Argonne Soccer Club Bylaws

ARTICLE I – Name and Purpose

Section A – Name

* The name of the organization shall be the “Argonne Soccer Club”

Section B – Purpose

* The main purpose of this club is to promote a healthful activity in which people of differing talent, physical build, age, and sex can participate. Another purpose is to educate people about and promote the international game of Soccer.

ARTICLE II – Membership

Membership to the Argonne Soccer Club is open to all employees of Argonne National Laboratory, the Chicago Operations Office, and all family members and friends of these employees.

ARTICLE III – History/Activities

The “club” has organized a regular schedule of Soccer games played from Spring to Fall on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at noon at Argonne National Laboratory on the field just south of Building 200. An alternate site is the Soccer field at Argonne Park on Cass Ave. Soccer has been played for more than 19 years at Argonne.

The members of the “club” are a co-ed core group of about twenty with another ten people who play intermittently. The “club” is comprised of people ranging from those who have been playing for several years and beginners to the game. Due to the nature of the game, everyone who plays has an active role regardless of his or her skill level.

Soccer is a competitive sport, but entails little or no physical contact and thus results in very few injuries. Each team tries to score by passing the ball from one teammate to another. A score is made when the ball crosses the goal line.

ARTICLE IV – Government

Section 1 — The officers of the club shall be the President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The same person may hold the Secretary and Treasurer positions, at any given time.

Section 2 – The officers will serve one-year terms. A Board of Directors, consisting of the above officers shall be the governing body and, with input from a majority of active members, shall decide upon the intra-club play schedule, scheduling of games with clubs outside of the Argonne club, and other club operations.

Section 3 – Officers will be elected annually in December by a simple majority vote of members on the official club roster.

Section 4 – The President shall be the chief executive officer of the club. The President shall supervise the total club program and shall preside at club and Board of Director meetings. The President shall appoint all committees and shall represent the club, as required, at meetings of the Argonne Club.

Section 5 – The Vice President shall assist the President in carrying out the club responsibilities and serve in the President’s absence. The Vice President shall act as an alternate or second delegate to meetings of inter-club organizations. The Vice President shall hold the main responsibility of recruiting new members to the club and promotion of the club throughout the Argonne community.

Section 6 – The Secretary shall keep the current club roster, a record of all club meetings, serve all meeting notices.

Section 7 – The Treasurer shall keep and prepare all financial records and transactions of the club. The Treasurer shall be a member of any committees concerned with finances or fund-raising. The Treasurer shall annually submit a membership roster to the Argonne Club along with $1.00 for each member of the club. The Argonne Club shall be periodically informed of changes in membership and be provided with $1.00 for each new member joining the Argonne Soccer Club.

Section 8 – The officers shall appoint other club members to carry out additional functions as defined in the By-Laws.

Section 9 – Vacancies in the Board of Directors between annual elections can be filled by a simple majority vote of those in attendance at a club meeting.

Section 10 – Officers can be removed from office by a two-thirds vote of all members on the current roster.

ARTICLE V – Club and Board of Director Meetings

Meetings of the club will be held as necessary.

ARTICLE VI – Property

In the event the Argonne Soccer Club disbands, all funds and other properties purchased with Argonne Soccer Club dues and supplemental funds from the Argonne Club (see Article IV, Section 7) shall be turned over to the Argonne Club.

ARTICLE VII – Rules of Soccer

The rules of the game of Soccer to be played by the Argonne Soccer Club are the same as those adopted by Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) with the following exceptions:

1. In all situations, good will between participants of the game shall supersede in importance strict adherence to the letter of the rules. Teams are made of members and newcomers in a fashion that matches strength and skill levels. If a rule dispute cannot be resolved in a timely fashion (within a few minutes) between the participants themselves, a free ball is kicked into the air and play resumes.

2. Slide tackles are not allowed. This is to reduce the chance of injury.

3. At each club game, the utmost effort will be made to allow every member in attendance to play as much as they desire. The importance of involving members in the game supersedes the importance of having eleven players on each team. In order to allow all people present to play when an odd number of people are present, the team with one additional player shall be subject to “off-sides”. The rule does not apply when teams are of even strength. The “off-sides” rule and the use of goalkeepers shall be decided by a simple majority of the players at the game.

4. The actual keeping of a game score or a game time shall be decided upon by a simple majority vote of all members in attendance at the club game. No statistics will be kept on goals.

5. The field dimensions shall be defined either by the official field dimensions or by the space available for playing the game.


For reference, here is a pointer to Laws of the Game.