Brentwood League Rules
Brentwood & District LTA
League Rules
Last Updated : 21 February 2024
1.. The Competition The Competition shall be called the Brentwood & District Lawn Tennis Clubs’ Association Tennis League. The season shall be 6 months commencing on 1st April and finishing on the 30th September annually. The cut off date to play matches will be 14th October & all completed result sheets to be submitted to the League Match Secretary by the end of October.
2. League officials The league shall be managed by the Chairman, Secretary, League Secretary and the Treasurer, who shall be appointed annually by the clubs represented at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
3. Annual General Meeting The Secretary will call a meeting annually of representatives of competing clubs to arrange meetings and carry out any other business. This will be the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the League. Clubs will arrange fixture dates at this meeting. Any club not represented at the AGM the onus is on that club to arrange its matches.
4. Membership and Fees All clubs who are affiliated to the Brentwood & District Lawn Tennis Clubs’ Association are eligible for membership of the league. New clubs seeking membership and those clubs who wish to add to, and/or reduce their number of teams in the League must inform the League Secretary one week before the AGM in each year. New clubs applying to join the league will need approval of acceptance from league members at the AGM. The annual fees payable shall be as agreed at the AGM and payable at the following fixture meeting. Fees shall be doubled if not paid at that meeting. Any club not represented at an AGM shall be liable to a fine equivalent to double the sum of the offending clubs’ affiliation and league fees. Clubs not returning trophies in time for presentation at the AGM shall be fined £10 per trophy. A failure to return a cup to the League Secretary 30 days after the AGM date will incur the cost of replacing such trophy.
5. League membership requirements All clubs must provide two tennis courts. Floodlights are not compulsory. Home clubs must provide a minimum of four new LTA approved balls per court.
6. Composition of the League The league shall consist of a Mixed Doubles section, a Men’s Doubles section and a Ladies’ Doubles section. Each section shall comprise divisions having a maximum of eight teams, or as agreed at the AGM. In each division, each club will play each other club both home and away.
7. Eligibility of players Each player shall be a bona fide playing member of an affiliated club. A player may represent two clubs during a season providing that he or she is a bona fide playing member of both clubs. In this case, the player must nominate at the start of the season which clubs he or she will be representing in each of the two sections he or she may play in (i.e. Mixed and Ladies or Mixed and Men’s). A player is not eligible to play for a team if he or she has played three times for any higher team in that section. If a club plays an ineligible player, the player and partner will be considered to have lost all sets of the match by the maximum score.
8. Composition of Matches Matches will be played according to LTA tennis rules. In all sections each competing team shall consist of two pairs and each pair shall play against each pair of the opposing team two sets. The LTA tie break shall apply at six games all in each set unless both teams agree to score the final set as a championship (10 point) tie-break.
9. Match start times All matches shall commence at such time that a minimum of 2 ½ hours of play is available. Teams should be ready to start the match at the agreed time. This is particularly important where clubs have a restriction on availability of floodlights. Warm up time should be a maximum of 5 minutes. If a player is absent for more than 30 minutes after the time arranged for the start of play in a match, the player and partner will be considered to have lost the first set to their opponents by the maximum score. If a player is absent more than one hour after the time arranged for the start of play in a match, the player and partner will be considered to have lost both sets of the match by the maximum score. Should a player still be absent both after one hour from the arranged start time
& also at the commencement of the third set, the non-offending team captain has the option to claim both the third & fourth sets by the
maximum score.
10. Points Home and away matches to be played, one point to be awarded for each set won. Points awarded for a walkover shall be calculated at the end of the season by the League Secretary. The claiming team will receive half the sum of the average sets won by the claiming team plus the average sets lost by the conceding team. Any matches not played by the season cut off date will result in both clubs receiving ZERO points. Clubs cannot agree to share the points.
11. Promotion/relegation Promotion and regulation between divisions shall be on the basis of two up, two down (except between division 1 and 2 where only one team will move up or down), or as may be decided by the league secretary In the event of an equal number of points being gained by two or more clubs at the end of the season, the position in the league table will be decided on the number of matches won and if these are equal, on the difference of games won to those lost.
12. Match cancellation/abandonment If a team cancels a match, except when cancellation is necessitated by inclement weather, their opponents may, at their discretion, claim a walkover or agree to rearrange the match. Any team conceding the match will incur a penalty of 2 points which will be deducted from their results during the season. It is expected that every effort shall be made to rearrange cancelled matches. All matches started but abandoned before the end of the first round shall be re-arranged and the result will not stand. Thereafter the result shall stand and any uncompleted sets shall be divided equally. Matches not commenced or matches abandoned shall be played on the next available date provided that no match is played after the cut-off date.
13. Result sheets Results will not be accepted unless recorded on a proper result sheet (electronic or paper). Incomplete result sheets will not be counted. For each match both the home and away teams must send fully completed result sheets to the League Secretary as soon as possible after the completion of the match. In the event of a club claiming a walkover a result sheet should be submitted by the claiming club. Results sheets must be received by the League Secretary no later than one week after the cut-off date or they will not be counted and both teams will receive nil points.
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14. Safeguarding, Child Protection & Welfare
All clubs must confirm to the League Match Secretary that they have a nominated Child Protection & Welfare Officer (CPWO).
Should a Safeguarding, Child Protection or Welfare issue arise between two clubs during a league match. The League Match Secretary
be notified of the issue in writing and request the two clubs CPWO's to deal with the issue on behalf of the league in accordance with
LTA guidelines. Then report back to the League Match Secretary in writing for any further consideration or action.
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15. Disputes All questions of eligibility of players, interpretation of regulations or any other queries or disputes in relation to these competitions must be referred in writing to the League Secretary, whose decision is final.