1. The association shall be a non-profit organization and shall be known as the Columbia Observed Trials Association (COTA). The COTA is in existence to provide a yearly championship in Oregon and Southwest Washington for trials riders who enjoy competing for the fun of it and to promote the family oriented sport of observed trials.
2. Elected officers shall be at a minimum President, Secretary and Treasurer. These officers make up the Executive Committee. They shall be elected at an annual meeting to be held at the end of the COTA competition year, and shall take office January 1st of the following year. The COTA Bylaws have additional information.
3. The Secretary shall be in charge of keeping records on championship points each rider receives from sanctioned events.
4. State representatives shall be chosen to be the local contact for trials information.
5. A Sporting Steward may be selected by the Executive Committee to review the sections prior to each competition for difficulty and safety if it is requested by the course marshal or recommended to the Executive Committee. The Sporting Steward’s objective is to improve the quality and safety of COTA trials by maintaining high standards and consistency in setting the appropriate level of difficulty and properly marking sections for each class. The goal is that competitors can reliably expect all COTA events will be challenging, fun, safe, and consistently marked.
6. The Sporting Steward will inspect the sections, if possible, a day in advance of the competition. The Steward is not to make the sections more difficult, he only is to ease-up sections when necessary.
7. Inadequate sections must be corrected per the Steward’s request. The Sporting Steward has the authority to delay the start of the trial until any required changes are made. In the event the Sporting Steward is not available, two (2) members of the Board of Directors may fill this role at an event. Their joint decision will serve as if the Sporting Steward was making a section correction request.
8. The Secretary shall revise the rulebook to reflect changes voted on at an Executive Committee or board of directors meeting within one month after the meeting. The revised rulebook will be submitted to the Executive Committee for review and approval. Once approved, the rulebook will become official.
