SUNNYBANK SAINTS SOCCER CLUB
POLICY FOR AWARD OF LIFE MEMBERSHIP
(Version 2 19/01/2018)
PREAMBLE
Honorary Life Membership is an honour bestowed on individual club members who’s exceptional, loyal and outstanding service and contribution has provided a measurable benefit to the club over an extended period of time.
The club’s Constitution allows for the possible award of one Life Membership per year.
Life Membership is the highest level of recognition awarded to a member. Other forms of recognition by the club include a Gold Service Award and the three tiers of the club’s Loyalty Awards.
This Policy should be read in conjunction with the brief reference to Life Membership in Clause 4 (1) (d) of the Club’s Constitution. In the event of any inconsistency, this Policy will prevail.
2.0 ELIGIBILITY
Any current club member can be nominated for Life Membership by another current club member, with the nomination seconded by another other club member.
3.0 CRITERIA
Life Membership should not be considered as a competitive matter and nominees must be considered individually on their personal attributes and achievements and not in comparison to other Life Members, nominees or persons not nominated.
3.1 Length of active membership
To have contributed to the club to the degree necessary for Life Membership, a nominee will necessarily have been an active member for a significant time. While there is no ‘minimum’ period of membership, a period of 10 years’ active membership is an indicator of a long term commitment.
It should be noted that achieving the minimum duration of membership will not in any way automatically guarantee the award of Life Membership.
3.2 Positions held and length of time
The nominator should be able to demonstrate a significant contribution by the nominee to the running of the club over a majority of those years of membership.
A primary example of a significant contribution would be service in a Management Committee role which required many hours of voluntary work during the course of the club’s football season, over many seasons. This voluntary work may involve administrative duties, physical duties or leadership and communication duties.
A significant contributor would participate to a much greater extent than the average member as a regular, consistent and reliable volunteer.
Incumbency of one or more demanding, active roles over a long period of time would be an obvious indicator of outstanding service.
It should be noted that duration of participation in the club as a player is recognised by the club’s Loyalty Awards, not by eligibility for Life Membership. Similarly, team support roles such as coach or manager are recognised by the Loyalty Awards or in certain cases, if combined with some service in an administrative capacity, by eligibility for a Gold Service Award.
4.0 NOMINATION PROCESS
4.1 Nominations must be forwarded to the club Secretary and received by 30 September.
4.2 The nomination will contain evidence of the candidate’s satisfaction of the criteria listed in Clause 3.
4.3 The nomination may be proposed by any current club member and seconded by another club member.
4.4 Any nomination, including supporting evidence, will be circulated by the Secretary to the full Management Committee by email, no later than 3 October.
4.5 The Management Committee will vote on the nomination by return email to the Secretary no later than 13 October.
4.6 The ballot will be open, not secret.
4.7 Failure to respond in the required time frame will be taken as assent.
4.8 Any Committee member who votes against the nomination must provide reasons and/or evidence for their rejection of the nomination. If no reasons are provided, the vote will be treated as informal and will not be counted.
4.9 As stated in Clause 3, nominees must be considered individually on their personal attributes and achievements and not in comparison to other Life Members, other nominees or persons not nominated.
If a vote against a nomination is based on such grounds, the vote will be treated as informal and will not be counted.
4.10 Unanimous approval of all formal votes returned by Management Committee members is preferred, but not essential for the nomination to be recommended to the Annual General Meeting for confirmation.
4.11 If formal votes are received which object to the nomination, an urgent special meeting of the Management Committee will be called to discuss the objection/s.
4.12 If the Management Committee meets to discuss an objection to a nomination, and unanimous support for the nomination cannot be reached, the objection shall be moved and put to the vote of members present at the meeting. If a majority of two thirds or more of those present vote against the objection then the objection shall be dismissed and Life Membership recommended to the Annual General Meeting.
4.13 Any recommendation for the award of Life Membership will be moved at the Annual General Meeting. As any recommendation would carry the support of the Management Committee, a simple majority of those present is sufficient to approve the recommendation.
5.0 FORM OF THE AWARD
A Life Member will presented with:
A suitably embroidered club shirt
A Life Membership plaque
A Life Member medal
6.0 OTHER BENEFITS OF LIFE MEMBERSHIP
6.1 A Life Member shall be eligible to be elected to any position on the Management Committee. Whether or not elected to a Management Committee position, a Life Member shall have the full rights of membership of the club, including eligibility to attend and vote at Management Committee and general meetings of the club.
6.2 A Life Member and their partner will be invited to attend any formal club functions such as the annual Senior Players Dinner as the guest of the club.
6.3 The award of Life Membership to a club member will be published on the club’s website and Facebook pages and the recipient will be included in the club’s list of Life Members on the club’s home page.
7.0 NO RIGHT OF APPEAL
Decisions of the Management Committee in regard to Life Membership decisions will be final.