Ladies Works League
CONSTITUTION 1970’s TO 2020
Having found an old copy of the Constitution and Rules (copy below), I thought I might look at how much they match the way we are today. There is no date on the paper we have, but I suspect that it was written in the last century, but let’s see.
I think we are ok as far as point three, which states that all new team members must be working, hands up any captain who team were all working when they joined and haven’t moved since retiring. Oh dear, can’t see many hands waving. Mind you we have an excuse, looking down the list of teams, it looks as though it’s more a case of the teams leaving the players.
We should have a Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and two committee persons, who have to be in post for 2/3 years before re-election. Let’s think, Chairperson, no we haven’t had one for some years, not whilst I have been treasurer and, as I was surprised to discover, I’ve been in office for eight years. We are also short one committee member, so how about it.
It says that we have to obey the league rules, as approved by the League and those of the British Crown Green Bowling Association. That a members meeting to approve such rules shall take place annually in October. This we normally do, however it says a “members meeting to approve the rules”, that is not an annual general meeting, it’s held for a specific reason, so the word general doesn’t apply.
The fun really starts with point 6, which is about Fair Play. I think we might be able to forget about conforming to the Council of Europes Code of Sports Ethics, that does seem a little out of date, but oh dear, the rest of it.
Competitors must abide by the laws and spirit of the sport.
They must accept the decisions of referees without question or protestation.
They must not cheat.
As a former referee I have to tell you that there are a few words which should be added to all of these. They are “only when the referee is looking”
However, still wearing my old hat, I have to state that the ladies tend to be better at following these rules then the gentlemen,
They must exercise self-control at all times
They must accept success and failure, victory and defeat with good grace and without excessive display of emotion.
They must treat their opponents and fellow participants with due respect at all times.
Basically what all three of these mean is that when you lose a game you accept defeat like the ladies we all are, you smile grimly and shake hands, you do not do a Donald Trump and throw your toys out of the pushchair.
Seriously these rules were written in a very different time, when we were very different people. Then we were ladies enjoying a bit of evening exercise, whilst our menfolk, very generously, looked on at home. Today our game is much more important to us, our menfolk are, in some ways, under much better control, although I don’t think we would pass Nora Battye’s standards yet and we are playing to win.
Norma Maxwell November 2020
