Bylaws of the American European Racquetball Association

MISSION

The American European Racquetball Association (AERA) exists to promote racquetball and provide a means of competition to U.S. Military, Department of the Army Civilians or other Americans who are assigned, reside or visit the European Theater for extended periods. The AERA will coordinate to ensure military-sponsored tournaments do not to conflict with AERA, European Racquetball Federation (ERF), and other international tournaments. To implement and maintain a viable point ranking system for all AERA members. To assist U.S. Army and Air Force installation sports representatives in establishing tournament-play guidelines and rules for all tournaments and players. To coordinate between the ERF & U.S. military directors for the sanctioning of ERF tournaments to be played on U.S. Military Facilities throughout Europe. To obtain USRA recognition in order that AERA members receive USRA points for tournament participation throughout Europe.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The AERA will maintain a Board of Directors, which shall have charge, control and management of policies, property, affairs and potential organization funds. The board will anticipate, plan, advise and implement policies and procedures to meet the needs/desires of AERA members, to include the cooperation with the ERF, host nation racquetball organizers, U.S. Department of Defense, public, private and community organizations.
The Board will consist of seven (7) members. Fifty-one (51) percent of board members must be U.S. Identification Card or eligible to obtain an ID card. Board members will serve a term of 18 months and elections will be held in conjunction with the annual meeting prior to board member's term expiration. No board member shall receive, directly or indirectly, any salary, compensation or emolument from the AERA in their capacity unless authorized by a vote of a majority of the entire board without counting the interested board member's vote.

BOARD MEMBERS

The members of the board of directors shall consist of the following:

PRESIDENT

The president is the chief executive officer (presiding officer) of the AERA and is responsible for the daily administration and operation of the organization. The president will interface with all local, national and international racquetball organizations as appropriate. He/she may delegate portions of these activities to any and all members of the board as required.

VICE-PRESIDENT

The vise-president performs all duties given by the president and assumes all duties of the president when he/she is absent or unable to perform in his/her capacity.

GENERAL SECRETARY

The general secretary is the chief administration officer and responsible for all AERA records. The general secretary is also responsible for recording and maintaining the minutes of all meetings and proceedings.

TREASURER

The treasurer will not be an active position at the inception of the AERA. The board members will elect a treasurer at a time deemed appropriate and necessary.

OTHER BOARD MEMBERS

TOURNAMENT COORDINATOR

The tournament coordinator is responsible to interface with all USAREUR & USAFE, ERF, and other national tournament directors and coordinate tournament dates. The primary goal is to ensure there are no conflicting tournaments on the same dates when possible.
The tournament coordinator will ensure that tournament dates are posted to the host nation website enabling the widest dissemination possible.

MEMBERSHIP/POINTS/RANKINGS COORDINATOR

The membership/points/rankings coordinator is responsible to maintain a record of all active AERA members. The coordinator will maintain the AERA rankings through out each season and the number of points each member has earned in tournaments.

BOARD MEMBER AT LARGE

The board member at large will act as an advisor to all other board members. He/she will assist any and all board members in any capacity needed. He/she will step in and perform the duty's of the tournament coordinator and the membership/points/rankings coordinator in the event of their absence or are unable to perform their duties.

COMMITTEES

TOURNAMENT& RULES COMMITTEE

The tournament committee is responsible to evaluate upcoming tournaments and recommend AERA support, approval, assistance and eventual sanctioning. The tournament committee will advise the president of their recommendations and the president will then approve or disapprove committee recommendations. Should the president and the tournament committee disagree, the issue will then be voted on by the board of directors. The tournament committee will consist of not less than three (4) members of the AERA. The Chairman shall be the tournament coordinator. He shall have the authority to call a committee meeting whenever required to discuss future tournaments and any problems that may arise. Tournament committee members will serve for 18 months. New elections will be held at the scheduled annual meeting prior to the current committee term expiration. Should a committee member be unable to serve his full term, the president with the approval of the tournament committee coordinator shall appoint a replacement member to the committee. Should there be a disagreement between the president and tournament committee coordinator, the board of directors will then conduct a vote.

