Rules & Constitution of the Wisbech Table Tennis Club

The Club shall be called the Wisbech Table Tennis Club.

The Club shall be affiliated to Table Tennis England and other Associations as required.

Membership of the club shall be open to anyone interested in the sport on application, regardless of sex, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, religion or other beliefs, except as a necessary consequence of the requirements of table tennis. The club may have different classes of membership and subscription on a non-discriminatory and fair basis. The club will keep subscriptions at levels that will not pose a significant obstacle to people participating. The club committee may refuse membership, or remove it, only for good cause such as conduct or character likely to bring the club or sport into disrepute. Appeal against refusal or removal may be made to the members.

The objects of the Club shall be as follows:
(a) To provide facilities for, and to promote participation in, the amateur sport of table tennis in Wisbech and the surrounding area and to support local initiatives promoting table tennis and general well- being.
(b) To conduct individual championships between registered players of the Club.
(c) To conduct team handicap competitions for the Parker Shield and Sleight Doubles and a competition for the Challenge Cup.
(d) To promote coaching.
(e )To promote inter-town competitions.
(f) To conduct an Annual League competition between teams.
(g) To encourage table tennis in all its aspects as the Committee decides. The Committee shall be able to form a Pool of Non-team players in order to promote table tennis.

The Annual General Meeting:
(a) An Annual General Meeting shall be held at the end of the season, the date and venue to be left to the discretion of the Officers.
(b) At such General Meetings  there shall be presented the report of the Committee on the proceedings of the Club during the preceding year and also a statement by the Honorary Treasurer of the receipts and expenditure during the financial year (ending 31st May) and a Balance Sheet - both duly audited.
(c) All teams must be represented at the A.G.M. by at least one registered player. Failure to do so will incur a fine of £3.00 (per team) deductible from the £5.00 deposit. No member can represent more than one team, and no team can be represented by proxy by a member of another team.

This meeting shall be the supreme governing body of the Club. Twenty-eight days notice must be given to all member clubs when calling the Annual General Meeting. Proposals for rule changes shall be submitted in writing to reach the General Secretary not later than seven days before the Annual General Meeting. Amendments will be accepted at the meeting. Only registered players and committee members shall be allowed to vote.
The Club shall consist of:
(a) President
(b) Vice-Presidents
(c) Officers - Chairman, Vice-Chairman, General Secretary, Match Secretary, Treasurer and Tournament Secretary
(d) Registered players
(e) Non-league playing members

The Annual General Meeting shall appoint a Management Committee with a maximum of five members whose decision shall be binding unless appealed  This appeal shall be heard by the full Committee whose decision shall be final. The Management Committee shall consist of: Chairman, General Secretary, Treasurer, Vice-Chairman and one Match Secretary.

The Club shall have an Executive Committee consisting of at least eight members (including the Officers in Rule 6(c) above, but not including any Town Team Secretaries) with the power to co-opt other people on to the Committee.  This Committee shall meet at least four times during the period August to April and the minutes of the meeting shall be duly signed by the Chairman as being a true record of the meeting. Such minutes shall be a record of all executive decisions by the Committee.
A Quorum shall consist of at least 30% of the Committee.
The Committee shall have the power to make decisions on the day-to-day running of the Club on the lines laid down by the Annual General Meeting. It shall elect sub-committees to deal with the following:
(a) Coaching
(b) Town Team selection
(c) Competitions
(d) Parker Shield, Sleight Doubles and Challenge Cup
(e) Dinner and Dance
(f) County Representations
(g) The formation of a Pool of non-Team players

Team Registration:
(a) The Junior Divisions team registration fee shall be £10 (per team).
(b) The individual player registration fees for Division One shall be £17.00 for each senior player and £5.00 for each junior player.  There shall be no individual registration fees in the Junior Divisions. The individual player registration fee is reduced by half after the end of the first half of the season. These fees are exclusive of the TTE Individual registration Scheme.
(c) A junior player shall be defined as being under eighteen on the 1st January preceding the season.
(d) There shall be no limit to the number of registered players by each team.
(e) No player may be registered at any time with more than one team. A player wishing to change Clubs for some bona fide reason must make an application to the Executive Committee.
(f) Games played by unregistered players will only be valid if the appropriate registration fee accompanies the score sheet.
(g) No player is allowed to play for a club other than that for which he is registered, except that a lower player may play for a higher club team as a reserve, but not more than three times in any one season. The fourth game for the higher club team will render him unable to play for the lower club team thereafter, except in exceptional circumstances, when an application must be made to the Committee for consideration. No player can play for a higher team in the same division unless approved by the Committee.
(h) In any one season a player whose team withdraws or is expelled from the League, may not register for a team in a lower division that he or she was originally playing for unless approval is given by the Committee.
(i) Players' registration fees must be received before the start of the season, and any further players will be accepted provided the fee arrives with the match score sheet (subject to Rule 9(k)).
(j) Each league player should be given a membership handbook to certify he is correctly registered.
(k) No player should be signed on after the 31st January unless approval is given by the Committee. Any player signed on, but not having played three League matches by 28th February will not be eligible for playing unless approval is giving by the Committee.
(l) It is the responsibility of all Clubs to advise all other teams in their division of the League and their Match Secretary of all changes of information in the handbook concerning their Club, after the handbooks have been printed. Failure to comply will result in a £2.00 fine.
A £5.00 additional payment is made by each team to cover possible fines, etc, throughout the season. All fines will be notified and any money not collected by default may be claimed at the end of the season.

