RULES OF THE MEDWAY TOWNS TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE
LEAGUE STANDING RULES 2024/2025 Revised
1. TITLE
The League shall be known as the Medway Towns Table Tennis League hereinafter called M.T.T.T.L. and address is that of the current League Hon. Secretary.
2. OBJECTS
The objects of the M.T.T.T.L. shall be the encouragement and organisation of Competitive Table Tennis in the Medway Towns Area.
3. CONSTITUTION
a) Officials of the league shall consist of a President, Vice-President(s), Executive Committee (hereinafter referred to as the E.C.) consisting of Chairman, Deputy Chairman, General Secretary, Treasurer, Press Secretary, Representative Match Secretary, Registration Secretary and not more than fifteen other members, and one Auditor (Non-Committee Members). The Committee nominees will act as the TTE., K.C.T.T.A. and Kent Festival of Sport Coaching and Summer League representatives.
b) The E.C. shall be empowered to establish Sub-Committees and its members and if necessary to appoint Non-Executive Committee Members to serve on such Sub-Committees. The Chairman of any such Sub-Committee shall be an E.C. member.
c) All Officers and E.C. members will retire annually, but will be eligible for re-election at the Annual General Meeting which will be held before July each year.
d) The E.C. will be convened by the General Secretary and the Chairman and will meet no less than three times per year. Copies of Executive Committee Meeting Minutes will be available from the Minutes Secretary to the League at the rate of one copy per club at no cost.
e) A quorum for all E.C Meeting shall be the Chairman or his representative and at least three E.C. Members.
4. AFFILIATION
a) The area of the League shall be the Medway Towns area, the Sturdee Club, Newington, and Sheerness East Working Mens Club, Sheerness.
b) The M.T.T.T.L. shall be affiliated to Table Tennis England and to the Kent County Table Tennis Association.
c) Applications from Clubs for affiliation will be accepted by the E.C., subject to their playing conditions being of a suitable standard.
5. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
a) At any Annual General Meeting which shall be held before August each year, each affiliated body shall be entitled to attend and shall be entitled to one vote only.
b) On matters affecting the Rules of the League a two thirds majority of votes cast will be necessary to carry out any resolution. Any other matter shall be decided by a simple majority vote with the Chairman having the casting vote if necessary.
c) Any resolution, including those concerning proposed fees and fines, for the Agenda shall be submitted to the Hon. General Secretary at least forty-two days prior to the date of the A.G.M. Such resolution shall be circulated by the Hon. General Secretary to all affiliated bodies at least twenty-eight days prior to the date of the A.G.M. The complete agenda and notice of the A.G.M. shall be circulated to all affiliated bodies at least fourteen days before the meeting.
6. SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING
A special General Meeting may be convened by a resolution of the E.C. or within four weeks of receipt by the Hon. General Secretary of a resolution signed by representatives of at least one third of affiliated Clubs. Any resolution or amendment shall be circulated to all affiliated Clubs and E.C. Members at least fourteen days before the proposed meeting.
7. ALTERATION OF RULES
No alterations, additions or deletions to any Rules shall be made except at an Annual General Meeting or a Special General Meeting. The E.C. shall have full power to decide on any matter not covered within these rules.
8. EMERGENCY COMMITTEE
For extraordinary matters, the Emergency Committee shall consist of Chairman, General Secretary, Treasurer, plus any other appropriate member e.g. where decisions regarding a Divisional matter occur, the Emergency Committee shall consist of the above plus the appropriate Divisional Secretary. All decisions shall be reported to the next E.C. Meeting.
9. FINANCE
a) Any monies obtained by the Medway Towns Table Tennis League shall be used only for the League activities.
b) Any bank accounts opened for the League shall be in the name of Medway Towns Table Tennis League.
c) The funds of the League will be held at a local bank or building society and will be managed by the Honorary Treasurer.
d) Online banking will be used wherever possible. Cheques and cash will also be accepted.
e) Where online banking is utilised, the Honorary Treasurer will have received confirmation in writing from one other Executive Committee (EC) member that payment is authorised, being either the Chairman, Vice Chairman, or General Secretary.
f) The EC will have access to the bank account and its statements.
g) The financial year of the League shall end on the 31st May and an audited statement of accounts up to that date shall be presented by the Hon. Treasurer at the Annual General Meeting.
