BLUEWATER HOCKEY LEAGUE
CONSTITUTION
1. NAME
This organization shall be known as the Bluewater League, operating as a minor hockey league and deriving its authority from the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA).
2. OBJECTIVES
a) To foster a maximum opportunity for players to participate in minor youth hockey within the boundaries indicated in the playing rules
b) To protect and serve the mutual interests of all its members and participants
c) To represent the interests of its members at the provincial and national levels
d) To ensure the enforcement of the rules of the sport as adopted by the OMHA, OHF, and Hockey Canada
3. O.M.H.A. APPROVAL
This league will seek OMHA approval and agrees to accept and enforce all OMHA rulings.
4. BLUEWATER BOARD COMPOSITION
a) The league board will be comprised of the following members:
League Executive
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Statistician
b) Center Reps (one from each association)
c) OMHA Regional Representative
The President and Vice President must serve at least one year as a Center Representative to be eligible for office.
All members of the League board must be in good standing with their hockey association.
In the event that an Executive member is unable to complete their term, the replacement shall be voted on at the next monthly meeting and shall require a two-thirds majority of the Board.
No person shall hold the office of the President for longer than two (2) consecutive one (1) year terms unless he / she receives a 2/3 majority of the voting members.
5. DUTIES OF OFFICERS
(A) PRESIDENT:
The President shall preside at all meetings of the Bluewater League. The President shall call meetings of the Executive committee when deemed necessary, and act as signing officer on all documents pertaining to the operation of the League, and have the usual privileges of office. The President will be the tie-breaking vote in the event of any ties / disputes among members.
(B) VICE PRESIDENT:
The vice president shall preside at meetings of the Bluewater League when the President is absent.
(C) SECRETARY:
The Secretary shall keep an accurate record of the proceedings of the Bluewater League and maintain an up to date mailing list of all officers, center representatives and OMHA Regional Representative. The secretary shall conduct all correspondence of the Bluewater League and keep a record of all decisions made at meetings and issue the minutes of each meeting and notices of next meetings. The secretary shall also maintain the league website.
(D) TREASURER
The Treasurer shall collect and properly record all finances involving the Bluewater League. The Treasurer shall have signing authority, along with the President and Secretary on all documents on behalf of the League. The Treasurer shall provide a detailed financial report at each meeting.
(E) STATISTICIAN
The Statistician shall work within the parameters of the online scheduling tool and setup all divisions, groups and matchups for the season and advise each participating center when to populate their games. The Statistician will review all completed games and ensure accuracy of submitted scores and standings as well as monitor all reported suspensions and report to the President and OMHA regional Director, any breach of OMHA regulations pertaining to the serving of suspensions and shall provide, on a regular basis, up-to-date penalty and statistics.
6. MONTHLY MEETINGS
(A) To be held at least once a month at a central municipality as determined by the league at the first meeting following the annual meeting. These meetings to be held on the First Monday of each month and so indicated in the minutes unless otherwise agreed upon. The Board may elect not to hold meetings in May, June or July.
(B) The order of business for the General Meeting shall be as follows:
1. Call to Order
2. Approval of the minutes.
3. Business arising from the minutes.
4. President's Address
5. OMHA Report
6. Treasurer Report.
7. Statistician Report
8. Center reports
9. Old Business.
10. New Business
11. Adjournment.
(C) Any motions presented at the meeting can only be voted by the League Executive and center reps or alternate (1 vote per center)
7. ANNUAL MEETINGS
(A) The Annual meeting of the Bluewater League shall be held after the regular April meeting each year. Notification of the date of the Annual meeting is to be given at least one month in advance.
(B) Notices of Motions and Constitution amendments are to be submitted to the Secretary at least 2 weeks prior to the annual meeting, signed by the center representative.
(C) No article of this constitution shall be amended, added or rescinded except at the annual meeting. All notices of motion require a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of the eligible voting members present. A quorum shall be sconsidered 2/3 members in attendance.
