STANDING RULES
1) Title
·
The Association shall be known as “Sittingbourne and
District Table Tennis Association”.
2) Constitution
·
The admission of clubs, which are not already in
membership, shall be decided at the Association’s Annual General Meeting, Winter League Fixture Meeting,
Summer League Fixture Meeting, or where participation in the league is not
involved, by the Committee. Clubs
already in membership may only be expelled from the Association at the Annual
General Meeting or at a Special General Meeting called for the purpose. The Association shall be affiliated to the
English Table Tennis Association and in membership with the Kent County Table
Tennis Association.
·
The Officers of the Association shall be President,
Vice-President, Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Hon. General Secretary, Hon.
Competition secretary, Hon. Kent League Representative, Hon. Treasurer and Hon.
Summer League Organizer.
·
The Affairs of the Association shall be managed by a
Committee consisting of the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Hon. General Secretary,
Hon. Competition secretary, Hon. Kent League Representative, Hon. Treasurer and
Hon. Summer League Organizer and six other members.
3) General Meetings – Annual
·
The Annual General Meeting of the Association shall
be held each year subsequent to the closing of the financial year and at the
meeting the Officers and Committee shall be elected for the ensuing year.
·
No person absent from the Annual General meeting
with out good reason shall be elected to the Committee.
·
Two Auditors should also be elected.
·
A record of the attendances of the Committee shall
be given in the General Secretary’s Annual Report.
·
Notification of the resolutions shall be submitted
to the General Secretary by the 15th March. Such resolutions shall be circulated to all
clubs by the 7th April and any amendments shall be submitted to the
General Secretary by the 28th April.
·
The complete Agenda and notice of the meeting shall
be circulated at least 14 days before the date of the meeting.
Special
·
A Special General Meeting shall be called at any
time if requested by at least three member Clubs or by the Committee.
·
At least 14 days‘ notice of the date and full agenda
of such meeting shall be given and no other matters shall be dealt with at the
meeting.
Note!
·
At any General Meeting each Club representative
shall be entitled to one vote only on matters affecting the constitution, rules
or membership of the Association. On
other matters voting may be decided by a show of hands at the discretion of the
Chairman. The Chairman shall have a
casting vote.
·
Each member addressing the Chair shall first state
his/her name and Club.
4) Finance
·
The financial year of the Association shall end on
the 31st May, and an audited statement of accounts up to date shall
be presented at the Annual General Meeting.
The necessary expenses of the Officers and Committee incurred on
Association business shall be paid from Association funds.
Fees
·
Team Affiliation Fees (Main Winter League only) £2.00
·
Player Registration Fees (Main Winter League only) Senior £6.00 Junior £3.00
·
Team Affiliation Fee
(Summer League only) £10.00
·
Fees for Additional Winter League Competition Free
·
All above fees are to be paid in addition to the
ETTA and KCTTA fees. They are payable at
the appropriate Fixture Meeting of the Winter League or Summer League.
5) Laws & Discipline
·
Games in all the Leagues and Tournaments shall be
played in accordance with the Laws of Table Tennis as approved by the ETTA, and
the ball used shall be one of those officially adopted by the ETTA for the
current season. Playing apparel should be defined by the ETTA.
·
Where there is any infringement of the Rules
detailed under Standing Rules, and no penalties are already specified the
Committee may impose such disciplinary measures or penalties as it may think
fit. Likewise the Committee shall be
empowered to take disciplinary action against individual players as may be
deemed necessary within the guidelines laid down by the ETTA. Clubs and individuals against whom such
action is taken shall have the right of appeal to the Committee, and if not
satisfied to the KCTTA.
·
No alterations, additions or deletions shall be made
to Standing Rules or to the League or Tournament Rules following except at an
Annual General Meeting, or a Special General Meeting called for that
purpose. The Committee shall have full
power to decide on any matter not covered within these rules.
6) Dissolution
·
In the event of winding up or dissolution of the
Association, any assets remaining after all debts and liabilities of the
Association have been discharged shall be distributed as soon as possible
amongst those Clubs in membership at the time of the wind up.
