CONSTITUTION
AND RULES OF THE BURY AND DISTRICT
TABLE
TENNIS LEAGUE after 2013 AGM
1.
Name. The League shall be called "The Bury and
District Table Tennis League".
2.
Constitution.
(a)
Membership shall be open to such Clubs affiliated
to the E.T.T.A. as the Management Committee may approve.
(b)
The purpose of the League is to promote the sport
of table-tennis in and around the Bury area.
(c)
The League may only be dissolved at a properly
convened General Meeting and if no less than three-quarters of those present
and voting agree to the dissolution.
(d)
In the event of dissolution, after settling all the
liabilities of the League the Committee shall not distribute the remaining
assets to members of the League but shall transfer them to some other voluntary
organisation having similar objectives to the League.
3.
Subscriptions. The annual subscription shall be £30 per
team. All Clubs shall pay their
subscriptions and fees by the 30th September in each season. Any Club not paying these by this date shall
be fined £10 for each month and part of a month that they remain unpaid. If any subscription or fee remains unpaid on
the 31st December, that Club shall be expelled from the League for the
following season.
4.
Officers.
(a)
The Officers of the League shall be President, Chairman,
Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Match Secretary, Tournament Secretary,
Inter-league Secretary and Coaching/Development Officer.
(b)
The Management Committee shall consist of the
Officers of the League and up to five Ordinary Committee Members.
(c)
Honorary Life Members may be elected by the
Management Committee.
5.
Annual
General Meeting.
(a)
The Annual General Meeting of the League shall be
held as soon after the end of April in each calendar year as is feasible and
all registered players of the League shall be entitled to attend.
(b)
Each Club shall have one vote at this meeting.
(c)
The Officers and Ordinary Committee Members
mentioned in Rule 4(a) and (b) shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting.
(d)
Five people entitled to vote shall form a quorum.
(e)
A Club failing to be represented shall be fined £10.
6.
Meetings.
(a)
A
General Meeting shall be held prior to the beginning of the season for
collection of handbooks and any relevant information for the new season, at
which all clubs shall be entitled to one vote.
(b)
Management
Committee meetings will be held throughout the year as deemed necessary by the
Committee.
(c)
Any
member of the Committee (except the President) who misses three consecutive
committee meetings in any one season without reasonable excuse shall cease to
be a member of the Committee and the Committee shall have the power to fill any
such vacancy.
7.
Alteration
of Rules. No
alteration of, or amendment to, or revision of the Rules of the League shall be
made except at the Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting expressly
called for that purpose. Any proposed
alteration to the Rules must be notified in writing to the Secretary at least
twenty-one days before the Meeting and shall be circulated to all Clubs at
least fourteen days before the meeting.
8.
League
Rules.
(a)
The League shall consist of as many divisions as
are deemed appropriate by the Management Committee with as many teams in each
division as the Management Committee deem appropriate.
(b)
Each Club shall register with the Match Secretary sufficient
players to enable it to run the team or teams entered. All players must be registered with the Match
Secretary and have ETTA individual player membership before taking part in any
match. The registration of any player
shall be subject to the approval of the Management Committee and, in
particular, the registration of any player after 31st January in any season
must be specifically approved by the Management Committee.
Clubs
must supply to the Match Secretary evidence of ETTA membership for their
players. The Committee shall specify the
latest date for the submission of the evidence.
Only players whose evidence has been submitted by the specified date
will be eligible to play in any League match.
(c)
(i)
Clubs must rank all players in order of playing
ability and such ranking lists shall be subject to the acceptance of the
Management Committee. Players of similar
ability may be ranked equally. Each
player must be assigned to one of the Club’s teams and more than three players
may be assigned to any team. Higher
ranked players must be assigned to the higher ranked teams. A player may play for a higher team than the
one to which he/she is assigned, but may not play for a lower. If a player plays five times for higher
ranked teams the Club must re-assign him/her to one of those teams and notify
the Match Secretary.
(ii)
The Management Committee may allow deviations from
the provisions of 8(c)(i) in exceptional circumstances or if it believes that
such action will be for the benefit of the League.
(iii)
Any team playing an ineligible player shall be
fined £3 for each player and, at the discretion of the Management Committee,
may forfeit the match except in the case of a cup match which will be
forfeited. If a regular player or
reserve is not available for a match, a guest player will be allowed to
play. The guest player will be a
registered club player not eligible for that team and his or her games would
not count.
(d)
The Management Committee shall have power, if they
consider a player is not playing frequently for a Club, to co-rank that player
at a position in the Club's ranking list equal with another player or players.
(e)
A registered player who wishes to transfer to
another Club shall make application to the Match Secretary who shall place such
application before the next meeting of the Management Committee. If the Management Committee approves such an
application the player will be permitted to play for his new Club in the week
after permission has been granted. Not
more than one transfer per player per season will be considered.
