2013 RULES AND REGULATIONS (revised 2013-04-21)


1. Each team fixture will consist of 4 matches, 2 singles and 2 doubles. Each match will consist of 2 regular sets, (with a 12 point tie-breaker, if applicable), each set is worth one point. No match tiebreakers will be played during the regular season. Each game counts.

2. All members of a team must be members in good standing of that club.

3. Each team must prepare their respective rosters with the “honor system” in mind. The number one singles player should be the best singles player and the number one doubles team the best doubles team. The number one player(s) play number one, and number two play number two. Rankings for a fixture depend on who is present for the match. If either captain disagrees with the opposing team line-up, they should try to resolve the issue before the match. If this is not possible, they can play the match under protest (and mark the scorecard accordingly) and advise the Commissioner. The other team captain will be called upon to defend his line-up. When it is decided that there has been obvious "stacking" by a team, the fixture could be defaulted in favor of the other team.

4. Teams need to observe the dress code (clothing restrictions) of the Home club. The home team must provide food and refreshments following the matches. This is considered to be an essential and mandatory social aspect of the competitive interclub scene.

5. Start times: All matches start at 6.30pm.

6. Home matches: All teams play their home matches on Tuesdays, with the exception of Côte-St-Luc and Dorval, who’ll play at home on Thursdays.

7. Clothing Restrictions: White Tennis clothing and collared shirts at MRTC. Specific and appropriate Tennis attire (collared or non-collared shirts) at all other clubs. No sleeveless shirts accepted.

8. It is the visiting Captain’s responsibility to confirm the match each week.

9. It is the host Captain’s responsibility to post the score sheets to the League website by noon of the day following the match each week. If a fixture is rained out, it is the responsibility of the home team captain to inform the League Statistician, within one (1) week of the rained-out fixture, of the agreed upon rescheduled date.

10. Again this year, we will continue our “Pro”trial (started in 2010); one (1) Pro teaching in a Club will be permitted to play per fixture. A player shall be defined as a Pro for interclub match play, if he receives any type of remuneration for teaching tennis at the Club for which he plays. Teams using a Pro must advise the other team beforehand and special mention must be made on the score sheet. The same number of matches played remains for accessibility to playoffs. This rule will be reviewed at the end of the season.

11. A player must play a minimum of 2 matches in the regular season to be eligible for the playoffs.

12. If a team withdraws from a match and/or the League without giving a valid written reason acceptable by the League, it will be suspended for the balance of the year and the following year.

13. Final standings will be determined as follows:

The team with the best record (most sets won) will have the highest ranking, from 1 to 9. In the case of a tie, the tie-breakers will be as follows:

1) the most points (sets won) between the 2 teams that are tied;
2) the most games between the 2 teams that are tied;
3) the most games during the year.

14. Playoffs: There will be 2 divisions for the playoffs.

14.1 Division A: Top 4 teams as per the Final Standings during the regular season. Semi-finals - 1 vs 4; 2 vs 3. One fixture only. The team with the better record during the season will host the match. Winners play the Final. The team with the better record during the season will host the ''A'' final. In all cases, the “regular home night” will be used to host the match, weather permitting.

14.2 Division B: Next 4 teams as per the Final Standings during the regular season. Semi-finals - 5 vs. 8, 6 vs 7. One fixture only. The team with the better record during the season will host the match. Winners play the Final. The team with the better record during the season will host the ''B'' final. In all cases, the “regular home night” will be used to host the match, weather permitting.

14.3 For the Playoffs only, when sets are tied 1-1 in a match, a Super tie-breaker will be played, and will count as 1 set (1point). Super tie-breaker means 1st player/team who reaches 10 points – 2 point difference – wins. After the 1st point is played, players will change sides after every 4 points (i.e. at 5, 9, 13, etc)


14.4 The team with the highest number of points (sets won) wins the fixture. In the case of a tie, the tie-breaker will be as follows:

1) the most games won;
2) a 12 point tie-breaker will be played for each match (4 in total); the team with the most tie-breakers won, wins the fixture;
3) the total points for all tie-breakers.


VETERANS INTERCLUB LEAGUE

Minutes of the meeting held April 14 2013 at the Monkland Tennis Club

Chair: N. Hartenstein

Present:
Richard Kochel Baie d’Urfé
Mike Shiener CSL
Denis Asquini Montreal West
Jacob Woloshen MRTC
Pierre Vézina Monkland
Normand Martel Ste-Dorothée
Tom Brown Valois
Warren Hersch Hampstead
Patrice Russo Dorval
Vlad Loghin Dorval

Guest: Martin Drapeau (Votre Tennis/Find your Tennis)




1) INTRODUCTION

Norm opened the meeting by welcoming everybody to the new season, and advised that The Clearpoint Club would not be returning for the season because of lack of players willing to participate. He then circulated a sheet asking all teams to update Club information for the 2013 season, including name of captain, applicable e-mail, home and cell phone numbers as well as Club phone number.