WINTER LEAGUE RULES
1) Winter League (played under the ETTA approved laws of table Tennis)
·
The Winter League competition consists of teams
being entered into the League from every club in the Association and playing up
to 11 points per game, best of 5 games.
·
The League shall consist of such divisions as may be
determined by the committee.
·
Each team shall play each other team in the division
twice, home and away unless otherwise agreed by the Committee.
·
The Competitions Organizer must be notified of any
postponement within 7 days of the original date, and must be informed of the
re-arranged fixture within 1 calendar month of the original date. Any re-arranged match shall not include
players registered after the original date of the match unless specially agreed
previously by the Committee.
·
In the event of a match being cancelled or not played
on the date shown in the fixture list, the team at fault will be fined 5 points
for the first offence and 10 points for subsequent offences at the discretion
of the Committee. Should the game not be
played at all, the team at fault shall be fined £5 for the first offence or £10
for the second offence unless an adequate reason has been forwarded to the
Competition Organizer within 48 hours.
Unless the match is re-arranged by mutual consent, the team at fault
shall receive no points and the Committee shall award to their opponents such
points as they might have been expected to win, with a minimum of three. Any team wishing to claim points should do so
within 48 hours giving reasons.
·
Any team at fault on tree occasions shall be
automatically removed from the League.
·
Any fines collected may, at the discretion of the
Committee, be awarded to the team not at fault as a contribution to any out of
pocket expenses, which may have been incurred.
·
Note! The above applies apart from the lowest
division, where we start young players into the game, combined with the more
established players. In this division
they will play with handicaps of scratch, 5 or 10 up to 21 points per game,
best of 3 games with a knockout phase at the end of the season. Where two players have the same handicap, the
game shall commence at love all and be played to 21 per game. In doubles play the handicap shall be the
average of the two players rounded nearest to zero.
2) Additional Winter League Knockout Competition
·
This is played within the ETTA waiver rule (2003/4)
57.1. up to 21 points per game best of 3 games.
·
This competition is played on a home and away basis,
and runs in parallel to the Winter League, with a knockout round to decide the
overall winner (top two teams play off)
·
The play off stage at the end of the season would
only consist of the players that were registered for that team prior to 31st
January, and have played 45% of the matches available, unless special
dispensation is received from the Committee.
A specific week would be set-aside for this, playing at a neutral venue.
·
The team-finishing top of the group shall receive a
trophy for this achievement as well as the team winning the knockout stage.
3)
Registrations
·
All players must be registered in the Winter League
competition (11up), to make them eligible to enter the Additional Winter League
Handicap Knockout competition (21up).
·
The fixtures for both competitions shall be arranged
at a fixture meeting held in September and any Club not represented at the
meeting shall be fined the sum of five pounds.
·
Each Club must supply a copy of its fixture list to
the Competition Organizer before the first match is due to be played. Every match must be played on the date shown
in the fixture list unless otherwise mutually agreed by the clubs concerned.
·
A team shall consist of three who shall be bona fide
members of the Club represented. Such
members shall be registered for that team on an official registration form at
the time when the team is entered into the League.
·
Registered players will be provided with the
Association Handbook.
·
New members may be registered after the allocation
of teams to the League provided that the necessary form and fee in the hands of
the Competition Organizer at least 24 hours before the first match in which
they are required to play.
·
The closing date for League registration
applications shall be the end of January unless special dispensation is
received from the Committee. Such
registrations for the first division shall be fully effective from the outset. Registrations for other divisions will be
subject to ratification by the Committee, and if the registration is not
approved, any games played will be forfeited.
·
If any Club is represented by more than one team,
such teams shall be graded first, second, third, etc.
·
To be eligible to play in any team other than the
first a player must not have played during the current season in more than four
matches for any team or teams of higher grading, should a player have played
more than four matches for any team or teams of a higher grading that player
shall then be only eligible to play for the remainder of the season for the
highest team for which these matches were played.
4) Play
·
All matches shall be played between the last Monday
in September and the second Friday of April unless otherwise approved by the
Committee.
· When a club has two or more teams in the same division, and it becomes clear that the higher-ranked team is the weaker, the Committee may, if it sees fit decide that players from the lower ranked team may not play for the higher ranked team.
