This organization shall be known as Jacksonville Youth Soccer Club, hereinafter referred to as JYSC or the Club, a non-profit, educational organization.

Jacksonville Youth Soccer Club, its coaches and programs, shall be the leader in organized youth soccer, exemplary in all respects. The Club will provide a total soccer program for youth soccer players of all ages and abilities. The Club and its programs will focus on age appropriate team and player development, coaching and playing in a manner which is fun and appropriately competitive. The Club and its programs shall provide proper instruction and guidance to each youth member and shall create an atmosphere in which each youth player will develop self confidence, practice good sportsmanship, and have respect for self and others.

Section 1        Membership in the Club shall be composed of current Volunteer Head Coaches, Recreational and Advanced team members, and parents/legal guardians of current team members.

        Section 2         The Board of Directors will annually determine the procedures, rules, regulations, and fees required for sound management of the Club.

Section 3         All members shall abide by the Constitution, By-Laws and Rules and Regulations set forth by the Board of Directors and all Rules and Regulations set forth by any organization which this Club may affiliate.

Section 1         The governing body of the Club shall be the Board of Directors, whose

powers shall be designated in the By-Laws. Only club members may occupy positions on the Board of Directors. In addition to the above requirements, in order to serve on the board, club members must have reached the age of 21 at the time of election, and must also have been a parent or guardian of a child (or children) who played at least two seasons in the recreational division or have been a head coach in the recreational division for at least two seasons.

Section  2        The governing body, herein referred to as the Board of Directors, shall

be composed of the 1) President, 2) President-Elect, 3) Vice President, Recreational Division, 4) Vice President Advanced Division, 5) Vice President Administration, 6) Treasurer, 7) Vice President of Operations and 8) Vice President of Fields and Facilities, and 9) Other Director positions which may be created or removed at the discretion of the Board of Directors as required to meet the needs of the Club. These discretionary positions are non-voting positions. These positions may be filled or left vacant at the discretion of the Board of Directors and they may be paid positions at the discretion of the Board. The Board should be comprised of not less than eight members. All of the Board positions are elective.

Section 3         The Board of Directors shall create divisions as the growth of the membership dictates.

Section 4         The Board of Directors is the governing body of JYSC. The Board of Directors will meet on call of the President OR on  request of at least 50% of the Board membership. The President or Board members requesting a meeting shall give all members of the Board reasonable notice of upcoming meetings. The Board of Directors will meet at least once in each calendar quarter. A quorum of the Board is not less than 60% of the total number of Board members.

Section 5         Election of Directors will be held annually. The Board will make provisions for the nomination of candidates at least ten days prior to the meeting.  The proposed slate of candidates will be published and made available to members 10 days in advance of the General Meeting. Candidates may only be nominated from the floor for positions where no nominee has been proposed. If there is more than one candidate for an office, there shall be a written ballot and that office will be filled by the candidate receiving the largest number of votes. Each successful candidate assumes office on the first day of the month which follows the month during which he/she was elected. They shall serve until their successor is installed. All elected positions are provisional to a satisfactory background check.

Section 6         Should a member of the Board of Directors fail to execute the duties of his/her office, that office may be declared vacant by a two-thirds vote of all remaining Board Members. Any Director absent for more than three Board meetings, consecutively or non-consecutively, during an elective year shall be considered to have resigned immediately upon adjournment of the third missed meeting. Resignations triggered by this clause are mandatory and are not subject to withdrawal by the Director whose resignation was forced by absenteeism.

Section 7         When a Board vacancy in office occurs, the Board of Directors shall appoint a replacement who shall hold office until the next General Meeting, when an election shall be held to fill the vacancy.

Section 8         The Board of Directors shall create positions as required to serve the membership and the Board when work load and membership growth dictate. Such positions shall not be voting positions, shall serve at the discretion of the Board, and may be compensated as set by the Board. Job Descriptions for these positions shall be established and approved by the Board of Directors.

Section 1         A General Meeting consisting of the Board of Directors and general members shall be held annually. The Board of Directors will make provision to notify each voting member of the club in writing, of the date, time and location of the General Meeting at least 10 days prior to the scheduled meeting date.

Section 2         Special meetings will be held on call of the President.

Section 3         A General Meeting can be called by petition to the Board of Directors by at least 50% of the voting general members. Such petitions must be in writing, containing necessary signatures and purpose of said meeting.

Article VI       Dues and Eligibility

Section 1         The Board of Directors shall set all fees and dues for Youth membership Youth is defined as anyone who has not attained his 19^th birthday prior to August 1^st, of the seasonal year.

