/ TUGGERANONG NETBALL ASSOCIATION
INCORPORATED

ACT & District Premier Team Championship

Competition Rules

1Introduction

1.1Tuggeranong Netball Association (TNA) is staging an event to determine the best teams by division from all grand final winners that participate in the ACT and surrounding districts domestic competitions.

1.2The Executive Committee at TNA endorse the rules for the event set out below.

2General Information

2.1The event will be a round robin competition between teams from both seniors and Cadet/Intermediates.

2.2Players must arrive 30 minutes prior to the first round robin games to sign score sheets; convenors will call teams.

3Rules of Play

3.1The competition shall adopt the rules of play in the Official Rule Book of Netball Australia, Official Rules of Netball 2007 as amended 2010, 2011 & 2012. Exceptions are:

  1. Length of games and breaks within the following guidelines:

(1)Length of quarters will be 10 minutes;

(2)Length of interval at quarter time (half time in Round Robin games) and three-quarter time when required will be 2 minutes;

(3)Length of interval at half time will be 5 minutes in finals only.

Note: Round Robin games will be centrally timed and controlled, finals will be fully timed, independently controlled games.

  1. Substitution rule:

(1)As set out in the Official Rule Book of Netball Australia, Official Rules of Netball 2007 as amended 2010, 2011 & 2012.

  1. Blood Rule:

(1)For a fully timed games (Grand Finals), the blood policy as set out in the Official Rule Book of Netball Australia, will apply.

(2)For centrally timed games (Round Robin games) the blood policy as set out in the Official Rule Book of Netball Australia, will apply, except that the affected player may be replaced for the duration the player is being tended to; the Umpire is not required to hold time. The affected player may retake the court in accordance with the rules of Netball Australia. If the affected player is unable to return to the court this will count as a substitution for the team.

4Competition Format and Player Eligibility

4.1For the purpose of these rules Division will mean Division, Grade, or level which a team is rated in.

4.2The President of each association will be required to certify that each player was a registered player of the team, which participated, in the respective district grand finals.

4.3The event will be a round robin competition between teams from both seniors and cadet/intermediates at the same rated divisional level.

4.4Each team will play each other once within the same rated division to determine the best two teams in the division.

4.5The top two teams within the same rated division at the end of the round robin will play a fully timed grand final with the winners being crowned ACT and Districts Champions for their division.

4.6The competition shall be divided into the following divisions:

  1. Senior This Division is open to all players aged fourteen and above. Groupings of teams within this division for separate competition shall be known as Divisions, Seniors will compete for titles in Divisions 1, 2 and 3 (A, B and C Grades).

Note: Teams can only be made up of players who played in their respective district grand finals except as these rules allow. Teams found to be breaking this rule shall be disqualified. Where teams have a player or players under the qualifying age, Districts or clubs are required to show proof of exemption from their controlling bodies.

b.Cadet/IntermediateAll players attending high school in the years 7 to 11 are eligible to play in this Division, this group may include teams known as Cadets if the cadet teams meet the age qualifications and not been a team within an open division.

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Note: Teams may be made up of players from different years at school only by those players registered in teams on their respective district grand final day.

5Competition

5.1The competition is open to teams from the following districts:

  1. Tuggeranong Netball Association;
  2. Arawang Netball Association;
  3. Belconnen Netball Association;
  4. Canberra Netball Association;
  5. South Canberra Netball Association;
  6. Queanbeyan Netball Association; and
  7. Other associations as determined by the TNA executive.
  1. TNA will provide a roster for the competition assuming all districts will participate and provide winning teams in the following divisions:
  2. Seniors – Div 1 (A Grade); Div 2 (B Grade) and Div 3 (C Grade);
  3. Intermediates – Div 1 (Includes eligible Cadets); Div 2; Div 3 and Div 4;
  4. Teams in the initial draw will be identified by their district and division in the draw (eg: TNA Seniors Div 1 vs SCNA Seniors Div 1);
  5. Actual team names will be entered on the roster once known.
  6. Where a premier team cannot make the competition that team may be replaced by the runners up in that district.
  7. Where a team cannot make the competition that game will form a bye in the roster
  8. Where only two teams are available to play the competition in a particular division they shall play a grand final to determine the Champion team for the year;
  9. Round Robin matches will be 2 x 10 minute quarters – in the case of a drawn match teams will be awarded the same points.
  10. The two teams with the most points at the end of the round robins will play a fully timed game of 4 x 10 minute quarters; winning team to be crowned ACT and Districts Champion.
  11. In cases of a draw 5 minutes each way will be played to determine the winner, if there is no clear winner after that then points for and against in the Round Robin games will be used to determine the best team.
  12. Competition matches between teams shall be controlled by the TNA Competition Convenor and shall be played in accordance with these rules as the TNA Executive Committee shall approve.