·
Transfers from a higher to a lower ranked team may
be granted by the Committee in special cases.
Any infringement of this rule shall entail the forfeiture of the ties
played by the eligible players.
5) Matches
·
A match shall consist of ten ties, i.e., nine
singles and one doubles, each to be best of five games when playing 11 up, and
best of three when playing 21 up.
·
Matches must commence at
·
Where a team (whether home or away) is late in
arriving with out good cause, the opponents if not themselves at fault may
claim one game for every fifteen minutes that the start of the match is
delayed, and the remaining matches played in order on the card – i.e., in a
match commencing at between 7.45pm and 7.59pm the first game should be B. v
Y. Where such a claim is made the
commencing time must be shown correctly on the scorecard and in each game
claimed should be noted “claimed—late start”.
Alternatively should a team arrive after
·
Any Club failing to produce three players for a
League Match shall forfeit to the opposing team all the games, which are not
played. In the event of both teams in a
match having only two players, the match shall consist of five ties only, each
player of one team playing each of the opposing team the best of three games in
addition to the doubles tie.
·
One player shall constitute a team with three
singles matches being played if playing a three man team, two singles matches
being played if playing a two man team and one singles being played if playing
a one man team.
6)
Results
·
Results of match’s should be notified to the
Competition Organizer by the secretary of the home team within 48 hours on a
League Result Card, which shall be signed by a member of each team.
·
Where no card is received by the Competition
Organizer within 5 days of the date due of a match, he shall award the points to
the away team and shall notify both teams accordingly. Any appeal shall be referred to the
Committee.
·
The winner of each division shall be decided by
points, one point being awarded for each game won.
·
Where the number of games won in equal, the winner
shall be decided by the number of matches won.
·
Where these are equal the matter shall be resolved
by the Committee.
ANNUAL
TOURNAMENT
1)
Rules
·
Junior and Senior Tournaments shall be organized
annually and shall be restricted to members of Clubs in membership with the
S.D.T.T.A.
·
Any bona fide club member who, owing to special
circumstances, has not been able to play the number of games required to
qualify may be allowed to enter at the discretion of the Committee.
·
All the events shall be played at a central venue on
one or more days as may be determined at the Annual General Meeting. The actual dates, times and venue being
decided by the Committee.
·
Any player who, having entered a tournament, either
fails to attend without due notice or a reasonable excuse, or leaves before
completing his or her matches, may be excluded from the next tournament.
·
A player withdrawing from one event shall be
automatically withdrawn from all other events in that tournament.
·
All entries shall be made on forms supplied for the
purpose to the Club Secretaries, and such forms shall be forwarded to the
Competitions Organizer or such person as may be decided by the Committee,
together with the entry fees, not later than the date specified on the forms.
(The entry fees shall be determined by the Committee)
·
Any points not covered by the rules should be
referred to the appropriate Tournament Organizer for the event or the
Competitions Organizer, or to the Association Committee via the Hon. Secretary.
2) Junior
·
Junior Tournaments shall consist of the following
events: -
·
Jimmy Mannooch Trophy Rules are as follows
1.
Open to members of either sex under the age of 15.
2.
Who have not previously won any tournament?
3.
Who do not play in the league in a division higher
than the lowest division?
4.
Who live in the Borough of Swale
5.
Have entered at least one event in the current
Junior Tournament.
·
Boys Junior Singles & Doubles
·
Girls Junior Singles & Doubles
·
Under 15 Boy’s Singles & Doubles
·
Under 15 Girl’s Singles & Doubles
·
Under 13 Boy’s Singles and Under 13 Girl’s Singles
·
These tournaments shall be open to players who are
under 17(15 or 13 for the youngest events) on the preceding 30th
June, and who have played a minimum of 5 matches in total in the current Winter
League, Additional Winter League, Team Tournament, Summer League and Junior
League prior to the closing date for the entry or who reside or attend a school
in Swale Borough.
·
No Player may enter more than four events, including
the Jimmy Mannooch Trophy.
·
Where there are less than 4 entries for any event
the tournament organizer will decide whether to run the event or to combine it
for that occasion with the corresponding event of the opposite sex.