Section 2         No youth member may participate in any event, (practice, game or social function) until all required registration forms are completed.

Article VII      Amendments to the Constitution and By-Laws

The Club may adopt amendments to the Constitution and By-Laws by two-thirds vote of those members of the voting membership present but only if a quorum is in attendance. If a quorum is not in attendance, no amendments may be voted on.   Amendments may only be made at a General Meeting and only if the voting membership has been notified of the time and place of the meeting at least ten (10) days in advance of said meeting.

Section 1         The voting membership of JYSC shall consist of the following:

a.       Each officer of the Board of Directors (excluding discretionary position holders), holding office at the time of the vote, shall have one vote cast by virtue of his/her position on the Board.

b.      All Head Coaches shall have one (1) vote to be cast by the head coach or his/her representative, provided the person casting the vote is not paid by JYSC to coach or train teams at the club. The names of all head coaches should be on record with the ClubRegistrar or other club official as designated by the Board of Directors. Avote cast by a team representative must have a signed and notarized proxy from the head coach. Teams where the head coach is paid by JYSC to coach or train teams at the club will have a designated team manager on file with the club who will be responsible for casting that team’s vote. A vote cast by anyone other than the designated team representative must have a signed and notarized proxy from the designated team representative.

d.      All proxies must be in writing.

Section 2         Quorums and Elections: 

a.   Members qualified to vote may vote in person, by mail, by email or by written proxy. Valid proxies and mailed-in ballots count toward a quorum. In order to be counted, proxies must be brought to the meeting at which a vote will be held. Mailed-in ballots or emailed ballots shall be counted only if they are received by theClub before the commencement of the meeting at which a vote will be held and brought to the meeting.

b.      A quorum for all votes shall consist of 25% of the voting membership.

c.  The terms of members of the Board of Directors shall be 2 years except the President andPresident-Elect positions, which shall each be a one year term. 

d. ThePresident, President-Elect,Vice President Advanced Division, Treasurer, and Vice President of Fields and Facilities shall be elected on even years.

e. President, President-Elect,Vice President Recreational Division, Vice President Operations, and Vice President Administration shall be elected on odd years.

f.  The board of directors will make every effort to secure the attendance of a quorum, but in the event a general meeting is held and a quorum of the voting membership is not in attendance in person or by proxy, the sitting board members will remain in their positions until the next general meeting is conducted. If elections are postponed because of the lack of a quorum, the board of directors will hold another general meeting for the purpose of conducting elections, as soon as is practicable, but in no case more than 120 days after the meeting at which a quorum was not achieved. This process will be repeated until a quorum is achieved and elections are held.

As it is in the interest of the Club to include as many members as possible in leadership positions, and in furtherance of the interests of transparency and avoidance of abuse of authority, service on the board of directors is limited as follows:

a.     No individual may serve more than two consecutive terms in a single voting board position, except that a director selected by the board to finish the term of a departed director may be elected to two additional, consecutive, terms following his selection by the board;

b.     No individual may serve more than three consecutive, termsin a voting positionon the board of directors, in any combination of positions;

c.      For the purposes of the term limit provisions in paragraphs a and b of this Article, a person who has resigned a board position for any reason is considered to have served the entire term in the position from which he/she resigned.

d.     The provisions of this article apply retroactively; and

e.     Calculation of an individual’s past service on the board of directors for the purposes of enforcing the limitations described in this article will be determined by Club records, or other records and/or testamentary evidence.

Article X         Conflicts of Interest

As the Club has an interest in avoiding conflicts of interest and in avoiding even the appearance of impropriety, business dealings with the Club are limited as follows:

a.     No member of the board of directors or any corporation or other business entity in which he/she is an officer or board member or of which he/she owns more than five percent of the stock, shall do business with the Club;

b.     This prohibition extends to all types of business, including but not limited to prohibitions against directors selling goods or services to the club;

c.      No person may be both a member of the board of directors and a contracted employee of the Club at the same time, with the exception of the Director of Coaching.

d.     No board member shall hold any paid position that is in a conflict of interest with the position he/she holds on the board of directors with the exception of regular service performed pursuant to a fixed fee structure.

e.     Prior to the beginning of Fall Season, the President shall appoint a committee of not less than three members, who will evaluate any/all board members seeking a paid position within the Club. After evaluation, the committee shall present its findings to the full board of directors as to whether or not their proposed activities or position constitute[s] a conflict of interest.