"Big men and big personalities make mistakes and admit them. It is the little man who is afraid to admit he has been wrong"
- Dr. Maxwell Maltz
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1. CLUB AFFILIATION AND PLAYER REGISTRATION
1.1 Affiliation to EPBA: R200-00 per club per season.
1.2 Player registration: R250 per Senior player - including lights for league matches, R100-00 per Junior player – including lights for league matches and R50-00 per Junior player who is not playing league matches per season. Joining after 1 August – Senior player, R125-00 - including lights for league matches, Junior player, R50-00 – including lights for league matches and R25-00 per Junior player who is not playing league matches.
1.3 Only AFFILIATED players will be allowed to play in the E.P. Hall with the exception of the following:
1.3.1 VISITORS
A visitor is an affiliated player from any other PROVINCE affiliated to BSA who visits Port Elizabeth . The visitor will be allowed to make use of the E.P. Hall if accompanied by an EP affiliated player. Visitors fee of R10-00 per evening is payable to the E.P.B.A.
1.3.2 PROSPECTIVE PLAYER
A player who will be allowed to make use of the E.P. Hall three (3) times for free accompanied by a EP affiliated player to decide if he / she wants to play league. After the third time the player must decide if he / she want to join. As soon as the player played three times the club with whom he played must register that player. A form containing all the necessary information will be given to those players. The form must be completed as soon as possible after the player made use of the hall three (3) times. If such form is not completed and handed to the Treasurer the particular club will be liable for the full affiliation for the particular year.
1.3.3 DEVELOPMENT PLAYERS
A development player is ANY SCHOLAR NOT PLAYING E.P. Leagues.
1.4 All clubs playing in the leagues, championships or any other tournament arranged by BSA shall register all their players to the EPBA. A sufficient number (10) of players must be registered to fulfill the club’s league obligations.
1.5 All affiliation and registration fees, accompanied by a list of registered players, must be paid to the treasurer by the end of July for the current season.
1.6 It will be the responsibility of the club accepting a new player to ensure that a clearance certificate is obtained before a player plays for that new club, failing which the new club may have to forfeit points if the old club refuses to release the player of his/her first game.
1.7 A non-playing administrator may register directly with the EPBA as a non-paying member. Such persons may not play in leagues or tournaments and will not qualify for selection in any EP teams.
2. CONSTITUTION OF LEAGUES
2.1 The General Committee (consisting of the EPBA committee and the club delegates) shall decide the constitution of the leagues. The leagues shall be arranged by the Fixture committee (consisting of the Match and Recording Secretary and two helpers approved by the General Committee).
2.2 In 2009 the following leagues will be contested:
· 2 mixed leagues, 1st and 2nd
· 1st Melville Cup System
· 1st Men’s league
· 2nd Men’s league
· Ladies league
2.3 As a general rule new teams will be entered in the lowest league. Entry will be at the discretion of the General Committee.
3. LEAGUE RULES
3.1 MIXED LEAGUE
3.1.1 All mixed league teams shall consist of 3 or 4 men and 3 or 4 ladies.
3.1.2 The order of play shall be: 1 x ladies singles, 1 x men’s singles, 1 x ladies doubles, 1 x men’s double and 3 x mixed doubles played in the order of C,B,A.
3.1.3 A player playing singles may not also play ladies or men’s doubles.
3.1.4 Scoring will be best of 3 sets of 21 points.
3.1.5 If the score becomes 20 – all, the side which scores two consecutive points shall win that game.
3.1.6 If the score becomes 29 – all, the side scoring the 30th point shall win that game.
3.2 MELVILLE CUP
3.2.1 A Melville Cup Team may consist of 2 or 3 men and 2 or 3 ladies.
3.2.2 The order of play shall be: “B” ladies and men’s singles, “A” ladies and men’s singles. 1 x ladies doubles, 1 x men’s doubles and 2 x mixed doubles in order of B, A.
3.2.3 Play shall be according to BSA Melville Cup rules.
3.3 MEN’S AND LADIES LEAGUES
3.3.1 Men’s and ladies league teams shall consist of 3 men / ladies. 3 x singles of 1 set to 21 points (See rule 3.1.5 & 3.1.6) in the order of A, B, C.
3 x doubles in the order of A + B; B + C and C + A. Scoring in doubles will be the best of 3 sets of 21 points. (See rule 3.1.5 & 3.1.6).
3.3.2 A player may play for another club in the doubles league subject to the conditions set out in 11.2.
3.4 The order of play in any league match may be altered by agreement of the team captains.
3.5 A player may only play in one league match per night. Should a player play in more than one match his/her points will count in the league in which he/she is seeded.
3.6 Any player may help out in a higher league in case of unavailability of a player in that team due to injury, illness, work commitments etc.
