1 Formation & Administration of the League
a) The League shall be named “The Keighley & District Table Tennis League.” This name may be augmented to include the name of a sponsor if appropriate.
b) An annual general meeting (A.G.M.) will be held on or before the 15th August each year.
c) A minimum of 14 days notice will be given in writing of the date, time and venue of the A.G.M. to all team secretaries.
d) It is compulsory for a team wishing to seek re-election to the League for the following season to be represented at the A.G.M.
e) A team represented at the A.G.M. shall have their Registration Fee reduced by £10 for the coming season. Players (Members) may not represent a club with which they are not registered.
f) A team not represented at the A.G.M. shall: Where apologies have been received prior to the A.G.M., have that fact recorded in the minutes of the meeting and be allowed to pay the reduced Registration Fee. Where apologies have not been received prior to the A.G.M., have that fact recorded in the minutes of the meeting and be obliged to pay the full Registration Fee for the coming season.
g) Any League Member registered with a club who attends the A.G.M. shall have one vote on all matters discussed by the A.G.M.
h) The League Chairman shall not have a voting right except in the event of a tied vote when he/ she shall have the casting vote.
i) Any issue voted on by the A.G.M. must be supported by more than 50% of the Members attending the Meeting. At least 25% of the Leagues’s teams must be represented at the AGM for a vote to be valid.
j) The League is to be governed by a Management Committee. All clubs with three or more teams wishing to take part in the league must put forward at least one player representative to be active on the committee. Members attending the Annual General Meeting shall elect Officers for the ensuing season to serve on the Committee in the following capacities: President; Chairman; Secretary; Treasurer; Fixture Secretary; Trophy Secretary; Jeff Naylor Trophy Secretary; and other Officers as deemed necessary by the A.G.M. Nominations for the election of Officers shall be invited from Club Secretaries prior to the A.G.M.
k) The Management Committee shall have responsibilities for the following;
i) Carrying out all matters agreed at the A.G.M.
ii) Enforcing and interpreting League Rules‘
iii) Resolving disputes between clubs
iv) Disciplining clubs/players as appropriate
v) Running all League/Cup Competition and Tournaments
vi) Finance
l) A quorum of the Management Committee shall consist of three officers.
m) Officers shall have one vote at Management Committee meetings.
n) In the case of any dispute between clubs or the disciplining of clubs or players, no officer of the Committee from the club concerned shall be eligible to sit on the Committee whilst such a dispute is being considered.
o) The Secretary or Chairman must give at least seven days notice in writing to all Committee members of any League Management Committee Meeting.
p) The League financial year will end on 31st May and all clubs must pay all fines, etc. before that date or face expulsion from the League at the discretion of the Management Committee.
q) The Treasurer shall produce accounts for distribution at the A.G.M.
r) Any person requiring monies in lieu of expenses incurred on behalf of the League will give the Treasurer notice in writing of the amount required.
s) The Committee shall have the power to determine the suitability of team venues, including lighting and tables, insisting on improvements where necessary.
t) League rules shall not be altered without the agreement of the A.G.M. or an Extraordinary General Meeting. Any proposed rule change to be put forward at the AGM should be submitted to the Chairman or Secretary in good time to enable them to circulate the proposed changes to members at least 7 days prior to the AGM
u) The Chairman and Secretary shall be empowered to act in cases of emergency and decisions shall be given subject to confirmation at the next Management Committee Meeting.
v) In the event of Keighley & District Table Tennis League being disbanded, the Treasurer and Chairman shall be joint trustees for a period of ten years. After this period, all money held in trust shall be donated to the Y.T.T.A. or similar County governing body. Should the League be reformed during the ten year period all money held in trust shall be returned.
w) The Management Committee shall be empowered to determine any issue not covered by these rules as it sees fit.
x) The League shall allow the creation of ‘Non-Executive Committee Members’ in order to give recognition to people who carry out specific duties for the League. Such appointees will not be part of the ‘Management Committee’ and therefore have no responsibility whatsoever for the running of the League as they will not have the same powers invested in the Management Committee by the Constitution. They shall be elected to carry out their specific responsibility and report to the Management Committee/A.G.M. as required.
2 Qualifications & Regulations for League Admission
a) Each team must nominate a Team Secretary from within their team members (Teams consisting of entirely juniors may appoint a non playing adult to manage the secretarial responsibilities, this person may already be another team’s secretary) and submit their address, ‘a current email address, phone number(s), the address of the team’s playing venue, the home night (not Saturday or Sunday) and a list of players to the Fixture Secretary as requested. The team shall consist of at least three players but no more than six players in all divisions except the lowest division where up to seven players may be registered for one team. ‘All members MUST have a current T.T.England Registration before they are eligible to play.
b) Team Secretaries shall be responsible for paying an annual subscription to the League with team registration, the amount to be decided by the Annual General Meeting.
