USA League 2007

Adult Mixed Doubles Rules

STATE COORDINATOR:

 

Freddie Bailey; (225) 925-3358,

 

LOCAL COORDINATOR:

 

Vicki Pool, 737 Brentwood Blvd., Lafayette, LA 70503, 984-9878, mailto:vpool816@cox.net

 

VERIFICATION APPEALS (NTRP) & PROCEDURES COMMITTEE:

 

Local Coordinator, Head Verifier, Level Coordinators

 

GRIEVANCES

 

Any grievances should be forwarded in writing (emails are acceptable) to the Local League

Coordinator. All grievances will be forwarded to the Grievance Committee Chairman who will

appoint a committee of three individuals on a per case basis.

 

GRIEVANCE APPEALS

Any decisions of the above grievance committee will contain specific guidelines and instructions

referencing the rights to appeal and the procedures that must be followed.

 

League Rules

 

1. All players will abide by the USTA Rules of Tennis, "The Code" and USA

League Tennis Regulations, January 2007.

 

2. There is no limit to the number of teams at each level. A minimum of 2 teams is

required in order for that level to qualify one team for the state tournament.

 

3. Registration fees for the season will be $21. The fee is distributed as

follows: $3 to the USTA national, $10 to the LTA Baton Rouge, $4 to the local

league coordinator, $3 to offset costs of teams participating at state, and $1 to the

Acadiana Community Tennis Association.

 

4. The deadline for team entries is May 6, 2007. By midnight, May 6, 2007,

rosters must contain a minimum number of players required to field 3 courts or

they may be excluded from the schedule. The deadline for roster additions is

July 31, 2007. Players must be registered prior to playing any league matches

in order to be eligible. Tennis Link will date and time stamp (EST) all player

entries. The date and time of the entry must be prior to the date and time of the

scheduled match in order for a player to be eligible. The only exception will be

when a rainout is rescheduled, a player may register prior to the makeup and be

eligible.

 

5. Play will begin in early June. The actual start dates will depend upon the number of teams at each level. As always, the league will make every attempt to schedule as many matches as possible within the time allotted. The 6.0 and 8.0 levels will play on Tuesdays and the 7.0 level will play on Thursdays. This is subject to change based on the number of teams at each level, however every attempt will be made to maintain this schedule.

 

6. All information is submitted via the Tennis Link system. The address is

http://national.usta.com. All participants must register for play through this

system. Captains must include an email address when registering their teams.

All league correspondence and announcements will be via email. All teams

must designate a co-captain with an email address if the captain does not have

email. Please inform the league coordinator who the captain of record for email

is. When registering your team and choosing a name, feel free to choose any

name but we do ask that you include your last name. (Example, “The Lobsters –

Smith”)

** Each team member must be a current USTA member, with membership paid

through the summer season (Labor Day). Each player must have a valid NTRP

rating. If not, players must declare a self-rating upon registration. Tennis

Link will verify all eligibility requirements during the registration process.

 

7. A player must have reached the age of 19 prior to or during the calendar year in

which he plays his first match in order to be eligible.

 

8. The USTA has instituted the elite player guidelines to assist in self-rating upper

level players. National Rule 3.01(D)2 states, “Individuals who have had a

national or section ranking; played college tennis; have taught tennis; or played

professional tennis must also complete a player history form and submit to the

section and receive approval from the section to participate at their self-rated

level before participating in a match. Failure to do so or omission of

information regarding a player’s tennis history will subject the player, the

captain and/or others who condoned inaccurate self-rating to sanctions and

disqualification.”

 

9. The home team is required to furnish NEW balls for each match. Approved

balls are Penn, Wilson or Dunlop.

 

10. Each player whether a member of the home team or guest must pay his own

court fees. For 2007, court fees will be $4 per player. Members of private clubs

who are playing at their club, whether the home team or the visitor, will not be

required to pay the court fees. When a non-Red’s team is playing at Red

Lerille’s, it is the responsibility of that captain to obtain the envelope when

checking in and collect and remit the fees for all non-Red’s members

participating in that match.

 

11. TEAM MATCHES MUST BE PLAYED ON SCHEDULED COURTS AT

SCHEDULED TIME UNLESS RAINED OUT. CAPTAINS MAY NOT

UNDER ANY OTHER CIRCUMSTANCE, RESCHEDULE A MATCH

WITHOUT PRIOR APPROVAL FROM THE LEAGUE

COORDINATOR. It is the responsibility of the clubs to assign courts for

play. Matches must be played on the assigned courts. Captains may not

call the club in order to move courts or switch surfaces. If multiple surfaces

have been assigned, the home team captain may choose which matches will

be played on which surfaces. Prior to line up card exchange, the home team

captain will inform the visiting captain which matches will be played on

which courts. (For example, “singles will be played on hard courts and

doubles will be played on soft”)

 

12. RAINOUTS must be rescheduled and completed within one week of the original match date. Team captains will contact each no later than the following day after the rain out and agree on when to play and make arrangements for courts wherever available. Any rainouts that cannot be rescheduled within that one week period after the rainout must be referred to the Local League Coordinator. The coordinator will then schedule a match time, date and location. It will be to the advantage of both captains if they can

mutually agree on a day and time without involving the coordinator. When

captains agree on a match time, date and location, the league coordinator

must be notified via email for the match to be considered official. It is up to

the individual clubs, at their discretion, to determine whether conditions are

unplayable. No captain(s) shall have the authority to make this decision. If the

club has deemed the conditions as playable, the match is on and forfeit rules will

apply. If a match has begun and then rain begins, the match must be completed

as it stands with all points played to that point counting. If the first ball has not

been put in play, different players may be used if necessary. However, captains

may not shift players already on the scorecard.

