Athletics Constitution & Bylaws

Belle Valley 119, High Mount 116, Belleville 118, Pontiac Wm. Holliday 105, Central J.H., Shiloh 85, West J.H., Signal Hill 181, Central of O’Fallon 104, Whiteside 115, Grant-Illini 110, Wolf Branch 113, Harmony-Emge 175

Section 1. The name of this organization shall be the Belle-Fair Grade School Conference.

Section 1. The purpose of the organization is the promotion of good sportsmanship among the students, officials, and school authorities; the fostering of closer and better relations between constituent schools; and the increase of interest in athletics and other conference activities among pupils and the community at large.

Section 1. The eleven (11) present members are: Belle Valley, Belleville #118, Central of O’Fallon, Grant-Illini, Harmony-Emge, High Mount, Pontiac, Shiloh, Signal Hill, Whiteside, and Wolf Branch. Note: For purposes of clarification, there will be twelve (12) member schools but only eleven (11) member school districts. Belleville #118 will have two (2) participating member school (Central JH and West JH) but will be assessed only one annual fee and concurrently will have only one (1) vote in conference matters.

Section 2. Schools desiring to apply for membership in the conference shall file an application in writing with the president of the conference. Voting on new applications shall be done at regular meetings only and the applicant school must receive a unanimous vote of the eligible membership of the conference.

Section 3. Each member district shall be entitled to one (1) vote: Vote to be cast by the district superintendent or his/her designee.

Section 1. The conference officers shall be a President, President-Elect and Secretary Treasurer.

Section 2. The offices of President and President-Elect will be filled from the district superintendents, and a designee from the same school as the President will fill the position of Secretary-Treasurer. Rotation of these offices shall be done in alphabetical order.

Section 3. The office of President-Elect shall be from the district serving as Conference President the next succeeding year.

Section 1. There shall be two (2) regular meetings during each year. One meeting shall be held in the fall and the other meeting shall be held in the spring. The President will set the date, place, and time of the meeting. Those in attendance shall be the Superintendent and one designee per school.

Section 2. Special meetings may be called by the President whenever he/she deems it necessary or upon written request of at least six (6) member districts. Notice of all such meetings must be given at least five (5) days in advance, and the purpose of the meeting must be stated in the notice.

Section 3. It shall be the duty of the President to set the date, hour, and place of all regular and special meetings and to instruct the Secretary to send notice to all members at least five (5) days in advance of said meeting.

Section 4. Minutes of each regular and special meeting shall be recorded by the Secretary and set to member schools within five (5) days of each meeting. All minutes should be turned over to succeeding Secretaries.

Section 1. The term of office for all officers shall be for a period of one (1) year, dating from July 1st to June 30th of the following year.

Section 1. The annual dues shall be a minimum of $200.00, payable on or before October 1. In case of a deficit, equal sums shall be levied for all member schools. Failure to pay dues or levies on or before the specified date shall automatically suspend the delinquent members.

Section 2. The Secretary-Treasurer shall send a statement of dues to each member district on or before September 1 of each year.

Section 3. Reinstatement from non-payment of dues or levies may be had upon receipt by the Treasurer of the specified amount plus five (5) dollars penalty. The fee and penalty must be paid within forty-five (45) days after written notification of delinquency by the Secretary-Treasurer or the said delinquent school is automatically dropped from the conference.

Section 4. The Secretary-Treasurer shall receive dues and other funds, keeping a record of the same, having the accounts audited by the President and President-Elect, and shall make a financial report at the fall and spring meetings each year. Conference bills shall be paid out of such funds. The report shall be made part of the conference minutes.

Section 5. The fiscal year shall be from July 1st to June 30th of the following year. The Secretary-Treasurer shall prepare a complete financial report for each member school and mail with the statement of dues. The report will show beginning and ending balances and the nature of income and expenses.

Section 1. The constitution may be amended as follows: Amendments may be made at any regular or special meeting.

Section 2. The proposed amendments must be submitted to the President in writing at least three (3) weeks before a regular or special meeting. A copy of the proposed amendment must be sent by the President, by mail, to the superintendent of all member schools at least five (5) days in advance of the meeting. A proposed amendment must receive a vote of at least two-thirds (2/3), nine at present, of the member districts in order to ratify the amendments.

