LEICESTERSHIRE LADIES SQUASH LEAGUE
2015/2016 SEASON
LEAGUE RULES AND REGULATIONS
1. All games are to be played in accordance with the current rules of the World Squash Federation.
2. The competition shall be managed by a general committee consisting of one representative from each club participating in the league. The general committee shall meet once a year at the end of the league season.
The day to day running of the league shall be managed by an executive committee consisting of 3/4 members elected annually by the members of the general committee at the AGM.
The league shall be open to any club in the Leicestershire area at the discretion of the general committee. There shall be an entry fee (to be fixed at the AGM) due at the start of the season. No fixtures shall be issued to any club failing to pay this fee.
3. At the discretion of the general committee, each of the clubs may enter one or more teams which shall play in order of merit. Clubs shall not be limited to the number of teams they may enter. All team entries must be received by the date specified on the entry form.
4. The number of teams in each division will be decided by the executive committee when all entries have been received. No team may avoid promotion or relegation.
Any captain who has a change of address or telephone number must inform the league secretary in writing.
5. Registering and Eligibility of Players.
a) No player may be nominated for more than one club in the Leicestershire League during a season.
b) A player must be a bona fide paid up member of the club.
c) An order of merit must be submitted to the League Secretary before the first match of the season. All players intending to play for the club (even as possible reserves) must be included in the list in their correct position. Teams with more than one team in a single division MUST play in strict ranked order ie 1-4 shall be the first team, 5-8 shall be the second team. Paragraph n below is still applicable.
d) The order of merit shall not alter until the half way point of the season unless a new player joins the club – see g) below.
e) The EC will review all orders of merit and shall have the power to alter any players positions or exclude any player who is not nominated in a justified position.
f) Only players nominated in the order of merit may play for the club during the season subject to rules. The order of merit may contain up to 50 names.
g) No player may play below her nominated place for any reason. Any player playing below her position will be deemed to have lost the tie and all ties played below her in the match will be awarded to the opposition and the match result altered accordingly.
Should a new player arrive at the club during the season, she may be inserted into the order of merit on request to the league secretary prior to the first match in which it is intended that she plays.
The new player must play 2 matches before the end of the half season in which she is nominated. If there are not 2 matches remaining in that half of the season, then she must wait to commence playing until the following half of the season.
All players below her in the order of merit will then be moved down accordingly.
h) No player may play more than 24 matches in any one season.
i) If the club wishes to alter the order of merit at the half way point of the season, a new order should be submitted to the League Secretary prior to the first match of the second half of the season. If no new order is received then it will be deemed that the order will remain the same.
j) Any player in the order of merit in a team position* who does not play at least 2 matches for the club before the half way point of the season will be removed from the order of merit and shall not be allowed to play in the second half of the season.
Any club losing players from their order of merit in this way will not be allowed to promote players out of order or register new players to fill the spaces. Any exceptions will be at the sole discretion of the EC.
Team positions are as follows:-
For one team - Nos 1-4 on the order of merit.
For two teams - Nos 1-8 on the order of merit
For three teams - Nos 1-12 on the order of merit
k) No new player may be introduced into the order of merit at the half way point except by permission of the EC. If a player is given permission to join it will be on the condition that 2 matches will be played by the end of the second half of the season.
l) Any team player who is pregnant either at the start of the season or discovers she is pregnant during the course of the season, must not play in her team after 4 months of her pregnancy.
m) Each player nominated in a 1st team position must play at least 1 of the first 3 matches in each half-season. Failure to do so will result in them being ineligible to play for the remainder of the season. Their name shall be removed from the team nominations and all players ranked below them moved up. This will mean that the player previously nominated in the number 1 position for the 2nd team will only be able to play for their 1st team.
n) The team player ranked at number 4 for the first team may play down as the number 1 player for the second team an unlimited amount of times.
6. Scoring & Refereeing
The team shall score 1 point for each individual game won, the player winning the tie shall be awarded 1 bonus point. 1 bonus point shall be awarded for each player who plays.
The home team scores the match and the away team must referee, unless agreement is made otherwise prior to the start of the match.
7. Start Times and Playing Order.
All players intending to participate in a match should be ready to play at the designated start time, unless by prior arrangement with the two captains and a good reason is given.
The normal order of play should be 4321 unless by prior agreement with the captains, and a good reason is given. It is not acceptable for the higher strings to play early and then stay for the rest of the evening.
If a player is not in attendance to play when the court is free for their tie and no other tie can be played, then that player will be allowed 10 minutes in which to arrive, after which the tie will be deemed a win for the opposition and also those ties below will be awarded to the opposition.
8. Failure to Attend.
In the event of a team failing to attend a match or failing to give 48 hours notice of their intention to concede a match, they shall be deducted 15 penalty points and their opponents awarded 20. They shall also be liable for any costs incurred.
Should less than 3 players from the away team stay for the food without giving at least 48 hours notice, they shall be liable for any costs incurred.
All captains of the home team must confirm their fixture to the away captain at least 7 days before the fixture date. However, if no contact has been made, the away captain should then make contact.
Any team changing their fixture night after the fixtures have been produced will be required to tell the League Secretary in order that the website be updated, and confirm with the opposing Team Captain.
9. For a match result to be valid, a team must consist of at least 3 players. It is the responsibility of the team who are intending to play with less than 4 players to inform the opposition’s captain prior to the match.
When two teams from the same club are playing on the same night, the 1st team must have 4 players, whether players are taken from the 2nd team or the pool. Failure to do so will result in the 2nd team losing all points as this will be deemed as playing out of order.
10. Injury
In the event of a player being injured during the course of a match and being unable to continue play, the injured player must concede the tie.
However, where the injury resulted from an accident on court, then the points will only be awarded for the games completed. No bonus points will be awarded to the uninjured player, except in the event of a draw between teams.
11. All matches should be played on the dates arranged by the EC.
The only exceptions are:-
a) Matches which have been altered by the captains before the start of the season – captains must notify the league organiser by writing/email as soon as possible but no later than 1st October. Failure to do so will incur penalty points.
b) A strike which affects the playing of the game e.g. water, electricity
c) Extreme weather conditions
d) Exceptional circumstances, as deemed by the EC e.g. flooding or fire at the host club, conflict with a national competition and the Leicestershire County Closed for 3 or more of the regular players.
12. At the end of the season, the team scoring the most points shall be the winners of their division. In the event of a tie on points, the team with the most matches won shall be the winner. If there is still a tie then the result of the matches between the two teams will be used to decide the winner. If the teams are still equal, then a ‘play-off’, at a time and place decided by the EC, will decide the winner. Trophies shall be awarded to the winning team of each division at the end of the season.
13. Both home and away teams must ensure scores are inputted to website within 5 days of the date of the match. In the event of dispute the secretary will be consulted.