CSHL Bylaws

This organization shall be known as the Cleveland Suburban Hockey League (the “CSHL” or the “League”).

The purpose of the CSHL is to provide a competitive, well-managed hockey league to its member programs, centered in Northeast Ohio.

A. Member Programs (“Members”) as of 5-17-05 are listed on Exhibit A.

B. Hockey associations may make application to become new members for a season by applying in writing to the League Secretary by the March 30th preceding such season.

C. Such application should include a detailed description of the program, including number of players, teams, copy of bylaws and other governing documents, a financial statement, a list of the current officers and their experience, home rink or rinks, proof that it is a current member in good standing of USA Hockey, a detailed description of its’ player development program and its’ program to bring new players into the sport, and a written commitment to 1) register at least 75% of its travel teams in the CSHL, 2) its intention to stay in the CSHL, and 3) abide by these Bylaws and the CSHL Standing Rules.

D. The CSHL Board of Directors (the “Board”) will accept applications and review and confirm compliance with the requirements set forth in Section 3(c), but the applying association will become a member of the league only upon a 2/3rds vote of the Members. The members may make membership subject to any number of conditions recommended by the Members and accepted by the voting super-majority at the time of the vote. (Amendment Adopted May 9, 2017)

E. Membership is non-transferable.

F. Membership may be revoked by a 2/3rds vote of the Members.

G. The Board shall set fees for Membership.

H. Member programs and Associate Member programs may not license or lend their names to or otherwise allow third-party, non-Member programs, associations, organizations, entities or teams to carry on and hold out as if they are the Member or Associate Member for the purpose of attracting players and/or entering teams into CSHL pre-season or regular season play. Further, only Member programs have a license to use the CSHL logo, represent themselves as CSHL members, and promote the CSHL on their websites, banners, signage, marketing collateral, or by other means, whether in print or electronic.” (Amendment added May 9, 2017)

A. Upon application to and acceptance by the Board, associate membership shall be open to any USA Hockey registered program that does not participate as a Member but is desirous of participating in the CSHL as a non-voting supporter.

B. A representative of an Associate Member may serve on any committee, panel or program but may not hold any office and shall have no voting authority.

C. There shall be no limit to the number of associate members.

D. By definition, Associate Members are not Members of the CSHL. Associate Membership does not convey scheduling rights or any other rights to participate in the CSHL pre-season or regular season scheduling or play at any level. Nonmembers will only be permitted to attend CSHL scheduling sessions upon an advance written request to the CSHL Board and the approval by a vote of a 2/3rds majority of the Members. Associate Membership may be revoked by a majority vote of the Members, at any time and for any reason, including, by way of example, failure to attend meetings or generally not supporting the mission of the CSHL. Access to scheduling by non-members and Associate Members is done for the convenience of the Members of the CSHL and, therefore, the Members shall have sole authority to determine who may be invited to participate in scheduling and who may not. (Amendment Adopted May 9, 2017)

E. The Board may set a fee for Associate Membership.

A. The CSHL shall be governed by an 8 member board of directors.

B. A director’s term of office is 2 years, with staggered terms so 4 seats are up for election at the Annual Meeting each year.

C. after each Annual Meeting, the new Board shall choose a Commissioner from among its ranks.Except as provided elsewhere herein, the Commissioner shall vote on all matters before the Board only to break a tie.

D. The Board shall be responsible for hiring paid staff consisting of a Secretary, Treasurer and Assignor and any other position deemed necessary.The Secretary, Treasurer and Assignor are ex-officio members of the Board.

E. The Board shall have responsibility for the direction and governance of the League, including, but not limited to, setting fees for Membership, Associate Membership, referee fees, and setting fines and penalties for noncompliance with these Bylaw or the Standing Rules.

F. The quorum for board meetings is 5.

A. A nominating committee appointed by the Commissioner may propose one or more candidates for each Board seat up for election for the coming year. Nominations shall also be accepted from the floor. All candidates must have accepted the nomination. 

B. Directors will be elected by the CSHL Members. Each Member has a total number of votes equal to the number of travel teams participating in league play in the just-ended season times the number of seats up for election. [Note: This includes mite B, but not mite C.] Voting shall be cumulative and each program may allocate its votes to any candidate or candidates it wishes. The candidates with the most votes shall be elected. There are no runoff elections, ties will be broken by lot.