RESPONSIBILITIES

This committee will review, determine and vote to ensure that AERA members are playing in the division appropriated to their playing abilities at all tournaments. The committee decisions will be passed on to the local tournament director (S) for final decision. Un-sportsmanship conduct will be referred to this committee for investigation. The committee will provide investigation results and a recommendation to the president and the board. Actions authorized to the board are as follows: No action: The board determines no action is warranted. Letter of Warning: The board determines the investigation warrants a letter of warning to the player concerned and that another or similar display will result in further action by the AERA. Recommendation to USAREUR/USAFE Sports for action: If warranted, the board will recommend action to the USAREUR/USAFE Sports that players' privileges to participate in upcoming racquetball tournaments by revoked for minimum of 3 months to maximum of 1 year. Dismissal from the AERA: A player whose behavior has been determined to be so severe, the board shall, upon the recommendation of the this committee, revoke all membership privileges for a specified period of time i.e.; remainder of present season or one calendar year.
NOTE: ALL NOTIFICATIONS WILL BE MADE TO THE MEMBER BY WRITTEN CORRESPONDENCE

GENERAL MEMEBERSHIP COMMITTEE

The membership/points/rankings coordinator will chair this committee. The membership committee is responsible to assist the membership/points/rankings coordinator as needed. The committee is responsible to publicize, advertise and solicit new AERA membership. The committee chairman will submit all advertising, news, or promotional releases to the president for approval prior to publication. The general membership committee chairman shall be responsible for the issue of AREA patches to the membership as appropriate.

PUBLICITY/NEWSLETTER COORDINATOR

The Publicity/Newsletter Coordinator will be selected by the Board of Directors and will serve at the pleasure of the board. The coordinator will have access to all board meetings, but will not be a voting member of the board. The coordinator will comply with the guidelines set forth in these by-laws. The Publicity/Newsletter Coordinator will be responsible for following:

NEWLETTERS

A quarterly newsletter will be published by the AERA. All input (S) will be forwarded to the webmaster for consolidation and dissemination to the general membership. The president may direct subsequent AERA releases on the AERA Website when warranted. As a minimum the following will be included in each newsletter

The President will discuss the over all status of the AERA and any information he feels the general membership should be aware of. The General Secretary will provide notes/comments from all board meetings since the last publication and any appropriate upcoming activities. The Membership/Points/Rankings Coordinator will provide the Top 10 rankings for each division and also the top four finishers in each tournament since the last publication. The Tournament Coordinator will discuss events of interest of previous tournaments and provide information for upcoming tournaments. Any disciplinary actions taken by the AERA will also be included. The General Membership Coordinator submits a status of the AERA membership. All members of the AERA may submit articles for inclusion into the Newsletter. All input will be submitted to the General Secretary. A directory of Name/address/phone/email of all members of the board of directors, committee chairpersons and webmaster.

PUBLICITY

A designated member of the AERA will work to ensure AERA-sponsored tournaments are publicized in the community newspaper, European Stars & Stripes and American Forces Network Radio. Post tournaments on AERA, ERF, and GRF as soon as the sanctioning process is final. Contact newspapers editors in the European theater with brief or article publicizing the tournament with dates, times, divisions, courts, billeting, costs, POC and phone numbers no later than three weeks before tournament date. Post tournament results on website NLT than 24 hours after tournament is complete. Write an article of tournament results and forward to community newspapers of those who place. Send tournament results to S&S immediately after the tournament is completed with 1-3 winners and consolation in each division, number of players who participated, place and other newsworthy information. For the USAFE and USAREUR championships, send an article to RACQUETBALL Magazine.

WEBMASTER

The Webmaster, working through the Board will design and regularly update an AERA site that adequately portrays the activities of the association to include its organization, bylaws, tournaments, rankings, racquetball links, chatroom, item sales, and other items determined by the Board. Design a homepage that is unique to the AERA that is professional and functional in design. Home page should include the Association's patch, logo etc. Home page should be one that is easy for visitors to navigate . . . short, sweet, simple, but elegant and professional. Should have a hit counter. Should have links to other racquetball sites. Should have an avenue for visitors to provide feedback. A board member will be designated to provide general information. Information on rules or the organization must be brought to the attention of the Board. Should have photos of the winners and other general shots of each tournament. Establish a domain: for example AERA.ORG