Article I. Name of Association
The name of this association shall be the Greater Houston Volleyball Coaches Association, herein referred to as the GHVCA.

Article II. Object of GHVCA
The objective of the GHVCA shall be to:
Section 1 - The members of GHVCA will help maintain the highest possible standards for the volleyball coaching profession in the State of Texas. By working together the association will set higher standards for improvements throughout all female athletics.
Section 2 - GHVCA will provide a governing body that will enable coaches to seek out sources of information that will enhance their ability to become better coaches through these resources provided by GHVCA.
Section 3 - GHVCA will provide volleyball coaches an avenue to address problems they are experiencing with their perspective school, athletes, fans, and officials by issuing written concerns to the board of the association.
Section 4 - GHVCA will be a representative to all its members with regards to any viewpoints concerning legislation with the UIL, Legislative Council, and with the State Board of Education.

Article III. Members of GHVCA
The membership of GHVCA shall be composed of active, allied, associate and student members.
Section 1 - Active Members shall be those persons in good standing and who are coaches of elementary, middle, junior high, and high school throughout the greater Houston area who are actively coaching girls’ volleyball. Any active member who leaves the coaching field shall automatically become an associate member for the remainder of the current year.
Section 2 - Allied Members shall be those persons in good standing and who are coaching in colleges, junior colleges and universities or who are out of state coaches. Allied members shall not be eligible to vote or hold an office in the GHVCA.
Section 3 - Associate Members shall be those persons in good standing and who are interested in the girls coaching field but not actively coaching at the time of joining the association. These members will primarily be club coaches within the Greater Houston Area. Associate members shall not be eligible to vote or hold office in the GHVCA.
Section 4 - Student Members shall be those persons in good standing who are currently full-time students in an accredited college or university. Student members shall not be eligible to vote or hold an office in the GHVCA.
Section 5 - Honorary Members – The GHVCA Board of Directors may present honorary membership to persons who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of girl’s athletics. Honorary members shall not be eligible to vote or hold an office in GHVCA.
Section 6 – A member shall be defined by the GHVCA as either active, allied, associate, student, or honorary patron that is current with their annual dues.

Article IV. Dues and Fees
Section 1 - Annual membership dues shall cover the period from June 1st to May 31st of the following year. The annual fee will be $45.00 per person. The cost of the annual membership plus the “first of the year meeting/clinic” will be $85.00.
Section 2 - Membership dues must be paid by November 1st of each calendar year in order to qualify themselves and their athletes for a GHVCA honor or award.
Section 3 - The fiscal year of the GHVCA shall be from September 1st through August 31st.

Article V. Officers of GHVCA
Section 1 – Officers - The officers of GHVCA shall be comprised of a president, a first vice-president, a president-elect, and a past president. At the annual meeting, a president-elect shall be elected by the active members of GHVCA. The president-elect shall automatically succeed to the office of president.
Section 2 – Qualifications for an Officeholder – In order to qualify for any office all members must be in good standing with the GHVCA as defined in the bylaws.
Section 3 – Terms of Office – Officers shall serve for one year or until their successors are elected. No officer shall serve for two consecutive terms in the same office.
Section 4 – Vacancy in Office – A vacancy in the office of president shall be filled by the first vice president. A vacancy in the office of first vice president shall be filled by the president-elect. A vacancy in the office of president-elect shall be filled by a GHVCA board appointed member.
Section 5 – Duties of the Officers

President of GHVCA
A) The president shall serve as the Executive Director of the Board.
B) The president shall attend the TGCA Convention and the UIL State Volleyball Tournament as a representative of the GHVCA.
C) The president shall preside at all meetings of GHVCA with the Board of Directors.
D) The president shall appoint standing and special committees except as otherwise provided by the constitution.
E) The president shall oversee the operations of the GHVCA All-Star Tournament.
F) The president shall cooperate with and seek the support of the University Interscholastic League and other related organizations.
G) The president shall perform other duties incident to the office of president.

