These statutes set out how the Falkland Islands Hockey Association will be organised and run as an association.  These will be considered and amended annually at the AGM unless there are urgent requirements for change which may be made by the committee, but will be noted at the next AGM.

Last Update: November 2019

A downloadable version of these statutes is available here

1.Association Mission

1.1
The Falkland Islands Hockey Association strives to provide excellent hockey playing opportunities to all from youth to the highest senior levels regardless of age, gender and ability.  The Association also aims to provide a warm welcome to everybody, including supporters, and to be recognised as the most socially and family oriented Club in the Falklands. The Association will also promise to guide, teach and support the children.

2.General

2.1 The Club shall be known as ‘The Falkland Islands Hockey Association’. The purpose of this club is to promote good standards of Hockey by all means it may deem appropriate.
2.2 The Association shall be managed by a Committee who shall be elected each year by a General Assembly of its members.
2.3 The working language of the Association shall be English for the purposes of general Association documentation and communications.
2.4 Amendments to these statutes may only be made at a General Assembly of Members.
2.5 All members of the Association are required to abide by these statutes.
2.6 The season lasts from March to September in the same year. The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Members shall aim to be held in October of each year or as soon as possible afterwards. The financial year-end shall run with the calendar year.

3. AGM

3.1 The outgoing Committee shall convene that AGM at least 20 days in advance of the meeting. The notice shall be published. The notice shall include a date, time and venue and any other information as required.
3.2The Chair of the outgoing Committee shall chair the AGM until the new Chair is appointed.
3.3The AGM shall elect a new Committee. The outgoing Committee shall present the agenda and report on the previous season. All items on the agenda shall be approved, amended or rejected as appropriate by a simple majority of members present or validly represented. New items may be added to the agenda at the request of any member.

4. AGM Voting

4.1 Entitled to vote at the AGM are senior league hockey players, committee members and parents of youth players with valid memberships.
4.2 Voting at the AGM shall be by a show of hands unless a majority of the members present request a secret ballot for all or part of the agenda items. Results of votes shall be communicated immediately to all members present.
4.3 Those entitled to vote may make nominations to the Committee. Each appointment to the Committee shall be nominated by a Member (self-nominations are acceptable) and seconded by another Member.

5.Committee

5.1 The Committee shall consist of not less than seven and not more than eleven members with at least one youth member. The Committee shall normally serve for a period of one year or until a new Committee is elected. The Committee shall appoint a Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, National Head Coach, Youth Co-ordinator, Senior Co-ordinator, Youth Representative, PR and Media co-ordinator, Fund raising co-ordinator, and two other officers as needed.
5.2 A Lead Safeguarding Officer and a Vice Chair shall be appointed from the committee members as elected in 5.1.
5.3 If the AGM fails to fill a Committee vacancy then the Committee may do so and may fill vacancies and may co-opt additional Members.
5.4 If a committee member resigns before the AGM the committee can appoint a person to act in an interim capacity until elections at the next AGM.
5.5 Committee Members are obliged to act in the best interests of the Association at all times. They shall be required to declare any conflicts of interests to the Committee.
5.6 The Committee may convene an Extraordinary General Meeting at any time for any agenda it deems appropriate. The Committee must convene an Extraordinary General Meeting if at least a third of the Members make such a request. The rules of notice and voting shall be the same as the AGM.
5.7 At every meeting the secretary will take written notes that will be distributed to the committee prior to the next meeting.
5.8 Meetings will be in the following format: Apologies; Approval of previous minutes; Matters arising; Agenda items; Any other business; Date time and venue of next meeting.

6.Financial

6.1 The Treasurer shall present the accounts to the Committee at the AGM.
6.2 All cheques and payment orders shall be signed by any two members of the Committee. Credit cards shall be on the authorisation of the treasurer.

7.Association Policy and Rules documents

7.1 The Committee is responsible for making decisions for the day to day running of the Association. To facilitate this the Committee may maintain appropriate policy and rules documents. There shall be no point of conflict between this and the Statutes approved by the AGM. In case of any conflict, the Statutes take precedence.
7.2 The policy and rules documents (and any changes) shall be communicated to all members at the AGM and prior to the start of the season who shall then have a period of 21 days to make comments for consideration by the Committee.

8.Teams

8.1 At least 3 Committee members including the National Head Coach shall participate in domestic league team selection from those who have registered to play.
8.2 The National Head Coach will select the international teams with the support of other committee members if needed.
8.3 Team Captains or Managers shall be responsible for finding substitutes where necessary as per the rules on substitutes.
8.4 Team captains for senior inline and DEK teams will be chosen by the teams.
8.5 Mangers for youth teams will be appointed by the committee.

9.Incident Reporting

9.1 If a complaint is made a Behaviour Incident Reporting Form will be completed and submitted to the chair who will deal with it as defined in the rules.
9.2 If there are any child safeguarding concerns a Child Protection Concern Form will be completed and handed to the Lead Safeguarding Officer.