NEW JERSEY WOMEN'S PLATFORM TENNIS LEAGUE

 

 

LEAGUE STRUCTURE/MATCH PLAY

 

1.      Member clubs must be willing and able to field 4 courts (8 players) per team each week of play according to the league schedule.

 

2.      APTA Rules of Play shall govern all matches, unless otherwise stated in these rules.

 

3.      Format of play is 4 courts of doubles. A match is best 2 out of 3 sets with a tiebreaker at 6-all. Maximum warm-up time is 15 minutes. Practice serves must be taken before play begins. A match begins when the first ball is served.

 

4.      Home team provides balls and refreshments for all regular season matches. Two new balls per court should be provided for warm-up. Extra balls should be available. Any APTA approved ball is acceptable.

 

5.      There are no rest breaks between sets. A maximum of one minute is allowed on changeovers, and 10 minutes for an injury. A quick bathroom break may be taken at the end of a set.

 

6.      Coaching during warm-ups and matches is prohibited. Spectators should not interfere with or offer assistance with the conduct of matches.

 

7.      Matches should start promptly at 9:30 AM on Tuesdays. Subsequent matches will follow as courts become available. When fewer than 4 courts are available, the visiting team may determine order of play. Home captains should contact visiting captains by 6:00 PM on the Friday before the match.

 

8.      Individual courts may choose to play on Monday if all 4 players agree. This does not grant teams the right to play out of order of strength in order to accommodate someone’s schedule. If Monday is weathered out, Tuesday is the match day.

 

9.      Thursday is the weather make-up day for all matches. (Exceptions are made for Thanksgiving and APTA tournaments.)  Regular Tuesday starting time remains in effect. Individual courts may choose to play on Wednesday if all 4 players agree. If Wednesday is weathered out, Thursday is the make-up day.

a. If Thursday is weathered out, matches can be rescheduled for play on any day up to and including Friday of the following week.

b. If a match is not played by then, no points will be awarded.

 

 

PLAYERS/LINE-UPS

 

10.  A player may play for only one club during our season. All players must meet full Paddle Membership requirements and be in good standing in their club. No high school or full-time college student may play league matches.

 

11.  A player may play for only one series during, or for, a scheduled week.

 

12.  Line-ups for each match must be written out prior to arrival at the courts and exchanged before the start of the match. Line-ups should reflect the relative strengths of the pairs, from Court 1 down to Court 4. Players have the right to refuse play until the line-ups have been exchanged.

 

13.  Clubs fielding more than one team should be aware that the league considers them to be “one long team”.  A default must come from the bottom of that club’s lowest team.

a. A lower team that refuses to send up players will be penalized.

b. When a team loses one or more players after 5:00 PM on the Friday prior to a match, lower teams are not required to surrender players. The higher team takes the default on its 4^th court if no substitute can be found.

 

14.  No match may be defaulted without approval of the Series Leader or Series Rep, except in the case of a last minute injury, illness or no-show.

a. Defaults are taken from the bottom to the top (i.e., Court 4 first, then Court 3,) except in the case of a no-show when play has begun on the other courts. It is then taken on the affected court.

b. In the event of a default, available players’ names should be listed. They are not permitted to play for another team that week.

c. If no players are available, this should be noted.

d. A team receiving a default will be considered to have won the match 6-0, 6-0.

 

15.  Line-ups must reflect strengths of pairs available that day.

a. Court 1 must be stronger than Court 2, which is stronger than Court 3, etc. down to Court 4.

b. An individual may move up or down two positions from where she last played.

c. A pair may move up or down one spot from where they last played together, no matter how many weeks have passed since their last pairing.

d. Any deviations from a, b, or c must be approved by the Series Leader or Series Rep before the match is played. If you wait until Tuesday morning to seek permission you will probably not get it.

e. Permission for an illegal move will be granted only if you and your Series Leader cannot come up with a legal alternative. Personalities and preferred side of court are not valid considerations.

