By-Laws

UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE TENNIS CLUB MONDAY NIGHT COMPETITION BY-LAWS

Obligations of the Players & Teams

1. Players must abide by the Constitution and Rules of the Club and rulings of the Committee.
2. A player shall pay competition fee when entered and such fee shall be decided at the Annual General Meeting of the club. Competition fees must be paid no later than 2 weeks after the commencement of each season. If this fee, remains unpaid by the due dates, it may result in forfeiture of place in competition. On advice from the Treasurer that such amounts are outstanding the decision regarding forfeiture of place in competition shall rest with the Committee. 
3. All players shall give any information to the Committee which it requires in reference to any team or teams, player or players, and match or matches, either in course of play or finished. The Committee may inflict any penalty it thinks fit for non-compliance.

The Committee

4. The Committee shall have complete control of the fixtures for the competitions and shall receive all nominations for entries in the matches and shall have power to regrade any team or player as it thinks fit. It shall receive all applications for registrations and permits.
5. The Committee shall meet at least once in each month during the playing season, to consider all matters referred to it under the Constitution and Rules.
6. The members of the Committee shall appoint Competition Co-Ordinators.
7. In the event of a decision being required of the Committee, apart from the monthly meeting and time does not permit a meeting of the Committee, the Competition Co-ordinator shall have power to give a final decision on behalf of the Committee.
8. No alteration to the date set down will be permitted for any match without the express permission of the Committee.

General

9. There shall be two competition playing seasons per year being the Semester 1 Season and the Semester 2 Season
10. All matches to be played under the laws of the game, the interpretation of such laws shall devolve upon the Tennis Officials Australia.   
11. No set shall be decided by the toss of a coin, or any similar means.

Mode of Play

12. All “hit-ups” to be limited to three (3) minutes.
13. In a given Competition, no team can play with less than two (2) players. Breaches of this rule will incur the penalty described in the attached schedule.
14. (a) The competing teams shall be composed of two (2) players.

(b) A match shall consist of three (3) sets, two (2) singles sets and one (1) doubles set.

(c) For all matches the order in which sets shall be played for the competition is that there will be three (3) different combinations of sets for each team, and they shall be played in the order that they are listed on the result entry sheet.

(d) The order in which sets shall be played may be changed, but only by mutual consent of both teams. Playing of sets out of order will mean that a team shall not be able to subsequently claim any previous sets. 

(f) The position in which the team will play will be determined by the Committee.

15. Killer point deuce is to be played, where one normal deuce point will be played and if the advantage is not taken, the following deuce will be a sudden death point.

Emergency Players

16. (a) Only players registered with the Club, or otherwise approved by the Committee, will be allowed to take part in any matches. 

(b) If both players are emergencies in a team at the one time will result in the forfeiture of the match.

(c) Emergency players shall not be allowed to strengthen an existing team.

Additional Registrations

17.  If a player no longer is able to continue to complete the remainder of the season, an emergency may take their place.

Methods of Scoring in Matches

18. All home and away matches played during the competition shall be decided on games (four (4) points for a win), but if games are even, sets are to count. An additional two (2) points will be awarded for each set won.
19. If, in the event of wet weather, lighting failure, curfew or local court limits, any home and away match is abandoned, whether commenced or not, each side will score five (5) points UNLESS at the time of abandonment one team had an unbeatable lead. Then, match points shall be awarded.
20. In the event of a match being lost by default the team not defaulting shall be awarded ten (10) points.

Defaults and Penalties

21. A player who forfeits their position in the competition for 3 weeks of the competition will lose their place in the competition. In exceptional circumstances the Committee shall have discretion in applying the penalties.

Finishing Positions

22. (a) In the event of two or more teams being equal at the conclusion of the normal season matches, and it is necessary to decide which teams fill the first, second, third and fourth positions, such decision shall be arrived at on the most matches won;

(b) If tied, a countback on sets for the whole season will be made between the teams concerned. If it is still tied, a countback will be done on the performance against each other. If still tied, a countback will be made against the next best etc.

Semi Final and Grand Final Matches

23. In a given Competition, no player unless he/she has played in three matches in the current season with the one team, shall be eligible to play in the Semi-Final or Grand Final matches with that team, except at the discretion of the Committee.
24. In each grade the first team shall play the fourth team and the second team shall play the third team in Semi-Finals with the losing teams dropping out and the winners playing in a Grand Final.
25. In Semi-Final and Grand Final matches all three (3) sets must be completed or one team must have an unbeatable lead at the completion of play.
26. At the conclusion of each finals match, results must be notified by the time, and in the manner as set down on the Semi Final and Grand Final sheets AND the winning team must place the result on-line within twenty-four (24) hours of the completion of the match.
27. In the case of a washout or lighting failure, the following will occur:-

(a) Match that has commenced: If a Semi Final or Grand Final match is unfinished due to inclement weather or lighting failure, it will be completed the following week, unless the Committee has advised otherwise. All completed games in an unfinished set will stand, but not the points in an unfinished game.

(b) Match that has not commenced: If a Semi Final or Grand Final match does not commence due to inclement weather or lighting failure, it will be played the following week, unless the Committee has advised otherwise.

Match Result Entry

28. (a) At the conclusion of each match:- The winning team shall place the result on-line within twenty-four (24) hours of the completion of the match. 

(c) Should the match be won by Default, the winning team will be responsible for placing the result on-line within twenty-four (24) hours of the completion of the match.

(e) Should the match be abandoned through wet weather, lighting failure, or no decision be reached, the team with the most games won at that point will be responsible for placing the result on-line within twenty-four (24) hours of the completion of the match.

Protests

29. All protests must be lodged with the competition co-ordinator, in writing within five (5) days from the time in which the alleged breach was committed.
30. A protest may be lodged by any team not necessarily engaged in the match where the alleged breach is stated to have occurred.