Washington High School Boys Lacrosse Association

By-laws, as adopted on 12/10/02

Mission Statement:

 To organize, develop, and promote boys� high school lacrosse in Washington, and to honor the game by instilling the values of scholastic achievement, sportsmanship, and individual development.

 I.        Article I:  Name of organization

A.     The name of this organization shall be the Washington High School Boys Lacrosse Association (�Association�).                                   

II.     Article II:  Purpose and objective

A.      The purpose and objective of the Association is to support the Mission Statement.

B.     To promote these goals, the Association will work cooperatively with:

1.      the regional chapter of US Lacrosse; and

2.      the boys� middle school/youth lacrosse organization in Washington

III.   Article III:  General Membership.

A.     The General Membership shall consist of one designated Representative from each team that is a Regular Member of the Association.

1.      Regular Members are those teams having been admitted into the Association and not currently on probation, suspension, or provisional status.

2.      Failure of a Regular Member to abide by these By-laws and the policies adopted by the Board of Directors shall subject that Member to disciplinary action up to an including suspension as decided by the Board of Directors.

3.      Any Regular Member subject to disciplinary action shall have the right to appeal that decision to the Board for reconsideration and to the General Membership as provided for in these By-laws.

B.     General Membership Meetings:

1.      All Representatives of the Association shall attend 3 General Membership Meetings:

a)      Summer:  third Saturday afternoon in June � elections and general business.

b)      Fall:  first Saturday morning in October � scheduling and general business.

c)      Winter:  first Saturday morning in February - pre-season and general business.

2.      Special Meetings may be called for by a majority of the Board or when demanded by a majority of the General Membership.

3.      Failure of the Representative (or his/her designee) to attend a General Membership Meeting shall place that team on probation for the subsequent season.

a)      Probation shall not bar a team from league (and championship) participation.

b)      Failure to attend the next General Membership Meeting shall suspend the team from membership, and the team shall be barred from league competition.

c)      Teams on probation or suspension lose their voting rights.

d)      Teams may appeal their probation or suspension to the Board of Directors for reconsideration.

4.      General Membership Meetings shall be presided over by the President of the Board of Directors.

5.      �Robert�s Rules of Order � Newly Revised� shall govern all matters of procedure not covered in these By-Laws.

6.      Voting by proxy is not allowed, but a Representative may designate someone from his/her team to appear in his/her place.

C.     New members are Provisional Members of the Association for at least their first year.

1.      New teams may apply for Provisional Membership prior to the summer or fall membership meetings only.

2.      Criteria for Provisional Membership shall include:

a)      agreement to abide by Association By-laws;

b)      a home field for hosting games;

c)      a coach meeting qualifications established by the Board of Directors;

d)      sufficient organizational support to convince the Board or a provisional membership committee that the new team will be viable for the ensuing season;  and

e)      such other criteria as required by the Board of Directors

3.      A team not meeting Provisional Membership criteria may still schedule JV games.

4.      Provisional Members have no voting rights.

5.      After one year, the Board shall determine if Regular Membership status is warranted.

IV.  Article IV:  Association governance

A.     The affairs, property, and operation of the Association shall be governed and managed by an elected Board of Directors as limited by these By-laws.

1.      Such operations could include, but not be limited to:

a)      The establishment of annual league dues;

b)      Police re:  Movement of teams between divisions;

c)      Policy re:  Admission of new teams;

d)      Policy re:  Player eligibility and team assignment;

e)      Policy re:  Team roster requirements;

f)        Policy re:  Coaching qualifications;

g)      Policy re:  Discipline for players, coaches, teams;

h)      Policy re:  Field/equipment/uniform requirements;

i)        Policy re:  Game rules modifications/officiating;

j)        Policy re:  Playoff scheduling/hosting/qualification issues;

k)      Policy re:  Statistics;

l)        Policy re:  All-America/All-state/All-league selections;  and

m)    Policy re:  Scheduling.

B.     Anyone may run for election to the Board;  however, no single program or team can have more than one person elected to the Board.

C.     Annual elections shall be held at the summer General Membership Meeting.

1.      The Executive Secretary of the Association shall announce in writing what Board positions are up for election 60 days before that summer meeting date.

2.      All those seeking election to the Board must submit their name to the Executive Secretary no later than 45 days prior to the summer meeting.

3.      The executive secretary shall announce in writing all candidates for election 30 days before the summer meeting.

D.     All amendments to these By-laws and any change to the current league alignment of three divisions (plus jv) are to be made by the General Membership as outlined in section E below.

E.      Once adopted by the General Membership, these By-laws can only by amended by the General Membership.

1.      Amendments to the By-laws or league alignment must be presented in writing to the General Membership at least one month prior to any regularly scheduled General Membership Meeting.

2.      Amendments to the By-laws or league alignment shall require a two-thirds vote of the General Membership for passage at a General Membership Meeting.

3.      Any policy or decision enacted by the Board may be overturned by a two-thirds vote of the General Membership at either a General Membership Meeting or a Special Membership Meeting.

a)      Any motion to overturn such a policy or decision must be endorsed by a minimum of one-third of the General Membership and be presented in writing to the General Membership at least one month prior to any regularly scheduled General Membership Meeting.

b)      If the policy subject to overturn was enacted less than one month before any regularly scheduled General Membership Meeting, the time deadline for presenting a written motion is reduced to 10 days.

F.            The Board of Directors shall consist of 7 positions:

1.      One �At-large Representative� elected to a two year term by a majority of the General Membership.

a)      The number of �At-large� Board members shall be either one or two to always ensure an odd number of Board members should the number of Board members grow in the future.

2.      Three �Division Representatives�, one elected by each of the three high school divisions:

a)      Division I teams

b)      Division II teams

c)      Cascade League (B programs)

d)      Future Division Reps are anticipated as the Association grows.

