Affiliation Standards for New Member Clubs. 

To successfully affiliate with Inline Hockey New Zealand (IHNZ), new clubs must adhere to a defined set of clear and consistent standards. These standards are derived from various established policies and are non-negotiable, ensuring that all affiliated clubs operate with the same level of professionalism and accountability. Compliance with these standards is mandatory, eliminating any ambiguity or assumption in the affiliation process. 
 

The Affiliation ‘Season’. 

Wherever possible, IHNZ will endeavour to only affiliate new clubs between the months of September and March. This is as affiliations that take place after March will not be able to enter into leagues or National Club Championships until the following calendar year. 
 

General Standards. 

The following criteria must all be met before an application for affiliation can be approved: 

• The club must be a NZ registered society or charity. This is to ensure it has written and published rules, some oversight and that it must comply with the relevant Act. It also sets minimum standards for officers.  
• The club must be registered with the IRD. This is just an IRD number – they do not need to be GST registered (although they may choose to be).
• The club must have at least 15 financial members (this requirement must also be stated in the rules of the club).
• The club must adopt and accept a policy suite at least to the standard of IHNZ and agree to maintain them. Clubs may simply adopt existing IHNZ policies. The required IHNZ policy suite is: 
  • Child Safeguarding Policy
  • Safer Recruitment Policy
  • Safe Use of Changing Rooms Policy
  • Conflicts of Interest Policy
  • Digital Communications Policy
  • Preventing Bullying and Harassment Policy 

• The club commits to actively participate in IHNZ consultation and planning processes.  
• The club agrees that complaints and issues will be dealt with by the Club in the first instance, and that IHNZ is an escalation / appeal body in the event disputes cannot be settled.
• The club agrees to maintain adherence to IHNZ standards while affiliated.
• Three IHNZ-affiliated clubs are required to sponsor the new club's application for affiliation.
  • Unless the new club has explicitly indicated that it will operate as a traveling club without a designated venue or home games, all three sponsoring clubs must agree to their IHNZ draws for the upcoming season including scheduled away games at the new club's location. 

Club Location Standards and Obligations. 

• Clubs may not take on the geographic names New Zealand or Aotearoa.  
• Clubs may not take on the geographic name of any New Zealand province. Their geographic name must be based upon either a town (i.e. Mosgiel), a city (i.e. Dunedin), or a region (i.e.  Taieri). 
• Clubs must be linked to a geographical area that does not have an existing IHNZ affiliated club. That geographic area must have a population that can support the existence of an inline hockey club.
  • This requirement will be waived if the Committee of an area’s pre-existing club approves the affiliation request.
  • In cases where this requirement is waived, the newly affiliated club must use a different geographic name to the pre-existing club. That name will be negotiated between the affiliating club, the pre-existing club, and IHNZ. 

• The club agrees to accept responsibility for promoting inline hockey, and operating a Learn2Play program, in the geographic area that they are affiliated to. 

Club Logo, Jersey and Sponsorship Standards. 

• Proposed Club Logos and jerseys must be compliant with the IHNZ ‘Club Uniform, Logo and Sponsorship User Policy ‘. 
• Club jersey colour schemes must be different to other affiliated clubs.
• The club must own the copyright for their proposed logo and jerseys.
• Any club sponsorship must be compliant with the IHNZ ‘Club Uniform, Logo and Sponsorship User Policy’.
• The club agrees to incorporate the “affiliated to IHNZ” logo into their jersey designs if their affiliation application is approved. 

Club/ Team Name Standards. 

• Club names must be original to the league, appropriate, and approved by the Board. 

Participation Standards. 

• Clubs must enter a minimum of one Junior team and one Senior team into IHNZ leagues within the first TWO regular seasons following their affiliation.  
  • Participation in composite teams and draft leagues does not satisfy this standard.

• Associating with an existing club is at the discretion of that club. 
• Associating with an existing club does not generate an additional, separate, membership of IHNZ. The new club would be represented by their parent club at all IHNZ meetings. The parent club would still only be entitled to a single vote. 

Venue Access for IHNZ Standards. 

• Both the club and Inline Hockey New Zealand (IHNZ) recognize the importance of providing opportunities for people to play IHNZ hockey in their area. To facilitate this, IHNZ has a need to secure rink bookings to run its regular events. Therefore, if the club owns or exercises control over an inline hockey facility, including but not limited to a rink or comparable venue, the club shall grant IHNZ the right of first refusal for any and all third-party rink bookings. This right shall be applicable until 5:00 PM on October 1st of the calendar year preceding the desired booking date. 
  • The only information that the club needs to supply IHNZ about a potential third-party booking is the date.
  • Upon notifying IHNZ of a potential third-party booking date, the club will allow IHNZ a period of 5 days to confirm if they wish to secure the date. 
  • Once a booking is confirmed by IHNZ under this clause, the booking is non-cancellable by IHNZ. 
  • The club agrees that no third-party bookings or commitments shall be finalized prior to IHNZ’s opportunity to exercise this right. 
  • As of October 2nd, the club is not required to notify IHNZ of the dates for any third-party bookings for the following calendar year, and IHNZ shall have no additional rights to reserve dates or assert any rights over bookings during that calendar year.