(f)
(i)
All matches should be played on the date stated in
the handbook but, if both teams agree, a match can be brought forward and
played before the date specified in the Handbook or moved to a later day in the
scheduled week. Such matches would not
be regarded as postponed matches.
(ii)
Matches may only be postponed if:
(a)
the home team's room is unavailable or
(b)
a player of either team is required for a Bury
League representative match or
(c)
there are exceptional circumstances approved by the
Emergency Committee
(iii)
If a match is postponed under one of the above
circumstances every effort must be made to re-arrange the match. The options are:
(a)
both club secretaries agree on a new date; this
date to be no later than the last week of scheduled League matches or the
scheduled date of the return fixture, whichever is earlier
(b)
amalgamate the match with the return fixture in the
second half of the season and play for double points and double wins. This will apply to any first-half match that
has not been played by the scheduled date of the return fixture.
If the match is still
not played then the Committee may impose a fine of £15 on either or both teams.
(iv)
If any match is not played during a season the
Committee shall award points and wins to neither, either or both teams as the
Committee considers fair.
(v)
If one team is considered not to be at fault it
shall receive a minimum of three points.
(g)
It shall be the responsibility of a Club changing
its Secretary, Headquarters or Match Night, or the Secretary changing his or
her address, to notify in writing the Secretary and the Match Secretary and the
Secretary of each Club in the division or divisions to which they are attached
whose teams they still have to play at home.
Where a club changes its headquarters or match night, all opponents for
home Cup matches must be sent a reminder at least 7 days and not more than 10
days before the Fixture. No one person
shall be the secretary of more than one club at any one time.
(h)
Should a team resign from the League after their
entry has been accepted the Management Committee may impose a fine, make any adjustments
to the league tables it considers appropriate and may suspend any regular
players for that team for the rest of that season.
(i)
All matches are to commence not later than 7.30
p.m. and two players must be in attendance by 7.45 p.m. In the event of the non-arrival of players by
these times, the opposing team may claim the sets of the absent players. If no player is in attendance by 8.00 p.m.
the match will be awarded under the provisions of rule 8(f). Any one player with a reason acceptable to
the opposing team may play if in attendance by 9.15 p.m., but the score card
must be endorsed with the time of arrival and the reason for lateness and the
opponents must also be told by 7.30 p.m.
All sets must be completed and any player not completing all his sets
may be subject to disciplinary action, in addition to his club, by the
Management Committee. Any team not
fielding three players in any match shall be fined £3 for each player missing.
(j)
Score cards with the result of the match must be
forwarded by the home Club to the Match Secretary. All cards must either bear a postmark within
48 hours of the match or be sent electronically (or delivered by hand) within
72 hours of the match, otherwise a fine of £2 will be imposed. Sunday shall be ignored for all purposes of
this rule. If a score card is submitted
with the scores filled in for a player who was not actually present, each team
shall be fined £10 and the two players signing the card shall be suspended for
one match. If the card is not signed by
a team, the suspension shall apply to all players of that team present during
the match.
If a player is proved to have played under a false
name, that team shall be fined £15 and all players who took part in that match
for that team shall be suspended for two matches.
All suspensions are to commence on the Monday of
the week following the decision by the Management Committee
(k)
The divisions shall play their matches as follows:
(i)
In divisions of 8 teams or less, each team shall
play all other teams in its division three times in each season, at least once
at home and at least once away. In
divisions of more than 8 teams, each team shall play all other teams in its
division twice in each season, once at home and once away.
(ii)
Teams shall consist of not less than three players
nor more than five players. The three
players for singles shall play each member of the other side one set. In addition two players (not necessarily the
same as in singles) shall play a doubles match against two players of the other
side, one set.
(iii)
The sets shall be played in the following order:
1 v 2; 3 v 1; 2 v 3; 3 v 2; 1 v 3; D; 2 v 1;
3 v 3; 2 v 2; 1 v 1; home team first in each case.
If a match is played out of score card order
through an acceptable reason, the order shall be decided by the opponents of
the team causing the match to be played out of order.
If both teams agree, the doubles may be played as
the last set of the match.
(iv)
The home captain shall write the names of his team
on the score card before the opponents.
(v)
Umpires shall be agreed upon mutually and the
Umpire's decision on all points shall be final.
(l)
A Top Ten competition shall be held for each
division whereby each player is awarded one win for every singles win in league
matches whether awarded or played. The winner
shall be the player with the most number of wins each season. In the event of two players finishing with an
equal number of wins, the player with the least defeats shall be adjudged the
winner and in the event of continued equality a play-off over five games shall
be arranged by the Management Committee to decide the winner.
If a match is awarded
to a team under Rule 8(f) then this team must submit a scorecard recording the
results. The players named on the
scorecard will be credited with wins for the purposes of the Top Ten
competition.
