Santa Barbara Mens A Interclub Singles League

MEN’S A SINGLES INTERCLUB LEAGUE RULES

Revision: October 2014

1.  Each Interclub team shall consist of a maximum of thirty five (35) members. Matches shall play on Wednesday nights at 5:30pm, per the schedule of play posted on the internet league database:www.oballo.net : Santa Barbara Winter Singles Interclub Tennis League.

2.  League Structure: The Interclub League shall be governed primarily by the League Commissioner. The League Commissioner shall have a two-year term and shall be elected by majority vote of the Team Captains. The Team Captains shall act as a League Board of Directors and shall have the responsibility to elect the League Commissioner, approve league rule changes and resolve grievances.

3.  Grievance Resolution: Any grievance shall be communicated in writing to the League Commissioner as soon as practical following the event that lead to the grievance. The League Commissioner shall respond in writing with his ruling to all affected parties and all League Captains. In rare instances, should the affected parties strongly disagree with the League Commissioner’s ruling, an appeal to the League Board can be submitted in writing. The Board may choose to override the Commissioner’s ruling or allow it to stand. All decisions of the Board shall be final.

4.  Players: Only players twenty-one (21) years or older are eligible to play in the Men’s Interclub League, with the exception of the single exception (non-roster) player. If it is determined that any player, except the non-roster player,  under 21 plays in a match, then all matches played with that player will be defaulted, past and present.

Each team is allowed to have one exception player per match who must be registered on Oballo.  These exception players are listed below and can be added to the roster.  The exception player does not need to meet the eligibility requirements of the league, meaning, professionals, D1 college players, women, juniors, ie “Open”.  The exception player will be inserted into the lineup at the position commensurate with their playing ability.  If the exception player is to play at the #1 position, as a consideration to the other team, the team captain shall notify the opposing team captain to ensure that there is a player on their team capable of providing a competitive match.  Notification shall be via email or text by 11pm on the evening before the scheduled match. If the captain agree that there is a mismatch, all players will be required to be roster players. 

5.  Any team caught playing a player not properly added to roster, with the exception of the single non-roster player, will default all matches that player played in, past and present.

6.  The deadline for roster additions is November 13.  A player must play at least four (4) matches (not to include any defaults) with a team in order to be eligible to participate in the playoffs with that team.  In the event a particular player does not show up at a match and a substitute is obtained at the last minute, and this player is not on the roster, the players and the captains can agree to have the match count. A player may switch teams once during the season provided the captain communicates the roster change and the change is prior to November 13.

7.  Each team will play every other team three times. See league schedule for match location and which team is the “HOME” team.  Whenever possible, matches will be played at a club, even if the non-club team is designated as the “HOME” team.  In the event a match must be played at a city court or other location requiring fees for play, both teams will be responsible for payment of court fees, which shall be collected by the designated payee prior to the start of play.

8.  All players will bring unused tennis balls to each match and 1 can will be opened for play. The winning player will be provided with the remaining can of unused balls at the end of the match.  Refreshments (beer/soda/snacks) will be voluntary.

9.  All interclub match competitions shall consist of five singles matches with at least 4 matches played by players from the roster. The remaining match may be played by a non-roster exception player. Matches shall be the best of three sets, with regular add scoring. It is recommended that Captains call and/or email the opposing captain a few days prior to the match to confirm that the opposing Captain will have five matches ready to play on the day of the match. Needless to say, each Captain should make calls/emails to his own team players to get a verbal/email confirmation that all of his players will be there on match day. If email confirmation is not received, then a personal phone call should be made to get confirmation. Poor communication can result in having the opposing team show up with no team to play. This is an unfortunate letdown and an inconvenience for the parties involved.

10.  Rules of Conduct to be conveyed by Captains to the players:

-  Foot faults - If a player is committing flagrant foot faults and the players cannot resolve the matter themselves, players may request the team captains to provide a line judge to stand at the net post and call the match for the players.

