The objective of the Watford and District Table Tennis league shall be to conduct an Annual Competition between affiliated Clubs, to assist and encourage the formation of Table Tennis Clubs in Watford, and to promote the game of Table Tennis in every possible way. The League shall be open to all Table Tennis Clubs and players irrespective of their Race, Creed, Colour or Physical Handicap who’s Headquarters are situated in the Watford District. All Clubs in the League shall be subject to the approval of the General Committee.
The League subscriptions, which, includes Table Tennis England and County affiliation fees and the individual Player’s registration fees will be fixed at a General Meeting. The subscription(s), together with the application(s) for membership, must be sent to the Treasurer not later than the date appointed by the committee.
For the purpose of conducting the league Competition, the Teams will be arranged in Divisions, the number and size of which, will be determined by the League Committee dependent on the number of teams registering for the competition. The top team of the Premier Division shall hold for one year the “Sun Engraving Challenge Cup” presented by the directors of the Sun Engraving Company. The top team of Division One shall hold for one year the “Observer Challenge Shield” presented by the proprietors of the West Herts and Watford Observer. The top team of Division Two shall hold for one year the “Roberts Trophy” presented by the late President, Frank H. Roberts Esq. The top team of Division Three shall hold for one year the “Barrington Dalby Challenge Cup”, presented by the late Barrington Dalby Esq.
The bottom two teams of each Division shall be relegated. The top two teams of each Division shall be promoted to a higher Division. The Committee shall have the power to appoint a team to fill any vacancy which might occur in any Division. New teams joining the league, or old teams rejoining, shall be placed in the Division most applicable to their known playing strength.
(a) Only players registered with the Registration secretary of the League shall be allowed to play in League games. There shall be no limit to the number of members registered for any one Club, but no player can be registered for more than one Club.
(b) If two or more teams are entered for one Club the players shall be registered for the team for which they intend to play.
(c) Any team playing an unregistered player will forfeit any games won by that player to the opposing side. Any match points gained, plus two, will be deducted from their League total.
(d) Clubs having two or more teams in the same Division are to be ranked A, B, C etc. according to their perceived strength. Players registered for a lower ranked team may play up for one only of the higher ranked teams and then on not more than three occasions in all during the season.
(e) Clubs having two or more teams in different Divisions must specify the individual players for each team, and players registered for a lower Division team may play for one team only in each of the higher Divisions. A player may play up a total of three times in a season. If a player plays up a forth occasion he/she automatically becomes registered to that team and cannot play in any other team that season
(f) No player may play for a team in a Division lower than that for which he is registered.
(g) No player can be registered after 31st Jan unless agreed by the Committee
(a) Clubs having two or more teams may transfer players to another team in a lower Division up until 31st December provided that they have not played in more than three matches for the team for which they are registered. 24 hours notice must be given to the League Competition and Championship Secretary of the proposed transfers. Players who have played on three occasions for teams of higher Divisions than the team for which they are registered will, by playing for a higher team on a forth occasion, automatically be considered transferred to that team. No player can be transferred more than once in a season.
(b) A player wishing to change his Club for some bona-fide reason (such as a change residence etc.) must make application to the General Secretary of the League, and the Committee shall have the power to agree to such transfer at any time, providing the transferring Club has no objection. This must be given in writing.
The Annual General Meeting shall be held every year during the last 14 days in May, and shall consist of delegates from each affiliated Club, one member of each team being allowed to vote. Any Club not represented at the Annual General Meeting shall be fined £10 and this will be added to the entry fee. It shall be the supreme governing body of the League. The Committee may convene a Special General Meeting should they consider it necessary, or if the same should be desired by one third of the Clubs affiliated. Every decision of every Annual or Special General Meeting shall be final and conclusive and shall be binding on all Clubs and registered members as the voice of the whole League. At least forty-two days notice of any Special or Annual General Meeting must be given to all affiliated Clubs. Any proposed alterations to the rules must be submitted to the General Secretary not less than twenty-eight days before the date of any Special or Annual General Meeting. These must be circulated to all Clubs within seven days and amendments to them may be submitted to the General Secretary in writing not less than ten days before the date of the said Special or Annual General Meeting.
For the general administration of the business of the League and the government of the League, there shall be a President, Vice-Presidents, Chairman, Vice-Chairman, General Secretary, Assistant General Secretary, Treasurer, League Competition and Championship Secretary, Match Secretary, Competition Secretary, Junior Secretary, League Coaching Liaison Officer and six committeemen. These shall be elected together with one Honorary Auditor, at the Annual General Meeting each year.
The Committee shall meet as required and shall administer the affairs of the League, and shall govern the league subject to the Annual General Meeting. It shall have the power to fine or expel any Club found guilty of breaking the rules of the League, and it shall decide anything upon which these rules are silent. Every decision and order of the Committee shall be binding on all Clubs and the registered members, subject to appeal to a Special General Meeting called in accordance with Rule 6. The Committee may make such temporary provisions for dealing with emergencies arising in connection with the League, as they deem desirable, and shall have the powers to co-opt.
