Constitution and Rules

CONSTITUTION

NAME AND GOVERNANCE

1. The League shall be called the EAST LANCASHIRE TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE (“the League”)

1a. The affairs of the League shall be governed by a General Committee (“the Committee”) constituted as provided below.

Objects:

1. 2. The League shall be open to participation by clubs, teams and individuals in the East Lancashire district subject to the approval of the Committee.

2a. The League shall be non- profit making and any surplus shall be ploughed back into the League and shall not be for the financial gain of any individual.

2b. The principal purposes and functions of the League shall be to promote and support table tennis within the East Lancashire area, in particular by:

• Running an annual league
• Running competitions, tournaments and other table tennis events
• Providing a central base for the League (currently at Hyndburn Sports Centre) with practice facilities open to League Members and to other persons interested in playing table tennis subject to the approval of the Committee
• Providing or arranging coaching and training facilities

Affiliation and Registration

1. 3. The League shall be affiliated to the English Table Tennis Association (“Table Tennis England” / “TTE”) and the Lancashire County Table Tennis Association (“LCTTA”) and shall comply with their rules and regulations.

3a. Only TTE registered Compete and Compete Plus Members may play in the leagues, competitions and similar events run by the League,

Membership

4. The members of the League (“League Members”) shall be:

1. All persons who register to play in the League during the season (which shall commence immediately after the Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) held in May each yearand end withthe AGM the following year) and who have paid all fees due for that Season as provided bythe Rules below (“League Players”)
2. Any former player members of the League or other persons who (in either case) are accepted by the Committee as Non-playing Members.

4a. All applications for playing membership of the League shall be made in accordance with the Rules below only to the Fixtures Secretary, who shall decide upon the application unless overridden by the Committee.

4b. All Fees shall be paid prior to the commencement (normally in September) of the Annual League Programme or immediately upon joining during the Programme in accordance with the Rules below and will include: TTE and LTTA registration, individual membership, team fees, and, for those playing out of Hyndburn Table Tennis Centre, room and table fees. Fees (other than TTE/ LCTTA registration fees) shall be fixed for the forthcoming Season at the AGM or, in default, by the Committee and may be varied by the Committee if necessary to meet unanticipated changes or eventualities.

4c. All clubs, teams and individuals joining the League shall be deemed to accept this Constitution and Rules on admission.

The General Committee

1. 5. The Committee shall consist of the Officers and other Committee Members elected at the AGM or at an Extraordinary General Meeting (“EGM”) as provided below. Additional or replacement co-opted members may be included at the Committee's discretion.

5a. Officers must be League Members and shall consist of a Chairman, Vice Chairman, League Secretary, Treasurer and Fixtures Secretary. Other Committee Members shall be those elected or co-opted under 5 to nominated positions (e.g. coaching, schools, development, ladies, juniors, club or team representatives, press and/or HTTC representative) and must be League Members.

5b. All such Officers and Committee Members shall hold office for two Seasons from the AGM at which they were elected or, in the event of their being elected at an EGM or co-opted by the Committee, then for the remainder of the period of two Seasons running from the last AGM before they were so elected or co-opted. They shall be eligible for re-election. If they cease to be League Members they shall automatically retire from office.

5c. The powers and duties of the Committee shall include:

• Running and controlling the affairs of the League on behalf of the members.
• Keeping accurate accounts of the finances of the League through the Treasurer and producing an Annual Account at the AGM
• Deciding issues arising in the course of running the leagues, competitions and events organised by the League.
• Fining, suspending or expelling any player or club as deemed necessary if found guilty of misconduct or breach of this Constitution and Rules.

5d. The Committee shall meet as and when decided at their last meeting or when called by the Chairman or League Secretary. Notice of such meetings shall be given orally or by email to all Committee Members at least 48 hours before the meeting. Should any Committee Member be absent, without reasonable excuse, from three meetings in any Season he or she shall be automatically retired.

