BY-LAWS

Membership/Affiliation

1

Any club having a court or courts suitable for match play and whose Constitution and by-laws the Association Executive approves of, shall be eligible for membership in the Association.

2

Each Club shall pay an affiliation fee as determined by their respective Associations.

3

All affiliation and entry fees must be paid on or before the 30^th November each year.

Rules of Play

4

Members shall play under the rules adopted by Tennis Victoria.

5

Home and away matches shall be played as decided by Council.

6

Team composition will be as decided by Council.

7

The number of games per set to be determined by Council.

8

All matches are to commence at a time determined by Council.

9

Only balls approved by Tennis Victoria shall be used in competition matches.

9.1

The number of new balls provided by the home team shall be determined by Council.

10

No matches shall be rescheduled without first being referred to the Association Executive.

11

Opposing captains shall, before the commencement of each match exchange written names of team personnel, the pairing and the order in which they shall play.

11.1

Mixed pairings may be played as set by Council.

12

Captains may agree to alter the order of play before or during the match.

12.1

If first nominated set is unable to start at the designated start time then any set combination that can be played shall commence within 15 minutes of the designated starting time.

12.2

In the event of no set combination being able to commence within 15 minutes of the designated starting time, one set is forfeited by order of play by the team unable to field the listed combination.

12.3

If no set combination can commence within 15 minutes of a completed or forfeited set, further sets to be forfeited in order of play by the team unable to field the listed combination.

13

A toss to serve/receive or choice of end shall be made before the commencement of each set.

14

All sets will be self-umpired.

14.1

If an umpire is required they can be called for at anytime.

14.2

The home team will umpire the first set and then teams will alternate umpiring duties if requested in subsequent sets.

Player Eligibility

15

Clubs must nominate a team of players (individual names) with the Association Executive two weeks prior to the commencement of the season.

15.1

The Association Executive will grade teams to the appropriate section in consultation with the affected Clubs.

15.2

Any player not submitted in the original team must seek permission in writing from the Association Executive before they are eligible to play in finals.

16

Players must play in a least four matches with a club or team, if a club has more than one team in a section, by the end of the home and away rounds, to be eligible to play finals with that team.

16.1

During finals, the Association Executive may approve an emergency player providing the player is of a similar standard to the player being replaced.

17

Players from a club entering two teams in one section will be only eligible to play finals for the first team in which they played six matches unless approval is given by the Association Executive.

18

Teams with permanent rotating players may apply to the Association Executive before finals to play four rotating men and/or four rotating women in finals matches.

18.1

Sections which are non gender specific (i.e. don’t nominate both Mens and Ladies sets) must play a minimum of two (2) ladies in finals unless prior approval is received from the Association Executive.

18.2

All permanent rotating players must have played four matches for the team during the current season to qualify to play finals as a rotating player.

18.3

Any one player cannot play a singles and mixed match.

19

Non-club based fill-ins may play with different clubs, but once they have played 6 matches for a club they are ineligible to fill in for other clubs unless approval is given by the Association Executive.

20

Only one player per team per week may drop from one grade higher of tennis as a fill-in.  If other fill-ins are required they can be taken from lower grades or from fill-ins of equal standing or from teams who have a bye.

21

Any grade split (e.g. B1 & B2) shall be viewed as a separate grade.

22

If a match is abandoned before play commences due to adverse weather, players named on the score sheet are deemed to have played a qualifying match towards eligibility for finals.

Adverse Weather

23

The decision to abandon a match before play commences due to adverse weather (rain or extreme heat conditions) shall rest with the captains.

24

Both teams to appear at court in spite of adverse weather conditions until 2:00p.m., unless captains agree to stay longer.

25

Extreme heat conditions will commence when temperature has reached 35^oC.  Temperature can be obtained by listening to local radio station 3TRFM (FM band 99.5 MHz, telephone no. 5174 0000) for announcements or alternatively contact the competition line phone number listed above.

26

In the event of a match in progress being interrupted by rain, the onus of deciding if the set(s) being played and remaining unplayed sets are to be abandoned shall rest with the captains.

26.1

If agreement cannot be reached after one (1) hour of continuous lost play, the match shall be abandoned.

27

In the event of a match in progress and extreme heat conditions applying then any set(s) being played to be completed unless the players in that set decide to suspend play.

27.1

The onus of deciding if the remaining unplayed sets are to be abandoned shall rest with the captains.  If agreement cannot be reached after one hour of continuous lost play, the match shall be abandoned.

28

If captains agree to commence play even if rain is in progress or if extreme heat conditions apply the onus of determining whether to play or delay starting a set will rest with the participants in that set.

29

Any player due to the affect of adverse weather who is unable to complete a set once it is in progress (from the time the first point is played) will forfeit that set.

30

In the advent of adverse weather causing interruptions to play but has not forced play to be abandoned then no new sets can start after 5:30 p.m.

Allocation of Match Points

31

In all grades one point will be awarded for each set won, one point awarded for the team with the most sets and one point for the team with the most games.

32

In matches (even number of sets) where a draw can occur with sets and games equal, the total number of points available will be evenly split.

33

In matches (uneven number of sets) where a draw cannot occur but games won can be equal, the games point will be evenly split.

34

In matches abandoned during play due to adverse weather, teams will receive one point for each completed set won and the remaining points will be split.

35

In matches abandoned due to adverse weather before play commences, the total number of points available will be evenly split.

36

All scoresheets are to be made available to the Score Secretary under the conditions listed at the bottom of the score sheet.

36.1

The home team is responsible for providing the scoresheet.  (See Protest/Penalties).

36.2

In the event of a match being abandoned or incomplete due to adverse weather, the score sheet is still to be forwarded to the Score Secretary.

Emergency Players

37

Should a player become incapacitated due to injury during the playing of a set, they shall forfeit the remainder of that set.

37.1

An emergency replacement player, if found within thirty minutes shall be permitted to take their place in any remaining sets.

Finals

38

At the conclusion of the home and away matches the four leading teams shall play off for the premiership on such courts as Council shall decide, using the “Page System” of elimination.

39

If teams are equal on points, then final ladder position will be determined by percentage of sets won/lost and then by percentage of games won/lost.

40

The winner of a contested final shall be the team winning the most sets.

40.1

If sets are equal than the winner of a contested final shall be the team winning the most games.

41

In the event of a draw in a mixed team final, each team is to designate a men’s, a ladies’ and a mixed doubles combination and play a super tie break to ten points in each combination.

41.1

A player may only play in one combination.

41.2

The winner of two of these super tie breaks will be declared the winner of the contested final.

42

In the event of a draw occurring in a single sex competition, then the last set completed is to play a super tie break to ten points and the team winning the super tie break will be declared the winner of the contested final.

43

In the event of a finals match being affected by adverse weather, the match shall be completed on the following day at 1 p.m., unless the Association Executive rules otherwise.

Protest/Penalties

44

Any club or player may protest, such protest to be in writing and to be in the hands of the Association Secretary by 8:00 p.m. the Wednesday following the match in dispute.

44.1

Protest must be accompanied by a fee of $20.00 which will be forfeited if the protest is deemed to be frivolous.

45

The home team is responsible for providing the scoresheet.  Failure to provide the scoresheet will result in the loss of two points to the home team.

46

A penalty of $50.00 may be imposed on any team forfeiting except in unusual circumstances as decided by the Association Executive.

Other

47

Any matter not provided for in these rules shall be determined by the Association Executive and their interpretation on any of the Association rules shall be final and shall be taken and acted upon as binding on all clubs