AUCKLAND SECONDARY SCHOOLS RUGBY UNION CONSTITUTION (Amended March 2020) 1. NAME The Union is called the "Auckland Secondary Schools Rugby Union" (ASSRU). 2. AFFILIATION The Union is affiliated to the Auckland Rugby Union Inc and the Auckland Secondary Schools Heads Association Inc. (College Sport Auckland) 3. MEMBERSHIP (a) All secondary schools with rugby teams within the Auckland Rugby Union District and where Principals are members of College Sport are deemed to be members. (b) Schools without rugby teams in the competition of the previous season shall make application to play, in writing, to the ASSRU. Any such applications are subject to the approval of the Executive Committee. 4. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (a) The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the ASSRU shall be held prior to the end of October. (b) Fourteen days’ notice of such meeting is to be given (c) Each member school of the ASSRU shall be entitled to send one delegate only. (d) The officers of the Union shall be elected at the AGM. 5. OFFICERS OF THE UNION The appointment and election of the Officers of the Union will take place at the AGM of the ASSRU. (a) President - appointed by College Sport. (b) Chairman (c) Secretary/Treasurer (d) Delegate to the ARU (e) Competition Supervisor (f) Northern Region Delegate (g) Executive Committee made of school delegates, College Sport, Auckland Rugby Referees Association and Life Members 6. THE COUNCIL OF DELEGATES (C.O.D.) (i) This shall consist of one delegate from each member school. (ii) At any meeting of the Council of Delegates, one half of the delegates will constitute a quorum. (iii) The Council of Delegates shall elect the Executive Committee. 7. THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE The officers of the Union plus the following shall form the Executive Committee which will administer Auckland Secondary Schools Rugby according to its constitution. (a) A delegate appointed from the Auckland Rugby Referees Association (b) A delegate from the Auckland Rugby Union (c) A College Sport representative. 8. SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING (a) A Special General Meeting may be convened at any time by the Executive Meeting. (b) A Special General Meeting may be convened upon the request of not fewer than five schools with seven days’ notice given to members. 9. JUDICIAL COMMITTEE Where necessary the ASSRU will defer all Judicial & Disciplinary matters to the ARU Judicial Committee. All other matters will be dealt with on a case by case basis by the Executive Committee. 10. COMPETITION COMMITTEE The Competition Committee is the Chairman, Secretary, Competition Supervisor and Draw Steward who is appointed by the Executive Committee. The Committee is chaired by the Competition Supervisor. 11. MATCHES - GAMES The commencing date for all competitions will be determined by the Executive Committee after consultation with the College Sport. 12. STUDENT ELIGIBILITY refer to College Sport By-laws. 13. PLAYING RULES OF THE UNION All matches will be played in accordance with the World Rugby “Laws of the Game” and NZR “Domestic Safety Law Variations” (DSLV’s) 14. PLAYING GRADES AND WEIGHTS Weight and/or age limits for each grade shall be determined by a General Meeting. 15. WEIGHING, AGE CERTIFICATION AND REGISTRATION Dates and methods of weighing will be decided at a General meeting. 16. LIFE MEMBERS The Executive Committee can nominate life members who shall remain members of the Union for their respective lives. Each election must be unanimous and shall be for the purpose of recognition of special services rendered to the Union. Nomination for life membership shall be made only by the Executive Committee. The election of Life members will be held at The AGM, voted on by the Council of Delegates. 17 CHANGE OF CONSTITUTION The Constitution of the ASSRU shall not be altered, added to or rescinded, except on the vote of a majority of two-thirds of the members present at any AGM or Special General Meeting duly convened. Notice of any proposed alteration, addition or rescission must be given in writing to the Secretary of the ASSRU at least 21 days before the meeting at which it is intended to propose such alteration, addition or recession. At least 14 days’ notice of such meeting shall be given to all members of the ASSRU. No alteration, addition or rescission shall be valid or of any effect, unless approved by the Executive Committee of the ASSRU. 18 REPORTS For presentation at the AGM. Each of the following will provide a written Annual Report which will be presented at the AGM (i) Chairman (ii) Secretary/Treasurer (iii) ARU Delegate (iv) Representative Manager(s) (v) Northern Region Delegate. AUCKLAND SECONDARY SCHOOLS RUGBY UNION BY-LAWS (Amended March 2020) These by-laws outline the operating procedures and must be read in conjunction with the Constitution and the Rules of Competition. 