Meetings

1. 6. All meetings of the League and of the Committee shall be chaired by the Chairman or, in his absence, the Vice Chairman or, in the absence of both, another Committee Member deputed by one of them. The decision of the chair of meeting on points of order shall be final. Except for Rule 8 (Dissolution), all decisions reached will be by majority vote. Where votes are equal, the chair shall have a deciding vote. Five people entitled to vote shall form a quorum at all meetings.

6a. AGM: The Annual General Meeting of the League shall be held during May each year on a date to be decided by the Committee. At least 21 days’ notice of the AGM date shall be given by publication on the noticeboard at the League’s central base together with email notice to all Committee Members and all Secretaries of clubs and teams participating in the League that season. All current League Members (as defined under 4 above) shall be entitled to attend the AGM and will be eligible to vote.

6b. The AGM Agenda shall include the following:

• Minutes of the previous AGM and any subsequent EGM
• Reports of the Officers, including Treasurer’s Report and audited Annual Account c.c.
• Election of Officers and Committee Members when the current holder’s term of office is expiring or to fill any vacancies
• Appointment of auditors
• Fixing the next Season’s fees and fines unless impracticable at this stage.
• Any amendments to this Constitution and Rules.
• Any matters of which any League Member has given written or email notice to the Secretary at least 14 days before the AGM.

6c. EGM: An Extraordinary General Meeting (“EGM”) of the League to resolve any significant issues may be requested either by a majority vote at a Committee meeting or by at least 15 League Members giving written or e-mail notice to the League Secretary specifying the issue(s) in question. Upon such request the League Secretary shall call the EGM within 28 days by giving notice of not less than 21 days in the same manner as in 6a above for the AGM.

Change of Officers, Constitution or Rules

1. 7. No election of Officers or alteration to this Constitution and Rules may be made except at the AGM or an EGM called for that purpose. Any Constitution or Rule changes shall be submitted in writing to the League Secretary not less than 22 days before the AGM/EGM so as to allow these proposals to be considered & circulated prior to the meeting. Either the Proposer or the Seconder must be present at the meeting to support their motion.

Dissolution

1. 8. The League may only be dissolved by successful motion at an AGM or EGM. Advance Notice of the motion must be given in accordance with the notice provisions at 6a/6c above. The motion should be presented at this meeting by a Proposer and Seconder both of whom must be present. For this motion to be passed, 75% of the League Members present and voting at the meeting must be in favour of dissolution.

8a. In the event that the League is dissolved or otherwise wound up, any surplus assets (including funds) remaining after discharge of liabilities shall automatically be vested in TTE who shall hold them for a period of 6 years in trust to pay them to any organisation set up with objectives similar to those of the League (TTE during such period making every effort to promote and encourage the formation of such an organisation) and thereafter for the general purposes of TTE.

RULES

Annual League

1. 9. The annual league competition will normally begin in September and will be a competition for teams arranged in divisions as provided below. The Fixtures Secretary will maintain and publish a running record of match points and results, individual points scores and an individual Merit Table.

10. In the event that a situation arises that is not covered by the Rules, or a rule is unclear, or in other special circumstances accepted by the Committee, the Committee has the authority to make an overriding decision which is final. This does not constitute a precedent but may become a rule at the next AGM if considered appropriate.

Teams, Team Secretaries and Registration

1. 11. All players wishing to play in the annual league must be registered in a team of at least three. Each team must have a designated Team Secretary who shall be the contact point and organiser for that team but need not play for it. One person may be the Team Secretary for more than one team.
2. 12. All Team Secretaries must provide a telephone number where they can be contacted and an email address; (email will be the normal way that the Fixtures Secretary sends out and requests information to and from Team Secretaries). (IMPORTANT NOTE: however you contact each other, say to cancel or postpone games etc, if you use a text or email you must make sure an acknowledgment has been given back to you so you know they have received the cancellation information. Simply sending a text or email and assuming you have cancelled is not acceptable without confirming they have received it.)
3. 13. Any change of Team Secretary, Venue, Match night, address or telephone number shall be notified immediately to the Fixtures Secretary. In addition the opposition Team Secretaries shall be notified as soon as possible
4. 14. Teams from all divisions can have a team of up to eight players registered at any one time, however teams from within the lowest division may have up to 10 players registered at any one time.
5. 15. Each team shall register sufficient players to enable it to fulfil the entire League season and cup matches programme.

