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Haslemere & District Table Tennis Association.

League Constitution

1.Title and Scope.

The association shall be called “The Haslemere and District Table Tennis Association” and shall be open to all clubs and organisations.

  • 2.Objects.
  • The objects of the association shall be : -
    • To conduct annual league and / or cup competitions within the association.
    • ( b ) To promote and conduct individual competitions open to all members registered with the association.
    • ( c ) To assist and encourage the formation of new clubs and develop the game of Table Tennis.
  • 3.Constitution.
  • The association shall consist of duly elected officers, member clubs and individuals.
  • 4.Government
  • The association shall be governed by an executive committee, who shall decide the formation of all divisions.
  • The executive committee shall be composed of a chairman and all officers plus one member from each division, who shall be elected at the A.G.M. and shall carry out association policy decided at this meeting.
  • There shall be at least five members present before any decision can be reached.
  • The executive committee shall have the power to fine, suspend for a period, or expel any club or player found guilty of breaking the association rules.
  • To decide all appeals by clubs or players and any point on which the rules are silent.
  • To take such steps as necessary to deal with emergencies.
  • The decisions of the executive committee shall be binding on all registered clubs and players.
  • A special general meeting shall be convened by the executive committee if one third of the association clubs so desire.
  • 5.   Subscriptions
  • All team affiliation, league and player registration fees shall be paid to the association not later than the last Saturday in October.
  • Players registration fees for new players not registered with the team entry shall be paid, with registration forms duly certified by the club secretaries, to the association at least 48 hours before the relevant members first match.
  • 6.   Annual General Meeting.
  • The A.G.M. of the association shall be open to all.
  • Amendments to rules must reach the secretary 21 days before the A.G.M. A copy of the agenda and rule amendment shall be sent, at least 14 days before the date of the meeting, to all club secretaries.
  • Voting at the A.G.M. shall be as follows :
  • One vote per existing team and one vote per each executive committee member.
  • 7.   Players.
  • Only players registered with the association shall be eligible to play in association matches or    competitions.
  • There shall be no limit to the number of players registered per one club, but players can only sign for one club. If more than one team is entered by a club the players must be registered for the team in which they intend to play. Any team playing an unregistered player shall forfeit the games concerned.
  • 8.     Reserves.
  • Players may play only three reserve matches for their club during the season, and then only for any senior team to that in which they are registered.
  • 9.   Transfers
  • Inter – Divisional. No club may transfer any player from the team in which he or she has been registered without the approval of the executive committee.
  • Players may not be transferred after 31st December Club to Club.
  • Any player wishing to change his or her club, for a valid reason, must make an application to the Match secretary, who shall put the case to the executive committee for a decision.
  • 10.   Fixtures.
  • The league fixtures shall be arranged by the association Match secretary, who shall state the weeks in which the matches are to be played. Sundays and bank holidays shall not be regarded as regular team or club days.
  • Matches must be played on the specified home date, except in exceptional circumstances with agreement of both team secretaries and the association Match secretary.
  • For all league matches a result card must be posted to the association Match secretary or Press secretary as applicable within 48 hours.
  • An explanation as to why a match has not been played must be sent by the defaulting team to the Match secretary, who shall submit it to the executive committee for a decision on wether the match in question should be re-arranged or lost by the defaulting team, after considering the reason given. If cancellation is less than 48 hours the match in question may be automatically forfeited in points and sets.
  • Where alterations concerning fixtures are necessary after printing of the hand book, the club concerned should notify the match secretary of the changes.
  • All postponed matches should be played as soon as possible, and in any event within two weeks of the last fixture in the league programme. The executive committee shall allocate points for any outstanding matches at that date.
  • No match may start later than half an hour after the advertised time of commencement,
  • ( 7.30 P.M. ) A match may be started if one player from each team is present, but both teams must have two players ready to start half an hour after the advertised start time and the entire team by 8.30 P.M. irrespective of the time of commencement.
  • The home team shall provide sufficient time to finish a match and any unfinished games shall be forfeited by the home team, always provided that the away team players arrived on time as stated above.
  • 11.   Teams.
  • In all divisions teams shall consist of up to five players, with matches to consist of nine singles  sets and one doubles set. Only three players may be used to play the singles.
  • 12.    Rules, Balls and Playing Conditions.
  • All matches shall be played in accordance with the E.T.T.A. rules and with a top grade ball
  • ( three star ) It shall be incumbent upon clubs participating that they provide the best playing and lighting conditions.
  • 13.   Method of deciding Championships.
  • In all divisions the winning team shall receive the number of points comparative to the number of sets won and the losing team likewise. No match may be conceded or played for double points without the prior consent of the association Match Secretary.
  • The position of the clubs in the individual table shall be decided by the number of points won. In the case of two or more teams being level on points, the record of matches won and drawn shall be counted to decide the position in the division. In the event of a tie on points and matches won / drawn a play off on a neutral venue will be arranged by the Match secretary.
  • If a club withdraws a team from any division, the whole record of such team shall be deleted from the division concerned.
  • In the event of a walk-over being given, the receiving team shall receive ten points. The defaulting team shall have the right to appeal.
  • If more than one division is formed, the general principle shall be, the bottom two teams of the higher division shall be relegated to the lower division and the top two teams of the lower division shall be promoted to the higher division.
  • 14.    Individual Tournament.
  • A set of tournament rules will be supplied with the tournament entry forms.
  • 15.   Alterations to rules.
  • Alterations to the rules may only be made at the association A.G.M.
  • SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS
    • 1.There have been problems when players have played in 2 games on the same night. Suggest an addition to rule 10  “Players cannot play in more than 1 match on the same day”
    • 2.Some League and mini League matches were played as double headers last season. Suggest this should be banned.
    • 3.The ruling on playing up in a higher team is not generally well understood. A simpler alternative would be to have a rule just limiting the number of games any player can play, eg      “In each half of the season any player can play a number of games equal to the number of teams in the division in which     he/she is registered to play. All games must be for the team for which he/she is registered or a higher team.”      If there are 10 teams in div 1 and 9 in div 2 a div 2 player could play a total of 9 games.
    • 4.Rearrangements because teams are short of players at the last minute can be infuriating but could be avoided. Suggest clubs should be encouraged to register more than 3 players per team and that teams     “Prior to the first match of the season matches can be rearranged by mutual agreement between the clubs but any change must be notified to the Match Secretary. After this date rearrangements will only be permitted in exceptional circumstances. All matches for the first half of the season must be played before the start of the second half.”
    • Many players have other commitments that can conflict with table tennis fixtures. It would be helpful if these could be published and available to clubs by 1 September.