Vice President
A) The vice president in the absence of the president will perform the duties of the office of president; and in the event of permanent disability or resignation of the president shall succeed to that office for the unexpired term.
B) The vice president shall record the proceedings of all meetings of the GHVCA and present the minutes of the previous meeting to the board of directors.
C) The vice president shall provide the Executive Director (current president) with a copy of the minutes from all meetings within thirty (30) days following that meeting.
D) The vice president shall work closely with the president so as to become familiar with the duties of that office in case he/she has to take over the office.
E) The vice president shall attend Legislative Council and assigned committee meetings with the UIL as so delegated by the president.
F) The vice president shall accompany the president at the TGCA Convention and the UIL State Volleyball Tournament representing the GHVCA President-Elect

President Elect
A) The president-elect shall be named after the Fall Election. Nominations shall start at the annual members meeting in July. He/she shall serve as president for the upcoming year after their term as president-elect.
B) The president-elect will work hand in hand with the president on overseeing the operations of the office of the GHVCA president. This will enable the president-elect to learn the bylaws, procedures, and rules of the association.
\ C) The president-elect will help the past president with soliciting new corporate sponsors and will report on the current corporate sponsor’s status at each meeting.
D) The president-elect shall assist the president with overseeing the sub-committees that are established by his/her office throughout the year.
E) The president-elect shall attend the Legislative Council meetings and all UIL related meetings that are so delegated by the president.

Past President
A) The past president shall offer advice to the president, first vice president, and president-elect.
B) The past president will help with soliciting new corporate sponsors and report on the current corporate sponsors at each meeting.
C) The past president shall attend all Legislative Council and UIL meetings inquiring on behalf of the GHVCA with the UIL staff on any issues and proposals that are being considered for volleyball by the Legislative Council.
D) The past president will serve as committee chair for the all-star tournament each year.

Article VI. Nominations and Elections of Officers
Section 1 - Nominations will be taken at the March meeting at which time the board of directors will vote on each office by hand/ballot unless only one person is nominated then there will be a voice vote at that time.

Article VII. Attendance at Meetings by the Board and its Officers
Section 1 - Board members and officers are required to attend all meetings called by the President or Executive Director of the GHVCA.
Section 2 – If any member or officer of the Board of Directors with voting privileges granted by the bylaws of the GHVCA misses two (2) scheduled Board of Directors meeting in a GHVCA calendar year (September 1st to August 31st), the member or officer will be required to submit to the Executive Director, in writing, the reason for the two (2) absences. The notice must be submitted within two (2) weeks of the second absence. The Executive Director will submit the letter to the Board at which time the board will determine by a majority vote if the member or officer should be removed for not performing his/her duties as established by the bylaws of GHVCA.
Section 3 - There will be a GHVCA meeting every other month during the calendar year. The months of the year that the meetings will take place are as follows: January/March/May/July/September/October/December.
Section 4 - GHVCA Board of Directors
Board Officers for the Inaugural 2010 Year
President – John Turner, Pearland High School
Vice-President – Ashley Earhart, Kingwood High School
Board Members:

Dana Anderson – Ft. Bend Travis HS		Donna Benotti – Cy-Fair HS
Ap Clarke – Bellaire HS		Debbie Jaehne – Cy-Creek HS
Tammy Laurence – Cinco Ranch HS		Jerry Linch – Friendswood HS
Leslie Madison – The Woodlands HS		Becky Palermo – Stratford HS
Scott Simonds – Clear Creek HS		Debbie Sokol – Kinkaid School

Section 5 - The members of the GHVCA Board of Directors will be a permanent appointed position. The board is comprised of the president, vice president, second vice president-secretary, past president, executive director and other appointed members.
Section 6 - The board is to offer advice to all the elected officers of the GHVCA with their governing policies.
Section 7 - All board members will help solicit corporate sponsorships and report that progress at each meeting.
Section 8 - All board members will be asked to assist with the officers of GHVCA to promote and enhance the proposed policies that will be presented to the UIL and Legislative Council by the association members.
Section 9 – Any committees that are organized within GHVCA with be governed by the president of the GHVCA.
Section 10 – The GHVCA will hire a bookkeeper to maintain all financial aspects of the operations of the association.

