5. HONG KONG CHINA TEAM
The Bye-laws in this section shall apply to the process of selection of players to represent Hong Kong China in national and international events. The Vice President (International) of the Association shall be responsible for the management of all matters relating to the Hong Kong China Squad and/or Team, and the Hong Kong China Under 25 Squad and/or Team, and for reporting such matters to the Council of Management as required by these Bye-laws.
5.1. General
5.1.a. The Hong Kong China Team selection process incorporating the formation of the Hong Kong China Squad and Hong Kong China Under 25 Squad (U25 Squad) shall require the sanction of the Council of Management.
5.1.b. Except as stated in Bye-law 5.9, only members of the Hong Kong China Squad and U25 Squad shall be eligible for selection to play in a Hong Kong China Team.
5.1.c. The Hong Kong China Squad and U25 Squad proposed by the Vice President (International) in conjunction with the National Coach and the High Performance Manager and endorsed by the Selection Panel shall require the sanction of the Council of Management each year.
5.1.d. The formation of the Hong Kong China Squad and U25 Squad shall be as described in Bye- law 5.3. The selection process of the Squad members to form a Hong Kong China Team for specific events shall be as described in Bye-law 5.5.
5.2. Selection Panel
5.2.a. The Selection Panel shall comprise the following: –
(i) Vice President (International) of the Association as Panel Chairman,
(ii) President of the Association,
(iii) National Coach,
(iv) High Performance Manager, and
(v) a maximum of five nominees from Clubs, one of whom shall be of the opposite gender, appointed by the Council of Management for a tenure of one year.
5.2.b. Clubs which have at least one league side, either men or women, eligible to play in the first division of the Premier League at the date of the request for nomination issued may nominate one bona fide member of its Club as a nominee. The gender of the Club nominee shall correspond to that of the league side concerned.
5.2.c. A Club nominee shall meet the following criteria: –
(i) Represented Hong Kong as a player at Asia level or above in team events, or
(ii) Served in the Selection Panel for a minimum of three years, or
(iii) Has played regularly in the first division of the Premier League for a minimum of seven years, and
(iv) Committed to attend the amount of functions relating to the Hong Kong China Squad and U25 Squad as required by the Vice President (International) at the time of request for nomination; and
(v) Committed to attend the National Championship semi-finals and finals as required by the Vice President (International) from time to time.
5.2.d. In the event of more than five Club nominations are received, the Council of Management shall select a maximum of five nominees for appointment to the Panel.
5.3. Formation of Hong Kong China Squad and U25 Squad
5.3.a. The Hong Kong China Squad and U25 Squad shall form the pool of bowlers from which the Selection Panel may select specific Hong Kong China Teams to represent Hong Kong China in national and international events.
5.3.b. The top 24 bowlers of each gender in the Bowler Rankings at the time of formation of the Hong Kong China Squad shall be eligible for selection to join the Squad which shall comprise a maximum of 15 members and a maximum of 3 reserves for each gender.
5.3.c. The top 15 bowlers of each gender in the Under 25 Bowler Rankings at the time of formation of the U25 Squad shall be eligible for selection to join the U25 Squad which shall comprise a maximum of 8 members and a maximum of 3 reserves for each gender.
5.3.d. Members of the U25 Squad shall, except otherwise stated in the invitation from the Vice President (International), be eligible to apply for events open for the Hong Kong China Squad, and vice versa, provided that the Squad Members meet the entry requirements and criteria set by the organizers and/or the Association.
5.3.e. A Squad Member, irrespective of his Bowler Ranking, shall be eligible for selection to join the respective Squad in the following year based on his achievement in individual event as a Hong Kong China Team member listed in this Bye-law.
(i) Qualified for quarter-finals or play-off for semi-finals at a World level event.
(ii) Gold, silver or bronze Medalist at an Asia Pacific level event.
(iii) Gold Medalist at an Asia level event.
(iv) Gold, silver or bronze Medalist at the Hong Kong International Bowls Classic in either the singles or pairs event, including when representing the Association.
(v) Gold, silver or bronze Medalist at an Asia or above junior level event.
