SSTA RULES
FOR 15-WEEK MIXED COMPETITION
(As at 10 October 2018)
Note: Changes from the previous version of the Rules appear in BOLD/RED.
1. No Late Nomination fees are payable this season
2. No permission is required from SSTA Executive to play an unregistered player.
Executive members are available for consultation if required. Team Captains are required to rank the player/s accordingly on the front of the score sheet and enter the player details on the back. Late nominations will be reviewed the following Delegate’s meeting and submitted scores may be adjusted.
1. Courts/Fixtures
Each court must be first approved by the Executive before it is available for a match.
Each club must nominate a playing surface (Grass, Hard or Synthetic) on the team nomination form and have a minimum of 2 courts available for play. If only 2 courts available, Home Captain must advise Away Captain, 7 days prior to play and offer the opportunity to commence play at 12.30pm. Away Captain is not obligated to accept 12.30pm start.
In the event that courts are not available for any reason, it is the Home Team’s responsibility to arrange change of venue and to notify the opposing team.
Each court must have a correctly adjusted center strap.
Each club must make a thermometer available and affixed in a suitable position.
2. Playing days
Matches will be played on Saturdays. A player may not take part in more than one match of any particular Pennant scheduled for any one day. (NOTE: This covers matches played on dates other than those originally fixed.)
Players must be financial members of a South Suburban Tennis Association affiliated Club.
Each team shall consist of 3 men and 3 ladies. All players (including reserves) must be included on the team nomination form. All players (including reserves) must be ranked in order of playing strength.
5. Nominations
Club Ranking List
Each Club entering two or more pennant teams MUST submit a full Club list (of SSTA nominated players only) in ranked order in addition to their team lists at each seasons October meeting of delegates.
Pennant Team List
All team nominations to be made on a prescribed nomination form provided by the Association and such nomination form to be lodged with the Association for consideration at each seasons October meeting of delegates. Such prescribed nomination form shall contain:
a) The full name of each player.
b) Previous playing grade - if a new player to the Association, special details
of prior tennis experience and level of ability to be fully advised.
c) Clubs must nominate a minimum of 3 men and 3 ladies to comprise a team.
Reserves for each time are to be nominated as such.
d) Each player, including reserves, must be ranked in order of playing strength
within the team.
Refer to Rule 9 covering playing order.
LATE NOMINATIONS – adopted 2018/2019 season – no late nomination fees.
Late nominations will be considered on a month by month basis under the following guidelines:
Delegates meetings:
October - Nominations close
October – November – Adopted 2018/2019 season - All registrations(no permission required from SSTA Executive to play an unregistered player) will be accepted on the understanding that they will be reviewed at the next Delegates Meeting, where the decision may be reversed and points affected. The intention is to allow all players to play but in correctly seeded order. Executive members are available for consultation if required.
Details of player/s nominated must be included on the reverse side of the score sheet on their first playing day. Player may continue to play on weeks following without further nomination requests being made or completion of details on reverse side of score sheet.
The Club must submit details of this nominated player on the prescribed Late Nomination form at the November Delegates meeting where the player/s will be officially approved and registered by the Recorder.
Late nominations will be accepted up to and including the November Delegates Meeting.
November – December Will not normally be accepted but may be approved by the Executive in the case of injury or other exceptional circumstances.
Players nominated and approved during this time are only approved on a playing day to playing day proposition.
Each time the player is required, the Club concerned must seek approval from a member of the SSTA Executive Committee and if approved, that players details must be included on the reverse side of the score sheet on each day of such approval.
The Club must submit details of this nominated player on the prescribed Late Nomination form at the December Delegates meeting where the player/s will be considered by the assembled delegates for permanent registration.
December – finals Will not normally be accepted but may be approved by the Executive in the case of injury or other exceptional circumstances.
Players nominated and approved during this time are only approved on a playing day to playing day proposition.
Each time the player is required, the Club concerned must seek approval from a member of the SSTA Executive Committee and if approved, that players details must be included on the reverse side of the score sheet on each day of such approval.
The Club must submit details of this nominated player on the prescribed Late Nomination form at the February Delegates meeting.
Players nominated during this time will not automatically be considered for permanent registration. An official request must be made by the Club concerned and will only be considered under exceptional circumstances and in the best interests of SSTA pennant tennis.
Decisions regarding this will be made at the Delegates meetings.
· Late nominations will not be accepted if he/she is deemed to strengthen the team unless special circumstances prevail a decision will be made by the EXECUTIVE.
