This Constitution replaces any previous Constitution of the Official Richmond Cheer Squad and is effective from 25th October 2023.
Clause 1:
The Name of the Cheer Squad is to be "Official Richmond Cheer Squad", (also referred to as O.R.C.S.).
Clause 2:
The object of the Official Richmond Cheer Squad is to give full support to the Richmond Football Club (hereafter referred to as “The Football Club”), not the Richmond Football Club to support the O.R.C.S.
Clause 3 :
For the purposes of clarification, the "Football Year" is defined as follows; "The football year commences on the first day of November of any given year and finishes on the last day of October in the following year."
Clause 4:
Membership of the O.R.C.S. is defined as follows:
Junior Member – 14 years of age as of the 1st January that calendar year
Senior Member – 15 years of age as of the 1st January that calendar year
Clause 4:
In the event of Richmond making the finals series Cheer Squad members will be asked to express their interest in obtaining a finals ticket from the Cheer allocation of tickets. Should the number of expressions of interest received be greater than the number of tickets available from the A.F.L. ticket allocation for the O.R.C.S. a ballot will be held. The O.R.C.S. members allocated through this ballot will receive tickets to that year’s finals series.
Clause 5:
All O.R.C.S. members must be financial by the 16th game of the home and away.
Clause 6:
The O.R.C.S. is non-political and non-sectarian.
Clause 9
All applications for membership are subject to the approval of the Committee and the Committee
reserves the right to refuse membership of the O.R.C.S. and no correspondence will be entered into.
Clause 10:
The Committee reserves the right to take disciplinary action against any O.R.C.S.
member who acts in a manner derogatory to the O.R.C.S. as a body.
Clause 11:
A proposal to change any section of the Constitution may be made by a Committee member and this change or changes must be voted on at the next Annual General Meeting. if there is a majority vote in favour of the change/s then the Constitution is to be altered accordingly.
Clause 12:
The Annual General Meeting will be held at a date fixed in either October or November of each year and all members are to receive a notice advising member of the date, time and place the Annual General Meeting is to be held and this meeting may proceed if there is a quorum (one third) of the Committee of O.R.C.S. present and as many financial members as choose to be present.
Clause 13:
The Committee of the O.R.C.S. will comprise of the following;
Chairman - To be appointed by the Richmond Football Club
9 Committee Members - The positions of President, Secretary, Cheer Squad Leader and Treasurer to be appointed by the Chairman from within the Committee. Any Committee member may hold more than one of these positions
Clause 14:
All members of the O.R.C.S. Committee with the exception of the Chairman shall be elected by the Senior Members of the O.R.C.S.
Clause 15:
The Committee of the O.R.C.S. will be a revolving Committee with three (3) members retiring each football year.
Clause 16:
Each member of the Committee to be elected for the period of three (3) years, this term to commence of the first day of the football year when he or she has been elected to the Committee and ceases on the last day of the football year that his or her term of office expires.
Clause 17:
Elections are to be held every 12 months on a date to be fixed. Nomination Forms will be made available to all Senior O.R.C.S. members during the month of August. Nominations close at midnight on the date of the final AFL Home and Away series match in which the Richmond Football Club is a participant and if there are more nominations than there are vacancies on the Committee (3) then a ballot form will be made available to each Senior O.R.C.S. member after the completion of the football clubs last AFL match for the season (Home and Away or Finals) and being made available no later than 10th October. Voting will close at midnight on the date two weeks after the voting forms have been made available to members. Votes will be opened and counted at the O.R.C.S Annual General Meeting on a date to be fixed in either October or November. If the number of nominations do not exceed the number of vacancies (3) then no election will be held and the three persons nominated will be appointed to the Committee for a term of three (3) years.
Clause 18:
Each eligible member of O.R.C.S. is permitted to nominate one (1) other member for election to the Committee and each eligible O.R.C.S. member is permitted to second one (1) only nomination for a member to stand for election to the O.R.C.S. Committee. If more than one nomination is received where the nomination has been made by a member who has already nominated another member - only the first nomination will be accepted - any subsequent nomination will be considered null and void and the same rule applies to any person who seconds more than one nomination- only the first nomination will be accepted - any subsequent nomination seconded by the same O.R.C.S. member shall be declared null and void.
Clause 19:
The following members cannot stand for election in any capacity of the O.R.C.S. and cannot nominate or second an O.R.C.S. member for election to the O.R.C.S Committee.
- A member who is not a senior member
- A Senior Member who has not served 3 consecutive years as a member
- A member who is not a full member of the Football Club
- A member who is a member of another cheer squad
Clause 20:
The Chairperson reserves the right to refuse or withdraw any Committee nomination received if the nominated member acts in a way the is deemed as detrimental to the club or the Cheer Squad
Clause 21:
All retiring Committee members are eligible for re-election
Clause 22(formerly 19):
Voting will be conducted by method deemed appropriate by the committee and each Senior O.R.C.S. member is entitled to one vote.
Clause 23:
Resignation from the Committee must be submitted in writing
Clause 24:
O.R.C.S. members co-opted to the Committee will serve out the term of the Committee member he or she replaces.
Clause 25:
A quorum of one third members (3) of the Committee must be present for a Committee meeting to proceed.
Clause 26:
A Committee member is required to report his or her non-attendance at a Committee meeting prior to the time of commencement of the Committee meeting.
Clause 27:
Any Committee member who fails to attend three (3) consecutive Committee meetings without valid reason, or five meetings in total over the year will be automatically dismissed from the Committee.
Clause 28:
The Committee is responsible for the administration and organization of all matters pertaining to the Official Richmond Cheer Squad.
Clause 29:
Committee members will not be able to continue in their role as Committee member of the Official Richmond Cheer Squad if they hold an Official position or a position on the Committee of any other Supporter Group of the Richmond Football Club or a cheer squad/supporters group of another AFL club.