Section 3. After the spring meeting and before May 1, the outgoing President will update the Constitution and be responsible for getting a copy of said constitution to all member schools.

Section 1. The by-laws shall contain the conference operating rules governing student activities.

Section 2. The following sections will be used to classify operating procedure in the by-laws: Basketball, Track, Softball, Volleyball, Baseball, Soccer, Chess, Spelling Bee, Music Festival, Scholar Bowl and General.

Section 3. The Conference will not become involved with planned fifth and sixth grade activities.

Section 4. If a team cannot make a game, the coach or superintendent must call the host school before 2:00 p.m. of the game date. If not notified, the game shall be forfeited.

Section 1. Participants, cheerleaders, managers and statisticians will be admitted free to games.

Section 2. Administrators, faculty members, coaches, board of education members and their families are admitted free to all games by showing conference identification cards.

Section 3. Cheerleaders or pep clubs will not use megaphones or other noise-makers at any games and use of pom-pons will be limited to the non-shedding variety. Booing or whistling will not be tolerated at games and cheering sections should refrain from yelling during free throw shooting. Cheers including stomping and kicking on the bleachers shall not be used.

Section 4. The school hosting the conference tournaments shall pay all operating expenses from tourney proceeds and send the balance to the conference secretary/treasurer. Operating expenses are to be itemized with copies of receipts and expenditures sent to each member school.

Section 5. Common courtesy—a winning team will not continue with first string players in the game and press a weaker team the whole game to win by twenty (20) or more points in basketball; if the reserves can win by this margin or more, it would be permissible, since each player on the floor is expected to give 100% effort while in the game. A like courtesy would be expected in all sports.

Section 6. Each school shall be expected to have a faculty chaperone at away basketball games. Coaches are not to be included as faculty chaperones.

Section 7. Spectators, cheerleaders and pep club members shall be expected to exhibit good sportsmanship at all times. Teams and cheerleaders are requested to form lines and shake hands at the end of each conference activity.

Section 8. Conference rules should be posted near the entrance of each member school.

-Appropriate behavior is expected at all activities. Poor sportsmanship or other inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated. Anyone exhibiting inappropriate behavior will be removed.

Belle Valley #119
Grant Illini #110
Belleville Central Jr. High #118
Belleville West Jr. High #118
Central of O’Fallon #104
Shiloh #85
Signal Hill #181
Pontiac-Wm. Holliday #105
Whiteside #115
Harmony-Emge #175
Wolf Branch #113
High Mount #116

An attempt will be made between schools to resolve any rule infractions. If a resolution cannot be made between the schools, a written complaint will be filed with the President of the Belle Fair Conference. The President of the Conference will contact the executive committee (Past President, Current President, and Future President) if infraction of conference rules is valid. If infraction is valid, the President will contact the Superintendent of the school committing the infraction and document (in writing) the infraction. A second infraction of a conference rule will result in a written notification to the Superintendent of the school and the potential notification to the Board of Education if subsequent infractions occur. A third or additional infractions will result in letters to the Superintendent and the Board of Education of the school stating the infractions that have been committed and the potential sanctions that may occur.

IF A SCHOOL CONSISTENTLY COMMITS INFRACTIONS OF CONFERENCE RULES, SANCTIONS AGAINST THE SCHOOL MAY BE APPLIED.

Appeal Process: A school may appeal a sanction to the Executive Committee of the Belle Fair Conference. If unsatisfied with the resolution of the appeal, the school may ask for a meeting of all conference administrators.

Adult/Student Admission Charge		Referee
***	Soccer (each referee)	$40.00
***	Softball (home plate)	$40.00
***	(bases)	$40.00
***	Baseball (home plate)	$40.00
***	(bases)	$40.00
$2.00/$1.00	7-8 Boys' Basketball (each referee)	$45.00
up to school	5-6 Co-ed Basketball (each referee)	$35.00
$2.00/$1.00	7-8 Girls' Basketball (each referee)	$45.00
$2.00/$1.00	Volleyball (net judge)	$30.00
	(line judge)	$30.00
	Scholar Bowl	$20.00 per regular match
		$10.00 per tournament match