RULES GOVERNING THE NEW ZEALAND CHINESE ASSOCIATION (INC)

ANNUAL SPORTS TOURNAMENT

(As amended by the 2001 Annual Conference)

  1. The Tournament shall be called " The New Zealand Chinese Association (Inc) Annual Sports Tournament" and shall be held during the Easter weekend.
  2. The object of the New Zealand Chinese Association (Inc) Annual Sports Tournament (herein after called "the Tournament") is to promote friendship, goodwill, mutual understanding and to enjoy healthy competition among Chinese.
  3. If required the name of a sponsor or his/her product may be added to the official name of the Tournament but the Association reserves the right to refuse consent to a name that is not in keeping with the aims and objects of the Tournament.

  4. Only an incorporated branch that is a member of the Association (hereinafter called the "Branch") can enter official teams in the Tournament.
  5. Persons eligible to participate in the sports events at the Tournament are:

    6. (a) A Chinese person. A Chinese person being defined as a person of Chinese descent; or

    (b) The spouse of a Chinese person; or

    (c) The adopted child of a Chinese person or the child or the adopted child of the spouse of a Chinese person;

    provided that person has permanent residence in New Zealand or has lived in New Zealand for a period of at least three months immediately preceding the Tournament.

    If requested by the representative of a Branch participating in the Tournament, the Tournament Controller shall require a sportsperson to provide evidence of his/her eligibility. Failure to provide satisfactory proof shall deem the sportsperson disqualified from participation.

  6. The Tournament shall be held at the following centres in rotation:

    7. Wellington

    Dunedin

    Auckland

    Christchurch

    (hereinafter called "the Main Centres"). Any other Branch may apply to hold the Tournament and the Association at its discretion shall determine such an application.

  7. The Branch responsible for the Main Centre holding the Tournament ("the Host Branch") shall organise and run the Tournament, appoint a Tournament Controller and a Controller for each sport event.
  8. The Association shall send two delegates or their nominees or more at its discretion to declare the Tournament open, arbitrate any dispute, attend the Tournament Conference, present trophies, and close the Tournament.
  9. A Tournament Conference shall be held at each Tournament. Each participating Branch in the Tournament must have at least one representative attending this Conference. The business of the Tournament Conference shall be:

    10. (a) To review the conduct of the present and past Tournaments.

    (b) To consider and recommend changes to and/or the Rules to the Tournament

    The Host Branch shall notify each participating Branch of the time, date and venue of the Conference at least one week prior to the Tournament. A representative of the Host Branch shall be the Chairperson of the Tournament Conference.

  10. The Host Branch shall prepare and submit to the Association the minutes of the deliberations of the Tournament Conference and a report of the results of the Tournament no later than 30 days after the Tournament. The minutes and the report shall be circulated to all Branches and shall be tabled for discussion at the next Conference of the Association.
  11. The Host Branch shall be entitled to receive a subsidy from the New Zealand Chinese Association to assist in the conduct of the Tournament. The amount of the subsidy shall be determined at the preceding Conference of the Association. Notwithstanding the foregoing the Host Branch shall be entitled to seek other grants and donations for the purposes of conducting the Tournament.
  12. All Branches shall be entitled to enter up to three teams in any grade of any sport. A Branch may enter additional teams but the acceptance of such additional entries shall be at the sole discretion of the Host Branch.
  13. A sport may be added to or deleted from the Tournament but such addition shall not become an official sport and any deletion shall not be removed as an official sport unless it is ratified by the Conference of the Association.
  14. The Host Branch shall have the discretion to create additional grades for any sport event but such grades shall be unofficial.

  15. Should entries to the Tournament in an official sport be in the view of the Host Branch insufficient to hold a satisfactory competition the Host Branch may at it's discretion refuse the entries and remove the sports event from the Tournament for that year.

    16.  

     