[note: for example, if a program had 10 teams participating in league play the previous season and there are 4 Board seats up for election, the program has 40 votes total with which to vote, and can allocate all 40 votes to one candidate, or 25 to candidate x, and 15 to candidate y or any combination thereof, as long as the total votes cast does not exceed 40]

C. Voting will be by secret ballot if there is more than one candidate for office. The ballots shall be maintained for sixty days by the Secretary and shall then be destroyed.

D. The term of office for a director is two years.

E. A vacancy in the Board shall be filled by appointment by the Commissioner with the approval of the Board. The appointment shall be until the next Annual Meeting, at which the seat will be put up for election, for either 1 or 2 years as appropriate.

A. A Board member may be removed by a two-thirds vote of the rest of the Board, with the Commissioner having a vote.

B. A Board member may be removed from office by a vote of the Members. Removal shall require a two-thirds vote of Members present at a meeting, providing that a resolution proposing the consideration of the removal has been adopted at a preceding meeting and that notice of the vote for removal has been included in the call to the meeting at which the vote shall take place.

A. The officers of CSHL shall be: Commissioner, Secretary, Treasurer (Secretary and Treasurer can be held by one person), and Assignor. 

B. Duties of the officers are as follows:

The Commissioner shall be responsible for the operation of the CSHL and its officers

pursuant to these bylaws and the Standing Rules. This shall include conducting meetings, representing the League at official functions, appointing standing and special committees, monitoring expenditures authorized by the CSHL, and generally overseeing the business the CSHL.

The Secretary shall 1) act as the day-to-day manager of the League, 2) keep records as required such as disciplinary records, 3) maintain all written records as required by these Bylaws and the Standing Rules, and 4) perform such other duties directed by the Commissioner or the Board.

The Treasurer shall maintain an accurate accounting of all income and expenditures of the CSHL and shall periodically prepare financial statements, including income statements and balance sheets for the Board. The Treasurer shall prepare proposed budgets for review by the Board.

The Assignor shall assign referees to all CSHL Games, maintain a web publishable database of such assignments, provide an accounting of such assignments to the Treasurer, and administer game changes, all in a timely manner. The Assignor is also an ex-officio member of any committee responsible for officials’ disciplinary matters.

A. Unless otherwise specifically defined in these bylaws, all affairs of the CSHL shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order, current edition.

B. The CSHL shall hold regular meetings no less than once per quarter to address pertinent League business, activities and concerns.

C. Special meetings of the CSHL may be called by the Commissioner, or upon request of 51 percent of the Members.

D. CSHL meetings shall be open to the public. Visitors shall be invited to participate in the discussion of the matters at hand, but only Members are eligible to vote.

E. The minimum number of Members necessary to establish a quorum at any regular meeting is 51% of the Members.

F. The CSHL shall hold an Annual Meeting in the second quarter of each year for the purpose of voting for Board members, voting on changes to the Standing Rules, hearing the annual report of activities of the CSHL, and for any other matters.

G. Approved minutes of meetings and sign-in sheets, as a record of attendance, must be kept for all meetings and shall be kept on file at the home of the Secretary.

H. Members and Associate Members will be notified of meeting dates, places, time and preliminary agenda not less than seven (7) days before the meeting. Such notice may consist of posting on the League website homepage.

I. Failure to receive a meeting notice does not invalidate the meeting.

Each Member shall have one vote on all matters before the League, except for voting for the Board, which shall be based on the number of travel teams in the previous season per Section 6.

These Bylaws may be amended by a two-thirds majority vote of Members at a regular CSHL meeting, or by a majority of the Members present at the Annual Meeting, both providing that a resolution proposing the amendment has been adopted at a preceding regular meeting and that notice of the proposed amendment has been given in the call for the meeting at which the amendment shall be voted upon.

A. These bylaws of the CSHL shall become effective on May 17, 2005 and supersede all others.

• Brooklyn
• Canton-Akron
• Cleveland Heights
• ClevelandSkating Club
• ColumbusBlue Jackets
• ColumbusCapitals
• Elyria
• Euclid
• Fremont
• Garfield Heights
• Geauga
• Gilmour
• Mentor
• North Olmsted
• Parma
• Rocky River
• Shaker Heights
• Strongsville
• Tri-County
• Winterhurst
• Wooster

• ClevelandBarons
• Cleveland Youth Hockey/Phantoms