Draw Sub-Committee Charter

This Charter governs the operation of the Draw sub-committee of the Brisbane North Junior Cricket Association (BNJCA).  This Charter should be read in conjunction with the BNJCA Constitution.  To the extent that this Charter does not expressly provide, the provisions of the constitution will apply to this sub-committee.

Clubs should input the names, addresses and dates of birth of all the players into MyCricket (http://mycricket.cricket.com.au).  A player should not participate in a club team unless he/she is registered with that club and the player details are on the MyCricket website because the player will not be covered under the Cricket Australia insurance scheme.

Young cricketers who want to play in the BNJCA junior competition are grouped into age divisions based on the date of their birth with the 31^st of August being the cut-off date for each age group. For example, a player turning 14 on 1 September can play under 14s because (s)he was under 14 years of age on the 31^st of August (and so on).

Once clubs have provided team numbers and names for each age group, and completed the grounds review form, draws for each age-group can be promulgated and grounds allocated for each match.

The Administrator will send draft copies of the draws to each of the clubs for feedback including a date that the feedback is required by. Not all of the requests from clubs for changes can be accommodated but to assist with positive outcomes the Committee requests the clubs to provide suggestions of workable solutions for their requests.

The annual ‘season draw’ is one of the most important elements of our junior cricket program. It impacts on all affiliated clubs, their players and their families. These guidelines create a framework for the draw and ground allocation process.

It is often argued that any form of home and away system (notional or real) is impossible because there are insufficient local grounds aligned to each club.  This can be overcome to some degree by an annual re-alignment of school and council grounds in line with the number of teams a club enters into the competition.  Grounds (excluding those with which clubs have a direct association through leasing or their senior clubs) are notionally re-aligned after clubs notify the number of teams they are entering into the competition. This re-alignment is done with geographic common sense (e.g., there’s no point re-aligning a spare ground at Redcliffe to the Valleys club!)

The re-alignment is notional. It matches the number of teams entered by a club to the number of grounds it needs – for the purpose of making ground allocations by the Draw Committee more consistent and logical.  It has no other value.

In some cases, a re-alignment to completely match a clubs’ team numbers may not be possible because there are simply not enough grounds available within close proximity of a club. (e.g., Valleys or Toombul).  The idea of the notional realignment is simply to reduce travel.  Sometimes this will not be possible.

Note: While the Draw Sub-committee will notionally align grounds (based on teams entered into the competition by a particular club) to help them undertake the draw process, this does not represent a permanent change in the alignment of that ground. The permanent re-alignment of a school or council ground to a particular club is a decision for the BNJCA Management Committee.

In allocating grounds, priority is given to grounds with canteens. These grounds must be nominated by clubs prior to the draw.

This is a common-sense approach. An important part of the draw process is for clubs to nominate a specific person as the conduit between the club and the Association to diminish the risk of miscommunication and enhance the speed at which communication can occur. The ‘nominated person’ is a conduit between the Draw sub-committee and other key members of that club.

For example, when the first draft of the draw is sent to the ‘nominated person’, it is anticipated that he/she would get input about the draw from all relevant people in the club.

The Association provides a specific timetable to all clubs regarding the ‘mechanics’ of the forthcoming draw process. Modifications to the draw are done by email and telephone.  It is easier for clubs to analyse the drafts of the draw and ground allocation if they have some time, rather than a rushed meeting process over an hour or so.

The Draw and Ground Allocation is provided to club contacts via early access to the draws on MyCricket, so clubs have time to study the proposed draws and notify suggested amendments.

The draws are completed and posted to the BNJCA website at least five days before the draw is to commence.  Clubs are also notified of the release.

The Management Committee will be the arbiter for interpretation and/or clarification of this sub-committee Charter.

Omissions or errors should be brought to the attention of the Management Committee.

This policy is subject to regular review by the Management Committee and will be amended (as appropriate).  Acceptance of a new release of the charter will be supported by a motion from a Management Committee meeting.

To the extent there is any inconsistency between this charter and the BNJCA Constitution, the Constitution will prevail.

This is a standing committee, the membership of which is reviewed after each annual general meeting of the association.

This charter is current from the published date at the beginning of this document.

This charter remains current until superseded by another Draw Sub-Committee Charter with a later date of currency.