Men’s & Women’s Tennis Code of Conduct
As Of: 3/22/2017
I. OVERVIEW
A. Administrative Authority
Administrative authority shall be the Sports Committee and overseen by the athletic administrator appointed as liaison to the Sports Committee and the Association Executive. Any resolution passed by the Sport Committee must be approved by the Athletic Administrators Committee before it is enacted and included in the Code of Conduct.
B. Committee Membership
All Landmark members that sponsor men’s or women’s tennis at the varsity level shall be represented on the committee. Each institution shall have one representative per gender. Unless otherwise specified by an institution’s athletics director, an institution’s head coach shall serve as the representative.
C. Voting
Each institution shall possess one vote on matters brought forth for a vote. Votes for gender-specific items shall be cast by the respective representative, if an institution has more than one representative on the committee. The total number of votes cast on any item (for-against-abstain) shall not exceed eight.
D. Duties of Committee
The committee will meet at least once annually, either in-person or via conference call, to discuss sport-specific manners, review the code of conduct, and recommend changes to the athletic administrators as necessary.
E. Sport Chair
The chair shall be appointed by the committee and serve a two-year term.
· Men’s & Women’s Tennis Chair: Dana Dowd, Catholic (September 2015 – May 2017)
· Men’s & Women’s Tennis Vice Chair: Matthew Brisotti, Drew
· Administrative Liaison: Greg Curley, Juniata
F. Duties of Chair
The duties of the chair are as follows:
1. Organize meetings of the committee, at least once annually and additionally as necessary; compile and distribute the agenda for all meetings; supervise the meeting; record attendance and minutes
2. Provide the Commissioner and the Athletics Administrator Liaison with a written report outlining all discussion, action, and voting which occurred during the meeting
3. Within one week after the meeting, distribute a copy of the minutes to the members of the committee, the designated liaison, and the conference office. The Commissioner will distribute the minutes to delegates of the Athletics Administrators Committee for consideration and vote, as necessary
4. Communicate and explain voting items to the designated sport liaison
II. SPORTSMANSHIP/ETHICAL CONDUCT
Sportsmanship and the proper treatment of all individuals are core beliefs of the Landmark Conference and its members. Students, staff, and all other members of an institution should adhere to the fundamental values of respect, fairness, civility, honesty, and responsibility. Coaches should conduct themselves in ways that promote the character development of participants to enhance the integrity of higher education, and to promote civility in society, student-athletes, coaches, and other participants associated with athletics programs and events.
III. ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS
Unless otherwise specified in the Code of Conduct, or the Landmark Bylaws, all institutions shall conduct their programs according to the guidelines outlined in the most recent edition of the NCAA Division III manual.
IV. SPORT-SPECIFIC REGULATIONS
A. Rules
Matches shall be conducted per the specifications outlined by the ITA and the USTA.
B. Scheduling
The conference schedule shall be developed by the conference office and approved by the Athletics Administrators Committee. Schedules shall be constructed in an effort to minimize missed class time and reduce time away from campus. Each team shall play two back-to-back match weekends (one home, one away), two additional Saturday dates (one home, one away), and one mid-week match.
1. Conference Priority
Conference contests shall take priority over non-conference contests.
2. Match Times
A match scheduled to take place on a class day shall start no earlier than 2:30 p.m. A match scheduled to take place on a non-class day (for both teams) shall start no earlier than 12:00 p.m.
Match times may be altered by competing teams as long as the athletics directors of both institutions mutually agree.
3. Postponed Match & Rescheduling
If a match is postponed (due to inclement weather, etc.), the athletics directors of the competing teams must mutually agree on a make-up date, with the host institution informing the conference office of the rescheduled date and time.
All rescheduling shall follow the guidelines as outlined in IV.B.1.