10. REPRESENTATIVE TEAMS
a) For the purpose of selecting teams to represent the League, a Selection Committee consisting of the Representative Match Secretary, (Chairman), Hon. General Secretary, and three others will be established.
b) The Selection Committee will meet as necessary.
c) A quorum for the Selection Committee shall be four members.
11. TOURNAMENTS/COMPETITIONS
The E.C. shall be empowered to organise the Medway Closed Championships, Charles Stampe Trophy and any other Competitions, making such arrangements and rules as it deems necessary.
12. DISSOLUTION
In the event of winding up or the dissolution of the League, all surplus assets shall be held in trust by the Kent County Table Tennis Association for a period of five years, during which time the Kent County Table Association shall endeavour to promote and encourage the formation of a similar organisation. If successful, the Kent County Table Tennis Association shall hand over the surplus assets of the League to that similar organisation. In the event of failure, the surplus assets of the League shall be absorbed within the funds of the Kent County Table Tennis Association.
LEAGUE PLAYING RULES
1. TABLE TENNIS LAW AND EQUIPMENT
a) All matches shall be subject to the Laws of Table Tennis (as approved by TTE.).
b) The ball used shall be one of those officially adopted by TTE. for the current season.
c) Playing apparel will be as recommended by the TTE.
2. MEMBERSHIP
The League shall be open to affiliated clubs and formed into divisions by the E.C.
3. LEAGUE CONDITIONS
a) The League shall consist of such Divisions as may be determined by the Committee.
b) All divisions will consist of a maximum of 14 teams.
c) A complete team shall consist of three registered players.
d) The playing season shall extend from September to April as per fixture list shown on the website.
e) Each team shall play league matches home and away. Clubs may deviate from this by mutual agreement of the teams concerned.
f) All league Matches shall consist of nine singles, and one doubles, each game the best of five sets played in the following order: Singles :- A v X, B v Y, C v Z, B v X, A v Z, C v Y, B v Z, C V X, A v Y; Doubles :- Any pair from ABC versus any pair from XYZ.
Games may be played out of order by mutual consent of the two team captains. Cup matches shall be of the format specified in the rules covering the respective competition.
g) Umpires shall be provided by both teams by mutual consent and the umpires decision shall be accepted as final.
h) All matches shall be played to a finish; one point being awarded for every game won. In addition, matches that are played in or before the scheduled week will attract a bonus of 3-points to each team. Where a match is played after the scheduled week the team that caused the postponement will not receive the 3-points, but the other team still will. Where no team caused the postponement both teams will still receive their 3-point bonus. The divisional secretary will make the necessary decision, but teams may appeal to the committee if they disagree with that decision.
i) The home team captain shall be responsible for forwarding the official scorecard to the appropriate division secretary, signed by both team captains, within 48 hours of playing the match. Failure to comply with this rule will result in the deduction of one point for the first offence, two points for a second offence, up to a total of five points per late scorecard.
j) All matches should commence by no later than 7.30pm, when at least the first player from each team shall be present. The second player must be available to play by 7.45pm at the latest and the third player by 8.15pm at the latest. Games must be played in the order shown on the scorecard.
k) Where a player is not available to play their first and/or subsequent scheduled games they shall be forfeited in favour of the team not at fault. By mutual consent the captains may waive any part of Rule j).