 

13. Team captains are to record and verify all scorecards into the Tennis Link

system within 24 hours of the completion of the match. The first captain to

go to the website will record the score and the second captain will confirm

or dispute the score. If a score is entered and there is no confirmation,

Tennis Link will automatically confirm after 48 hours. (No score disputes

will be recognized after that time).

 

14. Warm up time is ten (10) minutes, INCULDING SERVES. Captains, please

help us get the word out that ALL practice, including serves, must take place

prior to the first ball being put into play. “The Code” book states, “Warm-up

serves. Take all your warm-up serves before the first serve of the match.”

 

15. The fifteen (15) minute default rule shall be strictly enforced.

 

16. Matches played at 6:00 should be completed on the assigned court, regardless of

whether there are matches scheduled for 8:00. If you are scheduled to play at

8:00, and there are league matches still under way on your assigned courts,

determine if other courts are available to begin play or wait until the completion

of the early match. Do not bump players off the court during league play. If

playing at Red’s at 6:00, and no matches are scheduled for 8:00, Red’s does

reserve the right to offer those courts to any members and if so, you may be

asked to find another court to complete your match.

 

17. In the event of illness, injury, disqualification, or no-show of a player prior to the

start of an individual match (once the lineup has been exchanged), a team may

substitute a player in the affected position within the 15-minute default time,

using a player not already listed on the lineup. If no such substitution can be

made, the affected position only will be forfeited in local leagues. (Southern

Regulation 3.01H(4)a)

 

18. No changes may be made after a line up has been presented, except as described

in Paragraph 17. A substitution is allowed but players assigned to courts may

not be moved. (The lineup can be changed if the match is postponed due to

inclement weather, for any matches not yet begun).

 

19. The scoring for all matches is deuce-ad, two out of three sets, with the third set played as a ten point tie-breaker. Once play begins, a rest period at odd game

changeovers is not permitted until the end of the 3rd game, and at all changeovers

thereafter in each set. There is a rest period at the end of each set, no matter if

the set ends on an even or odd game.

 

20. Mixed doubles matches will consist of 3 courts of mixed doubles play. The

team winning the majority of those 3 matches shall be considered the winner of

that team match.

 

21. The combined ratings of the two mixed doubles partner must not exceed  the league level of play.  (I.e. a 3.0 + 3.0 mixed pair may play 6.0 as may a 2.5 + 3.0 pair).  In no event may the individual player ratings differ by more than one point. (i.e. a 2.5 + 3.5 pair may play 6.0 but a 2.5 +  4.5 pair may not play 7.0)

 

22. Round robin competition shall be used at all levels. Levels with only two (2) or

three (3) teams must play a double round robin. Depending upon the number of

teams entered, the league coordinator reserves the right to split leagues into

divisions. As always, the ability to schedule as many matches as possible within

the allotted time frame will take precedent.

 

23. At the conclusion of the season, the team at each level with the most team points

shall be deemed the champion at that level. All tiebreak provisions have been

built into the TennisLink system. (a) Winner of the most individual matches. (b)

The team that loses the fewest number of sets. (c) Loser of the fewest number of

games. Should a tie remain at this point, the coordinator will review for (d) Head

up followed by a (e) Coin toss. For the purpose of this provision, the following

rules shall apply: in case of a default, the non-defaulting party shall be credited

with such number of additional games as would have been won if the match was

completed and the non-defaulting party won every subsequent game. In case of

a forfeit, the non-forfeiting party shall be credited with a 6-0, 6-0 win. For level

championship tiebreakers, any common opponent of the teams that are tied, who

have forfeited one or more entire team matches during the season, shall have

their matches considered null and void so as not to be used in tiebreak

procedures.

 

24. The champion at each level will represent Lafayette at the District

Championships. If more than one team is invited at any level, invitations will be

awarded in the remaining order of finish.

 

25. In any level that has been divided into 2 divisions, a playoff will take place at the

end of the season. The winner of each division will playoff for 1st and 2nd place.

If a 3rd team invitation has been given, the 2 second place teams will playoff for

3rd place. When creating divisions, the league coordinator will assemble a

committee to seed the top 4 teams and place them in opposite divisions. All

remaining teams will be assigned randomly to the 2 divisions.

 

26. The Grievance Committee shall be responsible for ruling on all grievances other

than NTRP complaints. All grievances must be submitted in writing to the Local

League Coordinator within twenty four (24) hours of said incident.

 

27. Any team that forfeits 2 team matches may be dropped from further league play.

A team forfeit is defined as showing up for a league match with less than a

needed number of players to have a chance to win the match by winning two

(2) courts. Any team that forfeits 2 or more entire matches in a season may be

subject to further sanctions.

 

 

Team Captain Responsibilities

 

A. Attend all local captains' meetings.

 

B. Be responsible for supplying balls for all home matches.

 

C. Enter and confirm scorecards in the Tennis Link system within 24 hours of the

completion of the match. Remember, when entering scorecards; always write

the score from the winners’ perspective. If you are the home team, and the score

was 6-4, 6-4, no matter who the winner is, the score should be entered that way

and the box of the winner checked off. Please be aware of the drop down box

that defaults to “completed”. Note that the other options are default, double

default, retired, etc. It is critical that if a match is not completed or not played at

all that the correct selection is made, otherwise, erroneous ratings results will

occur.

 

D. Read and familiarize themselves with all league and tennis regulations and share

this information with their team members.

 

E. To uphold the rules of any facility, public or private, used for league play and to

collect and pay court fees for his team.

 

F. Every captain is responsible for providing an email address. If you don't have

one, designate someone on your team as a contact and supply his address. In an

attempt to cut down on postage and paper expenses, all correspondence will be

via email or web site announcement. The web site address is

http://www.acadianacta.com.