3.      Three �Regional Representatives�, one from each of three geographical regions of high school lacrosse:

a)      west side teams (including Curtis)

b)      Seattle area teams

c)      east side teams (including Snohomish)

d)      Future Regional Reps are anticipated as the Association grows.

G.     The Board of Directors shall meet monthly or as deemed necessary by either the President of the Board or a majority of the Board.

1.      Board meetings shall be conducted at a location which permits attendance by telephone conference call.

2.      �Robert�s Rules of Order � Newly Revised� shall govern all matters of procedure not covered in these By-Laws.

3.      No business may take place unless a quorum of two-thirds of the Board members is present, either in-person or by telephone conference call.

4.      The Board may enact by majority vote any policy, procedure, or practice not in violation of these By-laws to regulate the affairs of the Association.

5.      Failure of a Board member to attend 2 consecutive Board meetings shall allow the Board to expel that Board member by majority vote or to take lesser action.

a)      The position of an expelled Board member shall be filled by special election called for by the President within 30 days of expulsion.

b)      The Board member expelled may not run in that special election.

H.     Board members shall serve two year terms with half of the Board being elected at each summer meeting of the Association.

1.      For the initial formation of the Board, those elected as Division Representatives shall serve a one year term while those elected as Regional Representatives and as the At Large representative shall serve a full term of two years.

I.        Board Subcommittees

1.      The Board is authorized to create subcommittees to establish policy positions and/or recommendations on various topics for Board action and/or General Membership action.

2.      These subcommittees may, but are not required to be headed by Board members.

3.      Topics include, but are not limited to:

a)      Admission of new teams;

b)      Player eligibility;

c)      Coaching qualifications;

d)      Discipline for players, coaches, programs;

e)      Field/equipment/uniform requirements;

f)        Game rules modifications/officiating;

g)      Playoff issues;

h)      All-state/All-league selections;  and

i)        Scheduling  .                      

J.       President of the Board

1.      At the first Board meeting following the summer election of Board members, the Board shall elect by majority vote one Board member to act as President of the Board for the ensuing year.

a)      Following the initial election of the Board, this vote for Board President shall take place at the first Board meeting.

2.      The President of the Board shall preside over Membership meetings and Board meetings as limited by these By-laws and the policies approved by the Board of Directors.

3.      The Board may remove the Board President by majority vote and immediately elect another Board member to serve out the remainder of the term.

K.    Board Executive Secretary

1.      The Board is authorized to appoint an Executive Secretary to assist the Board and Board President in conducting the business of the Board and Association.

2.      This is a non-voting position charged with all duties of secretary and treasurer.

a)      All association checks require two signatures and the Executive Secretary and Board President are authorized signers on the Association account.

b)      Full accounting of all receipts and expenditures shall be presented in writing to all General Members at the summer General Membership Meeting and more frequently as required by the Board or as called for by a majority of the General Members.

3.      The Executive Secretary shall issue minutes of all General and Special  Membership Meetings and all Board meetings within 15 days of such meetings to the General Membership.

4.      The Executive Secretary shall supervise all elections, tabulate the vote, and announce the results.

a)      The Executive Secretary and the Board President shall validate the voting outcome.

V.     Article V:  Vacancies

A.     Vacancies on the Board due to death, resignation, or removal shall be replaced within 30 days by special election of the Association.

B.     Such special election can be by e-mail or as otherwise authorized by the Board.

VI.  Article VI:  Compensation

A.     All members and officers of the Association shall serve without compensation, except they will be allowed reimbursement of expenses incurred in the performance of their regular duties.

B.     Such reimbursement requires approval from the Board of Directors and shall be disclosed in the financial statements of the Association.

VII.            Article VII:  Fiscal year

A.     For accounting purposes, the fiscal year of the Association shall begin on the 1^st day of January and end on the 31^st day of December.

VIII.         Article VIII:  Financial Responsibility

A.     No member or officer of the Association may incur any expense or debt in the name of the Association without specific approval or authorization from the Board of Directors.

IX.        Article IX:  Non-liability

A.     The President, Executive Secretary, Board of Directors, and Representatives of the Association all serve as volunteers and shall not be personally liable for the debts, liabilities, or other obligations of the Association.

X.           Article X:  Definitions

A.     Association:  the Washington High School Boys Lacrosse Association.

B.     At Large Board Member:  those people person elected by the General Membership to represent the General Membership at large.

C.     Board Executive Secretary:  that person appointed by the Board of Directors to assist the Board and serve as secretary and treasurer.

D.     Board of Directors:  those people elected by the General Membership to govern and manage the affairs, property, and operation of the Association.

E.      Divisional Board Member:  those people elected by their respective divisions to represent the General Members of that division.

F.      General Membership:  those teams admitted to the Association not on probation, suspension, or provisional status.

G.     General Membership Meetings:  regularly scheduled summer, fall, and winter meetings of the General Membership.

H.     President of the Board:   that individual elected by the Board of Directors to serve as president of the Board from one year.

I.        Probation:  non-voting team status arising from failure to attend one General Membership meeting or for violation of a By-law or written Board policy.  Teams on probation may still compete in their division.

J.       Provisional Membership:  non-voting status for first year teams meeting criteria for Provisional Membership to the Association.

K.    Regional Board Member:  those people elected by their respective regions to represent the General Members of that region.

L.      Representative:  designated representative from a General Member team of the Association.

M.   Special Membership Meetings:  additional membership meetings called for by a majority vote of the Board of Directors or the General Membership.

N.     Suspension:  non-voting team status arising from failure to attend two consecutive General Membership meetings or for violation of a By-law or written Board policy.  Suspended teams may not compete in their division.