League Rules:
(a) Each team in the senior divisions shall consist of three players and in the junior divisions shall consist of two players. Each member of the team shall play each member of the opposing team one set. One doubles set shall be played by two members from each team.
(b) The scoring system shall be 1 point for each set won (e.g. 8-2, 5-5 in Senior Divisions and 4-1, 2-3 in the Junior Divisions). For all League matches played by or within the scheduled week of play and score sheets should be posted to the Match Secretary within 48 hours. Any team which cancels a match may lose 5 bonus points. and a late score sheet will result in the home team may lose 5 points.
(c) (i) The formation of divisions in the league is to be governed by the number of teams entering from a fifteen mile radius of Wisbech..Teams from further afield may be accepted at the discretion of the Executive Committee.
(c) (ii) The normal method of promotion and relegation will be one team promoted and one team relegated between divisions.
(c) (iii) Normally all new teams entering the league commence in the lower divisions.
(c) (iv) Dependent on the number of teams entering the league, all divisions shall be of an equable number of teams, and play on a once home and away basis.
(c) (v) The Executive Committee shall be guided by the forgoing (i, ii, iii and iv), but where the efficient organisation of the league may be impaired, the Committee have the power to allocate teams and change the league format as it considers necessary in view of the circumstances at the time.
(d) All matches shall be played under T.T.E. rules using T.T.E. approved balls.
(e) The away team must enter their playing order on the result sheet first and the result must reach the Match Secretary within 48 hours - failure to comply will incur a £1.00 fine.
(f) The scorer for each game must be mutually agreed upon and his decision will be final, with home and away scoring alternately.
(g) Matches shall be started by 7.30 pm unless both teams agree to alternative arrangements.
(h) Failure to pay a fines or fines will result in the team being expelled from the league. The points gained by that team will be deducted and the offending players will be ineligible to represent another team or club during the season, unless the fines are paid.
(i) If a team is short of a player, the games which should have been played shall be awarded to the opposing team. The opposition shall be informed as soon as possible that the team will be under strength. No team will turn up with only one player. Alternatively a team may choose one player from the Pool of non-team players to make up their team. Any points they score will count.
(j) In the event of a tie between teams in the league tables affecting promotion and relegation, the position shall be decided by a play-off on a neutral table. Nine singles only shall be played.
(k) If a team wished to postpone a match they must give their opponents and their Match Secretary at least twenty-four hours notice. The home side is then to offer the away side (within seven days from the date of the postponement) at least three dates within twenty-eight days of the original printed date. The Match Secretary is to be advised of the new date by the home side. Failure to complete a fixture within twenty-eight days will result in the offending team(s) having 10 points deducted from their points total with the fixture still having to be played. If a team fails to give twenty-four hours notice of a postponement for a second time, 10 points will be deducted and a £10.00 fine imposed. If postponed in a similar manner for a third occasion, the team will be expelled from the league unless exceptional circumstances prevail. In the event of expulsion all points relating to that team will be rescinded.
This rule may be waived by the Committee only in very exceptional circumstances (e.g. adverse weather, public holidays). Rule 10(l) takes precedence where applicable.
(l) The league will be completed by the date stated in the handbook each season and failure to comply will result in the team(s) being fined.
(m) All trophies are the property of the Wisbech Table Tennis Club and must be returned to the Trophy Secretary fully engraved, twenty-one days prior to the date of representation.  Failure to do so will incur a £5.00 fine. The engraving cost will be reimbursed by the Treasurer on presentation of a receipted invoice. This rule will be strictly adhered to.
(n) In the event of any question or matter arising which is not provided for in the foregoing rules, such questions or matters shall be dealt with by the Executive Committee whose decision shall be final. (o) Whether a match is played or not, a score card (with completed home and away club names and, if possible the reason for cancellation) must be sent to the Match Secretary for each scheduled match, within forty-eight hours. Failure to comply will incur a £5.00 fine.

Individual Championships:
(a) All players must be registered with the Club unless approval given by the Committee.
(b) Any player of seeding standard must have played three matches (League or Cup) in the current season at the time of the tournament closing date. Town representative games will be included. This rule will be strictly adhered to.
(c) The Club shall organise the following competitions: Men's Singles; Men's Doubles; Mixed Doubles; Ladies Singles; Ladies Doubles; *Under 12, 14, 16, 18 Boy's and Girl's Singles and Doubles; **Veterans' Singles; Handicap Singles and Doubles; Divisional Singles (except Division One).
* Junior (boys and girls) under 12, 14, 16 and 18 years of age on the 1st January preceding the season.
** Veterans over 40, 50, 60 or 70 years of age on 1st January preceding the season.

The General Secretary should supply an up-to-date copy of the rules to all member teams at the commencement of each season.

Non-playing member registration fee shall be 5p.

The Pool of non-team Players may consist of Juniors and Seniors who are not yet committed to registering with any team in any league, but want to play table tennis. They must be registered with TTE and pay the appropriate fee. The League registration fee will however be deferred. They may play for any of the League's registered teams. They may only play a maximum of three matches after which time they must elect to register with a nominated team when half of the individual's registration fee will be due to the League.

All surplus income or profits are to be reinvested in the club. No surpluses or assets will be distributed to members or third parties.