All monies pertaining to the League shall be paid into “a Bank approved by the Committee” in the name of Watford and District Table Tennis League. The signatures of the Treasurer and Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary, or Treasurer and Assistant Secretary shall be necessary before a withdrawal is effected. The Bank passbook or statement shall be placed before the Management Committee at each meeting. All income and property of the League shall be made up and, together with a statement of the accounts, applied solely to the stated objects of the League. In the event of the League winding up, all such monies and property shall be handed over to Table Tennis England. An income and expenditure account up to April 30th shall be submitted at the Annual General Meeting.
(a) The league fixtures shall be arranged by the Committee and must be issued to Clubs, at least a week before the first matches are due to be played.
(b) Unless the teams mutually agree to play the match before the week shown in the Fixture List the date of the match shall be the match night of the Home team in that week.
(c) No match shall be arranged for a week later than that shown in the Fixture List. Exceptionally, the Committee only will give permission for a match to be postponed. If granted, they will give both teams a time restraint for the match to be played. However, provided that at least 24 hours notice is given by a team seeking an alteration and that the opposing team is in agreement, the venue of the fixture may be reversed or the match played on another night of the week shown in the Fixture List. If less than 24 hours notice is given or the opposing team is not in agreement with the proposed change of the venue or date, the team seeking the alteration shall be deemed to be in default and the match points and sets shall be awarded to their opponents.
(d) In all cases where the Fixture List schedules a match for a Bank Holiday or the Good Friday, unless the teams mutually agree to play the fixture as scheduled or re-arrange it for an earlier week, it shall be deemed to be automatically rescheduled for the match night of the home team in the week immediately following the last week of the season.
(e) Teams persistently failing to fulfil fixtures (or fulfilling them with an incomplete team), may, at the discretion of the Committee, be expelled from the competition and their records expunged.
Match Procedure - All League Matches
(a) No match shall be arranged to start later than 7.30pm.
(b) Teams shall consist of three players.
(c) The match shall be played as shown on the Official Scorecard, except for the cases arising from rule 11 (a), (b), (c) and (d). In doubles including a wheelchair user, the order of service shall remain the same. After the first return of service, the ball can subsequently be returned either by the wheelchair user or his or her partner.
(d) Team Captains will concurrently declare the complete team order. The umpires for each game must be agreed upon mutually and the umpiring should generally be undertaken alternately by members of the home and visiting teams. In the case of a disputed point the Umpires decision shall be final.
(e) If a team does not have a player able to play the first set by 7.45pm that set shall be forfeit. If no player is available to play by 8.00pm the entire match shall be forfeit.
(f) Games shall be played in accordance with the rules adopted by the Table Tennis England and must be played with the ball adopted by the association.
(g) The match must be played to a finish. If for any reason there should be any unplayed sets, these shall be conceded to the opposition by the team unwilling or unable to play them.
(h) Points will be awarded as follows:
Win 7-1 or better 4 points
Win 6-2 or 5-3 3 points
Draw 4-4 2 points each team
Lose 3-5 or 2-6 1 point
(i) The position in the League Tables shall be decided as follows;
The team gaining the greatest number of match points will be awarded the Championship of their Division. If two teams end with an equal number of match points, then the team with the highest ratio of sets for to sets against will be the Champions. In the event of two teams ending with the same ratio of sets then the team with the highest ratio of games for to games against will be the Champions. Finally, if two teams end with the same ratio of games, then the Championship will be awarded to the team with the highest ratio of points for to points against. The same procedure will be used to establish the order of precedence of two teams’ apparently finishing level in any position in a Division.e placed
Match Procedure - Matches between incomplete teams
(a) The Match shall be played in the order of the scorecard. If one team consists of only two players they each play two singles and a doubles, therefore playing as B and C or X and Z subsequently conceding three singles. If both teams have only two players the match will consist of four singles and the four un-played sets are shared. If a player is not present when called to play His/Her game then He/She will default that set but will be allowed to play any subsequent sets should they arrive later.
(b) If only one player of a team is present by 8 p.m. no sets shall be played and both teams must submit a written explanation to the League Competition and Championship Secretary, who shall refer the reports to the Committee for decision.
(c) Teams failing to fulfil a fixture without giving their opponents 24 hours notice will be expected to offer to contribute to their opponents out of pocket expenses up to a maximum of £15. This will be a matter to be decided between the Clubs concerned without recourse to the Committee.e placed
Notifications of Match Results
(a) The Home team shall be responsible for the immediate dispatch of the Official Scorecard giving the details of player’s names and scores. The Captains of both teams should sign the card.
(b) If the scorecard (or written explanation why a match has not been played) is not received by the Wednesday following the week of the match, or being received subsequently, bear a postmark later than the Monday following the match, match points and sets shall be awarded to the AWAY team.
(c) The responsibility of dispatching a scorecard shall fall upon the visiting team in any match where no home team players are present and the visitors claim the match.
The league Competition and Championship Secretary are responsible to ensure all results are entered onto the League website within 14 days of receiving the result.
