shall be filled for the remainder of the term
by a majority vote of the remaining members of the board.
President: The President shall be the chief officer
of the Association, responsible for conducting all meetings of the Executive
Board and General Membership, naming persons to the appointed positions below,
appointing ad hoc committees, and coordinating the activities of the other
members of the Board as necessary.
Vice-President: The Vice-President shall assume the
responsibilities of the President in the event of the President's absence,
resignation, or incapacity, and shall be responsible for other functions as
assigned by the President.
Secretary: The Secretary shall be responsible for
taking, distributing and maintaining the minutes of the meetings of the
Executive Board and General Membership, for handling any necessary
correspondence for the Association and for maintaining and updating these
Bylaws and the Rules and Policies of the Association.
Treasurer: The Treasurer shall maintain the
financial records of the Association and associated bank accounts, and shall
submit regular written financial reports to the Executive Board.
At-Large
Representatives:
There shall be five (5)
At-Large Representatives, who shall have no assigned responsibilities other
than to attend Executive Board meetings and provide additional representation
for the General Membership, but may take on Appointed Positions or other
functions as assigned by the President.
Section 3: Appointed Positions
With the
approval of the Executive Board, the President shall assign individuals to the
appointed positions listed below and to any further appointed positions created
by the Executive Board as it deems necessary.
These positions in themselves do not carry voting privileges at
Executive Board meetings, but they may be filled by elected board members. Individuals may hold more than one appointed
position. Persons holding appointed
positions shall report to the president and submit periodic reports at meetings
of the Executive Board as directed by the president.
For each
appointed position, the Executive Board may establish minimal compensation
levels as listed in the Schedule of Fees Addendum to this document.
Ratings
Chairperson: The Ratings
Chairperson shall coordinate the assigning of ratings of all members, including
appointing individuals and/or committees to evaluate players and shall
coordinate with the Registrar to maintain the list of assigned ratings and
handle any correspondence necessary.
Tournament
Coordinator: The
Tournament Coordinator shall be responsible for sanctioning and scheduling all
Yankee tournaments excluding the Yankee year-end Qualifying Tournaments and
Championships.
Championship
Tournament Coordinator:
The Championship Tournament Coordinator shall be responsible for planning and
coordinating the Yankee year-end Qualifying Tournaments and Championships.
Referee
Coordinator: The Referee
Coordinator shall be responsible for assigning USAV-certified referees for
Yankee tournaments, coordinating with the Tournament Coordinator, Championship
Tournament Coordinator, Tournament Directors, and Referees as necessary. The Referee Coordinator shall work with the
regional Chairperson of Officials to ensure equitable assignments.
Newsletter
Editor: The Newsletter Editor shall be
responsible for compiling and directing the distribution of the Association’s
electronic newsletter, which will be distributed approximately four (4) times
annually.
Web Page
Editor: The Web Page Editor shall be responsible for compiling and
directing the publishing of the Association's Web Page on the Internet.
Bookkeeper: The
Bookkeeper shall be responsible for the Yankee accounting tasks as directed by
the Treasurer.
Section 1: Nominations
Nominations for
the Elected Positions on the Executive Board shall be made by one of the
following procedures:
1) A Nominating
Committee shall be appointed by the Executive Board to attempt to nominate at
least one person for each Elected Position;
2) By written
petition of at least ten members of the Association;
3) By open
nomination from the floor at any meeting of the Executive Board after January 1st
in an election year.
Section 2: Voting
The voting for
Elected Positions shall be conducted as soon after the Annual Meeting as
practical following these procedures:
1) The Executive
Board shall appoint an Election Committee of three (3) persons, none of whom
are running for office, to supervise the distribution, collection and counting
of ballots;
2) Ballots shall
be published on the Yankee Volleyball Association’s Web Page and notification
of the ballot shall made to the General Membership via electronic media at
least two weeks prior to the close of the election. Ballots may be returned via
email or through the Web Page. Each member may send in only one ballot per
election. The Election Committee will validate each ballot via anonymous and
unique identifiers.