-  Line calls - Players are responsible for calling balls landing on their side of the net. Any opponent can question any call once directly to the person making the call. The person making the call must re-state the call. An opponent can ask, “Are you sure about the call?” If the person making the call indicates he is sure, then the call stands, and that is the end of the question. If the person making the call is not sure, or reconsiders, and his partner cannot confirm the call, then the call shall be reversed. If it is the opinion of the opponent that a player on the other side of the net is making constant questionable calls, the league procedure is to call a time out, let your opponents know that you would like a linesperson, and summon the team captain(s) in order to obtain a person to stand at the net to act as linesperson. Experience has shown that this has resolved any further questionable line calls. The linesperson is there to confirm calls in or out only when asked by the players playing the match, and should not be making all line calls.

-  All Interclub players should be aware of the accepted Rules of Conduct and should exhibit proper conduct and good sportsmanship, both on and off the courts at all times.

-  So that all interclub team players are familiar with this rule, it is recommended that each captain read this rule out loud to their players prior to the start of the season.

11.  Team captains shall come to each match prepared with a roster of five singles players to play that day, numbered 1 through 5. Captains must have their line-ups written-up prior to arriving at the match location. It is recommended that captains, upon arrival at the venue, immediately locate the opposing captain, exchange lineups and determine which courts are being used for the match. As soon as this is done, players should be sent to their assigned courts so that they may begin their matches. A match may be shortened if mutually agreed upon by both players in advance of the start of play.  Methods for match attenuation may including but not limited to the following: playing a tie-breaker instead of a third set; no-ad scoring; first to three, etc. Interclub matches shall begin promptly at 5:30. There shall be a 15-minute grace period for late-coming players. At 5:45 any teams not on the court shall be considered in default. Defaulted matches start at the fifth position, followed by the fourth and so on. Make up matches, due to court availability or other valid reason, shall be scheduled by captains and players to occur before the next scheduled match. 

12.  Captains should put their top players at #1, then #2, then #3 etc. Every effort should be made to avoid "stacking". Blatant stacking will result in a default of the entire match. If a captain feels that stacking occurred, he should immediately submit a formal claim to the league commissioner for a ruling. The factors that will be considered include the scores of the matches, the history of the lines played, the actual lineup positions played and also the relative lineup positions played compared with the rest of the teammates. The ruling from the commissioner will be final, subject to potential appeal as defined in paragraph 3.

13.  As the matches are concluded, the Home Team Captain shall record all match scores on the match score sheet, circling the winning teams, and shall promptly enter the scores into the league internet database, before noon of the following day. The winner of each division will have their team’s name engraved on the league’s perpetual trophy and may keep it for display until the following year.

14.  In the event a captain cannot field five teams for a competition, as a courtesy he should call and inform the opposing captain by 9:00 PM the Tuesday night before the match or as quickly as possible thereafter. For each match not played, the opposing team will be awarded a victory.

15.  When a captain would like to add a new player to the league, the player needs to be able to answer "NO" to the following 3 questions: A.  Did you every play Division 1 tennis?  B.  Do you have a USTA rating of 5.0 or higher?  C.  Have you ever played in lines 1, 2 or 3 in the Open/A league? If a new player does not meet one or more of these qualifications, the captain can submit a request to have a captain's vote to determine if the new player will be allowed to play in the A/B league.

16.  The commissioner also reserves the right to move an A/B player up to the Open/A league if the individual plays at a level that is significantly above the other A/B players. The commissioner will confer with the other captains before a decision is made regarding any players affected by this paragraph. A captain may also submit to vote any player they feel is not at the proper level for the A/B league.

17.  Women cannot play in the Men’s Interclub league except as the single non-roster exception player as long as is agreed to by the captains and players involved.

18.  Team Captains: Keep in touch with your team! Calling your players a few nights before a competition as a reminder really helps ensure you'll have a full team, and avoid defaulting a match. It’s a tremendous let down and inconvenience for the opposing team when one of your teams does not show up.

LIST OF EXCEPTION PLAYERS

TBD