6. Match Playing Times
Play is to start at 1.00pm unless re-scheduled to another time. In the event of a player being a late arrival, the opposing Captain may claim a forfeit on any set not commenced within 10 minutes of start time if there is a court available for the set to be played. Play to cease at sunset unless both Captains agree to continue play. Check BOM website for time of sunset.
7. Player absent
Late Arrival
a) Should a team arrive with any of its players missing, ie a late arrival, then that team should forfeit all sets affected by the late arrival that the missing players or players are required to play. If such a forfeit is enforced by the opposing Captain, it shall only be enforced at the start of each set that the player is required to play. It shall not be enforced at the start of the match for the whole match.
Unavailable
b) If a team is aware they cannot field a full team but wish to continue to play and they wish to play they must have a minimum of 2 Men and 2 Ladies available to avoid a forfeit.
They are to also to contact the opposing team Captain at the earliest opportunity and advise him/her of such. The opposing Captain shall not refuse to continue play due to lacking opposition numbers and all possible sets are to be played for a result. The Captain of the team with insufficient numbers is to ensure that available players play in their correctly seeded order as per Rule 9b, ie. if the Nbr 1 man is absent, the other male players play at 1 & 2 with the highest ranked player on the day at Nbr 1. The position forfeited is Nbr 3.
If a compromise can be reached between the Captains to accommodate later play or a different playing day, it can be done and the Recorder is to be notified forthwith. However either Captain has the right to refuse a different start time and enforce the forfeit as outlined above.
c) Player Pool – Teams needing to borrow a player must approach another Club through their Delegate. Players can only be drawn from the same division or lower and must be of the same of lower ranking of player they are replacing. Matches and games played by the player pool reserve will count on the scorecard. Matches played for another Club cannot be counted as a qualifying match for Finals. All options to draw players from within your own Club should be exhausted prior to requesting a player from another Club. Confirmation of change must be endorsed by a member of the Executive, prior to play. Clubs to mark with an asterisk on their Team Nomination Forms, those players willing to be a part of the Player Pool.
8. Format of play (all grades)
A match shall consist of 15 sets being:
· 9 Mixed Doubles)
· 3 Men’s Doubles) in all sets a tie-break is to be played at 6-all.
· 3 Ladies’ Doubles)
9. Order of play
a) The order of play, regardless of number of available courts, is as follows:-
Rnd 1 - 1 x Men’s Doubles (1 & 2), 1 x Ladies Doubles (1 & 2), 1 x Mixed Doubles (3 & 3)
Rnd 2 - 1 x Men’s Doubles (1 & 3), 1 x Ladies Doubles (1 & 3), 1 x Mixed Doubles (2 & 2)
Rnd 3 - 1 x Men’s Doubles (2 & 3), 1 x Ladies Doubles (2 & 3), 1 x Mixed Doubles (1 & 1)
Rnd 4 - 3 x Mixed Doubles (M1 & L2), (M2 & L3), (M3 & L1)
Rnd 5 - 3 x Mixed Doubles (M1 & L3), (M2 & L1), (M3 & L2)
b) Players must play in ranked order on the day according to the Club and team rankings submitted by the Club and held by the Recorder.
c) Interchange Players
i) Teams may nominate interchange players for a match. Interchange players must be registered players of the team or a lower graded SSTA team within the Club.
ii) No more than one male and one female may be used for any one match. The team, including interchange players, must be recorded on the score sheet prior to the commencement of play.
iii) All team players, including the interchange players, must be recorded on the score sheet in ranked order.
iv) The interchange player must play at least one set during the day to be classed as having played a match for finals qualifying purposes. Listed interchange players who do not play a set will not be considered as having played a match on that day.
v) A player interchange for each gender, may occur more than once throughout the days play.
vi) If a player interchange has occurred and an injury occurs to another member of the team, the previously interchanged player, if available, may be brought back into the team for the remaining sets but cannot be used to complete the set in which the injury occurred (see rule vii of this section). An “injury” does not include heat related stress, fatigue or illness.
vii) An interchange player may not be used to complete an unfinished set of an injured player, but may play that players remaining sets for the day.
viii) An injured player cannot be replaced by another player who was not originally recorded on the score sheet as an interchange player.
ix) It is not necessary for any interchange player to be present at the start of the days play providing the interchange player is recorded on the score sheet prior to the commencement of play.
x) The interchange player must be ready for play when the set he/she is required to play, is ready to commence. Should the interchange player not be present and ready for play, only the sets affected by the absence are forfeited and the score will be recorded as 6 – 0 to the opponents. (see also Rule 7 Player absent – Late Arrival).
xi) An interchange player may be listed on the score sheet of more than one club team (playing at the same venue) at the commencement of the days play but is not permitted to play in more than one team on a playing day, ie. Once the interchange player plays in either team, he/she may not be used in any other team on that day.