(D) The Bluewater League executive, center reps or alternate (1 vote per center) shall have full voting rights at the annual meeting. No Proxy votes will be accepted.
(E) The order of business at the Annual Meeting shall be as follows:
1. Approval of the minutes from the previous Annual Meeting.
2. Business arising from the minutes.
3. Presidents Address.
4. Treasure’s Financial Report.
5. Considerations of Constitutional, By-Laws, Rule Amendments and Alterations.
6. General Business
7. Election and Installation of Officers.
8. Adjournment.
8. SPECIAL MEETINGS
On the request of three (3) or more of the centers concerned, the League executive shall call a special meeting to deal with specific situations.
9. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
Amendments to the Constitution and changes may only be made at the Annual Meeting in April of each year, by submitting in writing the proposed amendments or changes to the secretary of the League, prior to the Annual Meeting. A two-thirds (2/3) majority is needed at the Annual meeting for an amendment or change to be incorporated into the Constitution.
10. AMENDMENTS TO BY-LAWS, POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Any changes, additions or deletions to the By-Laws, polocies and procedures can be put forth via a motion at monthly meetings and a simple majority of the voting members present is sufficient for the change to proceed.
However, a notice of motion must be submitted at the meeting prior to that at which presentation and voting occurs, with respect to proposed changes affecting groupings, schedules, playing times (length of games), game sheets and /or financing.
11. APPEAL FOR DISCIPLINARY ACTION
Any team or person subject to disciplinary action by this League shall have the right to appeal the decision to the OMHA Executive and the final decision of the OMHA shall be binding on all concerned.
Appeals must be made in writing to the OMHA Executive Director with a copy going to the OMHA Regional Executive Member who is a member of the League Executive, and who will advise the League Executive of such appeals.
12. O.M.H.A. CONSTITUTION
Any matter not covered by the Bluewater League Constitution; will be governed by the OMHA Manual of Operations.
13. ACCEPTANCE
All centers must agree to and accept the Bluewater constitution, policies and procedures
BY-LAWS AND RULES
1. ENTRY FEES
(A) Entry fees shall be set at the first meeting of the new season.
(B) Performance bond shall be $ 250.00 dollars per center, and maintained at that level at all times.
2. TEAM COLOURS
All teams will conform (where possible), to two (2) sets of sweaters and will wear light colours for the home games and dark colours for the away games. However, if a conflict arises, the home team will change.
3. TEAM COMPOSITION
- As per OMHA guidelines
4. SCHEDULES
(A) The league schedule shall commence and be completed on the dates as determined by the Member Centres. If included in season structure, the preliminary league playoffs shall commence on a date determined by the Member Centres and shall be completed one (1) week prior to the league finals. Changes in the schedule are not to be considered part of the regular business at the league meetings except when unable to play games because of weather.
(B) Any team failing to complete the official group schedule, unless because of unforeseen circumstances, may be eliminated from the group playoffs and/or post-season at the discretion of the league.
(C) Games shall not be scheduled for U9 Novice, U10 MinAtom, U11 Atom, U12 MinPeewee on Halloween Day.
(D) Games can start up to 15 minutes early if agreed to by all parties ... home team/visiting team/officials.
5. LENGTH OF GAMES
(A) Games are to be scheduled to start not earlier than 10:00 am on Saturday and 12:00 pm on Sunday and not later than 9:30 pm, unless agreed upon by both centers involved.
(B) For U21 through U14 game times shall include at least one ten (10) minute flood for each game. Game / period lengths shall be in accordance with the OMHA Manual of Operations which states that game lengths are in accordance with the centers available ice time
(C) There shall be no Forfeiting of games in the League.
(D) When a curfew is to be imposed, it must be noted on the game report prior to the official signing of the report and the referee shall ensure that an official from each team initials acknowledgement of the curfew.
6. REFEREES
(A) All referees for scheduled League games are to be appointed by the Home Centre, WECRA or Kent Referee association as per OMHA regulations.
(B) Rates for referees when appointed as per OMHA regulations.