  16. The official sports of the Tournament are:

    17. Badminton

    Basketball

    Golf

    Indoor Netball

    Lawn Bowls

    Netball

    Relay

    Soccer

    Table Tennis

    Touch Rugby

    Volleyball

  17. The official grades for each sport are:

    18. Men’s Open

    Men’s Under 21

    Men’s Under 18

    Women’s Open

    Women’s Under 21

    Women’s Under 18

    Mixed Grade - Touch Rugby only

  18. For the purposes of the Tournament, all games of the respective sports shall be played under Amended International Rules.
  19. Each year the Host Branch shall forward to each competing Branch, not later than four weeks before the opening of the Tournament, the amendments to the International Rules governing the respective sports.
  20. A sportsperson shall represent one Branch only.
  21. A sportsperson who wishes to participate in the Tournament may elect to make himself/herself available for his/her home Branch or home Centre. The sportsperson must make the election in writing to the Secretary of the Association no later than two months before the Tournament commencement date. If a sportsperson who wishes to participate in the Tournament does not make the election by two months before the Tournament commencement date, then that sportsperson will be deemed to have made himself/herself available for his/her home Branch. If the sportsperson is not selected to represent his/her home Branch or home Centre then he/she may represent another Branch at their invitation but only after obtaining permission to do so from his/her home Branch and home Centre. Such permission shall not be unreasonably withheld. For the purposes of this rule the "Home Branch" is defined as the Branch in which the sportsperson has last been resident for three months immediately prior to the Tournament and the Home Centre is defined as the Branch where the sportsperson originally resided immediately prior to his/her residence at his/her Home Branch or where his/her family currently reside.

    22. If a sportsperson is attending a University or similar educational institutions, that person's Home Branch shall be deemed to be the Branch in which that person is resident for his or her studies and the three month rule shall not apply.

  22. A sportsperson may play in the Under 21 grade if he/she is under 21 years of age as at 31 December in the year preceding the Tournament. A sports person eligible to play in the Under 21 grade may play in the Open grade instead of the Under 21 if required by that person's home Branch.
  23. A sportsperson may play in the Under 18 grade if he/she is under 18 years of age as at the 31st of December in the year preceding the Tournament. A sportsperson eligible to play in the Under 18 grade may play in the Under 21 or Open grade instead of the Under 18 grade if required by that person's home Branch.
  24. The onus of proof of age for sportsperson playing in the Under 18 or Under 21 grades shall be the responsibility of that sportsperson.
  25. A sportsperson may not play in more than one grade in any one sport.
  26. A sportsperson and his/her team shall be excluded from this Tournament if these rules are not adhered to.
  27. Overseas teams shall be eligible to participate in the Tournament but such participation shall be on an unofficial basis. The acceptance of an overseas team entry shall be at the sole discretion of the Host Branch.
  28. Any protest shall be made by the team managers, the team captains or the Umpires to the Tournament Controller or Sports Controller in writing within 30 minutes of the end of the relevant match.

    29. A Protest Committee consisting of two of the delegates from the Association, one who shall be the Chairperson, the Tournament Controller and the Sport Controller shall then convene forthwith to hear the protest. The Chairperson of the Protest Committee shall have a casting vote in the event of a deadlock.

    The parties involved in a protest shall be informed of the time and place of the sitting of the Protest Committee. The only people eligible to appear before the Protest Committee shall be the Umpire or Umpires involved in the match, the manager, captain and members of the teams directly involved in the protest.

    The decision of the Protest Committee may be appealed to the Appeals Panel provided such an appeal is lodged with the Tournament Controller within 2 hours of receipt of the notice of the decision of the Protest Committee.

  29. The Appeals Panel shall comprise of an independent Chairman and two other persons. The two other persons of the Appeals Panel shall be appointed by the two delegates representing the Association and the President of the Host Branch. The Executive Committee and the Host Branch shall appoint the independent Chairman.
  30. Trophy shall be awarded to the winners of each official sports event. A Trophy shall also be awarded to the most friendly and sportsmanlike team at the Tournament. The selection of the winner of this Trophy shall be decided by the Protest Committee
  31. A Tournament Trophy shall be awarded to the Branch that wins the most official sports events at the Tournament provided that if an official sports event has less than three competing teams representing less that three Branches that event shall not count towards the Tournament Trophy. An official sport event means any official sports event in any grade.
    32.
  32. A Branch awarded a trophy at the Tournament shall have the option of keeping that trophy for a period of time agreed with the Association or returning it immediately after the award ceremony to the Host Branch. In any event, all trophies must be returned in good condition to the Association no later than two months prior to the next Tournament.

    33. If a Branch elects to keep a trophy then that Branch must forthwith pay to the Association a bond of $100 for each trophy kept. The National Secretary will send a letter to each trophy winner who retains their trophy giving instructions as to whom and when to return the trophy. A copy of this letter will be sent to the relevant Branch.

    On return of a trophy within the agreed period of time, the bond money less the cost to repair any damage to the trophy will be refunded to the Branch. If a trophy is not returned within the agreed period of time, the bond money will be forfeited. In the event that a trophy is lost, the Branch shall pay for the cost of a replacement trophy in addition to the forfeiture of the bond money.

  33. These rules may be altered, added to or rescinded or otherwise amended by resolution passed by a majority of those present and entitled to vote at the Conference of the New Zealand Chinese Association of which 28 days notice has to be given and such notice shall set forth the purpose of the proposed alteration, addition, rescission or other amendment.