3) Candidates
for positions, which are contested, shall be entitled to include a brief
statement with the ballots;
4) Only
candidates nominated under the procedures of Section 1 will appear on the
ballot and be eligible for election.
5) In the event
of a tie in voting for an elected position, the tie will be broken by a
majority vote of the newly elected Executive Board members. If this majority
vote is also tied, the newly elected President of the Executive Board shall
cast a tie-breaking vote. In the event that the President is unable to cast the
tie-breaking vote, that authority will be given to the next available newly
elected member of the Executive Board in this order of precedence: Vice
President, Secretary, Treasurer, and the At-Large Representatives by the order
of seniority of service in the At-Large Representative positions. If
determination of the most senior At-Large Representative is deemed impossible,
a random drawing will be employed to award the tie-breaking vote.
6) If a
candidate runs for multiple elected positions on the Executive Board, they will
be allowed to fill only one position. The winner of each contested race will be
decided in the following precedence:
President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and At-Large
Representative. Once a candidate is declared a winner for an elected position,
they will be removed from consideration for any other elected position.
7) Any other
procedures necessary shall be determined by the Election Committee.
Section 1: The Executive Board shall meet as
necessary to handle the business of the Association, but not less than four
times per year. For voting purposes, a quorum shall consist of a majority of
the voting members of the Executive Board. If members of the board are absent
from a vote or otherwise abstain, any vote by the board will not be finalized
for five business days if the un-cast votes might cause the original vote to be
overturned. Abstaining or absent members of the board shall present their vote
to all other members of the board using a form of communication as agreed to by
the board. After five days any un-cast votes will be considered abstentions.
Section 2: Regular meetings of the Executive Board
shall be publicized and shall be open to all members of the Association to
raise issues for the Board to consider, present reports, or to observe. Special
meetings of the Board to handle specific issues, including but not confined to
electronic meetings, may be held without written notice to the membership, as
long as the meeting is agreed to by the voting members of the Executive Board.
Minutes from these special meetings shall be captured and included within the minutes
at the next regular meeting.
There shall be
at least one meeting of the general Membership of the Association each year, at
a time established by the Executive Board. A minimum of two weeks notice of
this meeting, including the proposed agenda, shall be sent electronically to
all Members. A quorum shall consist of whatever number of members is
present. At Meetings, members may
propose and vote on recommended changes in the rules and policies, propose
amendments to the bylaws and nominate candidates for the Executive Board.
Section 1: The
Association shall operate on a fiscal year of September 1 through August 31.
Section 2: The
President shall submit a proposed budget, which must be approved by the
Executive Board at its first or second regular meeting of the year. All specific expenditures must be approved by
a separate vote of the Board.
Section 3: A year-end financial statement, including
an Income Statement and a Balance Sheet, shall be available upon request to any
member of the General Membership upon request of the Treasurer.
Article
X: Competition
Competition at
Yankee tournaments shall be governed by the rules of the USAV, except as
modified under the current Yankee Volleyball Association Rules and Policies as
approved by the Executive Board.
The Rules and
Policies may be amended by a majority vote of the Executive Board, with a
quorum present. Members may propose changes by submitting them to a member of
the Executive Board. (All board members will be listed on the Web Page.)
Article
XI: Amendments
Section 1:
These bylaws may be amended only by a majority vote of all returned
ballots distributed to all Members. If possible, this ballot shall be included
with the annual election ballot. Amendments may be proposed by:
1) Majority vote
of the Executive Board;
2) Majority vote
at the Annual Meeting of the Membership;
3) Petition by
100 Members, validated by the Executive Board;
Section
2: A bylaw change when placed on the ballot will contain the
following information:
1) The current
section of the bylaws that will be changed.
2) The same
section of the bylaws with the proposed change incorporated.
3) A brief
description of the change and if pertinent, the reasoning behind the change.
4) A brief
statement explaining why a voter would want to support the change.
5) A brief
counter statement explaining why a voter might not want to support the change.