Constitution and Match Rules
Updated 17/01/2024
1. The League shall be called: Deeside Veterans Bowling League.
2. The objects of the League shall be:
To develop friendship and companionship amongst senior Bowlers (male and female) through the game of Bowls.
3. The league shall consist of Clubs in the County of Flintshire ONLY, and the Divisions will be known as 1,2,3,4 and 5. Note: References to Division 5 shall be ignored in the event of the League having only 4 Divisions.
4. All applications for Membership must be made to the League Secretary, accompanied by the current fee (this includes fees for the Sparkes Shield, John Griffiths Shield & Arthur Davies Memorial Cup Merit). New teams will be placed in the lowest division.
5. The Annual General Meeting of the League will be held on the 3rd Wednesday in January, any Team not represented will be find £10.00
6. The AGM shall elect a President, Deputy President, Secretary, Treasurer, Auditor, Fixture Secretary, Competition Secretary, Chairman and Vice Chairman. The elected Chairman will remain in post until such time as he or she wishes step down or if the membership proposes another candidate at the AGM.
All Officers must be registered with a Club, who is a member of the League.
7. The secretary shall keep a true record of all business transacted at all meetings of the League. At the AGM he/she shall submit their report of the proceedings during the past year.
8. The Treasurer shall keep a true record of all receipts and disbursements and submit the same duly audited to the AGM.
9. No alterations to the Rules or Constitution of the League shall be made except at the AGM. Any changes to resolutions shall be given in writing to the League Secretary not less than 28 days before the date of the AGM. Constitutional changes require two thirds of the votes cast, whereas Rules changes only require a simple majority. ONE TEAM ONE VOTE. Notices of Motions must be submitted to the League Secretary by a Club Secretary and either with a seconder from another Club or a seconder from another Club at the AGM.
10. An extraordinary General Meeting may be convened at the discretion of the Officials, or at the request of Three Clubs.
11. The Executive Committee shall meet as and when necessary to consider and deal with any matters appertaining to the League or its competitions. A Club or any individual Member involved in a disciplinary matter before the Executive Committee has the right of appeal to a Committee of Officers of the League against any decision of the Executive Committee on the matter being dealt with. Notice of an appeal must be made in writing to the League Secretary within 14 days of the original hearing.
12. All rule changes to take effect from the close of that Annual General Meeting. All changes to the Laws of the game as issued by the BCGBA will take effect from 1st March in that year.
13. Outstanding fines must be paid twenty-eight (28) days from the date of the offence (included within that 28 days would be the existing 14 day appeal period)
If the fine is not paid within that period the club would incur a deduction of 10 points.
If a further 28 days elapsed a Management Committee meeting would be convened to discuss further possible suspension until payment is received.
14. The League will endeavour to provide a safe and harassment free environment within its activities for all members and officials
15. The Management Committee shall investigate in confidence any reported harassment or unacceptable conduct in general. In particular, harassment of officers with regard to decisions or policies implemented by such officers or other designated persons, is deemed to be completely unacceptable and in this context, harassment will be defined as follows:
Comments or remarks which are gratuitously critical, insulting, humiliating, intimidating, innuendo or spreading malicious gossip.
Unacceptable conduct includes bullying in any form and or discrimination. These definitions are not exhaustive
The above points also apply to any such comments made on social media.
Any such incident should be reported to the Chairman or League Secretary in the first instance, and may where appropriate be forwarded to Flintshire Area Bowling Association.
16. In the Event that the Deeside Veterans Bowling League has to stop administering the Game of Crown Green Bowls in the Flintshire Area for persons qualified to play in it. Any monies held by the League will be (after all dues and demands are paid) handed over to the Flintshire Area Bowling Association.
17. The Executive Committee shall have the power to deal with any matter not provided for in this Constitution, and their decisions shall be final.
Match Rules
1. All games and competitions to be conducted in accordance with the laws of the game as laid down at any time by the BCGBA and WCGBA.
2. All Players (Ladies and Gentlemen) must be 55 years of age or over before they can register to play in the Deeside Veterans Bowling League.
3. Teams shall consist of Eight (8) Players
Games shall be 21 up.
Visitors to lead off with the Jacks.
Scoring - one (1) point for each individual winner and two (2) points for the aggregate score making a possible ten (10) points.
3.1 Completing the draw:
- Both captains are to meet approx. 30 minutes before the start of a match, each with 8 cards with the name of a team player on each card. NO numbers should be written on the cards.
- The visiting captain should then shuffle his first 4 cards before placing them face down in a row on a table.
