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SUNCOAST LADIES DOUBLES LEAGUE
St Petersburg Tennis Center
Team Rules 2017 – 2018
Suncoast Ladies Doubles League
Goals and Mission
• To play at a competitive level and support fellow team members.
• To place teams in positions of descending order, according to Suncoast rules, in order to successfully win as many points as possible.
League
• Participating in the Suncoast League is a commitment by 14 doubles teams to play on Tuesday morning throughout the season.
• Each team (A and B) must have a minimum of 6 SPTC members on the official roster.
• Each player on the A and B teams will be responsible for paying her league dues to the captain prior to the captains’ meetings for the Fall and Spring Seasons. The captain will inform each team members of the cost of the dues.
• The captain will submit the team roster on the Suncoast website prior to the first match of the season.
• Substitutes are allowed and should be of the same playing level as your partner. Teams are lined up in descending order, per league rules.
• Teams will flip if a team wins two and the team above them loses two matches in a row (W2/L2). The W2/L2 rule will include subs and will only allow one of the wins or losses to be a default.
• Positions 7 & 8 will switch between A & B team according to the W2/L2 rule.
• Challenges (Internal and New Team / External) are described below.
• For SPTC, there are no challenges during the season or between the Fall and Spring season.
Rules Committee
• The Rules Committee will be made up of the Head Tennis Professional, Team Captains (A & B), and Team Co-Captains (A & B). Their responsibility is to create, amend and oversee the following of the established SPTC Suncoast Rules. The Rules Committee meets when rule changes and/or additions are requested by a majority of team members.
• Prior to the beginning of the Fall season each year, the SPTC Suncoast Rules will be presented and approved by a majority vote of team members who are present at the team meeting. When very minor changes are made to the master document, the SPTC Rules Committee may decide to conduct voting through email. A majority vote will still be needed in order for the rules to be accepted.
SPTC SUNCOAST CHALLENGE RULES
The challenge system is designed to provide an equitable system for deciding positions on the Suncoast team. Our intention is to create the strongest and most competitive team possible with the best interest of the SPTC members in mind and to maintain proper order of strength.
The Rules Committee, at their discretion may make decisions if a circumstance arises that the rules do not specifically cover. The Rules Committee may not change the rules which have been voted on and accepted by the team.
All players are strongly encouraged to make themselves available during the designated challenge season.
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Please review very carefully the specific information included in the next three sections regarding general, external and internal challenge rules.
GENERAL CHALLENGE RULES
• Incoming Team Captains (A & B) will serve as Challenge Captains for the summer.
• In early February, the A and B team captains will make sure that all SPTC members have been notified of upcoming challenge dates and deadlines. SPTC staff will receive copies of newly accepted rules and, at their discretion, may post them around the club and/or on the official SPTC website.
• All challenges must be issued by contacting your Captain. The Captain will contact the team being challenged. Within 24 hours, the team being challenged will contact the team issuing the challenge and will offer two options for the date and time of the match. The team issuing the challenge must also respond to the offered dates within 24 hours. Players should work together cooperatively to choose a convenient time and date for the challenge to be played. The match must be played within 3 days of the end of the 24-hour window for the team issuing the challenge. The 3-day window includes Saturdays and Sundays. (If you set the date and book the court in fewer than 24 hours, you do NOT lose time from the three-day window for playing your match. You still have the following three days to play.) Once the challenge match is scheduled you must play or default. Challenges cannot be rescinded.
• No challenges should be issued on the final two days of the challenge period. Issuing a challenge at the very end of the challenge period does not allow for challenged players to be properly notified and have sufficient time to complete match play before the official end of the challenge period.
• If a challenge match is scheduled to be played during the last two days of the official challenge period but is rained out, the match must still be played, even if the completion of the match goes beyond the end date of the challenge period.
• Challenges will be one match (2 out of 3 sets). If the challenged team cannot play the match, they must default and the new team takes the position, thereby moving all others down one position. No re-challenges are allowed for either team.
• If a team has challenged up and won, they must wait 24 hours before issuing another challenge.
• Challenges are to be played at the team’s home facility unless all 4 players agree otherwise. The team challenging will reserve the court and supply a new can of soft court tennis balls.
• Injuries: If you are injured during challenges and cannot play, it will be handled the same way it would if you were in a tournament – if you cannot play you have to default. We can’t be in a position of deciding what injuries or other special circumstances (death in the family, graduation trip) would warrant exclusion from challenges. So, we must say that if you cannot play, you must default.
• After completion of a challenge match, one of the members of each team must report the score to the team captain within 1 hour of the end of the match. This may be done by phone, text, email or voicemail.
EXTERNAL CHALLENGES
• The external challenge period begins the day after the final league rain date. If there are no rainout dates used in the Spring, the Rules Committee may move the beginning of the external challenge period to the day after the final regularly scheduled match.
• EXTERNAL CHALLENGES will last 10 days, beginning on a Wednesday and ending on a Friday. During this period, NEW teams can challenge any existing teams they choose. (Teams already on the ladder will not be issuing challenges at this time.)
• All players who issue an external challenge and win their challenge match must be SPTC members or must become SPTC members within 3 days after completion of their match. If players do not arrange for membership within this time period, their challenge match results will not be counted and they will not earn a spot on the team.
• One week prior to the beginning of the external challenge period, SPTC members wishing to challenge onto the roster should inform the Captain of their intent to challenge so that teams can be notified in plenty of time to schedule matches. If more than one team issues an external challenge to the same line, they must first playoff to see who continues on to play the external challenge match. This must be completed prior to the beginning of the external challenge period.
• New teams are permitted ONE open challenge to secure a spot on the team. If the new team loses this open challenge onto the “A” or “B” team, they will plug into the line determined by the Head Pro if there is an open position. If there is no open position, the team will not gain a position on the team. A team that falls off the bottom (#14) because of challenges above will have until the end of the EXTERNAL CHALLENGES to challenge back onto the roster (cannot play a team that they previously lost to).
• Once a new team holds a position on the ladder they are now an existing team and cannot issue any more challenges on the team during EXTERNAL CHALLENGES.
• If you are in a lower position that falls off the ladder due to challenges, then you are considered a new team and fall under EXTERNAL CHALLENGES rules.
• Once the EXTERNAL CHALLENGES are completed, no teams can drop off the bottom.
INTERNAL CHALLENGES
• The internal team challenge period will start on the Saturday following the last day of the external team challenge period and will last for 14 days, ending on a Friday.
• Beginning three days prior to the internal team challenge period, teams that wish to challenge may make their wishes known to the Captain, so that teams can be notified in plenty of time to schedule matches.
• NO internal challenges may be issued or played until all external challenge matches have been completed. We need to complete all external challenges in order to establish who’s on the ladder.
• Teams may challenge up one or two lines above their current position.
CHANGE OF PARTNERS
• If you are an existing team but wish to break apart and your partner chooses not to continue, you can hold your position with a new partner. This must be declared to your captain no later than the day after the last scheduled match, excluding any rain dates.
• If you are an existing team but wish to break apart and both of you would like the position with new partners, then a challenge must be played. This match must be completed prior to the beginning of the external challenge period (prior to the day following the final league rain date). The losing team may then participate in the EXTERNAL CHALLENGES if desired.
• If a player loses her partner during the season (after the challenge period), she and her new partner will hold their position.
• If an existing team drops off during the season (after the challenge period), any new team must challenge onto the team at the level recommended by the Challenge Captain or Head Pro. If they win, they take that position. If they lose, they take the position below.