SCHUYLKILL LEAGUE CONSTITUTION

APPROVED:  May 2016

 

Article I – Name and Objective

Section 1         This League shall be known as the Schuylkill League.

Section 2         The objective of this League is to stimulate, foster and sponsor friendly rivalry, through competition in athletic activities and to encourage and develop right attitudes, ideals and practices between contesting athletic teams and their respective student bodies, i.e. good sportsmanship.

 

Article II – Officers

Section 1         The Officers of this League shall be President, Vice President, and Secretary/Treasurer.

Section 2         An Educational Leader (ie. Superintendent, Curriculum Supervisor, Principal etc…) will fill the office of President and Vice President.  Prerequisite for the President and Vice President is membership in the League as a full member school.

Section 3         It shall be the duty of the President to preside at all stated and special meetings of the League, to cast the deciding vote in case of a tie and to appoint all committees.  In the absence of the President, the afor mentioned duties shall be fulfilled by the Vice President.

Section 4         In the event the Vice President is elevated to the office of President to fill an unexpired term, the office of Vice President will be filled through a special election.

Section 5         It shall be the duty of the Secretary/Treasurer to keep accurate minutes of the proceedings of the League’s meetings in a book provided for the same.  It shall be his/her further duty to receive all fees, dues and assessments, make all expenditures authorized by the League and to report at each meeting of the League, the receipts and expenditures and perform all other duties which pertain to his/her office or assigned by the President.

 

 

Article III – Membership/Alignment

Section 1         Membership shall be composed of those schools that participate in any of the various sport leagues sponsored by the League, inclusive of grades seven (7) through twelve (12).

Section 2         Schools applying for League membership must be a member in good standing of the P.I.A.A.  Application for membership into one or more sport league(s) must be made in writing to the Schuylkill League’s Secretary/Treasurer.

Section 3         Full membership in the League is granted to schools that participate in all sport leagues corresponding to the sports offered by said school.  Schools participating in an existing sport league prior to the formation of that sport league in the Schuylkill League shall not be required to join the newly formed  Schuylkill “Sport” League.  All other schools are Associate members.

Section 4         Acceptance of schools, who are not full members of the League, will be determined by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of all Full-Member Schools.

Section 5         A statement of intention to withdraw from an athletic league shall be made in writing and submitted to the Secretary/Treasurer of the Schuylkill League who shall place it on the agenda for the next meeting. Any full member or associate member school who withdraws from an athletic league to enter into another league will be withdrawn from the Schuylkill League in all sports and will be ineligible to reapply into the Schuylkill League for a period of four years.

Section 6         All schools that are full members of the Schuylkill League will be received into membership for participation in all sport leagues of the League upon application.

Section 7         Any school newly accepted into membership may be required to defer participation in a sport league for one sport’s season beyond the date of their application if scheduling difficulties prevail.

Section 8         When a sport league is aligned by school enrollment, a team with a higher or lower enrollment figure may choose to participate in another Division if a written request from the school principal is provided and a team in a different Division agrees to replace the exiting team. This move must then be approved by a simple majority vote of all schools in the specific sport league.  Note:  If multiple schools request to move and the “receiving division” does not have the same number of schools wishing to move–the school(s) whose enrollment is closest to the cutoff will be chosen to move divisions for the two year cycle.

Any move must be made to the highest division.

Section 9         The host school of two or more schools entering into a cooperative agreement must report the change in enrollment to the league president, committee chairman of the affected sport, and the league scheduler.  The following will then occur:  (A.) The host school will assume the enrollment as per PIAA policy (B) If the cooperative participation numbers causes the host school to be eligible for a division change based on enrollment, the change in divisional alignment and schedule will be effective immediately and (C) The host school of the cooperative agreement will carry the cooperative participation numbers from the time it is reported to the league through the remainder of the two-cycle.

Section 10       If a member school wishes to dissolve a cooperative agreement, the member school must issue their intentions in writing to the League President (the appropriate Sport Committee Chairman and the League Scheduler should be copied).  Otherwise, it will be assumed the agreement will continue for another two year cycle.

Section 11       Divisional Alignments in each sport league shall be based on the number of schools that are in each sport league.  If a sport league has 1-9 teams–that sport league will have one division; If a sport league has 10-16 teams–that sport league will have two divisions; If a sport league has 17-19 teams–that sport league will have three divisions; If a sport league 20 or more teams–the number of divisions in that sport league will be determined by that sport league.

 

Article IV – Committees

Section 1         The League President shall appoint committees to review and operate each sport league in accordance with practices and policies approved by the League.

Section 2         The membership of each league committee shall be composed of one (1) Principal, one (1) Athletic Director and one (1) Coaches representative from participating schools in each sport league.  The coaches representative will be selected with no restrictions by the coaches in that sport league.

Section 3         The chairman of each committee shall be a Principal appointed by the League President.  The chairman is charged with calling meetings (meetings that are required are a pre-season and post-season sport meeting), making recommendations of the Committee known to the League for disposition and carrying out necessary operational functions to complete the League’s approved activities.  The chairman and agreed upon by the executive committee will also be responsible for ruling on any issues that cannot be settled between member schools.

Section 4         It is permissible for Principals to designate their school’s Athletic Director to act on their behalf for the purpose of conducting committee business.

 

Article V – Meetings

Section 1         The stated meetings of this League and shall be as follows:

1. FALL MEETING: The second week in October –

1. WINTER MEETING: The THURSDAY prior to the week of the Basketball League Playoffs

1. SPRING MEETING: The THURSDAY prior to the week of the Baseball League Playoffs.

1. SUMMER MEETING – 2-3 Weeks prior to the start of the Fall Sports Season. Business and social (golf course) meet.

1. Banquet:

 

Section 2         Special meetings of the League may be called by the President or in his/her disability, the Vice President, or upon the written request of five member schools of the League.