7. RESCHEDULED GAMES
(A) Weather: The Ministry of Transportation and Communications have advised travelers to stay off the roads. Notify the League Convenor at once and the game is to be rescheduled as soon as possible.
NOTE: BWL does not compel anyone to attend any BWL related activity. The decision to attend will be left with the individual members.
(B) All rescheduled game requests must have a confirmed date for the rescheduled game or the game is not to be rescheduled.
(C) No game may be rescheduled after the last regularly scheduled League games.
(D) All scheduled changes to be made through center representatives only.
(E) A rescheduled game must be played on the new confirmed date and time or the Bluewater League rules for a “ No Show “ will be enforced against the center refusing to play.
8. SHAKING HANDS
Prior to the start of the game, both teams will line up on their respective blue lines, then skate forward. Each player will shake hands (Olympic or European Style).
9. LEAVING THE ICE
At the completion of the game, the home team will go to their bench area, while the visiting team leaves the ice surface. When the visiting team has vacated the ice surface, the home team may leave.
10. FINAL STANDINGS
At the completion of the League Schedule and/or Playoff Schedule when a round-robin series is used, in the event of a tie in total points, the final standings will be arrived as per Game Regulations document. (Head to head; Winning percentage; Goals for and Goals against average.) See Library.
11. AUTOMATIC PENALTIES (As per OMHA)
Teams should refer to current OMHA manual of operations.
12. PLAYOFF STRUCTURE
The League playoff format shall be determined by the League and approved by the member centers.
13. PERFORMANCE BOND FINES
(A) No-Show for a game is $ 250.00 for the first offence and $500.00 for the second offence committed by the same team. $100.00 plus cost (excluding ice time) shall go to the non-offending teams centre.
(B) No-Show at a meeting, where no valid reason exists - $100.00.
(C) Late Game report postmarked later than 48 hours from the scheduled date - $25.00. Fines are to be assessed at the next meeting.
14. PROTEST RULE
All protests shall be filed with the League Secretary and the League representative of the opposing team within 48 hours of the game protested, accompanied by a fee of $50.00. The fee is partially refundable if the protest is won ($40.00, due to a $10.00 administration fee). If the protest is not upheld the entire fee is non-refundable.
The protest shall be in writing and shall set out the rules and regulations, supported by evidence and shall be signed by the coach, manager and League Representative of the protesting team.
A defense, if necessary shall be in writing and filed with the Secretary of the League within 48 hours of the receipt of the protest a hearing shall be at the call of the President, and the Secretary shall notify the Protest Committee and the teams involved of the time and place of the meeting. The defense fee is $25.00 returnable if the defense is successful.
The protest committee is to consist of three (3) League Executives or alternates at Presidents discretion in the event of a conflict.
A protest on a referee’s decision will not be considered unless it concerns a question of misapplication of the rules of the game.
The decision of the Protest Committee shall be final on all matters that affect only Bluewater League activities.
15. GAME REPORTS
Each center shall be provided with game reports for all scheduled home games. Each report shall be identified with a division and game number.
Following the game, the home team shall ensure that the game report is forwarded to the League Statistician. All game reports are due weekly to the Statistician as per League guidelines. Electronic copies are acceptable and physical copies can be turned in on a monthly basis at the League meeting.
16. MINUTES
Minutes of all meetings shall be sent to the representatives of each member center, Executive Committee Members and OMHA Representatives. Minutes will also be posted to the Bluewater website Document library and kept for 1 year.
17. VOTING
At the regular monthly meetings, each center and the Executive is entitled to one vote with the OMHA Regional Executive Member voting only in the case of a tie. A quorum shall constitute seven (7) member centers.
18. PRESENTATION OF AWARDS
Ths shall be the objective of the League Officials to present medals and championship awards on ice. Convenors shall be responsible to provide back-up for presentations in the absence of the League officers.
19. TEAM GOALTENDERS
Each team competing in the League should dress two (2) goaltenders at the start of each game if available.
20. PLAYING RULES
All OMHA playing rules shall prevail.
Data entry on April 1, 2024
By AM. Schofield