Exeter & District Tennis League 
 

                                                                                                                    RULES

LEAGUE MANAGEMENT

1) The League shall be known as "The Exeter and District Lawn Tennis League".

2) The Headquarters of the League shall be in Exeter.

3) The management of the League shall be vested in an Executive Committee, which shall consist of a Chairman, General Secretary, Match Secretary, Treasurer, and up to six other members, with power to co-opt as necessary.

4) All clubs must be affiliated to the Lawn Tennis Association before playing in the League.

5) Any club seeking election or re-election to the League must:

a) Make an application to the General Secretary.

b) Obtain a two-thirds majority at the Annual General Meeting.

c) If accepted start in the lowest Division.

6) The Executive Committee shall have the power to suspend or expel any team or member of the League whose conduct in their opinion is detrimental to the interests of the League.

7) a) The Annual General Meeting shall be held before 15^th April, upon 14 days notice being given.

b) All clubs shall notify the Match Secretary of the teams they wish to enter during the forthcoming season on the form provided.

8) Clubs with multiple teams in the league who wish to withdraw a team from a higher division can only do so in exceptional circumstances and with the Executive Committee's approval.  If approval is not given, then the lowest team will be withdrawn.

9) One member from each club shall be allowed to vote at the Annual General Meeting.

10) The League subscriptions shall be decided at each Annual General Meeting, payable to the Treasurer not later than 1^st June.

11) The League shall consist of such Divisions as the Executive Committee may decide.

12) The League shall make awards to the winning teams of each Division.

13) Clubs or individuals holding permanent trophies of the League must provide security for their safe keeping and return when requested.

14) Promotion and Relegation shall be:

a) Two up and two down, except one will be promoted from Division 2 and one relegated from Division 1.

b) The second placed team in Division 2 may challenge the second from bottom team in Division 1 by 1st October to a play off to decide who will be in Division 1 the following season.  If a challenge is made, then this match must be completed before 31st October of the same season. Under no circumstances will there be an extension of this date. The venue will be decided by the toss of a coin organised by the Executive Committee. Pairs will have to consist of players registered for this team who have played in at least four fixtures that season for the team or team(s) in a lower division. In the event of a draw the match will be decided on the number of games won. If still a draw, one set will be played between a pairing of each team’s choice.

c) A team withdrawing from the League at any time will not affect promotion but will be counted as one of the teams relegated from that Division. Other teams may be promoted or relegated where appropriate, to ensure equal numbers of teams in each Division.

15) In the event of a "Tie" between two or more teams, League placing will be decided as follows:

a) The team with the most wins.

b) The better results in the two games played against each other.

c) If still level - a play off - on a neutral ground chosen by the Executive Committee.

16) The Match Secretary has full power to enforce the League rules with regard to matches.

17) Any proposed amendments to rules must be sent to the General Secretary by 1^st March each season.

 

TEAM MANAGEMENT

Fixtures

18) Dates of league matches shall be arranged before 21^st April each season and notified to the Match Secretary, on the form provided, by 1^st May, or the team’s first match whichever is the earlier. All matches shall be played on the date specified on the fixture list unless both Captains agree to an earlier date. After that date no postponements will be allowed, except by the Home team due to bad weather. The Home team must then, within five days, inform the Match Secretary of the postponement and offer the opponents at least three alternative dates, which must be in different weeks, for the rearranged match. The opposing team must agree a date within two weeks of the postponement and the Match Secretary notified of the new date by the Home team. If dates are not offered or agreed within the above time span, then the offending team will be fined 2 points.  In the event of the match never being re-arranged, the offending team will forfeit the match and rule 30 will apply and the fine increased to 4 points.

19) Clubs with two or more teams in the same Division must complete their inter-club fixtures not later than 31^st May. No points will be awarded for matches played after this date.

20) All matches must be played by 30^th September unless otherwise agreed by the Committee.

Player Registration

21) At least four players shall be registered for each team on the form provided, and such registration shall be received by the Match Secretary by 1^st May or before a club’s first match, whichever is the earlier. Teams must be nominated in merit order.

22) No person shall become a member of the League or qualify to play in a League fixture, or represent a club at a General Meeting, until he/she has become a fully paid up member of the club they represent.