4. REGISTRATION – TEAMS AND PLAYERS
a) Applicants to become affiliated Clubs must be returned to the General Secretary on the form provided by the AGM. Failure to provide all the information requested will render the application invalid.
b) Information for the website (details of the Club Secretary, Team Captains, Venue, Match Nights) must be returned to the General Secretary on the form provided by the AGM. Failure to comply with this rule will render the affiliation application invalid.
c) A player taking part in Competitive Table Tennis organised by the League shall affiliate to Table Tennis England and the fee paid as a Compete or Complete plus Member. All affiliated clubs must register at least three players for each team with the Registration Secretary on or before the designated registration date using the form provided giving title, full name, address (including post code), full date of birth, TTE IM number and date fee paid, email address and telephone number. The TTE registration fee should have been paid before registration. However, if not paid, the player will be provisionally registered but unable to play in the League until the fee has been paid.
d) With the exception stated in 4 e), where a club has more than one team, the players must be registered in order of merit, and at any time in the season from the initial registration period, a divisional secretary may query the suitability of a player for a particular team if they are clearly playing out of rank order (i.e., weaker players are registered in higher teams or vice versa). The Club will have the choice to re-register such a player in a lower/higher team or list him as playing out of rank order.
e) A club may register a player out of rank order, but this must be stated clearly on the registration form and that player will not be allowed to play up under Rule 6 c). Such players will only be eligible for re-registration in a higher team on application to the Committee with an acceptable reason for the request. Such players will not be eligible for re-registration in a higher team in the last six weeks of the season.
f) All registrations will only be accepted from the Club Secretary.
g) After the registration date additional player registrations can be made providing their TTE registration fee has been paid to the Registration Secretary giving the following information: title, full name, address (including post code), full date of birth, TTE IM number and date fee paid, email address and/or telephone number and appropriate MTTTL fee.
h) Additional players will be deemed to have been registered from the date the Registration Secretary receives the notification and MTTTL registration fee or in an emergency within 48 hours of playing a league or Charles Stampe Trophy/Jim Bradford Trophy match. (Providing full players details are given and TTE registration fee paid).
i) Players may be registered up to the 31st of January. After this date registration will only be accepted at the discretion of the EC.
j) A player is not eligible to play in any matches until formally registered in accordance with the registration rules. Failure to comply with this will result in any matches awarded a 10-0 win to the opposition.
k) All registered players will be entered on the League website under the club and team for which they were registered.
l) A registered player may only play in matches scheduled to be played as per the website after the player’s date of registration, except for matches postponed by an opposing team.
m) Any player who is a debtor to an affiliated club may not register for any other affiliated club until any such debt has been expunged. By 31st July affiliated clubs must notify the Registration Secretary in writing of any players who are in debt to it. A copy of this notification shall be forwarded to the player who must enter an appeal within fourteen days of receipt. After such time it will be assumed that the player accepts liability for the debt.
5. TRANSFERS
a) A player may be transferred from one affiliated club to another at the discretion of the EC.
b) No transfer of players shall be effective after the 31st of January of the current playing season.
6. GRADING
a) The word ‘grading’ applies to the position of the team within the Club i.e. 1st, 2nd, 3rd team etc.
b) No player may play for a lower graded team than that which the player is registered.
c) With the exception of players registered as playing out of rank order under rule 4 e) where a club has two teams, a player may play a total of four times for the team graded higher than their own. If a player plays for the fifth time, the player shall thereafter only be eligible to play, for the remainder of the season, for the team for which the five matches were played. Where a club has three teams, a player may play a total of three times for the team (or teams) graded higher than their own. If a player plays for the fourth time, the player shall thereafter only be eligible to play, for the remainder of the season, for the team (or the lower graded of the teams concerned) for which the four matches were played. Where a club has four or more teams, a player may play a total of two times for the team (or teams) graded higher than their own. If a player plays for the third time, the player shall thereafter only be eligible to play, for the remainder of the season, for the team (or the lower graded of the teams concerned) for which the three matches were played. The player will not be allowed to ‘play-up’ on any other occasions during the season once they have been moved to a higher ranked Team due to ‘playing-up’.
d) The fielding of a player for a team graded lower than that for which the player is registered at the time will result in the TEAM’s games being forfeited to the opposing team.
e) Should any change in players or playing standards take place during the season the nominated player(s) may be changed by the club if the EC approves or by order of the EC.
f) A Player can only play against any one team a maximum of three times in any one season (with flexibility given at the divisional secretary’s discretion).