xii) A team Captain is to advise the opposing Captain at the time an interchange of player/s is about to occur.
xiii) Should a match be cancelled due to the heat rule (Rule 11(i)) where the ABC news forecast the temperature for the day to be 37°or higher and the Captains complete a score card for recording purposes, an interchange player can be included on the score sheet.
xiv) If a match has already commenced when the heat rule or rain causes play to be abandoned, any nominated interchange player will be recorded as having played that match.
xv) As SSTA pennants involve five (5) ‘rounds’ of tennis, each ‘round’ consisting of three (3) sets, an interchange may only occur prior to the beginning of a ‘round’, not during a round. This should be monitored particularly when only two (2) courts are available for play.
xvi) Teams are not obliged to have an interchange player or players.
10. Tossing for service
The first service for each set shall be tossed for.
11. Inclement weather
i) Rain
Where rain or inclement weather, including heat, interrupts play or prevents play in excess of one hour between 1.00pm and 5.00pm (see sub section ii of this section) on any match date, the following procedure is adopted:
a) All completed sets, as recorded on the score-sheet, are counted.
b) The remaining uncompleted sets are shared.
c) If the sets played provide a winning result, 2 win points are awarded to the winning team.
d) If the sets played do not provide a winning result, the win points are shared.
After any attempt to play after a delay caused by rain, at any stage during the match with the agreement of both Captains, play may be abandoned.
The Captain of the Home Team shall decide whether the courts are safe and suitable for play. If in the opinion of the Home Captain play is unable to proceed due to the state of weather, i.e. rain or the effects of rain on the courts, posing a safety hazard, the match will be cancelled. A score-sheet must be submitted - even if the match is washed out. It is the Home Team’s responsibility to submit the score-sheet and it must be signed by both Team Captains.
Heat
If at 10.00 am on the day of play, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) site indicates the forecaset for the day to be 40 degrees or higher, play is abandoned, and points shared. If, during play, the temperature rises to 37 degrees, play shall cease. If the temperature falls below 37 degrees within one hour, play shall resume. If not, play shall be abandoned. The procedure to be followed is in accordance with items (a), (b), (c) and (d) of sub section (i) of this section. In the case of Finals, matches will be re-scheduled. Refer rule 13. Each Team Captain must submit a signed score-sheet listing their team for the day.
ii) In the case where a game is lawfully re-scheduled and commences at a time different to the normal start time of 1:00pm, the interruption period will be three and one half hours from start time.
It is the Home Team’s responsibility to submit the score-sheet and it must be signed by both Team Captains.
12. Scoring
Match winners shall be decided by sets won. Half a point is awarded for each
set won. An additional two points are awarded to the winning team.
Rankings on the ladder are determined by the number of points won (the total of win points and set points). In the event of two teams having the same number of points, but having different numbers of wins, the team with the higher number of wins shall be deemed to be the higher ranked. In the event of two teams having equal points and equal wins, the team with the higher percentage of games won against games lost shall be deemed to be the higher ranked.
13. Finals
SEMI-FINALS: The teams finishing first and fourth play each other, the teams finishing second and third play each other. In each semi-final, the teams finishing first and second following the qualifying rounds will host the semi-final – refer Rule 20. The Captains of the winning teams are to telephone the results of their semi-final matches to the RECORDING OFFICER on the evening of the match.
FINALS: The winners of the Semi-Finals will play in the Final. The team that finished highest on the ladder following the qualifying rounds will host the Final – refer Rule 20.
A referee will be present at all Finals matches - refer Rule 21.
If a Final is cancelled due to inclement weather, it is to be continued at 9am the following day or, failing that, at the direction of the EXECUTIVE.
14. Final qualifications
No player shall take part in any semi final or final unless he/she has played the minimum number of qualifying matches as approved. Qualification will be one third of the total matches available for a Division and does not include Byes.
Example:
8 team Division = 14 home & away matches = (4.66) or 5 matches to qualify (rounded up)
8 team Division (7 teams + bye) = 12 home & away matches = 4 matches to qualify
6 team Division = 15 home & away matches = 5 matches to qualify
This qualification period may be reviewed by meeting of delegates following a motion to alter.
Qualification can be achieved by playing the required number of games in any Division of the Competition.
No player shall take part in any finals match unless he/she has been officially registered by the Recording Officer.
Team Captains are to ensure their players are qualified for finals and shall have no right of appeal to the Executive should permission to play any unqualified players not be granted by the Executive.
