REGULATIONS
FOR THE
HARROGATE & DISTRICT BADMINTON LEAGUE
1.
TITLE
:
1.1
The League
shall be called The Harrogate & District Badminton
League
1.2
Playing
members of all clubs must affiliate to the Badminton
Association of England.
2.
MANAGEMENT
:
2.1
The League
shall be managed by a Chairman; Secretary; Treasurer;
Match Secretary and at least three other members or
officials, as may be appropriate, appointed at the Annual
General Meeting or co-opted at any time. A quorum of four
shall be required to conduct business. A maximum of three
members from any one club shall serve on the Committee.
Any member consistently failing to attend committee
meetings shall not be eligible for re-election. The League
President may also attend committee meetings.
2.2
The League
Secretary shall notify all clubs of the date of the A.G.M.
The A.G.M. will be held prior to the start of each season.
Voting shall be restricted to the Committee and a
representative of each team completing their previous year’s
matches. A voting card will be issued for each eligible
team and will be required to register a vote.
2.3
Proposals for
changes to the League rules must be made in writing to the
League Secretary before 31st. May and any
alterations will require a majority in favour of those
voting at the A.G.M. Clubs will be notified in writing
prior to the A.G.M. of any proposed amendments.
2.4
An entry fee
will be agreed at the A.G.M. for each participating team.
Payment will be due at the Fixture Meeting.
2.5
Clubs wishing
to resign from or enter the League shall give notice to
the League Secretary no later than 1st.
September immediately preceding the season of competition.
All new entrants shall be placed in the lowest division.
Clubs wishing to resign a team must withdraw their lowest
team.
3.
ELIGIBILITY
:
3.1
The League
competitions shall be restricted to bona-fide playing
members of the competing clubs. No player shall play for
more than one club during a season except by prior
agreement of the clubs involved and with
approval from the Management Committee.
3.2
Where teams from the same club are in the same
division, players for the first team must be nominated
before the first match and shall not play in any lower
team. Teams from the same club in the same division must
play each other at the start of each half of the season
before they play any other league match.
3.3
A club with
more than one team in the League is required to nominate
at least 3 men and 3 ladies for each team (other than the
lowest placed team), including cup teams, and provide a
list of nominations before the first match. Nominated
players will not be eligible to play in a lower division
or lower team cup competition. Clubs will notify players
that they have been nominated prior to the Fixture Meeting
to ensure their acceptance. Clubs failing to nominate
players will forfeit any points won until nominations are
received.
3.4
Where a club
with more than one team in a division enters a team in a
cup competition, only players nominated for that team and
players from a lower division are eligible. Once a player
has represented a team in a cup competition he or she will
be ineligible to play for any other team in that
competition.
3.5
A man who has
played three matches and a lady five matches for a club’s
higher team or teams shall not be eligible to play in a
lower division or in cup matches for a lower team.
3.6
Any
team fielding an ineligible player in a cup competition
will automatically be disqualified and take no further
part in the competition.
3.7
Entries
will not be accepted for any handicapped events from
players who have represented a County 1st, 2nd,
or 3rd team within the previous three years.
4
FIXTURES
AND RESULTS :
4.1 A Fixture meeting shall be held prior to the start of the season, the date of which will be published at the A.G.M. A representative from each competing club will attend the Meeting and agree the dates, times and venues of all its matches with opposing clubs in the relevant division(s). A copy of each Club’s fixture list must be supplied to the League Match Secretary within 7 days of the fixture meeting
4.2
Match dates
agreed at the Fixture Meeting shall not be changed except
by agreement between the two parties involved. Any such
change must be notified to the League Match Secretary.
Failure to reach agreement will result in the Committee
deciding which team, if any, shall be awarded points or
have points deducted. Postponement because of bad weather
will require the match to be
re-arranged.
4.3
Match results
should be sent to the Match Secretary within 7 days of
completion. For every full week thereafter the team
responsible for returning the match result will forfeit
one point.
4.4
Unless
otherwise agreed by the Committee, no matches should be
played during the period of
the Harrogate & District Badminton Tournament.
All matches must be completed by 31st. March
unless otherwise agreed by the League Match Secretary.
4.5
The Management
Committee shall have the power to award or deduct points
or order a rematch at a venue of their choosing for any
match in which a breach of the regulations has been deemed
to have occurred. Protests should be made to the Committee
in writing, usually within seven days of the match date.
5
MATCH
PLAY :
5.1
Each match
shall consist of nine rubbers, best of 3 games to 15 points, as
detailed on the score-sheet provided. Setting to 20 all is permitted. One league point will be awarded
for each rubber won.
5.2
The home
captain must provide a scorecard and enter the home team
players first before passing the scorecard to the away
captain before the match commences. Once a match has
started no changes in the composition of teams shall be
allowed.
5.3
If play starts
15 minutes after the agreed time, the offending team shall
forfeit the first rubber. One further rubber shall be
forfeited for each 15 minutes delay thereafter. If play
has not started after 60 minutes the offending team will
forfeit the match.
5.4
If any player
or pair is absent when called upon to play the rubber
shall be awarded to the opposing team, except by mutual
agreement of the captains.
5.5
The home team
must organise their court space to ensure that there is
sufficient time to complete the match from the agreed
start time. Any unfinished or outstanding rubbers will be
awarded to the away team and bonus points awarded as per
rule 5.1.
5.6
Recognized
badminton clothing shall be worn during match and
tournament play.
5.7
Tournament
quality feather shuttles should be used for all matches
unless both teams mutually agree to play both home and
away matches with plastic shuttles of suitable quality. In
case of non-agreement, feather shuttles must be used.
6.
PROMOTION/RELEGATION :
6.1 The winner of a Division shall be decided by the number of league points won. In the event of a tie, the winner shall be decided by the number of matches won, and if this is still equal the total number of game points shall decide
6.2
At the end of
each season the top two teams in each division (except the
first division) shall be promoted to the next higher
division. The lowest two teams in each division (except
the lowest division) will be relegated to the next lower
division.
6.3
The Committee
reserve the right to increase or reduce the number of
teams promoted or relegated if it is in the best interests
of the League. The objective shall be that the League
comprises of divisions of eight teams and that where the
number of competing teams is not divisible by eight, the
difference is accommodated in the two lowest divisions.
6.4
Clubs failing
to complete their fixtures, or in severe or repeated
breach of League regulations, may have points deducted or
be promoted to a higher division or relegated to a lower division – the division to be
decided by the Committee.