Bylaws for the Winner’s Circle Cornhole Club

Last Updated: 06/06/2023

Preamble

This webpage outlines the policies and procedures of the Winner’s Circle Cornhole Club, hereafter referred to as WCCC.

Article I – Objectives

• To promote the game of cornhole
• To administer the Wednesday night cornhole tournaments owned by the WCCC and hosted by the Winner’s Circle at 211 Elm Street, Salisbury, MA 01952 & The Brook at 319 New Zealand Road, Seabrook, NH 03874
• To administer charity tournaments owned by the WCCC
• To improve the cornhole skills of our members
• To foster camaraderie and friendship among our members
• To pool our financial resources to support the club

Article II – Membership

1. Persons may join the club by paying an initial $30.00 fee.  This fee allows for the following benefits:
   • Personalized t-shirt or tank top supplied by Laurie’s Custom Essentials
   • Right to play in the Winner’s Circle Skybox when the Skybox is unoccupied by a function or event
   • Right to borrow club equipment and supplies for a reasonable amount of time.
   • Complete voting rights
   • Right to run for club office
   • Participate in club meetings
   • Right to contact person running the Wednesday tournament to get entered in the event that they are tardy.
   • Membership in the private WCCC group on Facebook
2. Memberships are active for one year from payment, ending at end of the month of the following year.
3. Membership renewals are subject to a $20 renewal fee.  All benefits are maintained for renewing members other than the personalized shirt or tank top.
4. If a member does not renew and becomes a former member, or resigns from the WCCC for any reason, the fee to rejoin will be $20 if the person has left the club less than a year prior, and $30 for those out of the club over a year, and will confer all member rights except for the personalized shirt or tank top.
5. Members that resign from the WCCC will not be refunded any portion of their membership fee.
6. Only members in good standing will be allowed to partake in the benefits outlined in item 1 of this Article.
7. Members under the age of 18 will have their memberships extended for the time played at an age-restricted location on Wednesday nights.

Article III – Meetings & Voting Procedures

1. Meetings will be monthly on a time and date determined by the Board.
2. Meetings will be administered by the President.  The agenda is announced 48 hours before the meeting on the private WCCC Facebook group.
3. The recording secretary will record meeting minutes and will post the minutes on the private WCCC Facebook group at the conclusion of the meeting.
4. Meetings will be conducted in an orderly manner, with one member speaking at a time.  The Board will enforce this provision.  Failure to adhere to this provision will result in removal from the meeting should violations persist.
5. One topic will be discussed at a time.  Discussion will be completed on a topic before advancing to the next topic.  Previous topics will not be revisited unless time allows at the end of the meeting.
6. Agenda items that result in a motion to vote will be recorded on the voting record by the Recording Secretary.  Any and all options will be clearly noted on the voting record.
7. Voting will be conducted via a Google Forms poll. Voting will run for 96 hours after the poll is posted..
8. Any new proposals that fail to be implemented via a meeting vote may not be proposed again for a minimum of six months from the time the proposal was voted on.
9. Any new proposal that is successfully voted to be implemented may be revisited up to two months after implementation.

Article IV – Board Members

Executive Board Officers

WCCC shall require the following executive board officers:

1. President
2. Vice President
3. Recording Secretary
4. Treasurer
5. Social Media Manager
6. Webmaster
7. At-Large

Duties of the executive board officers:

Section 1 – President

1. The President shall be tasked with administering the weekly cornhole tournaments as outlined in Article VI and the major cornhole tournaments as outlined in Article VII.
2. The President shall be chief presiding officer at the meetings.
3. The President shall conduct elections as outlined in Article V.
4. The President shall provide leadership for the group.
5. The President shall be charged the custody of bylaws & ceremonial customs.
6. The President shall fill vacancies on the executive board on an interim basis until a proper election can be held.
7. The President shall be allowed to make purchases using WCCC funds for WCCC purposes for no more than $100 in consultancy with the Vice President.  Any purchases from $100.01-$500 shall be subject to a Board of Officers vote.  Any purchases in excess of $500 shall be subject to a club vote.