- The home captain should also shuffle his first 4 cards and then cover each of the opponent’s cards (randomly) with his cards, again face down.
- Both captains should then complete the cards, by adding the opponent names to each card of a pair.
- This process is then repeated for the second set of 4 cards.
4. BCGBA standard jacks (which are in date) are to be used in all league and league sponsored competitions. Jacks and measures to be supplied by the home team.
Teams will have alternative Jacks in all competitions, such matches to be played on neutral greens.
5. Persons nominated by the captains shall act as measurers in all League cup matches unless official referees and measurers are appointed by the League Executive Committee.
6. Each League Team shall forward to the League Secretary (before the first fixture is played), the names of players who are eligible to play in the League for that Team.
All players must be bona fide Club Members.
7. The penalty for playing a banned, suspended or unregistered player will be a 2 point deduction for the offending team. The game in which the player took part will be awarded to the other team 21 - 0.
8. A Player can only play for one Team in any one Season, unless exceptional circumstances warrant a transfer this to be decided by the League Executive Committee.
9. League matches to be played on Thursdays at 2.00pm, except for the third or fourth Teams (C or D Teams) of a Club with only one Green they will play on Thursdays at 11.00am. This does not apply to Teams in Division A where ALL Matches start at 2.00pm irrespective of whether Teams are A B C or D Teams.
10. Visiting teams to be allowed 15 minutes exclusive use of the Green for practice provided they arrive 20 minutes before the scheduled commencement of the Match. Visiting Teams playing Morning Games will practice from 10.40 to 10.55 am with matches to start at 11.00am Teams playing afternoon Games will practice from 1.40pm to 1.55pm. The visiting Captain (or acting Captain) may take their 15 minutes practice earlier or with their own team.
11. Fixtures may be brought forward if mutually agreed by both captains. The Fixture Secretary must be notified of this change prior to the match being played.
12. Matches can only be postponed by adverse weather conditions, or the Death of a club member.
Match to be played within 14 days of postponement. The home Team Captain to arrange a new date after consultation with the opposing Captain
If a Team should fail to fulfil a fixture for reasons other than those stated. The offending Team or Teams shall be fined a sum of £25.00 and have 8 points deducted from their overall seasons points score.
The Fixture must then be played within 14 days of the offence. If the Fixture is not played within the 14 days then both Team Captains will have to appear before the Committee to debate further action.
13. A team must consist of a minimum of 6 Players each Player only eligible to play one game per Match and at least four (4) players must be available to commence a Match.
14. Any Player taking part in a League or Cup Match must present himself/herself at the green not later than one hour after the commencement of the Match.
Players (in pairs means both) playing in DVBL Competitions must be present when Registration and Draw is made.
15. The Home Team captain must load the match result onto the website, if unable to do so then they must forward the result and score sheet to the Fixtures Secretary via telephone or email on the day of the Match.
Clubs shall retain all the result cards for the home fixtures of all their teams until the end of the season. Result cards must clearly show individual player details which must include forenames and surnames for players of both teams, the correct associated scores and both Captains signatures.
Clubs must present result cards for verification within 72 hours of being called for by the Fixture Secretary or a League Officer.
Where a dispute arises and a result card is not provided for verification, the complainant shall have their complaint upheld, with no right of appeal being given to the home team.
Should there be a dispute or likelihood of a protest the captain concerned shall write the words 'under protest' on the Match Result Card after his signature. This Rule shall also apply to League Competitions.
16. All Trophies to be returned to the competition Secretary on or before the 31st July or the Club or Player will be liable to a fine
17. Winners of Prize Money arising from League sponsored competitions should collect such Prize money at the League presentation. If they are not able to collect the prize money at that time, they should collect it at the following Annual General Meeting, otherwise the monies will be forfeited and paid into League funds.
18. Walk overs will not count in the calculation of the Divisional Merits.
19. The teams finishing in the top two places in their respective divisions will be promoted to the next highest division. Accordingly, the two teams finishing with the lowest number of points will be relegated to the next lowest division.
In the event that two or more Teams tie with the same number of points for Promotion or relegation the following will apply, Number of wins will decide should this also be equal then the aggregate will decide.
In the event of the Divisions becoming unbalanced for any reason the management Committee shall have the discretion to balance the Divisions as equally as possible, the higher number of teams to be in the higher Divisions.
20. Smoking / vaping is NOT allowed on the green in any matches under the auspices of the Deeside Veterans Bowling League. (Includes Players & Officials)
