Last Date Revised

2/04

CHAMPLIN PARK FASTPITCH ASSOCIATION

OFFICIAL BY-LAWS

Article I:  Purpose

The Champlin Park Fastpitch Association (CPFA) is a non-profit organization whose primary goal is the development of girlÕs fastpitch softball players.  This goal is accomplished through organized practices, league competition and tournament play.  A second, but equally vital goal, is to develop sportsmanship and team player attitudes in the young women of our association.

 

Article II:  Officers

The CPFA officers shall be elected for one year with elections being held in the month of October.  Installation of the elected officers shall be in the month of November.  No one person may hold more than one elected officer position at one time.  They may however hold an appointed position, or in the absence of an elected officer, the President may appoint an officer to two or more positions at one time.

The positions of President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer do not have term limitations.  No two persons from the same immediate family shall serve as officers at the same time.

The officers shall be as follows:

1.  President - The Chief Executive Officer of the association.  Presides over the general membership meetings, the Executive Board and runs Executive Board meetings.  Empowered with the authority to call special meetings of the Executive Board.  Trains and assists other officers of the association.  Responsible for check signing in the absence of the Treasurer.  Oversees the Registration Manager.  Presiding officer of the coaches selection committee.  Forms ad hoc committees on an as needed basis.

2.  Vice President - Assumes the duties and responsibilities of the President when the President cannot perform them.  Oversees Field Manager, Equipment Manager and Uniform Manager.  Presides over the Fund Raising Committee.  Serves as a member of the Executive Board.

3.  Treasurer  - Maintain association banking accounts and signs all checks.  Prepare and present the monthly financial reports for the general membership meetings.  Prepare an annual Budget/financial report for presentation and approval by the Executive Board.  Serves as a member of the Executive Board.

4.  Secretary  - Take and maintain the minutes of all general membership meetings and Executive Board meetings and any other meetings as directed by the President.  All general membership minutes are to be communicated to the general membership on a monthly basis.  Coordinate the collection of, and maintain all registration forms including player birth certificates and medical forms.  Maintains attendance records of the general membership meetings.  Responsible for all association electronic and paper communications including the posting of time, date and location of the general membership meetings.  Serves as a member of the Executive Board.   

 

Article III:  Appointed Positions

The Executive Board will recommend appointed positions.  If no qualified individual can be found, a member of the Executive Board can assume these duties.

1.  Field Manager - Liaison with the Champlin Park High School Athletic Director for determination of field assignments.  Prepares game schedules for all teams in coordination with head coaches.  Responsible for field preparation and assignment of fields on game days.  Obtains umpires for home games.  Provide maps to the CPFA fields for visiting teams.  Collect and distribute maps for away games to CPFA coaches.  Reschedule make-up games.  All expenditures should be made with final approval by the Executive Board.

2.  Equipment Manager  - The Equipment Manager is charged with the duties of procuring, maintaining and storing the equipment for all CPFA teams.  All equipment must be checked out by the team head coaches at the beginning of the season and accounted for by the team head coaches at the end of the season.  Responsible for equipment repair and replacement during the playing season.  Complete a full inventory of CPFA assets/equipment each October and report results to the Executive Board.  All purchases should be made with final approval by the Executive Board. 

3.  Uniform Manager  - Responsible for the procurement of CPFA uniforms each season.  All expenditures should be made with final approval by the Executive Board.

4.  Registration Manager  - Responsible for the registration process for returning players and new players to CPFA for spring/summer and fall teams.  This includes forms completion, check collection and communications to the Executive Board.  All expenditures should be made with final approval by the Executive Board.

 

Article IV:  Committees

1.  Coaches Selection Committee - Shall be composed of the CPFA Executive Board. Coach selection criteria should be based upon the following criteria.

A)      Amount of previous fastpitch and general coaching experience.

B)      Amount of experience gained through either fastpitch seminars or playing fastpitch.

C)      Dedication to CPFA and adherence to the CPFA Mission.

D)     Potential attendance by the candidate.  The coach should be present for a vast majority of all team functions (practices, games, and tournaments).  The only exception being an emergency.

The final coaches selections will be made by a simple majority vote of the Coaches Selection Committee.