16. Fees (per season) & entry to the league: All Team Secretaries shall forward to the Fixtures Secretary their entry form indicating the team name, home night and venue, players to be registered, each player’s individual TTE registration number, and simultaneously send the fees due as indicated on the entry form to the Treasurer. For teams playing out of the Hyndburn Table Tennis Centre places at the centre shall be allocated on a first come first served basis. All teams playing from the Hyndburn Table Tennis Centre will be charged the agreed rate as fixed under 4b above and stated on the entry form for the season to cover table fees. The Team Secretary shall be responsible for all charges applicable to his/her team. Fees shall be paid by cheque, payable to “East Lancashire Table Tennis League”. Where cash is paid, a signed receipt must be obtained.

17. Each division is based normally on having ten teams, each team will play home and away. At the end of the season the top two teams in each division will be promoted. The bottom two in each division will likely be relegated depending on the number of teams dropping out or new teams coming in. If a division has only nine teams then only one would be relegated but two promoted. The Committee may promote more than two teams in some circumstances and has discretion to decide where any newly formed teams should be placed as well as putting more than 10 teams in a division if it deems it necessary. The Committee also has the right (as per rule 18 ) to ‘promote’ any team whose make up of players through changes or additions to previous seasons, in the Committee’s opinion has changed their standard sufficiently to be too good for their original division. (NOTE: It will not be normal practice to demote teams who due to team personnel changes have become weaker, unless they had been automatically demoted, or at the start of a season were requesting to drop a division which would be subject to the discretion of the Committee).

1. 18. All players must be registered with both TTE and the League and have paid their membership fees before taking part in any match. Any player requesting to be registered with the League after the original entry form has been submitted and after the teams have been set in their divisions will be subject to approval by the Committee to ensure such a player does not unfairly change the nature of the competition. Only in exceptional circumstances will any new registrations be permitted after January 1st; once again the full approval of the Committee is required. The Committee may refuse a registration or impose limitations if for any reason they think a registration of a player will affect the spirit of fair competition. If any additional information is found subsequent to this registration the Committee have a right to impose, at a later date, any conditions that were not imposed at the time of registration where it is felt a distortion of fair competition has arisen mid-season. (NOTE: At the entry form stage teams can register any player they choose but the Committee retain the right to judge what standard and division any particular team should then be placed).
2. 19. During the season any transfers to another team are to be made in writing to the League Secretary for consideration by the Committee. If approval is given, the player can play for his/her new team four days later, providing that the transfer takes place before January 1st and no previous transfer by that player has taken place during that season. No transfers at all may take place after Jan 1st, apart from when a player plays a 6th game as reserve for another team and thus becomes automatically transferred to the other team as in rule 20 below.

19a. 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.

1. 20. Any team can nominate reserves providing they are from a lower division or the same division and have a lower ranking number than the second highest ranked permanent registered squad player as known from the latest merit tables published on the league web at the date of the games a reserve is required (“the ranking provision”- if in doubt ring to check eligibility of reserve with the Fixtures Secretary before playing). A reserve can play for more than one team per division but if he/she plays for the same team more than 5 times will automatically be transferred permanently to that team and can no longer play from that point on for any other team except in a higher division than the team he/she has joined. (Exception for Juniors – see Rule 20a below). Reserves under this rule do not have to be registered to the same club and can come from any team as long as they comply with rest of the conditions above.

20a. Provided that the above ranking provision is complied with, Junior players can play up for any team in any division any number of times.

20b. A team consisting wholly of Junior players may play all their fixtures at their home venue. In the event that both teams are all Juniors the normal home and away system will apply.

