CAPITAL AREA TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE 

RULES

DRAFT AS OF JULY 2015

1. Teams

1.1 Club Affiliation: Each team participating in the league is encouraged to represent a Capital Area club, although not strictly required. A team can also represent another organization, or themselves, as long as teams meet playing conditions and have a home venue.

1.2 Rosters: A team roster must consist of a minimum of 3 players and a maximum of 6 players. Team rosters must be submitted prior to the season registration deadline. Changes to the roster can be made until the start of the league season, provided that they do not change the team’s division placement, as determined by the league committee. After the start of the league season, roster replacements are only permitted for special circumstances, and at the full discretion of the league committee.

1.3 Individual Ratings: Each player on a team roster must have an individual rating, which could be either a league rating or USATT tournament rating. If a player has both, the higher of the two ratings are used. Current ratings as of the league entry deadline for the season are used for team ratings. In special circumstances a rating may be assigned to an unrated player whose level is known.

1.4 Team Ratings: A team’s rating is the average of individual ratings of players on the team roster. There are no rating restrictions.

1.5 Team Captains: Each team is responsible for designating one team captain. The team captain will serve as the primary contact and spokesperson for the team. League related communication, including scheduling and rule related-issues, will go through the team captain.

1.6 Team Name and Color: Each team should indicate a team name and a team color. Team name and color are at the discretion of the team.

1.7 USATT Membership: USATT membership is NOT required to play in the league.

1.8 Team Fees: Each team is required to pay a $200 team fee, which needs to be paid to the league committee prior to the first team contest. Please note that all money collected will be used to pay for prizes and operational expenses. The league committee is made up of volunteers, who will receive no compensation. 

2. Divisions

2.1 Division Assignments: Each team will be assigned to a division based on team rating. In forming divisions, some accommodation may be made for geography or to separate multiple teams from the same club.   Division champions with at least 3 returning players will participate in a higher division for the following season, regardless of team rating. Teams who end last in their division will be relegated to a lower division.

2.2 Division Coordinator: A Division Coordinator will be assigned to each division, from one of the team captains in each division. Division Coordinators will communicate with the teams and clubs in their division, put together a division competition schedule for the season, and generally oversee the successful progression of league play in their division.

2.3 Division Format: Divisions will be composed of 4-6 teams (ideally 5). Each team will play every other team in the division twice over the course of the season. Matches will occur during monthly meet-ups.

2.4 Scheduling: Schedule will be available on the league web site. Captains will be notified of any schedule changes.

2.5 Prizes: Trophies will be awarded to winning team and runner-up.

3. Competition Rules

Competition will follow USATT rules with additional guidelines for league play outlined in this section.

3.1 Team Contest Format: Each team contest will have a total of 7 individual matches, with 3 players per team playing against each other as follows.  Team captains will flip a coin to decide who gets to be the home team.

Home Team                                                       Away Team

Player A                                                               Player X

Player B                                                               Player Y

Player C                                                               Player Z

Player B and C (double)                                   Player X and Y (double)

Player C                                                               Player X

Player A                                                               Player Y

Player B                                                               Player Z

A team will be allowed to play with only 2 players, but the team will default two matches.

All individual matches are played out regardless of the score in the team contest. Individual matches are best of 5 games to 11 points. However, at the sole discretion of the team captains, in case a team contest protracts longer than expected, the team captains can decide to have individual best-of-3 matches. Both team captains need to agree, in order for this instance to occur. League organizers also reserve the option to adjust the format for division finals, to adapt to spectators’ preference.

3.2 Team Points: Teams will earn as many points as their wins in individual matches. Additionally, if a team wins the majority of the individual matches, it will earn an additional bonus point. Therefore, the total number of points a team can earn is 8. A team defaulting a game will be given 0 points, and the other team will gain the full 8 points.

3.3 Division Standing: The standing in each division will be determined by the number of team contest points earned. If two or more members of the group have gained the same number of points, their relative positions shall be determined only by the results of the contests between them, by considering successively the numbers of team points (including bonus points), the ratios of wins to losses in individual matches, games and points, as far as is necessary to resolve the order.

3.4 Warm-up: 30 minutes prior to the scheduled team contest start time will be allotted for warm-up/practice (15 minutes per team). Warm-up will be on the designated competition tables for the contest only (unless use of other tables is allowed by the club/venue operator). Club/venue policies must be followed.

3.5 Defaults: The scheduled contest start time is default time. In the event a team does not show up by the scheduled start time, whichever team is present at the scheduled time is responsible for reporting the default.

3.6 Balls: The league committee will supply balls.

3.7 Club / home venue: League participants and spectators are subject to the rules and policies of the home venue/club hosting a team contest. 

3.8 Uniforms: Each team must have uniforms consisting of team shirts of the same color. Including the club or organization name and/or the team name on a team’s uniform is preferred, but not required. Players must compete in uniform for all matches of the contest. 

3.9 Results Submission

• Match results from a team contest must be submitted by the home team electronically within 24 hours of the scheduled contest, or immediately following the end of the team contest, if a league committee member is present.  League organizers will provide a form to report the results.
• Any results submitted more than 48 hours after the scheduled time for a team contest will be subject to a penalty of 0.5 team contest points deducted from the home team for each additional day the results have not been submitted. The maximum penalty is the number of points the home team would have earned without any penalties.
• Submission of photos, write-ups, videos or other content from a team contest is encouraged (and greatly appreciated). 

3.10 Rule Violations: Rule violations should be reported by a team captain to the Division Coordinator and are subject to the following guidelines:

• Any rule violation must be reported within 48 hours of the violation or the point/game/match/contest will stand as is.
• Teams with more than three infractions of the same rule during the season may be subject to additional penalties including disqualification from the remainder of the season.
• For other rule violations or misconduct, the Division Coordinator or the league organizers will determine an appropriate resolution and/or penalty. Penalties for rule violations, unsporting behavior, or other misconduct may include: loss of match, loss of team contest, suspension of player or team from future team contests, expulsion of player or team from league.

3.11 Liability Waiver: The league committee does not assume any liability. Each team captain and player will be required to submit a signed waiver of liability form prior to the first team contest.