Article VIII -Standing Rules for GHVCA
A) Annual Membership Fees:
$40.00 annually (excluding first of the year meeting/clinic fee)
$80.00 annually with first of the year meeting/clinic fee
The first of the year meeting/clinic fee includes free meal and admission to the annual speaker/clinician day held in July. Professional Hours Certificate will be issued to members attending the annual year meeting/clinic.
B) Replacement Membership Card Fee: $15.00
C) Returned Check Fee: $30.00 fee on all returned checks
D) Lifetime Memberships with Free Admission: Awarded to the Executive Director and all Ex Presidents of the GHVCA.
E) All-Star Tournament Gate Fees for Members: All current active members will be admitted for free upon presenting their membership card at the gate.
F) All-Star Tournament General Admission Ticket Prices: Adult Tickets: $5.00; Student Tickets: $3.00
G) Program Prices for All-Star Tournament: $4.00

Article IX – All-Star Selection Policies (Players & Coaches)
A) The nominated athlete must be a senior in good standing with their high school program.
B) Coaches can nominate up to three players per school. The deadline for the nominations to be submitted to the GHVCA will be the final day of district certification set by the UIL for each calendar year.
C) There can be up to three players named from each school to the all-star teams.
D) The nominated player must have been selected to their perspective All-District 2nd Team or better to qualify for the all-star team.
E) Players and coaches will be selected from high schools located in the Greater Houston Area deemed by the GHVCA. All classifications (IA thru 5A) and private schools will be included in the selection pool process.
F) The first initial year of nominations will be open to any school from the list of schools deemed by the GHVCA. The coach from each school does not have to be a member for the inaugural event. All nominating coaches for the 2012 All-Star Tournament must be active members of the GHVCA.
G) The GHVCA Board will select 4 teams for the annual all-star event. The name of each all-star team will be the following: Houston North, Houston South, Houston East, and Houston West.
H) The number of players selected by the GHVCA Board to each of the all-star teams will be 10. The breakdown of positions that will be selected is as follows: (2) Setters; (3) Middle Blockers; (3) Outside Hitters; (2) DS/Liberos; there will be a total of (10) alternates selected in the event that some all-star selections decline to play.
I) All all-star players’ uniform jerseys must be collected and returned by the designated coaches of each all-star team upon completion of their final match for the all-star tournament.
J) The coaches for the all-star teams will be selected by the GHVCA Board. There will be two coaches selected to each all-star team. There will be a head coach and an assistant coach designated for each team.
K) The all-star selection process will take place each year at the UIL State Volleyball Tournament by the GHVCA Board. The All-Star Teams will be announced on the Monday following the state tournament.
L) Players and coaches that are selected to the all-star teams must commit to play by the first Friday in the month of December each calendar year.

Article X – Tournament and Practice Site Selection Policies
A) The designated practice date will be held on the Friday before the designated tournament date which will fall on the first weekend of January that does not coincide with the New Year’s Holiday. A practice site will be selected by the GHVCA Board each calendar year. The site will be rotated between regions of the Greater Houston Area each year. The first inaugural practice site will be located at the AVA Practice Facility in Dickinson, Texas on Friday, January 7th.
B) All practice sites are required to furnish the following for the practices and reception that coincides with the practice date. Requirements: complete set-up of (4) full courts for 4 all-star teams to practice on for a duration of a 2 hours; the site will furnish 25 practice volleyballs per court; water coolers or fountains available for players/coaches; reception catered by the host facility; reception room for GHVCA reception located at the practice facility.
C) The All-Star Tournament Site each year will be determined by the GHVCA Board. The event site will rotate to a different region of the Greater Houston Area each calendar year. The site for the inaugural event will be located at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. The date of the All-Star Tournament will be Saturday, January 8th.
D) The event site will be responsible for handling all operational procedures regarding workers, pre-game preparation for court set-up; and other responsibilities set forth by the president of the GHVCA.