VETERANS INTERCLUB LEAGUE

(2013 RULES AND REGULATIONS (revised 2013-04-21)following Minutes of meeting).

Minutes of the meeting held April 8, 2018 at the Monkland Tennis Club

Chair: N. Hartenstein

Present:
Cary Willson Monkland
Alex Brzezinski Montreal-West
Jean Marier Clearpoint
Richard Viau Carrefour Laval
Robert Pinard Ste-Dorothée
Tom Brown Valois
Rick Mosseri Hampstead
Kenny Diamond CSL

Regrets:
Jake Woloshen MRTC
Patrice Rousso Dorval
Pierre Vezina Monkland




1) INTRODUCTION

Norm opened the meeting by welcoming everybody to the new season.

One of the Ste-Dorothée teams moved to Carrefour Laval and the Clearpoint Club expressed their desire to come back after many years away from the league. Both teams were unanimously accepted, which means we will be operating with 10 teams this season.

There are also numerous changes in captaincy with different teams and we welcome:
Pierre Dicaire – Ste-Dorothée
Rick Mosseri – Hampstead
Jean Marier – Clearpoint

Norm then circulated a sheet asking all teams to update their respective Club information for the 2018 season, including name of captain, applicable e-mail, home and cell phone numbers as well as Club phone number.



2) OTHER BUSINESS RAISED AT LAST YEAR’S MEETING

Evaluation of the 2 division format as well as 3rd set tie-breaker trials from 2017 were reviewed in applicable topics in #3


3) OVERVIEW of 2018 SEASON

- Teams:

As stated earlier, we are looking to field 10 teams for the season.

- Start times:

All start times for matches will be at 6h30pm.
Note: Because of potential issues with road construction, some leaway should be considered; this might impact actual start time of some matches. If someone feels they will be late, they are asked to phone ahead.

- Home matches:

All teams will be hosting matches on TUESDAY night, with the exception of
Dorval, who will host on Thursday night.

- Schedule:

We have 14 weeks in the season, and we reduce this by 3 to accommodate the Designed Provincial and National tournaments, as well as the week for the Rogers Cup at “Jarry Park”. This leaves us 11 weeks to schedule play. That said, there’s a desire to find ways to play more matches in the season, as our summers tend to be longer. However, this extra time is challenging as people return to their “normal” activities once September rolls around.

A discussion ensued and we agreed to have all teams be in a single group, playing one another once, and having a balanced schedule of 9 fixtures per team. This could be complemented by teams organizing extra friendly matches, to play more tennis.

We also discussed that when a “stronger” team plays a “less strong” team, a conversation between captains should take place beforehand. The objective is to “adjust” the roster in order to have closer matches and provide more players an opportunity of playing during the season.

The season will run from be the week of May 21 (Victoria Day week, as in the past), to the end of August. Friendly matches are encouraged to be scheduled when there’s opening in the schedule or after the official season.

Norm will prepare the schedule in the coming weeks.

- Rules and Regulations:

Last year, we introduced the concept of a 3rd set tie-breaker when matches were at “one set all” as a trial. After review from the previous year, it was unanimously agreed to continue using the 10 points tie-breaker at “one set all”. To complement this, all fixtures will continue to have 12 points available, which means a victory in 2 straight sets will be worth 3 points, and a victory with a tie-breaker will have 2 points for the victor and 1 point to the loser.

- Standings & Playoffs:

This was another topic that had a lengthy discussion. While the regular single grouping of 10 teams playing each other once might be more conducive to adding playoff matches, scheduling them after the season has always been extremely difficult. It could also bring into question a team’s great season and finishing on top, only to lose it all in a 1 match playoff. Furthermore, if we take into consideration that we want to “adjust” rosters for better matches between “strong/less strong” teams, this goes against the objective of accumulating the most points to win the league outright.

We therefore came up with the following:

1) Each fixture will continue to have 12 points available (see above).
2) For standing purposes, we will resort to a “win/loss/tie” format:
o Win: 2 points
o Tie: 1 point per team
o Loss: 0 points
The team with the most points at the end of the schedule will be crowned champion.

Tie breakers:

1) In the event of a tie between the top 2 teams, the result of the match between them during the season will count as the tie breaker. Should that match also have been tied, a 1 match playoff will be scheduled.

2) In the event of a tie between the top 3 teams, again the results between themselves will serve as the tie breaker. In the event of a second tie, the number of sets won during the season acting as the second tie breaker.



- Social aspect and dietary concerns:

This topic was also discussed last year and seemed to have been well respect by everybody. With new captains/teams joining this year, we reiterated the following:

We all agree that the social ‘’after Tennis’’ is an integral part of our league. We ask that teams with special dietary concerns communicate with the opposing captains before the match so that proper arrangements can be made.

It remains the responsibility of the Visiting team to advise the captain of the home team in a timely matter.

- Stats:

Pierre Vézina, who has been our statistician for many years, was not present at the meeting. That said, in a previous conversation, Pierre had confirmed he would come back.

A motion was made and unanimously approved the warmly thank Pierre for his diligent work. Un gros Merci Pierre!

Pierre asked, as in the past, that all teams make the necessary efforts to send an e-mail to him reporting the score of a fixture “by noon of the day following the match each week” (Rule #9). Also, should a new player be added to the roster, teams must send the player’s e-mail to Pierre when reporting. Finally, 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

Richard also agreed to update the match template and send to Norm for eventual distribution to teams.


4) OTHER BUSINESS

- Rain:

It was reminded to all that weather should be the only reason to cancel a match. In the case where there’s rain during the day, we’re asking captains to speak to one another during the day and try to advise of cancellation as soon as possible. It is important to speak directly with the captain vs calling the Club for information.


5) ADJOURNMENT

There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 2h45pm.



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.