The Executive Committee, upon receipt of a written application, may consider approving an unqualified player or players, if it can be satisfied that the decision is in the best interest of the competition and the spirit of tennis.
Refer also to Rule 16
15. Two or more teams in one grade
Where a Club has two or more teams in any one Grade, players are NOT interchangeable between such teams. (Except as per Rule 16)
16. Incapacitation of players
Upon written or verbal application from a Team Captain or Club Representative, the Executive shall have special power to vary Pennant Rules 14 and 15 to the extent required to accommodate emergency situations which may arise within a Club due to the "incapacitation" of a player.
Should an unregistered or unqualified player be approved to play in any home/away round or finals match, it is the responsibility of the Team Captain to notify the opposing Team Captain of this approval prior to the commencement of play and ensure that the players’ details are recorded on the reverse side of the match score sheet.
17. Grading of players
Should a player play in one-third of the matches in a Division above his or her original Division, he or she will be automatically excluded from further matches of the lower Division during the season.
DOWNGRADING OF PLAYER Applications to have players downgraded shall be sent to the Recording Officer in writing. Such applications shall be considered at the next Executive meeting, following receipt of such a letter. Applications shall only be agreed to after due consideration has been given to:
a) results of the individual in question; and
b) the position of the team which would be affected by such re-grading.
NO application will be considered after the completion of 50% of the Home and Away matches have been played. Should the number of qualifying matches be an odd number then it will be rounded–up to the next whole number.
18. Transfers
A player may transfer from one Club to another after commencement of Pennants only if his/her written application, accompanied by a clearance from his/her former Club, is approved by the Executive.
NO transfers shall be allowed after 50% of the qualifying matches have been played. Should the number of qualifying matches be an odd number then it will be rounded–up to the next whole number.
19. Results of matches
A score-sheet, signed by both Captains, must be posted or faxed to the Recording Officer; by 10am on Tuesday. The Captain of the WINNING TEAM to be responsible for lodging the score-sheet (except in the case of a cancelled match – Refer rule 11). Clubs in breach of this rule may be liable to a fine of $10 (see Rule 18 of the Constitution).
20. Tennis balls
Six (6) new balls of a make approved by the Association shall be provided by the HOME TEAM. This applies to ALL court surfaces. Unbranded balls are not to be used.
FINALS: For Semi-Finals and Finals, the HOME team shall supply the balls and charge their opponents $2 per player.
21. Referees
A Club that is hosting any final matches is to appoint a Referee to adjudicate such matches.
22. Naming of players
Opposing Team Captains to exchange team lists, written on paper in order of play, prior to commencement of play, those teams to be entered on score-sheet unaltered.
23. Forfeits
When a Team receives a forfeit, it will be awarded the full 9 1/2 points.
If the forfeit has any effect on the positions of the final four, then the Executive shall investigate further and take whatever action is necessary.
A fine of $30.00 will be imposed on a club for any pennant team who forfeits a scheduled pennant match. Any team fined under this rule may lodge a written application to the SSTA Secretary for the waiving of the penalty. The decision will rest with the Executive Committee and will be final.
Failure to pay such fine may cause loss of match points and/or ineligibility for future pennant play.
If the match was scheduled to be played on hired courts, then the team giving the forfeit will be responsible for payment of such fees.
24. Tennis attire
The rules currently in use by Tennis West are to be used as guidelines regarding tennis attire. It is the Club's responsibility to bring these rules to the attention of its members. The Captain of the HOME team may prohibit any player wearing improper shoes from taking part in a match. The score-sheet should be used to record any incident of improper tennis attire.
25. Complaints
The reverse side of the score-sheet should be used to record any incident of improper conduct, unsatisfactory playing conditions or any other incident that needs to be brought to the attention of the Executive. In the case of a serious complaint, a written report must be made to the Executive as soon as practicable after the match. Such report must be first endorsed by the Club Committee and forwarded under the Secretary’s signature or in his or her absence the Club President’s.
A demerit point system for complaints of unsportsmanlike behavior of any type that have been brought to the attention of the Executive Committee will be used with a minimum of 1 point up to a maximum of 6 points being recorded against a player if the above behavior is proved. The number of penalty demerit points will be determined by the Executive and will depend on the severity of the incident.
When a player reaches 6 demerit points, he/she will be suspended from play in SSTA pennants or any other SSTA sanctioned event for a period not exceeding 3 weeks from the date of the ruling.
A further offence will cause the player to be suspended from play in SSTA pennants or any other SSTA sanctioned event for a period not exceeding 12 months.
A further offence may involve life suspension from the SSTA at the discretion of the Executive Committee.Demerit points recorded against a player will be rescinded after two (2) years from the date of enforcement.
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