5.4. Bowler Rankings
5.4.a. Bowler Rankings shall be based on the total weighted Bowler of the Year Award points, as described in Bye-law 6.21, in the three most recent years.
5.4.b. Under 25 Bowler Rankings shall be based on the total weighted Bowler of the Year Award points, as described in Bye-law 6.21, and points awarded for achievements in the Under 25 Singles Championship in the two most recent years.
The non-accumulative points to be awarded for achievements in the Under 25 Singles Championship are as follows: –
(i) 16 points to the winner;
(ii) 8 points to the first runner-up;
(iii) 4 points to the second and third runners-up;
(iv) 2 points to those finished in the top 8; and
(v) 1 point to those finished in the top 16.
5.4.c. Any points achieved by a bowler whilst he is not eligible to represent Hong Kong China in accordance with the regulations of World Bowls and the Association at the time of close of entries for that particular point-awarding event shall be excluded from the compilation of the Rankings.
5.4.d. Weightings shall be applied to the points achieved in different years as follows: –
(i) 100% for the current year,
(ii) 75% for the immediate past year, and
(iii) 50% for the year before the immediate past year.
5.4.e. Any bowlers who are not eligible to represent Hong Kong China in accordance with the regulations of World Bowls and the Association at the time of compilation of the Rankings shall be excluded from the Rankings.
5.5. Hong Kong China Team Selection Process
5.5.a. Upon the receipt of an invitation to enter a representative team or player in a national or international event, the Vice President (International) shall advise in writing all members
of the Squads of the entry requirements and criteria and Squad Members shall advise their availability for the respective event.
5.5.b. The Selection Panel shall wherever possible hold meetings to consider and select the respective Hong Kong China Team as necessary to meet the entry dates and requirements of the calendar of an event.
5.5.c. The Vice President (International) may arrange selection interviews, trials and/or assessments for the available Squad Members to be attended by the Selection Panel to ascertain the ability and suitability of Squad Members to be selected for the respective event.
5.5.d. In deciding on the Squad Members to be selected for the respective event, the Selection Panel may, inter alia, take the following factors into account: –
(i) Squad training reports and recent form;
(ii) Selection interview, trial and/or assessment results;
(iii) Past performance in the relevant disciplines and on the relevant playing surface;
(iv) Past Hong Kong China Team reports;
(v) Level of commitment;
(vi) Level of competition;
(vii) Attitude, manner and etiquette;
(viii) Personality and ambassadorship;
(ix) Team spirit and harmony;
(x) Stress and pressure management ability;
(xi) Best team play positions; and
(xii) Scope for development.
5.5.e. The selection of players shall be decided by voting. All members of the Selection Panel present at the meeting, and who fulfil the voting criteria set in advance by the Vice President (International) shall have one vote and in the event of a tie the Panel Chairman shall have an additional casting vote.
5.5.f. The Vice President (International) shall report the recommendations of the Selection Panel to the Council of Management in a timely manner for ratification of the Hong Kong China Team members selected for the event.
5.5.g. In the event of the Council of Management not ratifying the recommendations of the Selection Panel, the Vice President (International) shall refer the matter to the Panel for further consideration.
5.6. Duty of Squad Members and Players Representing Hong Kong China and the Association
5.6.a. Members of the Hong Kong China Squad and U25 Squad shall undertake to deliver the following obligations, except otherwise individually exempted on grounds permitted by the Vice President (International).
5.6.b. Squad Members shall oblige to make themselves available for selection and participation if selected for a minimum of one of the following events within each year.
(i) World Championships
(ii) Asia Pacific Championships
(iii) Asia Pacific Merdeka Indoor Championships
(iv) Asian Lawn Bowls Championships
(v) World Junior Championships (subject to age requirement)
(vi) Any other events as decided by the Vice President (International) from time to time
5.6.c. Squad Members shall oblige to fulfil the following conditions as may be amended from time to time within each year: –
(i) Attend at least 80% of regular training organized by the Association.
(ii) Attend at least 80% of regular physical fitness training organized by the Association.