Section 3         Any school missing three of four regularly scheduled League meetings in a current school year will be issued a fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00).  Failure to pay the fine prior to the next regularly scheduled League meeting will result in that school being ineligible to participate in League post-season contests until such time that said fine is paid.

 

Article VI – Quorum and Voting 

Section 1         A majority of the full member schools of the League shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

Section 2         Voting privileges, on general Schuylkill League Business, shall be extended to the Full League Member Schools.

Section 3         Voting privileges, on individual sport league business, shall be extended to only those schools that participate in that league.

Section 4         Members must be present to vote on league matters.  The league president may utilize electronic votes via email for matters of urgency. The league secretary shall keep a record of all league votes and include the results of such votes on the next scheduled league meeting agenda.

Section 5         Once an item has been voted on, it may not be voted on again for one year from the original vote date unless it has a negative impact on the student/athletes of the Schuylkill League.  The negative impact would be determined by a majority vote to Full League Member Schools.

 

Article VII – Election of Officers 

Section 1         The offices of the President and Vice President will be elected for two (2) year terms at the spring meeting in odd numbered years.  Nominations will be made from the floor.  Current office holders may run for another term.  Terms of office will commence at the Annual Banquet held in the months of May or June.

Section 2         The Secretary/Treasurer shall be elected at the spring meeting from nominations made from the floor.  His/her term of office shall coincide with that of the other elected officers.

Section 3         A majority vote of those Full League member schools present constituting a quorum shall constitute an election.

 

Article VIII – Amendments 

Section 1         This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the full league member schools of the League present at a stated meeting.  Such amendments to be submitted to the President in writing and a copy to each member school at least ten days prior to the meeting at which it’s adoption or rejection is to be acted upon.

 

Article IX – Contests 

Section 1         All sport leagues are to be governed by the P.I.A.A. rules.

Section 2         Officials for contests shall be elected in a manner approved by the League.

Section 3         Assignors for each individual sport league shall be elected by that league at the league meeting following the end of their season (Winter Meeting–Soccer, Volleyball assignors will be elected; Spring Meeting–Basketball, Swimming and Wrestling assignors will be elected; Fall Meeting–Baseball/Softball, Track assignors will be elected) and paid a stipend that is approved by the Schuylkill League.  Assignors also will be reimbursed expenses that are approved by the Schuylkill League. Effective with the 2015-2016 athletic year, all assignors will be required to use the league designated assignor software program to assign all varsity officials–this includes non-league contests.

Section 4         It is recommended that seniors or players with senior eligibility shall participate only at the varsity level.

Section 5         Sub Junior Varsity Contests cannot exceed the regulation time. (Meaning no overtime, extra innings, etc are permitted)

 

Article X – Association Money 

Section 1         League money shall be defined as all money accrued through the various sport leagues of the League.

Section 2         All money accrued from the sport leagues shall be maintained in one central account.

Section 3         All funds shall be dispersed by check over the signatures of the League President, Vice-President, and Secretary/Treasurer as directed by League resolution.

Section 4         All sport leagues within the League shall plan and budget income and expenditures to remain financially solvent.

Section 5         Schuylkill League Member Schools who are not a member of an individual sport league may send student-athletes to participate in All-League Meet/Matches at a  per entrant fee (set by the Schuylkill League), not to exceed the cost of a team registration.

Section 6         Admission prices for all Schuylkill League Playoff Contests will be uniform.  An adult and student price will be established.  Also, when a pre-sale of tickets takes place, a senior citizen price (age 62 and above) will be set.  These prices will be set by league members.

Section 7         No funds from the Schuylkill League shall be used for sub-varsity awards.

 

Article XI – League Functioning

Section 1         Each sport league within the League shall develop and submit to the League, for approval, By-Laws to govern their sport league.  The By-Laws shall cover all aspects of operation for the sport league to function that are not covered in this Constitution; but all By-Laws shall be in conformity with the League’s Constitution and be effective for a two-year period coinciding with the PIAA enrollment cycle.

Section 2         The Articles in this constitution supersedes any individual sport league by-law.

Section 3         All sport league approved schedules shall consist of Divisions that have a minimum of five teams.

 

Article XII – Financial Awards

Section 1         Complimentary Schuylkill League Passes will be issued on the following basis:  Each member school shall receive (1) athletic pass for each revenue producing Schuylkill League Sport that they participate in.

Section 2         Other financial benefits, awards, and services (ie—Gold Cards, scholarship distributions, retirement awards, etc) are only available to full member schools.

Section 3         The Schuylkill League reserves the right to issue Gold Cards at  its discretion.

 

Article XIII – Operations Manual

Section 1         The Schuylkill League will develop and use an Operations Manual for league logistics and measures. Any changes to the operations manual will be voted on using a simple majority.

 

Article XV- Procedures for Conducting Business 

Section   1       Order of Business

The Order of Business shall be:

• Call to Order
• Attendance
• Pledge to Flag
• Reading of Minutes
• Treasurer’s Reports
• Report of Committees
• District XI and PIAA Report
• Athletic Director’s Association Report
• Unfinished Business
• New Business
• Correspondence
• General Discussion
• Adjournment

Section 2         Robert’s Rules of Order Revised shall be the parliamentarian authority of the League in all matters not included in this Constitution.