4. Environmental Conditions at Scheduled Game Time
The following guidelines shall be used regarding environmental conditions:
a. Cold Weather
If for two of the four hours from the match start time, the temperature (actual or wind chill) does not exceed 45° F, or the sustained wind will be in excess of 20 miles per hour, then the match shall be rescheduled to a date or time when conditions are forecast to have improved. For tournaments, these minimums must be employed for at least half of the projected playing time.
b. Heat Index
In the event that the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) is greater than 88° F, then competition shall be suspended until a point when conditions have improved.
The host institution athletic training staff shall be responsible for monitoring weather conditions and determining whether a contest shall take place, in consultation with staff members from competing teams and game officials. Every effort to reschedule or postpone a contest shall be made prior to the visiting team’s departure for the site of competition.
Additional information regarding policies and procedures for extreme heat and cold weather conditions is available in the Landmark Athletic Trainers Code of Conduct.
5. Altering Conference Schedule
With the exception of a team’s final match of the regular season, institutions are free to alter the approved conference schedule as long as the athletics directors of both competing teams mutually agree. All changes to the conference schedule must be reported to the conference office by the host institution.
The final match of the regular season cannot be moved without approval from the conference office.
6. End of Season
The regular season schedule shall be completed by the Saturday prior to the start of the conference championship.
C. Contest Management
1. Pre-Match Protocol
It is the responsibility of the host institution to inform the visiting team and all match officials of the pre-match protocol.
2. Officials
The host institution is responsible for securing ITA/USTA certified officials for all regular season matches. If a match is using three-or-fewer courts, then one official shall be required. If a match is using more than three courts, then two officials shall be required.
3. Coaches
No more than three coaches shall be allowed in the court area during a match. Coaches must be identified prior to the start of a match.
4. Equipment
The host institution is responsible for providing game balls. Singles sticks will be used for conference matches.
5. Warm-Up & Introductions
There shall be no lineup introductions or warm-ups between opposing doubles teams. Doubles matches shall begin with the coin flip and proceed immediately to competition. Singles matches will begin immediately following the completion of doubles matches; a break shall not be permitted.
If a singles player did not play doubles, then a 10 minute warm up shall be allowed. If the match is being played on three courts, then the second round of singles matches will also be allowed a 10 minute warm-up.
6. Announcements
The following statement shall be read aloud by a member of the host institution’s staff to all participants during the declaration of lineups, and shared with all match officials prior to the start of the match:
“Spectators, coaches, players, officials, and all match personnel shall adhere at all times to (the host institution’s) and the Landmark Conference’s guidelines for sportsmanship and proper etiquette. It is not permissible at any time for anyone to use negative comments about an individual’s physique or culture, or to use profanity, racial, or sexist comments, taunt, or engage in other intimidating actions directed toward other individuals. Failure to adhere to these guidelines will result in activation of the ITA Point Penalty System, and in extreme cases, forfeiture of the match. Additionally, individuals who fail to adhere to these guidelines may be removed from the site of competition and subject to supplemental discipline by the institution or the conference.”
It is recommended that the above statement be displayed in match programs or visibly displayed at the site of competition for all individuals to review.
7. Order of Play
Matches shall begin with doubles play. After all doubles matches have been completed, singles play shall commence beginning with #1 singles and descending through the ladder.
8. Match Result
Matches shall be played to completion, unless mutually agreed by both teams prior to the start of the match to play to decision. Once the outcome of a match has been decided, any remaining singles matches that have not already begun a third set shall play a 10-point tie-breaker in lieu of the third set.
9. Suspended Match
If a match is halted before it is completed, and the match has achieved a decision, then decision shall take precedence, barring all attempts to continue the match on the scheduled day. If a halted match has not achieved a decision, then it must be continued from the point of suspension within 48 hours, as per ITA/USTA rules. Any halted match that is not resumed within 48 hours must be started over.
10. Matches Moved Indoors
If a match begins outside and moves indoors, individual matches in progress shall be played to completion. The match official(s) shall determine if a match shall be moved indoors.
If a match begins indoors, then a 10-point tie-breaker shall be used in lieu of a third set.