23) A player shall only play for one club during the current season.

a) No registered player may play for a lower ranked team than the one registered for.  A registered player may play in higher ranked teams within their club on a maximum of two occasions and remain eligible for inclusion in their original team.

 b)  If a player plays three matches for teams in higher Divisions, he/she shall not then be eligible to play for the team with which he/she was initially registered during the current season.  He/she must then be re-registered in one of the higher teams played for, with the decision made by the club, and the Match Secretary notified. He/she can then only play for that team.  A player may only be re-registered once in a season.

c) Players in clubs with two or more teams in the same Division may only represent one team within that Division.

d) Should a club decide a player has been registered for too high a team, that player may be transferred to a team below provided that: 

(i) He/she has not played more than twice for the higher team.

(ii) The higher team have played at least three matches.

(iii) Where fewer than four players remain in the higher team another player is registered in his/her place.

The Match Secretary must be informed of the transfer before the player plays for the lower team. A transferred player may not play for a higher team during the current season.

e) Additional players may be registered, and the Match Secretary must be informed before such players play their first match. Contravention of this Rule will result in the offending team being penalised as in Rule 24.

24) The Match Secretary shall report to the Executive Committee every case of a team playing an unregistered or an ineligible player in a League fixture. The offending team shall forfeit the League points scored by that player and his/her partner, the points being awarded to the opposing team. The offending team shall also be fined 2 points.

Completed Matches

25) The Team Captains shall forward the completed score sheets in respect of all home matches played to the Match Secretary, within five days of the match being completed. Home teams whose score sheets have not been received after seven days will be fined 2 points.

26) Teams failing to raise four players for two matches during the season shall be relegated by one Division and teams in the lowest Division shall be expelled from the League and must apply for re-election the following season.

27) Any appeals against decisions of the Match Secretary must be made within two weeks of the Club having been informed of the decision or the match results having been posted on the web. Appeals must be submitted to the General Secretary in writing or by email and will only be accepted from either the Team Captain or the nominated Club Contact.

 

 

28) One 'Home' and one 'Away' match shall be played between each team within the same Division. Matches shall consist of four doubles rubbers, there being four players in each team. Each rubber shall be the best of three sets, a tie break (first to seven by two clear points) to operate at six games all. If a rubber goes to a third set, that set will consist of a championship tie break (first to ten by two clear points). Each set shall count as one point.

29) The Home team must provide a minimum of six new balls for each match. All balls must correspond to LTA standard and must be of the current year of manufacture. The Home team decides which courts a match is to be played on and the match must be completed on these courts unless otherwise agreed by the Captains. The away team Captain may choose the order of play, eg 1^st pair vs 1^st pair, or 1^st pair vs 2^nd pair. At the end of the first rubbers, the away team shall stay on the same courts.

30) Matches shall commence not later than 6.30 pm and all players shall be in attendance at that time. Unfinished or un-played sets will be scored 6-0 in the event of matches being unfinished due to:

a) The late arrival of one or more members of one of the participating teams.

b) A player being unable to continue due to injury or other unavoidable cause.

If one or more members of one of the participating teams are not able to commence play within 30 minutes of the appointed starting time, the offending team will forfeit one set for each affected rubber.  If play does not commence within 60 minutes of the appointed starting time, the affected rubber(s) will be forfeited. The match will be forfeited if any player(s) is (are) not available  to play either  60 minutes after the appointed start time or by the time that the first rubber has been completed, whichever is the later.  Failure of a team to fulfil a fixture, due to the non-arrival of one or more members or by failing to comply with Rule 18 in respect of postponed fixtures shall result in the non-offending team being awarded the match 8-0, sets being scored 6-0. In addition the offending team shall be fined 4 points. The Executive Committee, however, has the right to waive the deduction of 4 points when a written appeal is upheld by the Executive Committee, whose decision is final. Matches unfinished at the end of the season will be scored on the number of completed sets.

31) a) In the event of rain, bad light, or any other unavoidable cause, uncompleted matches shall be continued at a later date where they are left off.

b) The away team shall decide on whether the match is called off for bad light but will forfeit any un-played or incomplete sets should they not return to finish the match.

c)  If a player involved in the match becomes injured and is unable to play for the rest of the season, then, in agreement with the opposition captain, a substitute may be used but must be from a lower team unless this is the club’s lowest team. The Match Secretary to be notified of the date the match is to be completed or replayed, as in Rule 18.