Crawley, Horsham and District Table Tennis League
League Competition Rules
General
1. The Management Committee shall administer the competition, except where provision is made for a Sub-Committee to deal with specific matters.
2. The competition shall be run annually on a divisional basis, teams being allocated to divisions by the Divisions Sub-Committee, whose decision on the number of divisions and the number and allocation of teams in each division shall be final.
3. At the end of the competition each year, promotion and relegation to the next divisions shall be decide by the Divisions Sub-Committee according to the size of the divisions unless rule 4 is applied.
4. In the event of a club wishing any of their teams to compete in a division other than that in which they competed in the previous season, or to which they were promoted or relegated, application shall be made to the Divisions Sub-Committee stating the reason.
Players
5. Only players registered with the League shall be eligible to compete, and such players must be Bona Fide members of an affiliated club. No player who is in arrears with a subscription to a club in respect of a previous season shall be allowed to take part in the competition.
6. In exceptional circumstances a player may apply to transfer to a lower team than the one originally registered in. Permission must be obtained from the Management Committee, and if granted the player will not then be eligible to play up.
7. A player may transfer to another club during the playing season, with the consent of both clubs, and the approval of the Management Committee. Such a player may not play for the new club until notified that the transfer has been approved. A player or team may play in both traditional and central formats.
8. All players must normally live, or work daily, in Crawley or Horsham. Applications for registration of players outside this area must be made in writing to the Management Committee, whose decision in this respect shall be final.
9. A registration fee, the amount of which shall be decided by the Management Committee each year, shall be payable to the League for each registered player.
10. A player’s registration form and fee shall be sent shall be sent to the Registration Secretary and no player may take part in a match until the said Secretary has confirmed his registration.
11. New players may be registered after the 31 December only with the express approval of the Management Committee and shall not be eligible to compete in a match unless and until that approval has been granted.
Teams
12. Each team entered in the League Competition shall consist of three or more players and shall be designated by the Club A,B,C etc in descending order of strength.
13. Each club shall provide to the Management Committee by the 31st August a team list showing its players and the team for which each of them is nominated. For new players registered or transferred after that date, the team for which he is nominated must advise the Management Committee at the time of registration. No other changes to the team list shall be permitted except with the express approval of the Management Committee.
14. A player may not play for a lower team than that for which he is nominated, except with the express prior approval of the Management Committee, to which application for permission, stating the reason shall be made.
15. A player may play for a higher team than that for which he is registered on a maximum of six occasions. On the next occasion he automatically becomes re-registered for any higher team specified by his club secretary, and will not thereafter be able to play again that season for any other team.
16. Any club withdrawing any teams prior to the end of the season shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £10 per team.
Matches
17. All matches shall be played under E.T.T.A. regulations, and only approved three star balls shall be used.
18. The league management will decide on the format for each division at the start of each season.
19. Matches shall consist of ten sets of best of five games, unless otherwise agreed by the Management Committee. Each member of one team playing each member of the other team over one set and one doubles set. The winner of a set shall be the first to win three games, for which one point will be scored, and all ten sets (unless otherwise agreed by the Management Committee) in a match shall be played, except any conceded by the opposing team. The order in which the sets are played shall be that indicated on the Official Match Result Card, except when the match is played on two tables, in which case it will be played as listed below.
| Game | Table | Players |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | A v X |
| 1 | 2 | B v Y |
| 2 | 1 | C v Z |
| 2 | 2 | A v Y |
| 3 | 1 | B v Z |
| 3 | 2 | C v X |
| 4 | 1 | B v X |
| 4 | 2 | C v Y |
| 5 | 1 | A v Y |
| 6 | 1 | Doubles |
20. Matches shall commence at 7.30 pm except by mutual agreement between the secretaries of each club.
21. If a team be short of any players 15 minutes after the agreed starting time the opposing team shall be entitled to claim the points for all the sets, which the absent players would have played.
22. If both teams are short of one players 15 minutes after the agreed starting time, the match shall be postponed and played within 28 days but not beyond 14 days after the end of the season. Both clubs shall immediately notify the appropriate Fixtures and Results Secretary of the postponement. If a club wishes to postpone a match beyond 28 days an official approach must be made to the Fixtures and Results Secretary. No postponements are allowed in the Premier or C1 or C2.
23. Any club playing an ineligible player may be subject to disciplinary action by the Disputes Sub-Committee and any points won by any such player shall be transferred to the opposing team. A player may not play for more than one team on any one day.
24. Each team member should umpire alternate sets. In the event of an objection to an umpire before the start of a set, another umpire shall be agreed between the two captains.
25. Prior to the commencement of a match, the home team captain shall complete the Official Match Result Card showing the respective orders of play and shall be responsible for sending it to the Fixtures and Results Secretary as soon as possible after the conclusion of the match. Failure to send a card may result in the match being declared void.
26. With the exception of fixtures scheduled for a public holiday, no match shall be postponed without the mutual agreement of both clubs and even then not beyond 28 days from the date specified on the fixture list, and not beyond fourteen days after the end of the season. The appropriate Fixtures Secretary shall be advised immediately the postponement is agreed and if a club wishes to postpone a match beyond 28 days an official approach must be made to the Fixtures Secretary.
27. Any club conceding a match shall be liable to a fine of £3 in respect of that match. In the case of matches declared void both clubs shall be liable to the £3 fine.
28. If at the end of the season there is a tie for the winner of a division, the winner will be decided by countback firstly by matches won, then by matches lost, then by a play off.
29. The home side may elect to play the match on either one or two tables with the prior agreement of the opposing team.
30. There will be no official refreshment break.
31. Alterations to these rules may only be made in the same manner as alterations to the Constitution.