11. Exhibition Matches
Exhibition matches may be scheduled as part of a match, however competition that impacts the result of the match shall take precedence in the scheduled order of play. Exhibition matches shall not be conducted/continued if a match is forced indoors.
D. Scouting/Film Exchange
It is impermissible for teams to share scouting information regarding conference teams with non-conference teams.
E. Incomplete Season
In the event that a team or teams are unable to complete their conference schedule, the conference office, in consultation with the athletics directors, if necessary, shall determine the qualifying teams and seeding for the conference championship. Options for determining seeding and selection include, but are not limited to: winning percentage in conference contests, treating all matches played against teams that did not complete their season as non-conference matches, treating any matches that are unable to be played as forfeits for the responsible team, and other actions, as discovered.
V. CHAMPIONSHIP REGULATIONS
A. Qualification
The top four teams in the conference standings following the completion of the regular season shall qualify for the Landmark championship. Standings shall be sorted by conference winning percentage.
B. Tie-Breaking Procedure
In the event two (or more) teams tie in the conference standings, the following procedure shall be used to determine seeding for the championship:
1. Head-to-head record amongst all tied teams in contests that count toward the conference standings
2. Comparison of tied teams’ records against remaining teams in conference standings in descending order (starting at No. 1)
3. Match differential (W-L) in matches played amongst tied teams
4. Set differential (W-L) in matches played amongst tied teams
5. Comparison of games lost in matches played amongst tied teams, with the team(s) owning the lowest total gaining the advantage
6. Head-to-head results between and among all tied teams in all regular season contests (only if tied teams played the same amount of contests against other tied teams)
7. Head-to-head record against common non-conference opponents at same site
8. Head-to-head record against common non-conference opponents at different site
9. Coin flip (or similar random action)
Application of Tie-Breaking Procedure
In a tie of more than two teams, tie-breakers shall be applied in descending order until a team or a group of teams have gained an advantage and the initial tie has been broken. Teams shall be seeded accordingly based upon where they rank within the group of tied teams. If a sub-group (or groups) of tied teams are created by applying tie-breaking criteria to the original group, the tie-breaking process begins anew for the sub-group (or groups) until all teams can be seeded.
In a tie of more than two teams, when a random action is used to break the tie, the tie-breaking process shall begin anew starting with the first criteria (head-to-head) once one team has gained the advantage.
In the event of multiple ties in the standings, the ties will be broken in descending order, unless a lower seeded tie can be broken by using the first criteria (head-to-head). When comparing tied teams against positions lower in the standings which are also tied, those “lower tied positions” shall be considered as a “single position” for purposes of comparison, unless those “lower tied positions” were broken through head-to-head comparison.
If two or more groups of teams are tied, the seeding for one group of tied teams, even if determined by a random action, shall be considered for tie-breaking purposes for any remaining groups.
C. Format
The championship shall be conducted one week prior to the NCAA tournament selection date. The team that wins the championship shall receive the conference’s automatic qualification to the NCAA tournament.
Semifinals
The higher-seeded team shall host. If a higher-seeded team is unable to host, then the lower-seeded team shall be afforded the opportunity to host. Match time is at the discretion of the host institution, but cannot begin prior to 3:00 p.m.
In odd years, men’s semifinal matches will occur on Tuesday and women’s matches will occur on Wednesday; in even years, women’s semifinal matches will occur on Tuesday and men’s matches will occur on Wednesday.
Championship
The final round shall take place on the Saturday prior to NCAA tournament selections. The higher-seeded team shall host. If a higher-seeded team is unable to host, then the lower-seeded team shall be afforded the opportunity to host. Match time is 1:00 p.m.
If an institution is scheduled to host both the men’s and women’s final, or a conflict arises for an institution that has both its men’s and women’s teams in the championship, then the gender which had its semifinals on Wednesday shall conduct its championship on Sunday. Sunday’s match shall start at 12:00 p.m.