Outer Kent Rules

Kent (SE) League Rules

This competition will be run by a committee elected at the League AGM on behalf of the Kent Squash Rackets Association (Kent SRA). Any Club, which is a member of the Squash Rackets Association (SRA) and is, located South East of a line joining Gravesend and Tonbridge may apply to play in this competition. In order to participate, Clubs must be paid-up members of the SRA at 1st September. All players must be individual members of the SRA (current rate £6.30 adults £4.30 juniors)

1 TEAM PLAYERS

Teams shall consist of five members from a Club. No person may play for more than one Club in any one season except women players who may play for different Clubs in Women’s’ and Men’s’ divisions. Should anyone infringe this rule, that match and all lower matches will be forfeited. Players may change Clubs at Christmas, but only provided both Clubs agree (in writing) and that the change is ratified by a Committee meeting.

2 ELIGIBILITY

2A If a Club is entering more than one team in any section (Men’s, Women’s) of this competition, it must nominate five players per team, who are not then eligible to play for any lower side. This nomination must be made, in writing, before any lower side has played its first tie of the season and applies until 31st. December. A Club may re-nominate any or all members of the higher teams for the second half of the season. If no, nomination is received by the appropriate Results Secretary in advance of a tie being played, then the players appearing in that tie will be assumed to be the nominated players until advised, in writing, to the contrary. This assumption may well subsequently result in teams being penalised in accordance with other Rules.

2B Each registered player must play at least 4 times in each half season for the side for which they are registered. If for any reason this is not possible, the Club must reregister an alternative player as soon as this becomes apparent. Changes of registration take effect from the time of notification, in writing, to the appropriate Results Secretary. The penalty for infringement of this Rule will be: the tie in which the offending player should have played and all lower ties will be forfeited.

2C A player in a lower team may play up only 2 times per half season. Once they have appeared 3 times in higher sides they are not eligible to play for the lower side in that half season. The penalty for infringement of this Rule will be: the tie in which the offending player played and all lower ties will be forfeited.

2D No player may play for a team on or after the 20th February unless they have previously played for the Club in the Kent League (SE) during the season. Or have been registered with the appropriate Results Secretary at least 7 days prior to the fixture as a potential player. The penalty for infringement of this Rule will be the tie in which the offending player played and all lower ties will be forfeited.

2E Clubs will be required to submit an order of merit for the non-registered players they intend using during the season. This can be amended during the half season break. Additions to the order can be made throughout the season (up to the 20th Feb) by contacting the appropriate results secretary, at least 48 hours notice prior to playing is required. The penalty for infringement of this Rule will be the tie in which the offending player played and all lower ties will be forfeited.

Note: Rule 1 and Rules 2B, 2C, 2D and 2E. The offending team will not be awarded any ties it has won at the offending player’s level and lower. The other team will score points only for the ties it has won. Thus fewer points than normal may be awarded in such cases.

3 TIES/MATCHES/GAMES

Ties will consist of five matches each of five games. One point will be scored as a result of each game won and in addition, a further five points will be awarded to the winning side. The result of the competition will be decided on the total points scored - in the event of two or more teams finishing with equal points, the order will be decided by the number of ties won or if required by the number games won. If the order is still undecided, a decision will be made by the Secretary based on the results of the matches between the relevant teams.

4 FIXTURES AND START TIMES

4A Ties will be arranged by the Fixture Secretaries of the Clubs concerned. A complete list of all fixtures must be submitted to the appropriate Results Secretary as soon after the fixture meeting as possible. Teams will play each other twice (home and away). If a Club has two or more teams in the same division, these teams must play both ties before 31st. December. All fixtures must be completed and results received by the appropriate Results Secretary, in writing, by the time and date notified at the fixture meeting. Results not received by that time will not be included in the league table

4B If subsequently, a team wishes to alter a fixture date owing to unavailability of players or other problems it may do so with the agreement of the opposition. If a tie is to be rearranged, the new date must be notified to the appropriate Results Secretary within 7 days of the original date or the side requesting the rearrangement will concede the tie. If due notice is given (minimum one week), it is hoped the opposition will agree to a new date.

If agreement is not reached, the fixture must go ahead or the team concedes. In the event of a conceded fixture, the points will be awarded 20 - 0. If a team concedes within one week of the fixture date, they will incur a further penalty of five points, and if with less than 48 hours notice of the tie a penalty of 20 points. The appropriate Results Secretary must be informed of any change in fixture date and unless a conceding team notifies him/her 7 days before the fixture, they will incur the penalty 5 points. A team conceding 2 match walkovers or turning up with 4 or less players on 2 or more occasions may be liable to expulsion from the league for the next season. If a Club’s team withdraws from the league, subsequent to the fixture meeting, then all its teams may be liable to expulsion for the following season.

4C In the event that teams wish to play double-header fixtures, they must have written ( email is acceptable) approval from the Results secretary or League secretary at least 1 week before the fixture is due to take place. Failure to have approval will nullify the double header.