Section 2 – Vice President

1. The Vice President shall be responsible for assisting the President with all decisions.
2. The Vice President shall take over any event or meeting in which the President cannot reside.
3. The Vice President shall be the liaison from the club to the board regarding member suggestions.
4. The Vice President shall be the main person responsible for keeping the member meetings in order.
5. The Vice President shall be in charge of the setup and breakdown of weekly events.
6. The Vice President shall be responsible for the care and administration of the trailer

Section 3 – Recording Secretary

1. The Recording Secretary shall be in charge of keeping attendance records.
2. The Recording Secretary shall post the meeting minutes on the private Facebook page in an expeditious manner.
3. The Recording Secretary shall keep a log of items that the membership will vote on pursuant to Article III.7
4. The Recording Secretary shall keep a log of club equipment and property that is borrowed by members.
5. The Recording Secretary shall administer the year-end WCCC awards.

Section 4 – Treasurer

1. The Treasurer shall be in charge of dues.
2. The Treasurer shall be responsible for all monetary transactions that transpire within the WCCC.
3. The Treasurer shall be responsible for handling money at major tournaments.
4. The Treasurer shall be responsible for administering airmail.

Section 5 – Social Media Manager

1. The Social Media Manager shall be responsible for making relevant posts to the Club’s various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others.
2. The Social Media Manager may appoint other members to assist in social media endeavors.

Section 6 – Webmaster

1. The Webmaster is responsible for the maintenance of the website.

Section 7 – At-Large

1. The At-Large member shall act as a backup to the Treasurer, Recording Secretary, & Social Media Manager.
2. The At-Large member shall also be a full board member.
3. The At-Large member shall be responsible for coordinating setup and breakdown of major tournaments.

Section 8 – All Board Members

1. Enforce the bylaws
2. The board members shall be charged the custody of bylaws & ceremonial customs.
3. All board members are responsible for keeping good order within the membership.

Article V – Elections

1. Votes shall be by electronic ballot by active members only.
2. Nominations for executive board officers will begin on the weekly cornhole night that takes place the first week of December, and will be open until the second weekly cornhole night of December is complete.
3. Any active member may nominate any other active member.  Members may not nominate themselves.  Members may refuse to accept nominations. Candidates require one nomination to appear on the ballot.
4. Once the nomination period ends, the voting period will commence.  The voting period will be up to one week in length.
5. The nominee for each office that receives the highest number of votes shall be elected to said office.  If there is a tie, the President shall break the tie, except in the event that the tie is for the President office, in which case the current Vice President would break the tie.  If the current Vice President is involved in the election for President, the Vice President-elect would break the tie.
6. New officers will begin their duties immediately after the election results are announced.

Article VI – Weekly Cornhole Tournaments

1. The WCCC will administer the weekly cornhole tournaments housed by the Winner’s Circle & The Brook.
2. The weekly tournaments shall start as close to, but not before 7:00 PM local time as reasonably possible.
3. Entry to each event will be $10 and is not restricted to WCCC members.
4. Each entrant will receive Circle Bucks in the amount of $5, as provided by the Winner’s Circle for events at the Winner’s Circle.
5. Teams shall be formed by a blind draw using the Scoreholio software.  The first Wednesday of every month will use the Switcholio format.
6. Tournament format will be a round robin with each team playing 4 games, with the top 16 teams advancing to a single elimination bracket.  For Switcholio weeks, the top 32 players will advance to a single elimination bracket, with the #1 ranked player partnering with the #17 ranked player, #2 with #18, and so on.  The finals will be best of three games.
7. Any disputes will be settled by the President, unless the President is directly involved in the dispute, in which case it will be settled by the Vice President.  Shall the Vice President not be available or otherwise involved, the Recording Secretary shall make the ruling, and shall the Recording Secretary not be available or otherwise involved, the Treasurer shall make the ruling.  Should all aforementioned Board members not be available to make a ruling, the Social Media Manager will make the ruling.  If the Social Media Manager is involved, the Webmaster will make a ruling.  In the rare occurrence that all six of the aforementioned officers are involved in the matter at dispute, the dispute shall be settled by the At-Large member.
8. Should a player leave during the tournament, and before they are eliminated, the remaining player will continue as a walker.
9. Prize payouts shall be distributed in accordance with the following table:

Article VII – Airmail Challenge

1. A weekly Airmail Challenge shall be held in conjunction of the weekly tournaments.
2. The Airmail Challenge will consist of contestants throwing four bags in an attempt to get them in the hole of the designated WCCC airmail pipe.  The airmail box will be set up with the hole being set up 30 feet from the line the contestant must stand behind.  Each bag that a contestant gets in the hole will result in that contestant winning ¼ of the total pot, rounded down to the nearest dollar.  One person will be selected to participate on the Airmail Challenge.  If they fail to win any portion of the pot, the entire pot will roll over to the following week.
3. Participants may use their own bags.
4. Any participant in the weekly tournament may participate in the Airmail Challenge.  Club members who do not participate in the weekly tournament shall still be allowed to participate in the Airmail Challenge.  Non-members are prohibited from participating in the Airmail Challenge if they are not entered in that week’s tournament.
5. Those who are eligible to participate in the Airmail Challenge may purchase raffle tickets at $1 per ticket, with no limit on the amount of tickets a participant may purchase.  Ticket sales will end at 8:45, with a final warning to buy tickets issued by the President or authorized replacement.  Airmail will take place at the conclusion of the round robin portion of the tournament.  Failure to add tickets to the bucket will not result in a refund.
6. There will be no practicing of the Airmail Challenge.
7. The WCCC will earn 10% of the nightly ticket sales for the Airmail Challenge.
8. Once ticket sales are ended and the 10% WCCC portion has been removed from the nightly take, the remainder of the money will be added to the money rolled over from the previous week to produce the final pot for the week.
9. The President will designate someone in attendance that did not purchase any tickets to draw the tickets for the Airmail Challenge, with preference given to WCCC members, though a non-member may be chosen if no WCCC members fit the criteria.  Shall no one be present that did not purchase a ticket, the President will draw the ticket.
10. Once the Airmail Challenge concludes for the night, any undrawn tickets shall be disposed of.

Article VIII – Major Tournaments

1. The WCCC shall own and operate regularly scheduled major tournaments.
2. The goal of the major tournaments is to raise money for charity and to promote the WCCC and the game of cornhole in a positive light.
3. Venues and charities for each tournament will be decided by Board vote.
4. All club members that are available to help set up and clean up the tournament venue are expected to do so.
5. In the Competitive division, the major tournaments will have a $50 per two-person team entry fee.  $30 of that fee will fund the prize pool for the tournament, while $15 will be donated to the designated charity, and $5 will go to the WCCC. In the Beginner division, the major tournaments will have a $50 per two-person team entry fee.  $15 of that fee will fund the prize pool for the tournament, while $30 will be donated to the designated charity, and $5 will go to the WCCC.
6. The decision on what division a player or team qualifies for will be at the sole discretion of the President or designated tournament director.
7. The structure of the tournament will be based on the number of entries and will be at the discretion of the President or designated tournament director.
8. The tournament will be administered by the President or designated tournament director, and his/her decisions will be final.
9. Any team that does not have both players able to play in their scheduled games when called within 5 minutes will forfeit that game.
10. Any club members participating in a sanctioned WCCC major tournament are encouraged to make a reasonable effort to wear WCCC-branded shirts to the events.
11. Only designated members may sit at the tournament table.
12. Prize payouts shall be distributed in accordance with the following table:

Article IX – Discipline

1. Disciplinary action may be taken against members for the actions detrimental to the WCCC, including but not limited to:
   • Violent behavior
   • Theft
   • Harassment of other members or players
   • Actions that could damage the reputation of the WCCC
   • Violation of any venue-specific rules
2. If a member engages in behavior detrimental to the WCCC, their membership may be provisionally suspended until a board meeting can be assembled to address the issue.
3. Once a board meeting is called, the board may vote to act in one of the following three manners regarding the suspended member:
   • Restore the member to full, unencumbered membership
   • Extend the suspension to a length of time decided by the board
   • Expulsion from the WCCC
4. Shall a member be suspended or expelled, they will not receive a refund on membership fees.
5. Expulsion is final.  A member expelled will be barred from membership in the WCCC for life, and will also be barred from any events administered by the WCCC.
6. The President has the discretion to suspend or permanently ban non-members from participating in WCCC events.
7. Any Board member has the authority to issue warnings or expulsions at WCCC events.