(iii) Attend at least 80% of pre-tournament/pre-travel training after selection for a specific event.
(iv) Attend public relations, community, social responsibility and other projects as and when reasonably required.
(v) Abide by rules, regulations and code of ethics or conduct in force from time to time relating to the control of the Squads.
5.6.d. Failure to oblige for the first time may result in expulsion from the respective Squad in the same year and refusal of his application for Squad membership in the following year. For second offence, the offender may be expulsed from the respective Squad in the same year and his application for Squad membership refused in the following three years.
5.7. Team Manager
5.7.a. The Selection Panel may appoint a Team Manager prior to each event. The Manager shall be accountable to the Vice President (International).
5.7.b. Once the Manager and the Hong Kong China Team are sanctioned by the Council of Management, it shall be the sole responsibility of the Manager to manage and administer the team, including team officials, coaches and players.
5.7.c. Within one month of the completion of an event, the Manager shall present a written report to the Council of Management.
5.7.d. Within two months of the completion of an event, the Manager shall at the discretion of the Vice President (International) submit a confidential report to the Officers of the Association and the Selection Panel. The confidential report may incorporate a Coach Report if available.
5.8 Incentive for Hong Kong China Team
5.8.a. The Association may offer cash incentive to Hong Kong China Team members who have achieved satisfactory results in an event by means of allocation of a proportion of any prize money received from the organizer of the event and/or of any incentive award from the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China.
5.8.b. The proportion of allocation of any prize money or incentive award to the eligible incentive recipients shall be as stated in this Bye-law. For a team event, the award shall be equally distributed between the team members.
(i) 60% of any prize money or incentive award shall be offered to the winner or champion of an event.
(ii) 40% of any prize money or incentive award shall be offered to the first, second and third runners-up of an event.
(iii) 20% of any prize money or incentive award shall be offered to other runners-up of an event.
5.9 Exceptions for Selection of Players from the Squads
5.9.a. In the circumstances of invitations being received for participation of the Hong Kong China Team in events for which special entry requirements and criteria are required by the organisers and/or the Association, the Selection Panel may select bowlers who are not members of either the Hong Kong China Squad or U25 Squad but who otherwise satisfy the special entry requirements and criteria. Examples of such events are as follows: –
(i) For the World Singles Champion of Champions Championship, the players representing Hong Kong China shall be the winners of the most recent National Singles Championships.
(ii) For the World Cup Indoor Singles, the players representing Hong Kong China shall be the winners of the most recent National Indoor Singles Championships. In the event
of the winner(s) not being available to play the Panel may select any of the runners- up to represent Hong Kong China in the event.
5.9.b. In the event of an insufficient number of Squad Members is available for any particular event, bowlers who are not members of either the Hong Kong China Squad or U25 Squad may be invited to apply at the discretion of the Vice President (International).
5.10. Appeal of Hong Kong China Team Selection
5.10.a. In the event of any member of the Hong Kong China Squad or U25 Squad wishes to appeal against the decision of the Selection Panel, the appellant shall give written notice of his appeal to the President of the Association within 14 days of the decision the appeal is against.
5.10.b. The notice of appeal shall: –
(i) Set out the grounds of appeal;
(ii) Be accompanied by a written submission stating why and how the appellant considers the decision of the Selection Panel was wrong; and
(iii) Be accompanied with a cheque deposit of HK$1,000 payable to the Association.
5.10.c. Upon receiving the Notice of Appeal, the President shall appoint an Appeal Panel consisting of three members and assign the Vice President (International) as the co- ordinator of the appeal. A deadline of decision shall be given to the Panel.
5.10.d. The Appeal Panel shall make their decision by: –
(i) Referring to documents such as the appeal notice, selection report, trials and assessments reports and notes taken during the Selection Panel meetings; and
(ii) When felt necessary, meeting the Selection Panel Members and the appellant for further information;
5.10.e. If the Appeal Panel allows or dismisses the Appeal, the reasons of the decision shall be given in writing to the Council of Management for further actions. The deposit stated under bye-law 5.10.b.(iii) shall be refunded if the Appeal is allowed.