2) QUESTIONS RAISED AT LAST YEAR’S MEETING

- 3rd set tie-breaker:

In the 2012 regular season, in the case of a match tied a 1 set all, we tested the format of playing a regular tie-breaker (1st to 7 points) for “bragging rites” only. No extra point was awarded. However, this would be included in the fixture results and tabulated separately by the statistician. Pierre, our statistician, informed us that very few Clubs took advantage of this. It seems that because there was no points attached, the interest was very limited. All agreed to drop this and go back to the status quo (no extra play if the match is tied at 1-1).
This applies only to the regular season as the tie-breaker format will apply in the playoffs if necessary.

- Association des Vétérans de QC”:

The $65 fee per Club has been dropped by the ‘’Association’’ as there was nothing concrete they could provide the Clubs.

- Playoffs:

As last season extended far into Fall (Finals were played in October), Norm reiterated that Clubs needed to show more willingness the play their rainouts earlier and do what’s necessary to play as quickly as possible inside the ‘’two week window’’ scheduled for each of the semis and finals. After a brief discussion, it was agreed to schedule both the semis and the finals on specific dates in the original calendar, right after the season ends. Clubs will need to respect these dates unless there’s rain on those nights.



3) OVERVIEW of 2013 SEASON

- Teams:

As noted earlier, Clearpoint will not be returning, which means we’ll operate with only 9 teams for the season. Thus, 1 team will have a ‘’bye’’ every week.

- Start times:

All start times for matches will be at 6h30pm.

- Home matches:

All teams will be hosting matches on TUESDAY night, with the following exception:
CSL: Thursday night
Dorval: Thursday night

-Schedule:

Norm will prepare the schedule in the coming weeks. The goal will once again be to balance home/away matches, while coordinating with the Lakeshore league (both schedules will be done in conjunction with one another), to make sure that Clubs with multiple teams don’t host too many home matches in the same week. Therefore, the format of hosting a team one year and visiting that team the following year can not be guaranteed.

It was also agreed not to schedule matches the last week of July as many players are on holidays and some Clubs can have difficulty fielding a competitive team. That week will be used as a ‘’rain out make up week’’

The start of the season will be the week of May 20th.

-Rules and Regulations:

All rules will remain the same with the exception of the tie- breaker in the playoffs now being a ‘’Super tie breaker’’ (1st to 10 points) vs the regular tie-breaker (1st to 7 points). See rule 14.3

Complete Rules to be published on ‘’Votre Tennis/Find your Tennis’’ website.

-Stats:

Pierre Vézina will continue to be the statistician for the coming season but will now use a new website platform (see above). As in the past, all teams are to make the necessary efforts to send an e-mail to Pierre reporting the score of a fixture ‘‘by noon of the day following the match each week’’ (Rule #9). We’re also asking Clubs when e-mailing Pierre with the results, to also ‘’cc’’ the opposing team they just played.

Pierre’s e-mail address: pvzina@gmail.com

- Playoffs:

See 3rd paragraph of agenda item #2 above



4) OTHER BUSINESS


- 60+ group:

Mike and Jake are still interested in starting a 60+ group. To date, only MRTC, CSL and now Dorval have showed interest. Warren is to contact Cam Phillips from Clearpoint to see if a team could be fielded by amalgamating players from both Clubs, and he’ll report back to Mike.

- Social activity:

Patrice inquired on the possibility of hosting a social activity later on in the season. Probably at Dorval, this could include a ‘’mischoui’’ type meal and offer an opportunity for extra socializing, possibly bringing spouses to this outdoor activity. This idea was greeted extremely favorably by all. Once the schedule is establish, Patrice will further look into this and connect with Norm for possible next steps.



- Meals after matches:

All agree that the ‘’after Tennis’’ is an integral part of the league’s ‘’raison d’être’’. While we realize that not all Clubs have the luxury of having full kitchens to prepare meals, we encourage Clubs to ask their players to see how they could ‘’raise the bar’’ in their hosting duties, especially when we know a Club will host only 4 or 5 times a season.



5) PRESENTATION - New website:

Martin Drapeau did a quick demonstration of his ‘’Votre Tennis/Find your Tennis’’ website. Currently, this is mainly used to promote ways of finding players to play matches, both within a Club or outside of it. Martin agreed to host our league stats free of charge. As a pilot project, he developed the template incorporating our Clubs, roster of players, schedule and rules. Pierre will continue to get the weekly scores from matches and then, post the fixture results on this website.



6) ADJOURNMENT

There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 12h30pm.