Rules - 2009-2010 season

1a The League shall be called the EAST LANCASHIRE Table Tennis League and shall be open to clubs/teams in the district subject to the approval of the General Committee.

1b The League shall be non profit making, any surplus shall be ploughed back into the league and shall not be for the financial gain of any individual

2 The League shall be governed by the General Committee comprising the officers of the league who shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting held in the May of each year.

3 Officers shall be the Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Fixtures Secretary, plus other members elected (coaching, schools, development, ladies, juniors, press and/or HTTC rep). Members will be elected for a period of two years and will then be due for re-election. Should any member be absent, without reasonable excuse from three meetings in any one season, he or she shall be automatically retired.

4 The league shall be affiliated to the ETTA and the LTTA. The current rules of Table Tennis adopted by these organisations shall apply to all matches in the league. A player may not use a bat that does not comply with the current ETTA regulations, all bats must be red on one side and black on the other and any surface used must have an ITTF rubber on. Players cannot change their bat once a set has started, they must complete the set using the same bat unless it is accidentally damaged in such a way that continued use would be impossible or dangerous. Players should be reminded that you must not play wearing a white top if the ball being used is white.

5 All clubs and individuals joining the league shall be deemed to accept the rules of the league on admission and as such, the General Committee shall have the power to fine, suspend or expel any player or club as deemed necessary if found guilty of misconduct or breach of the league rules.

6 No election of officers or alterations to the rules can be made except at the AGM or a special meeting called for that purpose. Any rule changes shall be submitted in writing to the League Secretary in good time to allow these proposals to be circulated prior to the AGM.

7 All registered players shall be entitled to attend the AGM. Each team shall have one vote at this meeting. The officers, as in rule 3, shall be elected at the AGM. All decisions reached shall be by majority vote.

8. All meetings to be chaired by the chairman or an appointed deputy whose decision on points of order shall be final. Where votes are equal, the chairman shall have a casting vote. Five people entitled to vote shall form a quorum at all meetings.

9 All applications for league membership shall only be made to the League Secretary.

10 All fees shall be paid prior to the commencement of the league programme (normally September) and will include; ETTA and LTTA registration, individual membership, team fees, room fees, and table fees.

11a.All matches shall be played on or before the dates stated on the official fixture list. Matches can only be postponed for good reason. If a match is postponed, both teams must submit a signed score card indicating who asked for the postponement and the reason given. No more than two postponements per team per season are allowed. Failure to comply with the above rules will result in the guilty teams being fined points (at the discretion of the committee). Please note that no fixture may be postponed without obtaining the agreement of the opposing team at least 24 hours before the commencement of the fixture unless by mutual agreement in exceptional circumstances i.e. extreme weather conditions but not player illness or non-availability.

11b.A match can be postponed without penalty if a team cannot field three players due to a town team commitment. The opposition secretary must agree to re-arrange the match in accordance with rule 11a above.

12 Any change of secretary, venue match night address or telephone number shall be notified immediately to the League Secretary. In addition the opposition team secretary shall be notified as soon as possible.

13 All secretaries must provide a telephone number where they can be contacted.

14 If a team resigns from the league, all points will be ignored and all moneys forfeited.

15.Fees (per season). In August all secretaries shall forward to the league Secretary a £15.00 fee indicating the team name, home night and venue. Places at the centre shall be allocated on a first come first served basis subject to rule 10. All teams playing from the Hyndburn regional table tennis centre will be charged £110 for the season to cover table fees. All other members shall be charged £15.00 for membership, which includes their share of the team fees. In addition new table fees are £15.00 per team. Venue charges are additional to this. A £10 per team guarantee fee applies. The team secretary shall be responsible for all charges applicable to his/her team and that rule 10 is adhered to. Fees shall be paid by cheque, payable to “The Table Tennis League”. Where cash is paid, a signed receipt must be obtained.

16 The season shall begin at the AGM held in May prior to the season commencing.

17 Each team shall register sufficient players to enable it to fulfil the entire league and cup matches without intermission as no team can cancel league or cup matches more than twice in a season.

18 Teams form all divisions can have up to six players registered at any one time.

19a Any points won by an unregistered player(s) will not be counted nor awarded retrospectively. The opposition will be awarded the points as if that player(s) had not been present.

19b.All players must be registered and have paid their membership fee at least four days before taking part in any match. The final date for registration is January 1^st. After this date, registration is subject to the discretion of the General Committee. After this date, registration is subject to the discretion of the general committee. The only players allowed to be signed on or after the deadline are players already playing in the league, and can only be used if their ranking value is less than every other member of his/her proposed new team

20 During the season any transfers to another team are to be made in writing to the League Secretary for consideration by the General Committee. If approval is given, the player can play for his/her new club four days later, providing that the transfer takes place before January 1^st and no previous transfer by that player has taken place during that season.

21 Any player having a handicap of 6 or less must play at least 25% of the remaining league matches otherwise any points won will be discounted. Playing in a doubles game does not qualify as a match.

22 For any player to qualify for the merit league, he/she must have played at least 60% of the available matches.

23 Players shall be ranked in order of playing ability as shown by their ranking number. The ranking order shall apply in league and cup matches.

24 No player shall be eligible to take part in the semi-final stages of any individual knock-out competition or team handicap unless he/she has played in at least six league matches in the current season and cannot have played for a different team earlier in that season.

25 Any team can nominate reserves providing, they are from a lower division and have a lower ranking number when first registered than any of the existing players. A reserve can only play for one team per division and automatically moves up to that team after playing four matches. Players from anywhere in the league can be signed on for a team in a cup match, but they can only play for one team in a season.

26 All matches shall commence no later than 7:30 PM. One player must be in attendance at 7:30, the second player at 8:15 and the third player no later than 8:45 PM. The opposing side can claim the points of those sets, which could have been played if the opponent had been present.

27 The home team secretary has the sole responsibility to notify the fixtures secretary of the result of the match. Scorecards, normally should reach the fixtures secretary within three days of the match being played, otherwise a fine is applied (at the discretion of the league committee). If not received within six days the home team shall lose one point from the cumulative league points total.

28 In the event of two or more teams having the same number of points at the end of the season, their positions shall be re calculated and re adjusted by awarding two points for each match won and by awarding one point for every match ending in a draw.

29 Fred Holden Cup matches have priority over the league matches

30 In a group or round robin competition, all members of the group shall compete against each other and shall gain two match points for a win, 1 point for a loss in a played match and 0 points for a loss in an unplayed or unfinished match. The ranking order shall be determined primarily by the number of match points gained. If two or more members of the same group have gained the same number of match points their relative positions shall be determined only by the results of the matches between them, by considering successively the number of match points, the ratio of wins to losses first in individual matches (for a team event), games and points, as far as is necessary to resolve the order.
If at any step in the calculations the positions of one or more members of the group have been determined while the others are still equal, the results of the matches in which those members took part shall be excluded from any further calculations needed to resolve the equalities in accordance with the procedures above. If it is not possible to resolve the relative positions shall be determined by lot. This does not apply to Fred Holden Cup matches

GENERAL INFORMATION (NOT RULE CHANGES)

For casual play, practicing or coaching the hourly charge is  £1.00 per player. For league matches the charge shall be £10.00 per table per home match at Hyndburn Table Tennis Centre.

Matches shall be played the best of 5 up to 11 points Service changing every 2 points (per current ITTF rules).

Only fully paid up registered members can serve on any committee, partake in any league activities or take advantage of any discounts. (This is to be understood and a rule should not be necessary).
 

Copyright 2006                     Affiliated to the English Table Tennis Association and the Lancashire Table Tennis Association