21. If a team resigns from the League, all points will be removed and all monies forfeited.

1. 22. To be included in the final Merit Table a player must play a minimum of 50% +1 of possible league matches during the season.

Matches and Points

1. 23. The current rules of table tennis as adopted by TTE and LCTTA shall apply to all matches in the League
2. 24. All matches shall ideally be played on the dates stated on the fixture list. If either team is unable to field a full team, they may request of the other team that the match is played on an alternative date. If an agreement to re-arrange cannot be reached between the teams, then it can be referred to the Committee to arbitrate. The Committee, at their discretion, may order the match re-scheduled, or may award points to either side depending on the common sense fairness of either the request to re-arrange, or the refusal to do so. (Note 24a below - no penalty if at least two weeks notice was given) When awarding points in accordance with this rule; the points for, should be based on an average over the season; the points against, should be nil.

24a. A match can be postponed without penalty if more than 2 weeks notice is given to the other team. The opposition Team Secretary must agree to re-arrange the match.

24b. A match can be postponed without penalty if a team cannot field three players due to a town team commitment. The opposition Team Secretary must agree to re-arrange the match.

24c. No re-arrangements may be made or requested on the same days as the original fixture date, save in exceptional circumstances such as inclement weather.

1. 25. Any points won by an unregistered (See Notes on Affiliation and Membership) 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.
2. 26. The start time for matches shall be no later than 7.00pm at HTTC and at St Peters Burnley, 7.30pm at other venues. One player per team must be in attendance at the start time, the second by 45 minutes after and the third by 75 minutes after the start time. The order in which sets are played may be flexed accordingly and teams should cooperate reasonably to accommodate this, subject to which the opposing side can claim the points of those sets which could have been played if the opponent had been present in time. Any disputes regarding points to be claimed through this rule will be subject to the Committee who will have the final say on the matter.
3. 27. The Home team shall enter the playing order of its players on the scorecard first, then the away team. The game should then usually be played in the order of the card with discretion to leave doubles till the end unless by mutual agreement games are played out of order due to a player being delayed or someone needs to go early etc but this should not be abused. Either the player name or the player position, e.g. first, second, third in the team on the night, must be recorded on the scorecard for the doubles game.
4. 28. The match ball must be approved by both teams prior to the commencement of the match. In the event that an agreement cannot be reached a new ball must be used.
5. 29. The Home team’s Team Secretary has the sole responsibility to notify the Fixtures Secretary of the result of the match. Team Secretaries should always endeavour to ensure the scorecard is returned to the box in the Hyndburn Table Tennis Centre or posted to the Fixtures Secretary or a scanned copy emailed to the Fixtures Secretary no later than a week after the match was played. Very late and persistently late offenders may have penalty points deducted at the discretion of the Committee.
6. 30. 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. If still the same it will be decided by head to head statistics over the two games versus each other in the season.

Cup and Other Competitions

1. 31. 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

1. 32. No player shall be eligible to take part in the ELTTL Closed Competition (the Big Day) unless they have played in at least three league or cup matches in the current season. For the Divisional Individual Handicap Competitions and the Vets Competitions this is reduced to at least two matches in the current season. No player shall be eligible to play in the semi-final stage of any team handicap competition unless they have already played in at least three league or cup matches in the current season. (Note: played in league or cup matches refers to the player playing in the singles, not just the doubles match)

Fred Holden Handicap Competition

33. The Fred Holden Competition will be organised during the season. This will be organised on a team handicap basis. All teams will participate.

33a. Fred Holden Cup matches have priority over the League matches and are counted as due to be played in the weeks set aside in the programme on the regular home night of the home team at the home team’s venue, or in the case of the semi-final and final stages in the same week as scheduled in the programme on a night to be agreed to be played at a neutral venue or at a venue agreed by the two teams involved.

Other competitions

1. 34. 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 they shall be determined by lot. This does not apply to Fred Holden Cup matches