WMSRA By-Laws

ARTICLE I: Purpose

To promote soccer; to maintain a high standard of refereeing; to encourage fair play and sportsmanship; to make available an adequate number of well trained and capable referees; to cooperate with other organizations in promoting soccer.  

ARTICLE II: Affiliations  

Michigan Soccer Referees Association (MSRA) United States Soccer Federation (USSF) - through individual members  

ARTICLE III: Membership  

A. Organization. WMSRA shall be composed of qualified soccer referees in good standing, in the categories: Active, Inactive, Associate, and Youth member.  

B. Eligibility. Active Members shall be at least 18 years of age; annually pass the USSF physical test and written examination; pay the annual dues; and if transferring from another association present a written recommendation from that association. Inactive Members shall retain membership while they are not refereeing; their annual dues shall be 25% of the active member dues. Youth Members shall be under 18 years of age and pay 50% of the active member dues. Associate Members shall be active members of other referee organizations and pay 50% of active member dues.

C. Termination. Membership can be terminated by written resignation, by failure to pay annual dues or fines or by expulsion by written statement of the voting members of the Advisory Board for conduct contrary to these By-Laws.  

ARTICLE IV: Officers  

A. Election. Officers (President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Member-at-Large) shall be elected at the annual General Meeting (AGM) by a simple majority vote. The active members present shall constitute a quorum. All officers must be Active Members and together shall constitute the "voting members" of the Advisory Board. Nominations for all offices may be submitted to any officer in advance of the AGM or from the floor of the AGM. Any vacancy during the term of office shall be filled by appointment by the voting members of the Advisory Board until the next AGM.  

B. Term of Office. Officers shall be elected for two-year terms: President, Vice President, and Member-at-Large shall start serving in an even-numbered year; the Secretary and Treasurer shall start serving in an odd-numbered year.  

C. Duties. Duties shall include, but are not limited to the following. The President shall: preside at all meetings of WMSRA and the Advisory Board, order the investigation of disciplinary and ethical matters, act as liaison officer between WMSRA and MSRA and shall be responsible for the administration of WMSRA. Attends or assigns representatives to all appropriate MHSAA and affiliated USSF league functions. The Vice-President shall: act for the President whenever necessary, have duties as directed by the president, be the chairperson of the Ethics and Grievance Committee.  

The Secretary shall: keep minutes of all WMSRA meetings, notify in writing all suspended and fined members, notify the membership of all meetings and clinics, maintain membership records and issue annually a list of WMSRA members, maintain an up-to-date copy of the WMSRA By-Laws, maintains duplicate financial records of WMSRA along with the Treasurer, will receive monthly bank statements from all association financial accounts, notify members in writing at least 30 days in advance when dues are to be.  

The Treasurer shall: maintain the financial records of WMSRA, pay and make disbursements (up to $200 on request of the President or Vice President, up to $1000 on request of the voting members of the Advisory Board), have responsibility for oversight of the all the association's financial accounts and records, receives monthly copies of all bank and financial statements, creates the annual budget for the association to be approved by the voting members of the Advisory Board, presents the annual budget and the year-end financial records to the general membership at the AGM, maintains the Incorporation Renewal and all IRS recertification compliances. 

The Member at Large shall: fulfill the duties assigned by the President. 

D. Advisory Board. Shall consist of: the 5 association officers ("voting members"); USSF assigner(s); MHSAA assigner(s); NISOA assigner(s); WMSRA's certified trainer(s); and any other participants requested by the officers.

Quarterly Advisory Board meetings will be scheduled during the months of Jan-Apr-July-Oct of each year. The Treasurer will present the YTD budget at each quarterly meeting for review.

ARTICLE V: Committees  

A. Appointments. The Board shall appoint an Ethics and Grievance Committee, an Assignment Committee, an Assessment Committee and other committees as needed.  

B. Duties. When notified of a grievance or an ethical problem, the Ethics and Grievance Committee shall try to resolve the issue, notifying the Advisory Board of the results. The Assignment Committee shall make all game assignments. The Assessment Committee shall be charged with organizing and implementing effective assessment procedures.  

ARTICLE VI: Discipline  

Members shall be disciplined by the Advisory Board for behavior contrary to WMSRA or its members and for failure to comply with the By-Laws of WMSRA. By a majority vote of voting members of the Advisory Board, a member may be suspended for not more than one year, or may be expelled. Before a member can be suspended or expelled, the member shall have the opportunity to be heard by the suspending authority or to present a written statement. The member to be suspended or expelled must be notified by a letter stating the reason(s) for and duration of the suspension, with copies to all members of the Advisory Board.  

ARTICLE VII: Obligations and Penalties  

A. Game Assignments. No member is permitted to knowingly work with a suspended member or expelled former member. No member is permitted to accept a regular season game from soccer leagues or associations served by WMSRA without approval of the Assignment Committee. The penalty for working such unapproved games shall be a reduction in game assignments. If a member is unavailable to WMSRA while accepting game assignments elsewhere, the member's relationship with WMSRA will be reviewed by the Advisory Board. Members are required to inform the Assignment Committee of assignments accepted for games not assigned by WMSRA.  

B. Attendance at the AGM and Clinics. Members who fail to attend the AGM or the WMSRA scheduled clinics without an acceptable written excuse shall have their membership reviewed by the Advisory Board.  

ARTICLE VIII: Amendments  

Amendments of these By-Laws shall require a two-thirds affirmative vote of the Active Members attending the AGM or any special meeting called for that purpose; all members must be notified by letter of the proposed amendments at least 30 days before such meeting.  

ARTICLE IX: Termination of WMSRA  

In the event of an intended termination of WMSRA, The Advisory Board shall dispose of the assets of WMSRA in a manner consistent with the purpose of WMSRA, as stated above. A two-thirds affirmative vote of the Active Members attending the AGM or any special meeting called for that purpose is required to terminate WMSRA.  

Amended November 6, 2005