Coach candidate recruitment can be made by personal knowledge of the individual, advertisement through the local papers or recruitment at time of player sign up.

2.  Fund Raising Committee(s)  - The Fund Raising Committee(s) shall consist of member(s) whose duties shall be to raise funds for the operation and expansion of the organization.  Activities proposed for fund raising are subject to approval by the Executive Board.  The presiding officer shall be the Vice President with other members being appointed by the Executive Board on an as needed basis.

3.   Ad Hoc Committees  - From time to time it may be necessary for the President to appoint members/committees to address certain CPFA issues that may arise.  Examples include but are not limited to Protest Committee, Financial Audit Committee, Try-out Committee.

 

Article V:  Executive Board

The Executive Board shall consist of the following individuals:

1.  President (presiding officer of the Executive Board)

2.  Vice President

3.  Treasurer

4.  Secretary

5.  Current head varsity softball coach of Champlin Park High School

The Executive Board reviews and approves all expenditures.  All approved expenditures must then be communicated to the general membership.

The Executive Board approves all team scheduling as proposed by the Field Manager.

The Executive Board has the right to waive registration fees for a player who proves financial hardship or for other unique circumstances as solely determined by the Executive Board.

The Executive Board is empowered with the right to resolve disputes which cannot be resolved at the team level.

The Executive Board may be called to a special meeting at any time deemed necessary by the President or by agreement of two Executive Board members, not including the President.

The Executive Board has the option to remove any member of the Executive Board who has missed three monthly or specially called meetings in a twelve month period which are not emergency related.  The President will then call, at the next general membership meeting, for a special election to replace the removed Executive Board member.  That election to be held at the regular general membership meeting the following month.

The Executive Board regular and special meeting minutes are to be communicated to the general membership at the next general membership meeting.

 

Article VI:  Members

Members of this organization are as follows:

1.  Parents or guardians of players who reside or attend school within the Champlin Park High School attendance boundaries or who play on a CPFA sponsored team via a waiver.

2.  Elected and appointed board members and CPFA and CPHS softball coaches will be considered members in good standing.

3.  Players themselves shall be considered members in good standing but shall not be eligible for elected positions.

4.  All members who have attended three of the past six CPFA general membership monthly meetings (not including the current meeting at which a vote takes place) are eligible to vote on association matters.

 

Article VII:  Elected Officers

In  order to be considered for elected positions, members must have attended three or more CPFA general membership meetings in the past year (October to September).  This means that a record of attendance must be maintained for each meeting and be made a record of the Secretary¹s minutes.  Elected officers may be impeached and removed from office by a 75% vote of all eligible members at a general membership meeting.

 

Article VIII:  Head Coaches

CPFA head coaches are empowered to administer the daily activities of their respective teams.  The coaching staff for the respective teams determines who plays which positions and how much playing time a player receives subject to the guidelines in Article X.  If a dispute on any issue cannot be resolved at the team level, it will then be brought forward to the Executive Board for intervention.  Head coaches may be asked for input on selection of tournaments to be entered, however, final review and approval is made by the Executive Board.  All coaches are responsible for adhering to all ASA, MSF and Suburban League rules and regulations.

Head coaches are selected on a yearly basis after being interviewed by the Coaches Selection Committee.  Coaches may be removed from their position by a majority vote of the Executive Board at any time.  Assistant coaches can be designated by the head coach after his/her team has been formed.

 

Article IX:  Administration of Meetings

All general membership and Executive Board meetings shall be run in accordance with Roberts Rules Of Order except where these by laws may be in conflict.  In the case of conflict, these by-laws shall prevail.

General membership meetings shall be held once every month.  The location, dates and times for the meetings will be communicated in advance.  Meetings may be postponed, rescheduled or cancelled by majority agreement of the Executive Board.

Special general membership meetings may be called by order of the Executive Board and must be posted at least 72 hours in advance.

Executive Board meetings are to be held monthly, generally prior to the general membership monthly meetings.  Day and time are to be determined by the President.

To vote on items at a general membership meeting, a quorum must be present.  This criteria shall be met when ten members in good standing are present in person or by proxy, and two of those present in person must be Officers.

