Stock Winter Floodlit League Rules
STOCK WINTER FLOODLIT LEAGUE
LEAGUE RULES
1. The Competition
The Competition shall be called the Stock Winter Floodlit League. The season shall be 6 months commencing on 1st October and finishing on the 31st March the following year. The cut off date to play matches will be 7th April.
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2. League officials
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The league shall be managed by the 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 League Secretary will call a meeting annually of representatives of competing clubs. This will be the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the League.
Following the AGM member clubs will arrange fixture dates and make payment of fees to the league treasurer. Any club not represented at the AGM the onus is on that club to arrange its matches as soon as possible following the AGM.
Changes to the League rules can only be approved by the clubs represented at the AGM
.4. Membership and Fees
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New clubs seeking membership of the league must apply in writing to the League Secretary to join the league and will need approval of acceptance from league members at the AGM.
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Member clubs who wish to add to or reduce their number of teams in the League must inform the League Secretary one week before the AGM in each year.
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The annual fees payable shall be as agreed at the AGM and payable immediately to the League Treasurer. Fees shall be doubled if not paid at the AGM.
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5. League membership requirements
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The Stock Winter Floodlit League will be open to Clubs affiliated to the Chelmsford and Brentwood Summer Leagues or as agreed at the AGM.
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All clubs must provide two floodlit tennis courts unless an exception is agreed at the AGM.
Home clubs must provide a minimum of four new LTA approved balls per court.
6. Composition of the League
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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. 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).
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A player is not eligible to play for a team if he or she has played three times for any team in the same division or a higher division in that section.
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A player is not eligible to play for a team if he or she has been banned by a governing body or the home club.
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If a club plays an ineligible player, the player and partner will be considered to have lost both sets of the match by the maximum score.
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8. Composition of Matches
In all sections each competing team shall consist of two pairs and each pair shall play a match against each pair of the opposing team. Each individual match will consist of two sets. A minimum of four sets must be played for the result to stand.
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.
Matches will be played according to LTA tennis rules.
9. Match start times
All matches shall commence at 7pm or as mutually agreed between clubs but with a minimum of 3 hours play 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.
10. Points
Each match will consist of 8 sets. One point will be awarded for each set won.
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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 and the average sets lost by the conceding team. The conceding team will be deducted 2 points for the fixture.
Points awarded for any matches not played by the season cut off date shall be calculated at the end of the season by the League Secretary. Both clubs will receive average points as described above.
Clubs cannot agree to share the points.
11. Promotion/relegation
Promotion and relegation between divisions of all sections 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.
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. If these are equal then the results between the teams will determine the winner and if these are still equal then the team with the highest games difference in their favour will be placed above the team with a lesser difference.
12. Match cancellation/abandonment
After the AGM all clubs have until 1st September to rearrange fixtures and clubs are obliged to rearrange a match if requested. After 1st September, 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. 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 started 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
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 will not be accepted unless recorded on a proper Stock Winter Floodlit League result sheet (electronic or paper).
Incomplete result sheets will not be counted. Results sheets that do not reach the League Secretary by the 14th April will not be counted. .
14. Disputes
All questions of eligibility of players, interpretation of the rules or any other queries or disputes in relation to these competitions must be referred in writing to the League Secretary by 7th April, whose decision is final.
Last Updated: 23 July 2014