3.7 MEN’S LEAGUE – 1ST LEAGUE
Men’s league teams shall consist of 3 players. 3 x Singles of 3 sets to 21 (see rule 3.1.5 & 3.1.6) in the order of A, B and C. 3 x Doubles in the order of A & B, B & C and C & A. Scoring in doubles will be the best of 3 sets of 21 points (See rule 3.1.5 & 3.1.6).
3.8 Should a club have two teams in the same league, then the “B” team will be regarded as the weaker of the two teams and members of the “B” team will be allowed to help out in the “A” team but not visa versa. Should a club have three teams in the same league, then the order of strength will be regarded to be A, B, C.
3.9 Clubs will have the right to object to seedings, in which case the Executive Committee may rule that a player may only help out at A or B and not a C which is normally the case.
4. SEEDINGS
4.1 Every club shall submit to the Match and Recording secretary by a date determined by him/her a list of:
4.1.1 Mixed team players with the men in order of mixed strength.
4.1.2 Melville Cup players in order of singles strength and men in order of mixed strength.
4.1.3 Men’s and Ladies league players in order of singles strength.
4.2 The seedings will be displayed on the notice board in the EP Hall at least one week before the league start.
4.3 Objections, properly justifies, must be lodged with the Match and Recording secretary before the particular team plays it’s first league match.
4.4 The Match and Recording secretary in consultation with the Executive Committee will consider the objections and take whatever action they deem necessary.
4.5 A club wishing to make changes to the seedings must submit these with justification to the Match and Recording secretary who, will consider the request and approved update the list on the notice board. The effective date of the change will be the date of request.
4.6 Players not playing according to the seedings will forfeit the games so played to their opposition.
4.7 No player may be seeded in more than one team in a particular system i.e. mixed, Melville and doubles.
4.8 Only registered players may be seeded.
5. LEAGUE MATCHES
5.1 All matches will be played on a Home and Away basis.
5.2 MATCHES MUST BE PLAYED ON DATES AS SET OUT IN THE
FIXTURE BOOK. MACHES MAY NOT BE POSTPONED, TEAMS WILL
FORFEIT POINTS.
5.3 The Match and Recording secretary may move a match to an earlier or
later date, depending on circumstances, when TWO or more members of a team take part in a tournament approved by the EPBA and / or BSA.
5.4 In exceptional circumstances (availability of Hall, death etc.) the Match and Recording Secretary may be requested to postpone a league match. The decision will be entirely at the discretion of the Match and Recording Secretary and the decision of the Match and Recoding Secretary will be binding on both teams.
5.5 IF A TEAM FOREFITS POINTS FOR THREE MATCHES THEN THAT TEAM WILL BE SCRATCHED FROM THE LEAGUE. ALL RESULTS OF MATCHES PLAYED BY A TEAM SO SCRATCHED WILL BE ENTIRELY DELETED. NO PLAYER IN THAT TEAM MAY BE DROPPED TO A LOWER TEAM WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
5.6 BOTH SIDES MUST COMPLETE SCORECARDS BY 19H00 AND MUST COMMENCE BY LATEST 19H15, EXCEPT FOR JEFFREYS, RHODES WHO’S SCORECARDS MUST BE IN AT 19H15 AND PLAY MUST COMMENCE BY LATEST 19H30.
5.7 ANY MATCH UNABLE TO COMMENCE BY 19H30 MAY BE CLAIMED AS A WALKOVER. THE “WINNING’ TEAM MUST SUBMIT A SCORECARD TO THIS EFFECT. JEFFREYS, RHODES GAMES CAN BE CLAIMED AS WALKOVERS IF THEIR GAMES HAVEN’T STARTED BY 20H00.
6. SCORECARDS
6.1 Both captains must complete scorecards for their teams and hand their card to their opposition before commencement of play. The combinations must be adhered to.
6.2 Should any team arrive to play a match with a player short, the defaulting captain must advise his opponent of this fact. The defaulting team will forfeit the relevant two games and if a male substitute is used he will play the “c” mixed doubles. “Walkover” must be written against the games being forfeited.
6.3 Team captains are responsible for official scorecards being filled in correctly, signed by both captains and forwarded to the Match and Recording Secretary – in box at EP Hall. Rhodes , Despatch or Jeffrey’s can faxed scorecards to: 041-453 0446.
6.4 The Match and Recording Secretary will follow up once for outstanding scorecards after which the defaulting teams will be awarded nil point for the relevant matches.
7. SHUTTLES
7.1 All leagues will use feather shuttles approved by the EPBA. Both teams must supply a sufficient quantity of unused shuttles and the total consumption must be shared at the end of the match.
8. E.P. HALL COURT FEES
8.1 Court fees for league matches are included in the affiliation fees.
9. PROMOTION AND DEMOTION OF PLAYER/S IN THE LEAGUES
9.1 If a club wishes to drop a player to a lower league from that shown in the seedings, a request properly justified must be submitted to the EPBA Executive for a ruling before the demotion takes place.
