VETERANS LEAGUE RULES

1. There shall be one or more divisions of the Oswestry and District Veterans Bowling League which shall be governed by the Rules already in existence with British Crown Green Bowling Association and Oswestry & District Bowling League insofar as such rules are not inconsistent with these Rules.

2. Clubs which are members of the Oswestry & District Bowling League shall be entitled to enter one or more teams in the Veterans League.  Other clubs having a bowling green shall be entitled to apply to the Annual General Meeting of the League to enter one or more teams in the Veterans League subject to such clubs becoming affiliated to the Oswestry & District Bowling League and to the Shropshire County Bowling Association.

3. Applications for membership shall be made before the 31st December each year. All Clubs wishing to retain membership of the League to make application in writing by letter or email before the 31st December each year stating the number of teams they wish to enter. Notices of motion for consideration at the Annual General Meeting shall be submitted in writing not later than 31^st December.  Clubs may send as many representatives to the AGM as they desire but only one vote per club will be allowed.

3.1  Any club failing to send a representative to the Annual General Meeting shall be fined £10.    Fines should be directed to the League Treasurer.

4. As with Oswestry and District Bowling League, the Veterans League officers and Management Committee shall serve concurrently with its parent body.

5. Individual players in the Veterans League shall have attained the age of 60 years for Men and Ladies.

6. All clubs must register online all players to their designated teams not less than 7 (seven) days before the first match of the season. Any new or additional players thereafter can be added to the appropriate team list online prior to playing their first match. The League Secretary must be made aware of any new players registered or where the application has been made. All registrations must show the British Crown Green registration number.   Failure to comply may result in the game being awarded 21-0 to the opponent.   Initially no player shall be allowed to register for more than one club and one team per season. Players may only be transferred to another club in exceptional circumstances with the permission of the Management Committee. 

7. No member of a club shall be allowed to play for another unless the individual has paid their obligation to the previous club.

8. The Veterans Team Membership fee shall be set annually by the Management Committee and each Club shall be affiliated to The Shropshire County Bowling Association.  New Clubs will be required to pay the sum of £25 in addition and in advance against the season’s dues.  Affiliation fees must be received by the League Treasurer no later than seven days prior to the commencement of the League. In order to augment League Funds, each club when playing in a League match shall pay 70 pence per player per match to a person appointed by their Club.  The total should be paid to the League Treasurer within 14 (fourteen) days of receipt of an account from the Treasurer. No club or player indebted to The Shropshire County Bowling Association shall be eligible to play in the League fixtures or competitions. 

8.1  Any clubs which fail to make their payment within the designated timescale of 14 (fourteen) days shall be liable for a fixed penalty payment of £10

9. The decision as to whether a green is fit to play due to weather or other conditions shall be with the home team.  Should the green be declared unfit every effort must be made by the home team to inform their visitors in sufficient time to avoid an unnecessary journey.  The fixtures secretary is to be informed asap.

10. The draw shall be made by the home team captain writing name and numbers on the cards and pacing them face down in two random blocks first and second four.  The away team capgtain  will then place his/her un-numbrered cards on top, the cards will then be turned over to give the match pairings and the away team captain will mirror the numbers from the home team.. No player who is not present shall be included in the first four.  No alteration shall be made to the playing order after the draw is completed. The visiting team players. No alteration shall be made to the playing order after the draw has taken place. Visiting players shall have first delivery of the jack.

11. Teams shall consist of a minimum of 8 (Eight) players but may register more than this number if they so wish as long as the club pays the set administration fee of Shropshire Crown Green Bowling Association when called to do so.  Matches shall comprise of FOUR games of singles and THREE games of doubles.

12. There shall be 11 (Eleven) points awarded per match. One (1) point for each individual winner (Six points), 1 point for each doubles winner 3 (three), with 2 (two) points to the team winning the aggregate score. In the event of a tie on aggregate each team will receive 1 (one) point in addition to the individual game points won by the team.

(12.1)   Playing twice in the same fixture, ie playing singles and double games. For each player that plays twice in a match, 6 (six) points will be deducted from that teams aggregate total. The maximum number of players who can play twice is TWO and they can not play as a pair in the pairs.

(12,2)   Teams final position in each division will be calculated in the following descinding order: Most match points scored, if tied - highest aggregate scire (points for minus points against), Then - most aggregate points for, then most total games won. Finally if still tied - the combined (home & away) head to head result of tied teams, using the above criteria. 

13. League matches shall be played on Friday afternoons commencing at 1.00 unless, by prior arrangement and mutual agreement between the two team captains, an earlier or later time is warranted by operational difficulties.

14. The home team captain shall complete the necessary result page of the League website within 24 hours of the game. Non-compliance with this rule may, subject to consideration by the committee, entail the loss of one match point for each offence.

15. Four jacks shall be in play during the singles games and three in the doubles games throughout the game. 

16. All team players MUST wear flat shoes, and team captains must ensure that their team members comply.  Any player not complying with this Rule will not be permitted to participate.  This Rule also applies to League competitions.

17. If there are insufficient players available from a team to mark cards, players in games of doubles may mark their own cards.

18. Any Club running more than one team may use a player from a lower division to assist a team in a higher division four times during the season without that player losing the lower division status; a player can only play four times in any one season for a team in a higher division other than the team of original registration. After assisting any senior team on five occasions that player shall have the status of the most senior team played for on a borrowed basis and shall no longer be eligible to play for the junior team. No player may play for more than one team in the same division of the League in any one season except by way of transfer. No player may play for more than one team on any given day. 

19. All matches must be played on the original fixture date, unless mutually agreed between the 2 captains.  If a match date is changed the fixture secretary must be informed and the rearranged game must be played within 14 days of the original fixture.  Should teams fail to make such arrangements they must submit to the League secretary the reasons and the Committee shall have the power to deduct points if thought fit.  Where a club fails to field a complete team that team shall lose the aggregate 21-0 for each player short.  Where a club runs more than one team, the senior team, must use players from a lower division team.  Teams must never use the excuse of not having enough players available to fulfil a fixture, they must turn up with what players they can muster and lose the game they fail to play 21-0.  Any clubs failing to comply with the above could be subject to a penalty fine of £10 issued at the discretion of the Committee.

20. Any protest must be made within seven days of the match and endorsed by the secretary of the club concerned and accompanied by a fee of £20 which may be returned if the protest is upheld, or at the discretion of the Committee.

21. The winning team each season in the Veterans League shall be awarded the Norman Wilkes Memorial Trophy to be held by such team for the ensuing season.

22. Trophies shall be awarded to the winners of each division of the League and League Competitions on Presentation Evening. All perpetual trophies to be returned to the Competition Secretary at the following AGM.  Any perpetual trophy which is lost or damaged will be required to be paid for by the club or player concerned, this may include engraving costs

23. Any club or individual having won a cash prize but failing to send a representative from that club to the Presentation Evening to collect such prize shall forfeit it. Any amounts so forfeited shall be credited to the League funds under the heading “Forfeited Prizes”. Amounts so credited may be used at the Committee’s discretion to augment prizes in the following season. This rule shall in no way affect the award of trophies but only the cash prizes allocated to them.

24. Promotion and relegation between each division shall be 2 (two) up and 2 (two) down. Circumstances dictating otherwise to be dealt with by the Committee.

25. In the event of the League ceasing to exist, all trophies shall be returned to the Trustees.

26. Any matter arising during the season which is not covered in the above rules shall be dealt with by the Management Committee whose decision shall be final.