 

Article X:  Team Play

Team rosters will consist of no less than nine and no more than thirteen players.  Any exceptions to this must be unanimously agreed upon by the Executive Board and the affected teamÕs head coach.  If more than thirteen players register for any one team or age level, and it is not mutually agreed upon in increase roster size, then try-outs, as directed by the President, will be held to determine team placements.

All players must live or attend school within the Champlin Park High School boundaries with the exception of a player who has been waivered from their home association, or whose own home association has no team formed in the affected age division. Waivered players, or players outside the Champlin Park High School boundaries will only be accepted if an opening exists on the affected team not exceeding the thirteen player limit.

CPFA will waiver players from the CPHS attendance area to play for other associations under the following circumstances.

1.  Players who do not make a CPFA team after a try-out is held and for which there is no other CPFA team for that player to be placed on.

2.  If a petition is made of the Executive Board by parent/guardian/player and is approved by a simple majority of the Executive Board.

The CPFA philosophy is that development occurs by playing so all players will be given equal playing time, to the best of the coachÕs ability.  Exceptions can be made for players who violate the Player Commitment Agreement.  Specific guidelines include the following, when allowed by league/tournament rules:

10U:  Players will receive approximately equal playing time in the field (rotating between infield and outfield positions excluding pitcher and catcher) and at bat (via the use of a season long continuous batting order) except in state qualifying or state/national tournaments.

12U:  Players will receive approximately equal playing time in the field and at bat (via the use of a season long continuous batting order) except in state qualifying or state/national tournaments.

14U, 16U and 18U:  Playing time in the field and at bat are coachÕs decisions.

 

Article XI:  Dissolution

In the event of a dissolution of CPFA:  first any outstanding obligations shall be paid, then all assets shall be distributed for one or more exempt purposes with the meaning of section 501 © 3 of the Internal Revenue Code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code, or shall be distributed to the federal government, or to a state or local government, for the public purpose.  Any such assets not disposed of shall be disposed of by the Court of Common Pleas of the county in which the principal office of the organization is then located, exclusively for such purposes or to the organization or organizations, as said Court shall determine, which are organized and operated exclusively for such purposes. Final accounting and closing of the books shall be done by the last Treasurer of record and kept by that person in accordance with applicable federal and Minnesota laws.

 

Article XII: Non-Profit Designation

Said organization is organized exclusively for charitable, religious, educational, and scientific purposes, including, for such purposes, the making of distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501 © (3) of the Internal Revenue code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code.

No part of the net earnings of the organization shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributable to its members, trustees, officers, or other private persons, except that the organization shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposes set forth in the purpose clause hereof. No substantial part of the activities of the organization shall be the carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the organization shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office. Notwithstanding any other provision of this document, the organization shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on (a) by an organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue code, or (b) by an organization, contributions to which are deductible under section 170 (c) (2) of the Internal Revenue Code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code.

 

Article XIII: Conflicts of Interest

Any, trustee, director, officer or key employee who has an interest in a contract or other transaction presented to the Board or a committee thereof for authorization, approval, or ratification shall make a prompt and full disclosure of his or her interest to the Board or committee prior to its acting on such transaction.  Such disclosure shall include any relevant and material fact known to such person about the contract of transaction, which might reasonably be construed to be adverse to the organizationÕs interest.

The body to which such disclosure is made shall thereupon determine, by a vote of seventy-five percent (75%) of the votes entitled to vote, whether the disclosure shows a conflict of interest exists or can reasonably be construed to exist. If a conflict is deemed to exist, such person shall not vote on, nor use his personal influence on, nor participate (other than to present factual information or to respond to questions) in, the discussions or deliberations with respect to such contract or transaction. Such person may be counted in determining whether a quorum is present but may not be counted when the Board of Directors or a committee of the Board takes action on the transaction. The minutes of the meeting shall reflect the disclosure made the vote thereon, the abstention from voting and participation, and whether a quorum was present.

Individuals on the governing body that are also employed by this organization will (a) remove her/himself from the voting process when determining compensation, benefits, etc. in his or her capacity as an employee and (b) ensure that all compensation/salaries paid to any employee of the organization will be reasonable for the services rendered and comparable with other exempt organizations.