7. WITHDRAWAL
a) If a team withdraw from the league during the playing season, its record shall be deleted and the number of teams relegated from the division concerned will be reduced accordingly. Similarly match results of all players (including reserves) in connection with the withdrawn team will be expunged from the record, but kept for the purposes of qualifying for the Annual Tournaments.
b) No affiliation fees of registration fees will be refunded.
8. POSTPONEMENT / RE-ARRANGEMENT OF MATCHES
a) Postponed matches are only allowed in extreme circumstances. No team captain can agree a postponement without prior consultation with the relevant Divisional Secretary. This may be done initially by telephone but the following procedure must be adhered to: -
1) The home team must inform the Divisional Secretary in writing or email within 7 days of the date of the match, giving reasons why the match was not played. Failure to do this will incur a 1 point fine.
2) If the explanation is not received from the home team within 14 days of the date of the match the home team will be fined an additional 10 points.
3) If it is eventually established that the home team called off the match then no further fines will be imposed.
4) If the home team called off the match (having advised the Divisional Secretary either within 7 days or 14 days) then they may be subject to fines up to a maximum of 11 points as the committee deem appropriate having considered the circumstances.
5) If it is established that the away team called off the match, then they will automatically be fined 10 points. They will have the opportunity to explain, in writing (or email), why they cancelled the match and have the right to appeal against the fine within 7 days of the advice of the 10 point fine or 14 days from the scheduled match night, whichever comes first.
6) Ultimately the EC will consider all the circumstances and adjust any fine(s) as they consider appropriate. The EC’s decision in these matters will be final.
7) Failure to appeal by either team within stated periods will mean that any fine(s) will stand and no appeal will be considered after that period.
b) Only in the event of the complete failure of the two sides involved to re-arrange the match will the EC consider adjudicating the match.
c) Any adjudication will take into consideration all factors and circumstances (particularly where titles, promotion or regulation are an issue) in arriving at their decision, which will be final.
d) Matches may be played before the scheduled week by mutual agreement of the teams concerned without penalty.
e) Where a postponement has taken place in the first half of the season the match must be re-arranged as soon as possible but in any event before the start of the second half of the season. Where a postponement takes place in the second half of the season the rearranged match should take place as soon as possible and only at the end of the season where it has proved impossible to rearrange it before this time.
f) Any team, and its players, failing to complete a season’s fixtures may be subject to relegation or exclusion for the following season, at the EC’s discretion.
9. TIE BREAKERS
a) In the event of two or more teams finishing the season with equal points, where title, promotion or relegation issues are concerned, the teams shall play each other once with no doubles match at a neutral venue or at a home/away venue decided on by the toss of a coin or by mutual agreement of the teams involved.
b) In ‘Tie Breaker’ matches a player must have played in at least 50% of the possible scheduled League Matches for the team involved in the tie breaker or as many as may be approved by the EC.
10. PROTEST
All protests or complaints concerning the League shall be submitted in writing to the Hon General Secretary who will place such matters before the EC whose decision shall be final.
11. GENERAL
a) The EC shall in the event of persistent and flagrant breaches of the Rules have the power to expel the offending club or player(s) from the League.
b) Any player during a match who is guilty of misbehaviour or bad language must be cautioned by the umpire and in the event of any further occurrence of the same misbehaviour is automatically disqualified from that game and is not allowed to take any further part in that match. This should then be reported to the appropriate divisional secretary in writing, for them to inform the EC.
c) Any player reported from a club or affiliated body for misbehaviour or bad language shall, subject to the EC’s approval be prohibited from taking part in any event organised by the M.T.T.T.L.
d) Any player who has been reported to the EC and accused of misbehaviour and/or bad language as under 10, 11(a)(b) and (c) shall have the right to appear before the EC to answer the charge(s).
e) In the event of any matter arising which is not provided for in the rules, such matters shall be referred to the EC whose decision shall be final.
12. PENALTIES
The EC reserve the right to deduct points for all breaches of rules brought to their attention.
