Bylaws of the United States Baseball Federation, Inc
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BYLAWS OF THE UNITED STATES BASEBALL FEDERATION, INC. i INDEX TO USA BASEBALL BYLAWS SECTION ONE: NAME, OFFICES, DEFINITIONS AND JURISDICTION ................. 1 SECTION TWO: THE MISSION .................................................................................... 7 SECTION THREE: MEMBERSHIP ................................................................................. 8 SECTION FOUR: DUTIES ............................................................................................ 13 SECTION FIVE: POWERS ........................................................................................... 16 SECTION SIX: THE BOARD ....................................................................................... 19 SECTION SEVEN: OFFICERS ..................................................................................... 26 SECTION EIGHT: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ............................................................. 29 SECTION NINE: MEETINGS ....................................................................................... 32 SECTION TEN: COMMITTEES AND TASK FORCES .............................................. 34 SECTION ELEVEN: COMPLAINT PROCEDURES ................................................... 45 SECTION TWELVE: FINANCIAL AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY ............ 53 SECTION THIRTEEN: LIABILITY AND INDEMNIFICATION ............................... 54 SECTION FOURTEEN: DISSOLUTION ..................................................................... 57 SECTION FIFTEEN: SANCTIONING ......................................................................... 58 SECTION SIXTEEN: ELECTION PROCEDURES FOR USOPC AAC REPRESENTATIVES ………………..………………………………….. 62 SECTION SEVENTEEN: DISCIPLINARY ACTION .................................................. 64 SECTION EIGHTEEN: SAFESPORT AND ANTI-DOPING .....……………………... 65 SECTION NINETEEN: AMENDMENTS TO THESE BYLAWS ............................... 67 SECTION TWENTY: SAVING CLAUSE .................................................................... 68 i BYLAWS OF THE UNITED STATES BASEBALL FEDERATION, INC. SECTION 1 NAME, OFFICES, DEFINITIONS, AND JURISDICTION Section 1.1 USA Baseball. The name of this organization, incorporated in the State of Michigan on January 6, 1965, as a not-for-profit corporation, shall be the United States Baseball Federation, Inc. hereinafter referred to as “USA Baseball.” USA Baseball shall be exempt from taxation within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. To the extent of previous references to USA Baseball’s “constitution and bylaws,” such references shall be deemed to refer to this document (the “Bylaws”). Section 1.2 Business Offices. The principal office of USA Baseball is located at 1030 Swabia Court, Suite 201, Durham, North Carolina 27703 and the address may be changed from time to time by the Executive Director with the approval by the Board of Directors. Section 1.3 Definitions. As used in the Bylaws the term: a) “AAA” means American Arbitration Association; b) “AAC” means the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s Athletes’ Advisory Council; c) “Act” or “the Act” means the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, (36 USC §§ 220501-220529); d) “Active Athlete” has three different standards for purposes of representation on the USOPC AAC, on the Board, and on USA Baseball committees: 1) “Active Athlete-Elite” means within the ten (10) years preceding election, Athlete representatives must have represented the United States in the 1 Olympic Games, Pan American Games, World Championships, or an event designated by the USOPC as an Operation Gold event (pursuant to Section 14 of the USOPC Bylaws). 2) “Active Athlete-Gold” means within the ten (10) years preceding election, the athletes represented the United States in the Olympic or Pan American Games, or an Operation Gold Event, or a World Championship recognized by the NGB’s international federation (IF) for which a competitive selection process was administered by the National Governing Body (NGB), or in a team sport, an international championship recognized by the IF of the NGB; or within the twenty-four (24) months before election, demonstrated that they are actively engaged in amateur athletic competition by finishing in the top half of the NGB’s national championships or team selection competition, or in a team sport, have been a member of the NGB’s national team (pursuant to Section 8.8.2 of the USOPC Bylaws). 