 

16.  If a team has fielded an illegal line-up without permission, they will lose a point. If they won the match, their opponents will receive the point. The score will be changed to 6-0, 6-0.

 

17.  Following an illegal move, approved or not, the players must use their last legal position(s) as a reference to determine their position for the next match.

 

18.  The Board reserves the right to penalize teams for the following season if they determine that excessive defaults or inappropriately placed players have affected the outcome of the Series.  They will begin the following season with negative points.

 

19.  A player must have played at least three matches for her club in order to be eligible to play in the last two matches of the season. Exceptions will be considered only for (a) a club having a single team and (b) for the lowest team of a club with multiple teams.

 

 

PROBLEMS

 

20.  Court maintenance is necessary for safe play. If courts are poorly maintained, the Board reserves the right to request that an alternate site be found.

a. If there is a possibility courts are unplayable due to weather, the home team captain of the first match should check her courts and inform the visiting captain of their condition NO LATER THAN 7:30 AM on match day.

b. If courts are not playable due to weather, captains may suggest using an alternate site. Otherwise, Rule 9 goes into effect.

c. If the visiting team has been informed of a possible delay, a maximum of 30 minutes will be allotted after the visiting team arrives for the home team to clear the courts and make them suitable for play.

d. If the visiting team has not received a phone call regarding court conditions and arrives to find that the home team courts are not playable due to conditions that occurred prior to that day (e.g., unremoved ice &/or snow, damaged equipment), the home team will have to take a forfeit on any court that is not playable.

 

21.  If a player or team encounters problems en route,

a. They must notify the host club by or before the scheduled match time.

b. If a team or player is 20 minutes late without notifying the opposing club, they have defaulted the match.

c. Please make every effort to play matches even if there is tardiness.

d. Should there be an extraordinary delay which grossly compromises the start time of the match the host team may apply the Thursday Rule.

e. Late arrivals are granted a 5-minute warm-up.

 

22.  If there is a dispute regarding line calls or foot faults during a match, one person from each team may stand at the net post to monitor the match, but will make a call only if asked.

 

23.  If a team feels that the opposing team has “juggled” its line-up, the match may be protested. Teams may question an opponent’s line-up prior to play, and have it altered.

 

24.  Protests on this and other issues must be lodged with your Series Leader using a Protest Form, within 48 hours of the match. She will inform your opponents within 24 hours of your complaint.

a. Both captains must send a written explanation of the situation to the League President postmarked within 3 days of the match.

b. The Executive Committee and Series Leader will resolve the protest. (Any board member whose club is involved in the protest will not be involved in making the decision.)

c. The board reserves the right to refuse to accept or review a protest which is filed by a club that has not paid its NJWPTL dues and associated fees.

 

25.  If weather becomes an issue on match day:

a. If play has not begun, line-ups may be changed for the make-up match, including defaults.

b. Any player can determine that it is unsafe to begin or continue play. This is a court-by-court decision.

c. Matches postponed or suspended on Tuesday will resume according to Rule 9.

d. A match resumes precisely where it was halted. Record game and set score and serving order so that there is no problem remembering them when play resumes.

 

 

SCOREKEEPING

 

26.  The home captain is responsible for transmitting the line-ups and match results to her Series Leader by 5:00 PM the day of the match.

 

27.  Scoring for the season is cumulative, with each court worth one point. Ties are broken by head-to-head results. Further ties are broken by counting sets won, games won, and total sets lost.

a. In a default, the score is considered to be 6-0, 6-0.

b. In a retired match (not completed due to injury or other complication), whatever games and sets are required to complete the match are awarded to the victors.

 

 

STANDINGS/AUTOMATIC MOVES

 

28.  The top two teams in each series (except Series 1) will automatically move to the next higher series for the following season.

 

29.  The lowest 2 teams in each series (except Series 13) will automatically move to the next lower series.

 

30.  Should a vacancy occur the vacancy will be filled at the Board's discretion.

 

 

 

Revised 1/26/09