c) A team for whom no application/payment is received by 31st July will not qualify for entry into the League that year except at the discretion of the Management Committee. A club with three or more teams wishing to take part in the league must have at least one player representative active on the Management Committee otherwise only the first two teams from that club will qualify for entry into the League that year except at the discretion of the Management Committee.
d) Any team which alters its home night, venue or Team Secretary’s details must advise in writing seven days prior to the change, the Secretary, the Fixture Secretary and all other Team Secretaries.
e) New players may be registered up to and including 31st December. The Fixture Secretary must be informed and approval given before they are eligible to play.
f) Players may be transferred from one club to another up to and including 31st December, providing written permission is obtained from the original club and received by the Fixture Secretary, whereupon they will be eligible to play for their new club. Players in dispute over transferring can appeal to the Management Committee if written permission is not given.
g) Players may only play for the team with whom they are registered, except where a club has more than one team. In such circumstances, no player shall be allowed to play for a lower team than the one of which they are registered, but may play for a higher team However, any player having played five matches with a higher team shall no longer be eligible to play for a lower team without the permission of the Management Committee and, where the club has more than two teams, the Management Committee shall decide after the fifth game which team(s) they may play for. Matches where all three sets have been lost do not count towards the five. To qualify to play up for a higher ranked team in their club a player must have played a minimum of three matches for their original team during the entire season. (ie they could play up early in the season and qualify by the end of the season.) Any points gained by an unqualified player will be forfeited at the end of the season. Additionally a team may take one player per season from outside the club and from a lower division to play for them in an emergency. Once a player has played for that team under these circumstances he may only play for that team and the club with which he is registered for the remainder of the season. This only applies to clubs with one team and the bottom team in any club.
h) Registered players who compete in one League match and who are also registered with another League must play a minimum of four League matches during the season for their wins to count. At the end of the season points equal to the number of sets won by players who have failed to meet these criteria will be deducted from the teams concerned and added to the point’s total of the team(s) they have played against.
i) The seeding sub-committee shall decide the division seeding of the various team entries based on previous league performance and any other relevant considerations.
3. RULES & REGULATIONS FOR PLAYING
a) All matches will be played under T.T.England and ITTF regulations and the current laws of Table Tennis for International Competitions.
b) Any ball used in matches must be listed on the I.T.T.F./T.T.E approved 40+ list
c) Every match must be played on the night stated on the fixture chart, except in the following circumstances i) If at least 2 days verbal notice (48 hours) is given by the team wishing to postpone the fixture, the postponement is to be accepted.. ii) Less than two days notice is given and the opposing Team Secretary has agreed to the postponement.
d) Where a dispute ensues as a result of Rule 3c the matter shall be referred to the Chairman or Fixture Secretary who shall make a decision subject to confirmation at the next Management Committee Meeting. (Rule 1u). Where this is inappropriate in accordance with Rule 1n the matter may be referred to any other Management Committee Officer/Member.
e) All postponements to be notified without delay to the Fixture Secretary by the Home Team via email. Failure to do this may result in disciplinary action being taken. If an Away Team captain receives a verbal request for a postponement it is strongly recommended that they also notify the Fixture Secretary by email for the benefit of recording the request.’
f) In the event of a match being postponed the home team shall offer two alternative dates that, for league matches, must be before the end of the first week after the season finishes for teams playing in that Division (For Jeff Naylor Competition see Rule 5f). In any case, an alternative date must be agreed by both teams within two weeks of the original fixture, although the agreed date does not need to be within this two week period. If, after agreeing a rearranged date, the same team again requests a postponement this shall not be allowed and the teams average points (rounded up if .5 or more) shall be awarded to the opposition at the end of the season. If the other team requests a postponement Rule 3c shall apply.
g) If a team fails to turn up for a fixture without giving any notice to the opposing team’s Secretary they shall forfeit the points for that match and, at the discretion of the Management Committee, be subject to disciplinary action. The opposing teams average points (rounded up if .5 or more) shall be awarded at the end of the season for this match.
h) If any postponement results in a team still having to pay hire charges etc. for premises, the team responsible for the cancellation shall reimburse the other team this amount.
i) Any match may be played ahead of schedule if both teams are in agreement. The Fixture Secretary must be notified of this change by the home team’s Secretary.
j) All matches shall start no later than 7.30pm. Matches may commence earlier than these times should both teams agree to do so. The Home Team’s playing facility to be ready at least 10 minutes before the scheduled start of play.
k) Each team shall consist of three players who will compete against the three players of the other team, plus one set of doubles. Every set shall count towards League points, thus there will be ten points to play for in each match. Each set shall consist of the best of five (5) games. The set will finish when one player has won three (3) games.
l) All sets must be played in the sequence on the score card unless agreed by the opposing Captain before play commences. If the opposing Captain does not agree to a request to play out of sequence, Rule 3m shall apply.
m) If a player fails to show up or is late to play his set(s) in the correct sequence as per the scorecard or as agreed by the opposing Captain, then the respective set(s) shall be awarded to the opposing team. All awarded sets shall be counted as a win for all players on the opposing team and used in the players League statistics.