1. STUDENT ELIGIBILTY Refer to College Sport By-laws 4. General Eligibility 5. Premier Eligibility 6. Premier Registration https://collegesport.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Bylaws-Ratified-26-Sep- 2019.pdf 7. Premier Non-Domestic Student Eligibility 8. Premier Competition Rugby Eligibility 9. Composite Teams Boys 1A and 1B only The procedure for registrations is: • All teams are to file their player registrations online with College Sport prior to the start of competition. A squad of 32 may be submitted, including four new to the school. • Additional players can be registered online for the team, provided registrations are received at College Sport 48 hours prior to the game in which the player is scheduled to play. • Players who are NOT new to school can also be deregistered from these competitions using the College Sport online system. College Sport Bylaws 6.3 and 6.4 detail special circumstances where a new to school player may be deregistered. • A New to School student who has transferred from any New Zealand school and has played one or more fixtures for their previous school’s 1st team in rugby, may not participate in the first six competition matches of the 1A or 1B rugby season for their new school. In the case of a team participating in promotion/relegation fixtures, this match will count as one of the six stand down games. The stand down does not apply to pre-season matches, traditional matches or matches against visiting teams played during the stand down period. The stand down period will be taken from the student’s date of enrolment. Please note, that in the case of 1A rugby, the Auckland 1A Rugby Code of Practice must also be taken into account. A copy of that is provided below: • All students must be under 18 as at 1st January in the current year. • All 1A and 1B team sheets must be sent to College Sport by 12 noon, on the Friday preceding the Saturday match day. For any mid-week matches, team sheets must be sent to College Sport 24 hours prior to the commencement of the mid-week fixture, through the appropriate communication process. Changes can be made to that team list on Saturday for valid reasons. Those changes can be communicated before or after the match. Auckland 1A Rugby Code of Practice The Principal/Head of each School competing in the Auckland 1A Rugby Competition will from 2 December 2018 accept responsibility for their School committing to: • Abiding by the College Sport Premier By-laws AND: • Not permit any form of player recruitment or inducement to attract a student from another School’s 1st XV Rugby team that is part of an NZRU sanctioned competition • Not offer a student from another School’s 1st XV Rugby team (that is part of an NZRU sanctioned competition) a partial or full scholarship to attend their School • Any new to School player who has transferred from an NZRU 1st XV sanctioned competition will be stood down for the first six 1A competition games, and any potential semi-final or final matches • Tabling the details of any student who is transferring from another School, who may earn a place in their 1st XV programme within two years of enrolling • Ensuring each student in a 1st XV programme is undertaking a full course of study in an NZQA approved course of study or equivalent in a recognised international qualification • All members of 1st XV management attending after match functions, whether home or away and for these staff members/volunteers to act as role models for young men • All members of 1st XV management, and all senior staff acting in the spirit of schoolboy sport on sidelines, in after-match functions and in their communications with each other 1.1 Promotion/relegation play-off exemption: I. Players who enroll at their school on or before day one of the third school term of the previous year are eligible to play in the promotion / Relegation play-off matches. II. Any player enrolled in the school after this date (assuming the enrolment meets College Sport regulations) will be deemed New to School and are eligible to play for that school throughout the season but NOT in the Promotion / Relegation play-off matches. 2. WEIGHING, TEAM ENTRIES, REGISTRATION AND PROTESTS 2.1 Weight I. A player’s grade is determined by their initial weigh-in that is signed off by officials of the ASSRU. II. In the situation where, random weight checks or weigh-ins for play-offs and finals are conducted by officials of the ASSRU, a weight gain of 4Kg is permitted after Queen’s Birthday. The weight gain dispensation applies only to players whose initial registered weight was equal to or below the weight for that grade. (2020) III. Supplementary weighing will be done by an Executive member or representative nominated by them.