9.2 Games will be forfeited to the opposition if player plays a match before the ruling.
10. WITHDRAWAL OF LEAGUE TEAMS
10.1 Should a club wish to withdraw one of their league teams after the start of the season the consent of the Executive Committee is required.
10.2 All results of matched played shall be entirely deleted.
11. REPRESENTING MORE THAN ONE CLUB PER SEASON
11.1 MIXED LEAGUE / MELVILL CUP
No player shall play for more than one club in league matches in the same season. The only exception to this rule, which will be considered by the Executive Committee, is where a player moves from one city / town to another.
11.2 MEN’S AND LADIES DOUBLES LEAGUES
11.2.1 A player may represent one other club in this league provided that,
11.2.2 He/she has obtained permission from the club he/she is registered to,
11.2.3 His/her club has not entered in the same league,
11.2.4 His/her mixed league match responsibilities will take preference over the doubles league,
11.2.5 The player’s name appears in the seedings of the adopted club,
11.2.6 Should a player decide during the course of the season to make him/herself available to play for another club in the doubles league subject to the above condition, a request with proper justification must be submitted to the Executive Committee. If approved, the new seedings must be displayed on the notice board for at least one week to allow for objections before the player may play in the league.
12. LEAGUE WINNERS
12.1 POINTS ALLOCATION
12.1.1 Two (2) points will be allocated for a win.
12.1.1.1 Plus one (1) point for each game won
12.1.2 One (1) point will be allocated for a draw.
12.1.2.1 Plus one (1) point for each game won.
12.1.3 Nil for a loss.
12.1.3.1 One point for each game won.
12.2 LEAGUE WINNERS
12.2.1 The team with the most points will be the league winner.
12.2.2 If two or more teams have the same number of points, the team who won the most games will be the winner.
12.2.3 If after the above there is still a tie, then the last league match between the teams will determine the winner.
12.2.4 Promotion relegation must be played unless the higher team agrees to move down. Should this be the case, then the winning lower team must move-up not negotiable.
13. SCORING
13.1 A match shall consist of best of three (3) games, unless otherwise arranged.
13.2 The side whish first score 21 points shall win a game, except as provided in Law 13.4 and 13.5.
13.3 The side winning a rally shall add a point to its score.
13.4 If the score becomes 20-all, the side which scores two (2) consecutive points shall win that game.
13.5 If the score becomes 29-all, the side scoring the 30th point shall win that game.
14. CHANGE ENDS
14.1 Players shall change ends at the end of the first game.
14.2 Prior to the beginning of the third (3) game (if any) and
14.3 In the third (3) game, when a side first scores 11 points.
14.4 If players omit to change ends as indicated in Law 14.1 – 14.3, they shall do so as soon as the mistake is discovered and the shuttle is not in play. The existing score shall stand.
15. INTERVALS
15.1 Not exceeding 60 seconds during each game when a side first scores 11 points.
15.2 Not exceeding 120 seconds between the first and second game, and between the second and third game shall be allowed in all matches.
16. DRESS FOR LEAGUE AND CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENTS
16.1 All players are to appear on court in either:
16.1.1 club registered colors,
16.1.2 predominantly white clothing
16.1.3 Predominantly white tennis shoes.
16.1.4 WHEN PLAYING IN A TEAM EVENT, ALL TEAM MEMBERS MUST WEAR SIMILAR DRESS
16.1.5 In tournaments players may wear colored recognized racket sport clothing. In doubles, players need not be dressed identically, but no silky running/soccer shorts are permitted.
16.1.6 Cycling shorts may be worn under normal playing shorts/skirts provided they are the same color as the playing shorts/skirts.
16.1.7 Tracksuit pants may be worn during a match provided it is the club color, or white.
16.1.8 No caps of “kopdoeke” may be worn on court – only sweatbands are allowed.
17. LEAGUE DISPUTES AND INFRINGEMENT OF RULES
All disputes arising out of any league match and/or the above rules shall be referred to the Executive Committee and shall be decided on by said committee. The Committee will at it’s sole discretion deal with and take whatever action it feels fit regarding any infringement of the rules by a player or club. The matter will be reported to the General Committee at its next meeting.
18. RULES FOR PARTICIPATION IN LOWER LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS
18.1 To qualify to play in a particular championship:
18.2 A player must have been seeded in that particular league for which the championship is being held or for a lower league.
18.3 Pertaining to the matches scheduled before the closing date of that particular championship, a player seeded in that league must have played at least 51 % of his matches in the league where he/she has been seeded. Should a player help out more than two (2) games in a higher league than seeded, he/she will NOT be allowed to play championships in his/her seeded league.
18.4 Players must have fulfilled the players registration requirements.