If sets or a match are
claimed under Rule 8(i) then the players present will be credited with wins for
the purposes of the Top Ten competition.
Defeats will not be
recorded against any player under the provisions of Rules 8(f) and (i).
(m)
In a match a team shall be credited with one point
for each set won, each such point to count in the league table. At the end of the season the top two teams
shall be promoted and the bottom two teams relegated. In the event of a tie on points the deciding
factors shall be, in order of precedence:
(i)
matches won
(ii)
matches lost (the fewer losses determining the
higher league position)
(iii)
the aggregate result of the home and away fixtures
between the teams involved.
If there is still a tie, a play-off over nine sets
shall take place between the teams on a neutral table to be decided by the
Management Committee. In any event, at
the start of the season, the Management Committee will consider all accepted entries
and will allocate the teams to such divisions as they deem fit. All applications for a new season shall be
accompanied by a list of the players who it is intended shall play for that
club in ranking order. After a team has
been allocated to a particular division, the Management Committee shall have
the power to refuse the registration of a player who has proven ability at a
higher level than the division to which his team has been allocated.
(n)
The current laws of table tennis as adopted by the
E.T.T.A. shall apply to all matches in the League.
(o)
Team Cup Competitions will be arranged for each
division and for all divisions.
The arrangements and rules for the competitions
will be specified by the Committee.
Details will be published on the website during the season.
(p)
The arrangements and rules for the end of season
tournaments will be specified by the Committee.
If significant changes from the previous season are
proposed the details will be circulated to all clubs for their comments. After considering any responses from clubs
the Committee will publish final details of the arrangements and rules on the
website.
(q)
Any protest or appeal relating to any violation of
the rules of the League shall be lodged in writing with the Match Secretary
enclosing a £5 fee (which will be returned if the protest or appeal is upheld)
and at the same time a full copy of the protest or appeal shall be sent to the
Secretary of the opposing Club. This
must take place within 7 days of the match in question having taken place, and
come from the Club Secretary of the team who are putting forward the appeal.
(r)
The Management Committee shall have power to fine
or suspend any player for unacceptable behaviour in the course of a match.
(s)
The Management Committee shall have the power to
appoint any number of sub-committees to deal with any matter providing that the
majority of such sub-committees shall be members of the Management Committee.
(i)
In particular the Management Committee will appoint
an Emergency Committee made up of three nominated and elected people, who shall
discuss and rule on any matter which, in the opinion of the Chairman of the
League, cannot wait until it is heard at the next scheduled Management
Committee meeting. The Management
Committee shall nominate and appoint a first and second reserve for the
Emergency Committee who shall stand in, in order, should any of the three full
Emergency Committee members be unavailable or ineligible (due to having an
"interest" in the matter) to sit on a particular issue.
(ii)
The Emergency Committee needs to report its
conclusions at the next meeting of the Management Committee, who must uphold
its decision (subject to any appeal as set out in 8(q))
(iii)
Any reference to "Management Committee"
in the rules also covers any sub-committees thereof.
9.
Other
Matters.
(a)
The publication of any item in any issue of the
"Bury Times" or on the League website shall be deemed to be
sufficient notice to all Clubs. This
shall not relieve a club of any responsibility under any of the preceding
rules.
Every club should, if
at all possible, provide an email address.
Emails sent to
published email addresses (either clubs’ or officers’) shall be regarded as
sufficient for any League rule that requires communication.
(b)
In the event of any question or matter which is not
provided for in these rules, the Management Committee shall deal with the
matter and their decision is final.
(c)
The handbook shall contain all the previous
season's winners, runners-up and final league positions.
(d)
All trophies shall be returned to the League by the
dates requested otherwise a fine of £10 shall be imposed on the club
involved. In addition, where any trophy
is returned in an unfit condition, the club shall be fined £10.
(e)
Teams that win trophies must have a representative
on Finals Night. Failure to attend: £10
fine.
(f)
Any fine imposed under the league rules may be
waived or reduced at the discretion of the Management Committee.
FINES
– 2013/14
Late payment of team
subscription, per month: Rule 3 |
£10 |
Non-attendance at AGM:
Rule 5(e) |
£10 |
Playing of ineligible
player - Rule 8(c) |
£3 |
Failure to complete a
fixture – Rule 8(f) |
£15 |
Playing a player short -
Rule 8(i) |
£3 |
Late score card - Rule
8(j) |
£2 |
False score card - Rule
8(j) |
£10 |
Playing under false name
- Rule 8(j) |
£15 |
Late return of trophies -
Rule 9(d) |
£10 |
Trophies returned in
unfit condition - Rule 9(d) |
£10 |
Failure to collect
trophies - Rule 9(e) |
£10 |