Capital District Board of Women's Soccer Officials

BY-LAWS

ARTICLE I

Membership

1. Qualifications of Membership
   1. Any person passing the on-line NFHS test, attending required meetings and making payment of annual dues shall be considered a member of the board.
2. Revocation of Membership and Rating
   1. Members shall lose their membership or be subject to a fine for failure to pay dues for the upcoming season by the date specified on the web site here: Critical Dates.
   2. Active members shall lose their rating for failure to attend the required number of meetings (see Operating Code), failure to take required tests, or failure to attain a passing score for the on-line rating test.
   3. Active members may lose their rating for documented incompetence and/or violations of the Operating Code as determined by the Board of Directors.
3. Inactive Members
   • An active member, in good standing, may choose inactive status and maintain all rights and privileges of membership for a period of two years by requesting the change of status in writing, paying dues equal to half the active member dues, attending the rules interpretation meeting, taking the annual on-line test, and scoring at least 90. After two years, an inactive member can only return to active status as a new member.
4. Transfers
• The CDBWSO will accept an individual member that has transferred from another approved local board and will recognize and accept the status assigned to that referee by the previous approved local board. A letter of request by the transferee shall be sent to CDBWSO. A letter from the transferee's previous board showing credentials shall also be submitted. CDBWSO, however, requires such transferred members to adhere to all requirements of this Board, that are applicable to all its members, to maintain such status.
5. Discipline of Members
   1. A member may be placed on probation or suspended from the CDBWSO for not more than one year, or may be expelled through the actions of the Board of Directors for any of the following reasons:
      • for failure to comply with the established authority or regulation of the CDBWSO
      • delinquency in payment of authorized charges, dues, fines, penalties or assessments
      • any other conduct conclusively established to be contrary to the best interests of soccer, Section 2 guidelines and the CDBWSO
   2. A member charged with any violation shall have the right to be heard in person or by written statement made by himself/herself in his/her own defense. Such right shall be afforded prior to the imposition of any fine, penalty, or any other disciplinary action. Requests for a hearing must be made to the chairman of the board. Discipline determinations are made by a majority of the board of directors. A member may appeal the determination to the board of directors by giving written notice within seven (7) days of the receipt of the determination. The board of directors will hear the appeal and decide the issue on the facts presented.
   3. Discipline Notice: When a member is suspended, the board of directors shall notify all concerned that said member is no longer able to accept assignments or affiliate as a member of the CDBWSO. No member shall knowingly officiate with a suspended or expelled member of the CDBWSO.
   4. A member may request a review of a disciplinary action by or dispute with our local board by a written request to the Secretary/Treasurer of the State Officials Organization NYSCOS) as well as a copy to the Capital District Board of Women’s Soccer Officials (CDBWSO) within thirty days of receiving notification of the Board’s determination.

ARTICLE II

Dues

1. Annual dues for the upcoming season shall be payable at the final meeting of the year. Members who do not attend the final meeting will pay their dues by the date specified on the Critical Dates pages.
2. No refund of dues shall be paid to any member terminating membership with the CDBWSO for any reason.
3. Dues for new officials will be higher to cover the cost of the clinics.
4. A $10 late fee for existing members will be assessed after the deadline date specified on the Critical Dates pages.
5. The amount of dues and entrance fee shall be determined by the board of directors.

ARTICLE III

Assigning policies and officiating fees

1. An official may accept Section 2 high school girl's assignments only from the designated CDBWSO assignor.
2. The officiating fee scale, to be paid per official, per game, shall be posted on the web site.
3. The board of directors will approve the fee to be paid for the assignor.
4. All officials are to complete their availability for the season on Arbiter between April 15th and May 15th. Availability Guidelines have been established and can be found on the web site. All officials need to follow them completely. Availabilities may be changed after May 15th, but the assignor must be made aware of any changes, in case they have a pending game already assigned. If the assignor discovers that an official's availability is inaccurate, all assigning for that official will stop until the proper dates are listed.
5. A preliminary Assignor's fee of $40 are to be sent to the designated person between April 15th and May 15th. No official will be assigned any contest until their assignor's fee has been received.
6. The remainder of the assignor's fees are due on November 15th.

ARTICLE IV

Meetings

1. General meetings may be called at the discretion of the chairman of the board.
2. Dates and times for scheduled meetings shall be posted annually on the web site in the Critical Dates section.
3. In general, the required number of meetings to meet the New York State requirement are scheduled and held between late July and the end of the season.
4. All scheduled meetings are mandatory for any officials who are officiating in any given season. If an official needs to miss a meeting, a written and/or verbal excuse, must be made to the attendance/fine collector or his/her designee, at least 24 hours before the meeting.
5. During the pre-season, the Board will offer two dates for meetings. A member need only attend one of the two dates. Because there are two choices, excuses will not be accepted for the pre-season meeting.
6. Clinics for prospective new members will be held each year on the dates specified in the Critical Dates pages. The entire membership will be informed of the clinics via e-mail and the web site and are encouraged to find people to join whenever possible.
7. The meeting organizers from the board of directors meet several times a year to establish the agenda for all meetings. Any official may contact any member of the board of directors if he/she has anything special they would like to see on the agenda.

ARTICLE V

Fitness Test

1. Effective in 2018, no fitness test may be required by the organization.

ARTICLE VI

Scrimmages

1. All officials are expected to do a maximum of TWO scrimmages (or the equivalent) before each season officially begins. Scrimmages will be assigned based upon availability, experience and officials availability.

ARTICLE VII

Ratings

1. If rating forms are being used in any given season, officials are responsible to have approved rating forms filled in and sent to the chairman in a timely fashion.