Bowling Club at Cornell

Welcome to the Cornell Bowling Club! Our website will be updated this summer with information on dues, league starting dates, and tournaments for 2009-2010. Until then, you may contact the club VP, Gina.

Club's Bylaws (2007-2008)

Fully revised July 14th, 2006, updated for 2007-2008 year on September 15th, 2007

The purpose of the Bowling Club at Cornell University is to provide students of all skill levels with an opportunity to bowl recreationally and/or competitively throughout their college careers. Members can come to practices held semi-weekly at the Helen Newman Hall Bowling Center to have fun and improve their games. In addition to practices, we also provide funding and means to send our competitive members to collegiate tournaments throughout the northeast United States.

I. Membership
Membership in the club is open to any member of the Cornell University community (undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and staff) who fully supports the purpose of the club and is willing and able to pay dues. While attendance at every practice is not required, we define a member in good standing if he has attended at least 50% of the practices for the current semester. Tournament attendance is an acceptable replacement for practice attendance. The club secretary shall take attendance at each practice, and make statistics available via the website.

Furthermore, any individual causing suffering to the club as a whole may be expelled from club membership for one or more semesters by a majority vote of the officers.

II. Dues
To offset the cost of bowling-related expenses that the club incurs, members must pay semiannual or yearly dues. Yearly dues should be offered at a discount to encourage member participation. Dues help to pay for lineage fees, league prizes, club t-shirts, pizza parties, and other expenses. Dues shall be collected at the beginning of each semester by the treasurer of the club. The exact amount will be determined by the Executive Board before the first practice of the semester.

People who are unsure about joining the club are encouraged to come to a practice under no obligation whatsoever. Upon the event of a person attending his/her second practice, he/she must make a decision to pay dues or not join the club. People who have difficulty paying dues in one lump sum are encouraged to talk to the club president to make alternative payment arrangements.

III. Duties of Officers
All officers must communicate (in person or via e-mail) with the president when appropriate and must attend all executive board meetings unless prior notice is given. All officers must also promptly render assistance to each other when asked. Additionally, all officers must attend at least 75% of all practices/tournaments. There will be following positions, all elected: President, Vice President, Tournament Coordinator, Secretary, Treasurer, and Webmaster. See the “Officer Duties” document to read about the specific duties for each of the officers.

IV. Elections
Members of the club shall be elected for the offices mentioned above at a practice held during the last week of classes in the fall semester. Specific rules for the election shall be determined by the president. Members running for office must be nominated. Nominations (self-nominations allowed) must be seconded; plurality vote by the entire club (quorum half of paying members). All candidates and voting members must be in good standing with the club in order to run. These officers will serve for a period of one year, beginning with the spring semester and ending in the fall semester. Officers shall make sure that the new officials are prepared to fulfill their responsibilities and shall offer help and advice when necessary.

If an officer does not sufficiently carry out his/her duties, the executive board can unanimously agree to elect a replacement officer. If a unanimous vote from the executive board cannot be secured, then a majority vote by the entire club shall replace officers as necessary at any time during the academic year. When this occurs, nominations and elections will take place as outlined above.

V. Tournaments
September 25, 2006: Updated tournament bylaws (2006-2007) are available as a pdf.
The club will attend intercollegiate tournaments throughout the year, the number depending on interest and available funds. Any member in good standing who also participates in the league will be eligible to attend tournaments. However, members of the club who are ineligible to attend a tournament by this guideline will be allowed to attend tournaments if we are short players.

The team for each tournament will first be chosen by member interest. If more members than we can take are interested, then the team will consist of those players whose league average is the highest two weeks before the tournament takes place. For the first tournament of the year, members can use their previous semester average or a six game roll-off over a 2-day period, if league averages have not been determined yet. Final fall semester league averages will be used to determine priority for tournaments over winter break and during the Spring semester. Members who believe they improved their games over winter break may elect to use a six-game roll-off instead of their league average. Finally, at any time throughout the semester, a player may use his average from the last two weeks as a replacement for his semester average. If a member wants to invoke this policy, he must make the tournament coordinator and president aware he is doing so.

Tournament attendance for 5-person team events shall be capped at 6 players. If there is a substitute present, the club President will appoint a person (him/herself being an acceptable choice) to decide when to substitute players in and out. When a person is subbed in, he shall start bowling in the 10th frame of the previous game to warm up, provided that the person he is subbing for agrees. The club will try to allow the lower-averaged bowlers a chance to compete at tournaments by taking two teams when there is enough interest. Tournaments for which we plan to solicit enough interest for two teams will be announced at the beginning of the year.

VI. League Play
League play will take place each semester, on Mondays from 5:00 – 7:00 pm. Each semester’s league (the results of which will not affect any other semester) should have a designated secretary who shall keep track of team rankings and lane assignments, and provide this information to the webmaster on a timely basis. Prizes will be given for the top teams, as well as any others that the officers see fit to award. Specific rules for leagues can be found in a separate document.

VII. Amendments
In order to amend this document, a two-thirds vote of all members in good standing is needed. Any other vote is by plurality of members present.

VIII. Jurisdiction
The president shall have the power to definitively clarify any ambiguity in this document.