5 RULES OF PLAY and BALL

Rules of play shall be those laid down by the SRA. The ball for the match will be chosen by the home side. There is a great variation in the speed of courts and it is hoped that the double yellow spot ball will not be used in extremely cold conditions. Matches should be marked. At least one official should be used for each match. Normally, three matches should be marked by the home side and two matches by the away side.

6 LEAGUE SYSTEM

The winners of each league will receive a trophy and together with the runners-up will be promoted to a higher division the following season. The bottom two Clubs will be relegated to a lower division. (Four Clubs from division 3 of the Mens’ league) The Organising Secretary reserves the right to promote further Clubs in the event of withdrawals or other problems. Some rearrangements may be needed to accommodate geographical imbalance in the lower divisions. In a division, the leading player will be the player who has won the most matches. In the event of a tie, it will be the player having the best games for/against record. The leading player in each division will receive a trophy.

7 TEAM ORDER

Teams are required to play in order of merit. Captains should arrive at a fixture with their playing order written down to exchange with the opposition Captain. Any team knowingly arriving at a fixture with four players will be deemed to be without their number 5 etc. This match will be scored 3 - -1. If a player does not arrive by the end of the fourth tie, his tie and all below his position will be awarded to the opposition at a score of 3 - 0. In the event of three players only turning up this match will be scored 3 - -2.

Note: If due to miss-registration or improvement / loss of ability or form of players the team’s order of merit is not correct. Then it may be changed to achieve the correct order of merit. However to achieve this players may not change place by more than one position (relative to the same players) in any two consecutive matches. Should two players have very similar ability a decision on their relative order of merit should be made and then adhered to for a reasonable time (i.e. for several matches). The temporary indisposition of a player does not justify that player being played out of position.

8 LEAGUE POINTS

Any irregularities in a result of a fixture due to non-observance of Rules 2A or 7 will mean that the fixture will be treated as a conceded fixture i.e. the points will be awarded 20 to minus 5. Such decisions will be made by the Results Secretary and notified to the offending Club in writing. The Club will have the right of appeal to a league committee meeting. Any appeals or objections concerning Rules 2A, 2C or 7 must be submitted to the Results Secretary within 10 days of notification of the penalty.

9 START TIME

It is the responsibility of both sides to arrive on time. If there is insufficient court time to complete a tie, the away team shall concede any outstanding matches if the lack of time is a result of their late arrival, otherwise the home team shall concede.

10 LEAGUE RESULTS

It is required to email the result to the Results secretary. Ideally this should be the home captain and copied to the away captain. The Results secretary provides an ‘Excel’ template which is the preferred format. However results in other formats will be accepted. The result should be sent to the Results secretary within 48 hours of the match being played. Results arriving or not posted on the website more than 14 days after the date of the match may not be included.

In addition, now that the website is running (www.kent-squash.co.uk) it is the responsibility of the HOME CAPTAIN to put the results onto the website. The away captain should check the result on line in case there is a disagreement. (Should not occur if either email or posted result protocol is followed)

Note, it is still acceptable to post the result of matches to the Results secretary, this is however not preferred and cards will not be provided by the League

11 DISPUTES

Any complaint regarding the behaviour of players or spectators on or off court should be made in writing to the League Secretary. If necessary, such complaints will be considered by a Committee Meeting which will have the power to suspend or ban offending players or teams.

In the event that another recognized squash body, eg Kent SRA or England squash have disciplined a player through a separate disciplinary process, the Outer Kent Committee (minimum 3 members) will meet to ratify this decision or agree appropriate action.

12 ENTRY FEES

There is an entry fee of £35 per team (£15 of this will form a contribution to KSRA funds) Payment is due on 1st September and if paid by the end of September a discount of £5 can be applied. An additional £5 discount is available per club for payment in August. Non-payment of the fee will result in the Club’s teams being withdrawn from the league. For the Summer league fees are £20 per team including £10 KSRA contribution.

13 NEW ENTRIES

Any new side wishing to enter the league will be most likely placed in the lowest division. The zone will be decided by the organising secretary.

14 COURT CONDITION

Before the start of the tie, or up to the completion of the first game (not match) on either court, the Captains can agree to postpone the tie if it is agreed that the courts are in a dangerous condition because of moisture or other reasons which make play hazardous to the players or damaging to the court. If postponed, the entire tie will be replayed on the same courts at a later date to be agreed by both sides. The appropriate Results Secretary should be informed so that the problem can be discussed with the home club to prevent repetition of the circumstances.

15 CUP ENTRY

All teams entered into the league will be entered into the appropriate cup competition, currently division 1 into the Cornwallis cup, division’s 2+3 into Cornwallis A (CWA) and divisions 4E & 4W into the Cornwallis B (CWB). The entry fee for cup entry has been removed, however a fine of up to 20 league points may be applied for a team not fulfilling a fixture.

Note: Although there appear to be a lot of Rules, even these may not cover every situation that may arise. It is hoped that Club’s will comply with the ‘spirit of the Rules’, where any loopholes exist in the written Rules. The League Secretary reserves the right to amend/create Rules to ensure fair play.

1/9/2009