Fee Each
Team Affiliation fee (Senior) £25.00
Team Affiliation fee (Junior) * £17.00
Player Registration (Senior) £5.00
Player Registration (Junior) ** £3.00
Player’s Transfer (Club) and
Re-registration Fee £5.00
* A junior team shall be defined as a team consisting of NO MORE than ONE Senior player. Should a non-junior player become registered for the team the fee shall be re-calculated depending on the stage of the season reached at the time and the balance will be payable.
NB A senior player playing up as a reserve does not change the status of the team.
** A junior player is someone who is under 18 years of age on 31st December during the current season.
TABLE TENNIS ENGLAND INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP FEES
As set by TTE.
GUIDELINES FOR SECRETARIES AND CAPTAINS
The object of the League is to encourage and promote the playing of table tennis in the League’s area and, in particular, to conduct annual competitions between teams of clubs affiliated to the Medway Towns Table Tennis League and to organise representative matches (see Standing Rule 2).
These objectives demand a great deal of organisation by both league and club officials and success depends very much on the application of the necessary disciplines and conventions established for the benefits of all participants.
It is important then that these guidelines are adhered to.
Website
To be read and understood by all with particular regard to the rules and match procedure. Any points of ambiguity likely to cause confusion should be referred to the appropriate Divisional Secretary or other EC members as soon as possible.
Amendments
‘In season’ amendments to any detail on the website e.g. clubs, secretaries, team captains, etc will be notified by email to club secretaries. It is important that all affected players are notified immediately and the website amended accordingly. To do this quickly depends on early notification to the General Secretary of any amendments necessary as soon as possible.
Fixtures
(Rule 8). Where it is not possible to fulfil a fixture on the stipulated date the match may be played before the scheduled week or on another day within the scheduled week by mutual agreement of the teams concerned. Postponement of matches beyond the scheduled week is only allowed in extreme emergencies. Where a fixture cannot be fulfilled the appropriate Divisional Secretary must be kept informed in writing by both team captains.
The League advises that all clubs should ensure that Juniors (under 18s) are supervised at all home and away matches by either parents or an agreed representative of the club.
Reserves and Additional Registrations
It is the team Captain’s responsibility to ensure that any reserves played are eligible for his team. A player may play for a more senior team but may not play for a team junior to that for which he has been registered (within the club’s ranking list). New registration of transference of players between clubs will be accepted subject to the rules of the league.
Match Preparations
The home team should ensure that the room is ready in good time to permit the visiting team to enjoy a reasonable practice (10-15 minutes) before the appointed start time. The playing area must be clear of obstacles and a considerable saving in balls can be achieved if the table surface and playing area are dust free. It is customary in all matches for the home team to provide some light refreshment by way of a beverage or other drink and rolls, sandwiches, biscuits etc. Team captains should ensure their team’s prompt arrival at venues where the amount of playing time is restricted i.e. Luton Invicta TTC.
Match Play
It is both courteous and encouraging if players take the trouble to wear the appropriate clothing for match play. Light clothing, except footwear, should in any event not be worn. Soft shoes should always be in order to avoid damage to the floor which in extreme circumstances could lead to a club losing its facilities. The order of play is shown on the scorecard and should be adhered to unless otherwise agreed by the two captains. Remember also that the umpire is as much a part of any game as are the players and all team members should be encouraged to take their turn in this respect on the basis of each team officiating alternate games. Result cards should be completed and signed by both captains at the end of the match.
Post-Match Responsibilities
Through the fine efforts of our Divisional Secretaries and our Webmaster the league enjoys extensive coverage on our website www.mtttl.co.uk . It is in everyone’s interest therefore, if result cards, match reports and other items of interest are dispatched to Divisional Secretaries within 48 hours of the match being played (Rule 3(i)). Failure to comply with this rule will result in the deduction of one point for the first offence and up to 5 points for subsequent offences. If, for any reason, a result card has been overlooked the Divisional Secretary should be informed immediately. Remember that league officials can only update the website with information they receive.
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