n) If for any reason a player is unable to complete his games, the unplayed sets shall be awarded to the opposing team and as a win to the individual player.
o) Any team playing an ineligible player shall forfeit any points gained by that player including the doubles if he/she participated. All forfeited sets shall be counted as a win for the opposing team and used in the player statistics. The offending team will be requested by the Fixture Secretary to explain their actions. It is however considered that an ineligible player (although TT England registered) may be used simply for the purpose of giving the opposing team a game.
p) Before any match commences the visiting Captain may measure and adjust the net if it is not correct.
q) A scorer shall be selected from each team in turn to umpire the sets played. The umpire’s decision shall be binding except under appeal to the Management Committee.
r) All protests relating to matches must be received by the Fixture Secretary within five days of the match taking place. The result should be delivered /sent within 36 hours of the conclusion of the match. Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action being taken by the Management Committee.
s) If a venue is not accessible to all, or a table unsuitable for wheelchair play, any team with players requiring that accessibility can request a change of venue up to two days (48 hours) prior to a scheduled match. The opposing team should accept the change of venue if two days notice is given. If any additional venue hire costs are incurred due to this request, the amount can be reclaimed from the league if the team bearing the additional cost emails the Fixture Secretary with the details. Other hardship costs incurred in this situation may be considered by the committee for partial or full reimbursement. Any clubs replacing tables in the future should take in to account that at least one table should be suitable for wheelchair play.
t) In all matches and Tournaments players are prohibited from wearing white or light coloured clothing that might, in the opinion of the duly appointed umpire (Rule 3q), tend to unsight an opponent.
4. PROMOTION, RELEGATION & FINAL AVERAGES
a) At the end of the season the team having the most points in each division shall be declared the ‘DIVISION CHAMPIONS’.
b) In the event of two or more teams tying for the top position, that is having the same number of points, the team with the highest number of match wins will be declared the ‘DIVISION CHAMPIONS’.
c) In the event of two or more teams tying for the top position on both points and matches won, they will play off for the championship in a match consisting of nine singles.
d) The top team of each division, except the first, will change places with the bottom team in the division above. This is subject to the league divisional structure for the coming season as determined by the appointed sub- committee.
e) A player must have played in at least 66% of all possible League fixtures to be included in the final League averages. The averages shall be calculated by expressing the number of sets won as a percentage of the sets played.
5, ALLAN RIPLEY TROPHY
a) The Allan Ripley Trophy will be awarded to the league team achieving the highest percentage of DOUBLES set wins throughout the complete season’
b) All teams in all divisions will be eligible for this trophy.
c) In the event of a draw in percentage terms then the proportion of legs will be the deciding factor. The decision of the Management Committee will be final.’
6. TOURNAMENTS
a) The Management Committee shall, at its discretion, organise such competitions, either open or closed, as is deemed appropriate.
b) To enter any Open Tournament players must be members of any League affiliated to Table Tennis England or be invited to participate by the Management Committee.
c) To enter any closed tournament players must be members of the Keighley and District Table Tennis League who have registered before the 31st December (Rule 2e).
d) A participant in the Closed Tournament must have played at least 3 matches before the entry deadline. In the case of extenuating circumstances the Management Committee will have the right to invite a person to enter.
e) The dead line for tournament entries to be decided by the Tournament Committees which shall be appointed by the Management Committee.
f) The league will pay the entry fee for one team to play in each of the four English League Cup categories – mens, womens, girls and boys cups. If more than one team wishes to play in a category, the cost of one team entry will be split to subsidise these multiple teams rather than the league bearing the full entry cost. At least one player from each team must play in Division 2 or higher. If a team withdraws the entry fee must be reimbursed to the league unless there are extenuating circumstances to be considered at the discretion of the Management Committee.
7. TROPHIES
Individual medals/trophies/prizes shall be awarded on a permanent basis to teams winning all team competitions as well as to individual players winning any other awards.
8. BATS & RUBBERS
All players playing within the Keighley & District Table Tennis League must play with an T.T.E/ I.T.T.F. approved bat and rubber as defined by the official website at the time of the match. A Racket shall not be changed during an individual set unless it is accidentally damaged so badly that it cannot be used (TTE 2.4.9 refers)
9CONDUCT and DISCIPLINE
a) Any member of the League may be reported to the Management Committee, in writing, if their conduct is considered to be inappropriate. The letter must be submitted with a fee of £5 which will be returned if the complaint is upheld.
b) The Management Committee will investigate the complaint and, if upheld, will consider what sanction to impose. The sanctions available to the committee are to include the deduction/reassigning of points, temporary suspension of players and/or teams and the expulsion of teams.’
c) The defendant will receive a copy of the complaint and have the right to respond in writing.
d) The Management Committee will send details of their decision in writing to both parties.
e) Any member expelled from the League shall take no further part in any competition organised by the League from that time unless and until reinstated and any subscriptions paid shall be forfeited.
