NEWSLINE STORY

published November – December 2016

 

Proposed Bylaw Changes & Conditional Court Sanction Requirements

by Dan Sanders, 1st Vice President, By-Laws, Rules and Grievance Director

 

Proposed NHPA Bylaws Changes . . . As you may know 2017 is the year that Proposed Bylaws Changes will be discussed and voted on by Delegates at the World Tournament Convention in St. George, Utah. The deadline for submitting these proposed changes to me is December 31st (please see my contact information elsewhere in this issue). All written proposals must include the following information: 1) A reference to the Bylaw Article and Section numbers, 2) The current wording of this Article/Section, 3) Your proposed change of wording to this passage, with the changes underlined, 4) A list of all reasons why you feel this change should be made. Our Bylaws Committee will publish proposals, which the Council feels should be considered and voted on by the delegates, in Newsline Magazine prior to the Convention, so that all members will have time to discuss these proposals and advise their Charter Delegates, before voting takes place at the Convention. You will find our current Bylaws on the NHPA Website, where they can be read and/or printed off, or check with your Charter Secretary who should have copies of the 'Blue Book' NHPA Bylaws pamphlet. Our NHPA Secretary, Dave Sidles, will also send you a personal copy upon request.

 

Conditional Court Sanction Requirements . . . An Addition and Reminder to Charter Officers and Clubs: You may recall from the 2015 Convention and/or from the voting results published in Newsline Magazine following the Convention, that there is now an added requirement (underlined below) for the sanctioning of horseshoe courts, as follows:

 

II – SPECIFICATIONS FOR COURT LAYOUT (also see diagram on inside back cover)

SECTION A - Sanctioning of Courts

2. Conditional Court Sanction The NHPA recognizes that while some older permanent, in-ground courts may not meet all of the court sanction specifications listed below in Section B, all courts constructed before January 1, 2007 must meet the basic court requirements of: 1) correctly marked foul lines, 2) minimum pit dimensions, 3) specified stake diameter and placement, 4) specified stake height and angle/lean, 5) legal pit material of minimum depth, and 6) a protective barrier surrounding the courts. In addition, (effective 2019) these pre-2007 court complexes must have at least three (3) courts with short-distance pitching platforms to provide for a 6-person class which may include Women, Elders, and Junior Boys or Junior Girls. These specifications are detailed in Section B, below.

 

Please keep the following in mind, if you weren't aware of this added requirement:

1) This proposed addition easily passed with Convention Delegates.

2) This additional requirement won't go into effect until 2019, allowing ample time for the pre-planning of these additions, where needed. This is also the year (2019) that the required re-sanctioning of all Charter courts used for NHPA sanctioned events will take place.

3) If cost is an issue, NHPA Grants are available for helping with this cost, but there are a limited number of these grants that are available each year (See the NHPA Website for details). So plan ahead! And it's not too early to begin some local 'fund raisers', as well as asking for local assistance and donations from businesses and individuals.

4) There are many Charters that have already been 'polled' where this new requirement is not a problem, as all or most all of their Charter courts are 'fully sanctioned' and/or have continuous walkways already installed for their s-d pitchers.

5) For the past several years, the percentage of our Short-distance pitchers has steadily increased, and will soon represent 50% of all pitchers entering the World Tournament! This increase is primarily in the Elders Division (due to our increasing average age of members), but also includes the Women and Juniors Divisions as well.

6) Sadly, there are still some in our membership who are solidly 'against' short-distance pitchers, and I have talked with pitchers from several different Charters who have shared that the reason some of their Clubs haven't installed short-distance platforms is to 'discourage' the s-d pitchers from entering their tournaments, since they will be required to pitch from the grass or dirt!

7) There are really not good, legitimate reasons why all court complexes shouldn't provide for our short-distance pitchers! If we are to 'grow our sport', this is pretty basic, don't you think?

8) There will likely be other 'reminders' of this new requirement over the next two years, but now is the time to act on this! Please talk about this with your fellow pitchers, your Charter Officers, and with the Officers/members of local Clubs that have not already met this requirement!

 

Follow-up to my last month's Newsline article re Charter Bylaws: To more fully understand what I have included here, please re-read this entire section in my last Newsline article. I am including this section, as a reminder of some aspects of this larger message:

 

And so for a greater consistency among Charter TDs, 'Requirements for the Breaking of Class Ties', for both 'scratch' and for 'handicapped' Classes (in cancellation play) has been added to the Charter Bylaws of at least one State. This State's Bylaws Change/Addition Proposal was made after many discussions of their Charter Officers, with members, and all TDs who host their NHPA Sanctioned Tournaments. Although not all TDs may have been in unanimous agreement, these proposed 'Requirements for the Breaking of Class Ties' was adopted by a 2/3rds + vote of their Charter members/delegates at their annual meeting, and is now a part of/included in their Charter Bylaws.

Is this even allowable, according to NHPA Rules? Yes, it is . . . so long as the listed 'Requirements for the Breaking of Class Ties' are not in violation of NHPA Rules.

 

In closing, I had indicated that I may include some examples of possible Charter Bylaws 'additions' for Tournament formats, that could be considered and then voted on by Charter members. Since then, I have been contacted by several Charters and am working with them, individually, with suggestions. Of course, this Charter Bylaws idea should include other aspects for requiring more consistent TD Charter tournament formats than just the 'breaking of ties'. Please contact me by e-mail (preferred) or call and leave a message if you'd like to discuss this with me in more detail.

 

Some Final Thoughts and Reflections . . . As many of you may know, this will be my last year as your NHPA 1st VP, and I have very mixed feelings about leaving this position. First of all, having the opportunity to serve in this position has been the greatest 'highlight' of the 65+ years of my horseshoe pitching career. I sincerely want to thank each of you (you know who you are) who encouraged me to seek this position and who have supported me during this time. This would include my immediate family, all of my Ohio horseshoe friends, the NHPA Council members, other Charter officers/members, and the many other horseshoe friends that I have met on the courts, 'along the way'. All of you have truly been a most important part of my life! As an added note, I do hope to remain actively involved with our great sport, at all levels, and also hope to see many of you at St. George, UT this next year! Take care!