The 24 Rules of the Onslow Village Lawn Tennis Club

1. The name of the Club shall be the Onslow Village Lawn Tennis Club.

2. The object of the Club shall be:

2.1 To encourage and facilitate the playing of tennis for the benefit of its members.

2.2 To promote and foster social fellowship among its members.

2.3 To do all things incidental and ancillary to the above objects.

3. The Club shall be managed by a Committee consisting of Chairperson, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer, Honorary Match Secretary, Men’s Captain, Ladies Captain, Junior Section representative, Off-peak Section representative, Social Secretary and five full members, all to be elected at the Annual General Meeting. Five members shall form a quorum. The Committee shall be empowered to appoint all sub-Committees not elected at the Annual General Meeting but all sub-Committees shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the general Committee.

4. The following are included among the duties of the Committee:-

4.1 Election of prospective members

4.2 Maintenance of Club property

4.3 Supervision of order of play (through weekend rota).

4.4 Provision of tennis balls

4.5 Organising all Tournaments, Matches and social events for members

5. The property of the Club shall be vested in four Trustees who shall be appointed by the Committee and the property of the Club shall be vested in them to be dealt with by them as the Committee may from time to time direct by resolution (of which an entry in the Minute book shall be conclusive evidence). The Trustees shall be indemnified against risk and expense out of Club property. The Trustees shall hold office until death or resignation or until removal from office by the Committee. Where by reason of any such death, resignation or removal is necessary that a new Trustee or Trustees be appointed, the Committee shall nominate the person or persons to be appointed the new Trustee or Trustees. For the purposes of giving effect to such nomination, the Chairperson is now appointed as the person to appoint new Trustees of the Club (which may include such Chairperson) within the meaning of the Trustee Act 1925 Section 36 and he/she shall by deed appoint the person or persons so nominated by the Committee.

6. The Annual General Meeting of the Club must:

6.1 be held not later than 31 March each year, at a date and time to be fixed by the Committee and with a quorum of 15 members.

6.2 receive from the Committee, reports, audited Balance Sheet and Statement of Accounts for the previous financial year.

6.3 elect the Committee.

6.4 appoint an Auditor for the ensuing year.

6.5 determine subscriptions and fees.

6.6 transact any other business.

7. General Meetings

7.1 The Honorary Secretary must send notice of the Annual General Meeting or any Extraordinary General Meeting and of the business to be transacted at the meeting to every member at least 14 days before the meeting.

7.2 No business may be brought forward at a general meeting other than that of which notice has been given.

7.3 The Committee may call an Extraordinary General Meeting at any time, for any special purpose, and it must do so immediately upon the requisition in writing of any 20 members of the Club stating the purpose for which the meeting is required.

7.4 Junior members shall not be entitled to vote.

8. The club’s financial year shall end on the 31 December each year and the accounts balanced accordingly.

Full playing members

Student members

Off-peak members

Junior members - full and off-peak

Family membership (2 full members and two children whilst still junior full member)

Winter Floodlit Membership

Honorary membership - It is important that an Honorary membership is recognised as a special award and steps should be taken to ensure that it does not become devalued. It is the single biggest honour that the club can bestow. A recipient must have been a member for 20 years and for the majority of that period have delivered particularly outstanding service to the club in terms of time, effort and imagination. The nominations must be in writing from three committee members and the vote by committee members must be unanimous in awarding Honorary membership. Whilst particularly meritorious service to the club might result in a playing membership being granted Honorary membership, typically this will be awarded on retirement from active playing participation, except under extreme circumstances.

Country membership - eligibility being a member for at least 5 years who has moved 20 miles or more away from the area.

The number of members shall be determined by the Committee.

10. The Club accepts all standards of play including complete beginners under its "Off-peak" and "Junior" memberships. All applicants for "Full" membership must meet a basic playing standard determined by the Committee and acceptance of such applicants for membership must be authorised by the Committee - three to form a quorum.

11. Each member shall be supplied with a copy of the rules, the receipt of which shall be taken as acceptance by such member that he/she will observe them.

12. Any member may resign as a member at any time before the 1 April in any year by sending his/her resignation in writing to the Secretary of the Club.

13. Expulsion

13.1 If at any time the Committee is of the opinion that the interests of the Club so require it may, by letter, invite any member to resign from the Club within a time specified in the letter.

13.2 If the member does not resign, the question of his/her expulsion must be submitted to a Special General Meeting to be held within three weeks after the date specified in the letter as the date before which he/she is invited to resign.

13.3 The member whose expulsion is sought must be given notice of the meeting and the grounds on which it is sought to expel him/her at least one week before the meeting.

13.4 At the meeting the member must be allowed to offer any explanation or defence that he/she thinks fit, either verbally or in writing.

13.5 If two-thirds of the members present and entitled to vote at the meeting vote for his/her expulsion, the member immediately ceases to be a member.

13.6 The voting on a question of expulsion must be by ballot if not less than five members present and entitled to vote so demand.

13.7 The Committee may exclude the member from the Clubhouse and Club grounds until the Special General Meeting has been held.

14. Any person ceasing to be a member forfeits all right to, and claim upon the Club, its property and its funds and has no right to the return of any part of his/her subscription.

15. Subscriptions shall be paid to the Hon. Treasurer within two months of the start of the Summer Season (1 April) or, for new members, on election. Unless the Committee otherwise determine, membership shall cease if the annual subscription is not paid after three months has elapsed from the due date.

16. Only paid up members shall be eligible to play in Club tournaments and competitions.

17. The subscription for new members joining part way through the season will be fixed at a proportionate amount, at the discretion of the Committee.

18. The Clubhouse and courts shall be available for the use of members on such days and for such hours as the Committee may determine.

19. Members may introduce visitors to use the Clubhouse and courts, providing accommodation permits, at fees and times to be determined by the Committee. Members will be held responsible for any visitors fees. The number of occasions that a visitor may attend in any one year shall be limited to six. The names of all visitors to the Club shall be entered on the list provided for that purpose.

20. The Committee shall have power to deal with anything not provided for in these rules in the way it deems fit in the best interest of the Club.

21. No responsibility is accepted by the Club for loss of or damage to members property left on the Club's premises.

22. Members must wear suitable tennis attire at all times.

23. Dissolution

If at any General Meeting a resolution for the dissolution of the Club is passed by a majority of the members present and entitled to vote, and if that resolution is confirmed by a resolution passed by a majority of two-thirds of the members present and entitled to vote at a Special General Meeting held not less than one month after that meeting at which not less than one-half of the members entitled to vote are present, the Committee must immediately or at such future date as is specified in the resolution proceed to realise the property of the Club, and after the discharge of all liabilities must divide the remainder equally among all the full senior members and, upon the completion of the division, the Club will be dissolved.

24. These rules may only be altered at a General Meeting by a two thirds majority of those members present.