3) “Active Athlete-Silver” means within the ten (10) years preceding election, the athletes represented the United States in the Olympic or Pan American Games, or an Operation Gold event, or a World Championship recognized by the NGB’s IF for which a competitive selection process was administered by the NGB, or in a team sport, an international championship recognized by the IF of the NGB; or within the twenty-four (24) months before election, demonstrated that they are actively engaged in amateur athletic competition (pursuant to Section 8.8.3 of the USOPC Bylaws). 2 e) “amateur athlete” means any athlete who meets the eligibility standards established by USA Baseball for the sport of baseball; f) “amateur athletic competition” means a contest, game, tournament, or other event in which amateur athletes compete; g) “amateur sports organization” means a not-for-profit corporation, club, federation, union, association, or other group organized in the United States that sponsors or arranges any amateur athletic competition; h) “BAF” means Baseball America Foundation, Inc.; i) “Board” or “BOD” means USA Baseball’s Board of Directors; j) “COPABE” means the Confederation of Pan American Baseball, a confederation of national baseball sports federations from the Americas; k) “IF” means the international federation; l) “international athletic competition” means any athletic competition between any athlete or athletes representing the United States or athletes representing any foreign country; m) “IOC” means the International Olympic Committee; n) “MLB” means Major League Baseball; o) “MLBPA” means the Major League Baseball Players Association p) “members” means those organizations accepted into the membership of USA Baseball as provided for in Section 3 of these Bylaws; q) “NGB” means National Governing Body as is recognized by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (“USOPC”); 3 r) “PASO” means the Pan American Sport Organization, a confederation of national Olympic committees from the Americas; s) “P.L. No. 115-126” means Public Law No. 115-126, “Protecting Young Victims From Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017” as it may be amended from time to time; t) “protected competition” means: 1) any baseball competition between any team officially designated by USA Baseball as representing the United States and any team representing any foreign countries where (a) the terms of such competition require that the entrants be teams representing their respective nations and (b) the group of athletes representing the United States is organized and sponsored by USA Baseball in accordance with a defined selection or tryout procedure that is either open to all and publicly announced in advance, except for domestic amateur baseball competition, which by its terms, requires that the entrants be expressly restricted to members of a specific class of amateur athletes (such as high school students, college students, members of the Armed Forces, or similar groups or categories), or is subject to another valid selection process; and 2) any domestic baseball competition or event organized and conducted by USA Baseball which has been designated by USA Baseball in its selection procedure, and publicly announced in advance, as a competition or event directly qualifying successful competitors as athletes representing the United States in protected competition as defined in 1) above. 4 u) “sanction” means a certificate of approval issued by USA Baseball in accordance with Section 220525 of the Act; and with Section 16 of these Bylaws; v) “USA Baseball” means the United States Baseball Federation, a not-for-profit corporation of the state of Michigan, doing business as “USA Baseball”’; w) “USOPC” means the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee; x) “WBC” means World Baseball Classic; and y) “WBSC” means the World Baseball Softball Confederation, the international governing body of baseball, a confederation of national governing organizations of baseball and softball throughout the world. Section 1.4 Jurisdiction. Pursuant to the authority granted by the USOPC and PASO, USA Baseball shall have exclusive jurisdiction to recommend individuals and teams to represent the United States in the Olympic Games and the Pan American Games and to enforce in connection therewith the definition of an eligible athlete adopted by the IOC, USOPC, and PASO. USA Baseball shall be and remains autonomous from political influence in accordance with the Olympic Charter. Section 1.5 Deferential Jurisdiction. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, USA Baseball shall enforce and comply with all rules and regulations of: a) the USOPC, the WBSC, the IOC, and the Olympic Charter and PASO Statutes and Regulations; b) the World Anti-Doping Code and the United States Anti-Doping Agency Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing; and c) the U.S. Center for Safe Sport for certain matters over which the Center has exclusive jurisdiction pursuant to the U.S. Olympic Safe Sports Policies. As a member National 5 Governing Body of the United States Olympic & Paralympic