·
All singles events shall be played in groups of four
or three, with the winner of each group taking part in a knockout competition.
·
Where there are less than six entries for any event
it shall be played as a straight knockout.
3) Senior
·
Senior Tournaments shall consist of: -
a.
Combine Singles
b.
Consolation Singles (for First Division Players
knocked out of the groups of the Combination Singles event)
c.
Women’s Singles & Doubles
d.
Veteran’s Singles & Doubles (The Veteran’s
Singles & Doubles shall be open to players of either sex aged 40 years or
over on the previous 30th June)
e.
Men’s Doubles & Mixed Doubles
f.
Divisional Singles for each separate Division of the
League except the first
·
Where there are less than six entries for a
divisional singles, that event may be combined with the next highest division,
commencing with the lowest.
·
Where there are less than four entries for any other
event or for the second division singles (after combination if appropriate)
there shall be no competition for that event.
·
Entrants in the divisional singles may only take
part in the event appropriate to the lowest division of the League for which
they are eligible at the closing date for entries.
·
Players registered after the League has commenced
may be excluded from the divisional singles at the Committee’s discretion,
provided that the decision is taken and notified at the time of registration.
·
No Player may enter more than four events.
·
Doubles events shall be played on a straight
knockout basis, but singles events may be played in groups, at the discretion
of the Committee, according to the number of entries, and the time available.
·
Entrants must have played a minimum of 5 matches in
total in the current Winter League, Additional Winter League or Team Tournament
prior to the closing date for entry. The
number of games necessary to qualify may be reduced at the Committee’s
discretion.
HANDICAP KNOCKOUT TOURNAMENT AND SECONDARY TOURNAMENTS
1)
Rules
·
A team tournament for teams in the first two
divisions of the league plus subsequent tournaments for divisions 3 and 4, 5
and 6, etc. Shall be organized each season.
If there are an odd number of divisions then the bottom division will be
included in the competition of the two divisions above, at the discretion of
the Committee.
·
The competitions shall run on a handicap and
knockout basis.
·
The entrance fee will be payable at the Committee’s
discretion.
2) Registrations
·
A team shall consist of 3 players eligible to play
in the league for that particular team and once a player has played for any
team he/she cannot play for any other.
·
A player may play once for another of their club
teams within the same competition, but only at the discretion of the Tournament
Organiser.
·
Any player may play for their club’s other teams,
which are in a different tournament upon application to and at the discretion
of the Tournament Organiser providing that a revised handicap has been given.
·
After the second round, no player not already
eligible may be introduced to a team unless special permission is obtained from
the Tournament Organiser.
·
A player who registers after the Fixture Meeting
must have played in at least 2 league games per month prior to the round
concerned unless special permission is obtained from the Tournament Organiser.
·
The draw shall be made by the Committee, or Sub
Committee appointed by them and circulated to all participants at the Winter
League Fixture Meeting.
3)
Handicaps
·
Each player will be allocated a handicap; this
handicap will be decided by the Committee or Sub-Committee and can be varied
from round to round.
·
Where a new player is introduced into a team the player
cannot play a match unless that person is allocated a handicap via the
Tournament Organiser.
·
Any player who has not played in the league before
will receive a handicap of zero, unless the player’s standard compared to other
known players is included on the appropriate form.
4)
Play
·
One week in October shall be left free of the league
fixtures for the first round and one week in November for the second round.
·
The home team must offer their opponents a minimum
of two dates after the second round for subsequent rounds. In the first rounds only one date need be
offered since certain weeks are set-aside for them.
·
The final shall be played at a neutral venue to be
decided by the Committee.
·
A set shall consist of two legs up to 31, with no
deuce. The total amount of points gained
by each team player in both legs shall then be entered in the appropriate
column on the official scorecard.
Handicaps should be added to this total.
Therefore, an accumulated total is kept after each set, showing the
match score.
·
Matches will consist of nine singles (all play all,
with two legs up to 31 for each game (N.B.) all games must be played). The winning team shall be the one with the
highest accumulated total over the nine singles.
· Where the final totals are equal each team shall nominate one player to play a deciding singles, consisting of one leg only. Each playe