6Registration

6.1Teams and players participating in this competition must be registered with associations affiliated with Netball ACT and Netball NSW.

6.2Teams may consist of up to 10 players.

6.3Where a team is missing regular players or cannot register 10 players for this event, that team may draw players from within its own club from an equivalent division or a lower division to make up the 10 players. These substitute players must have played at least 5 games in the Saturday competition for that association in the current year.

6.4If a team is a single team in its local competition (not from a club of more than one team) that team may draw players from other clubs or teams within their own association provided that players have played at least 5 games in the Saturday competition for their association and are from an equivalent division or a lower division as the team.

6.5If teams or clubs avail themselves to this rule then District Presidents must certify the substitute players as meeting the requirements of this rule.

7Fees

7.1Fees for this competition shall be as determined by the TNA Executive. No player shall take the court until such time as team fees are paid in full.

8Uniform

8.1Each team shall wear a uniform of their own colour and design providing each player is dressed in the same outfit.

8.2No player/reserve shall be allowed to compete in this fixture unless wearing the registered uniform of the team. Skirts and bodysuits must be worn. Sports briefs shall not be transparent.

8.3Footwear is to be rubber-soled sports shoes, not necessarily of uniform colour.

8.4When a team takes the court, they must be all in the same colours, i.e. all tops must be the same colour.

8.5Bike shorts and leggings may be worn provided a skirt or bodysuit is also worn, and provided that the team all wear the same colour.

8.6Protective tops may be worn under bodysuits provided the tops are the registered colour of the team or club (not necessarily the same colour of the bodysuit).

8.7All players/reserves must wear position patches back and front while on the court. The letters on the patches must not be smaller than fifteen (15) cm in height and a centimetre in width.

8.8Gloves may be worn by players at all levels of competition and must be in good condition. Finger nails must comply with the requirements of current Netball Australia Rules.

8.9Earrings and studs must be removed for this competition IAW Netball Australia Rules. Taping of earrings and studs is not permitted under any circumstances, however flat plastic inserts may be substituted in piercings to enable safe play.

9Commencement of Matches

9.1TNA will provide a roster of matches. Play must commence at the rostered time for the commencement of play if five (5) or more players/reserves are present. If five players/reserves are not present five minutes after commencement of the game, that team shall forfeit the match.

9.2If neither team has five players/reserves present, the game shall be declared abandoned, and no points shall be awarded to either side. The scoresheet must be signed by the Umpire and Scorer and all details at the top filled in, including all player's signatures.

9.3Any match shall finish in time to permit the following game to commence at the specified time, even if through starting late or an injury occurring, the match does not run the full time. There will be no injury time except in grand finals.

9.4A team set down to play a team who has withdrawn from the competition shall automatically receive a forfeit.

9.5The Captain of the team receiving the forfeit is to sign the scoresheet to record the players' names.

10Umpires

10.1Each team is to supply an umpire for the event.

10.2Umpires will be allocated by TNA to umpire games independent of their team but in the same division as the team is registered, they will not umpire their own teams.

10.3TNA will supply a roster for umpires prior to the event; umpires in the initial roster will be identified by their district and division in the draw (eg: TNA Seniors Div 1 Umpire vs SCNA Seniors Div 1 Umpire at Court 1).

10.4Failure to provide umpires may result in the team not being allowed to play.

10.5TNA’s Umpires Coordinator will select umpires for the Grand Final games.

10.6Umpires are responsible for:

  1. Checking players uniforms, jewellery, nails and adornments;
  2. Supplying the ball; (TNA will supply the balls to each umpire)
  3. Conferring with scorers and timers;
  4. Officiating over injury time;
  5. Referring disputes to the complaints committee.

11Scorers

11.1Each team is required to provide a scorer for all games during the event.

11.2Scorers are to collect scoresheets at least 5 minutes before the commencement of games.

11.3Scorers are to stay together during matches and sign the scoresheet at the end of play to confirm that scores are correct.

11.4No official match shall be played without two scorers. Any dispute bought before the Appeals Tribunal may not be considered unless both scorers are present.

12Scoresheets

12.1TNA will supply score sheets for the event, these will be available at the Convenors Office.

12.2All players/reserves must have their names on the scoresheets prior to each match.

12.3The scorer of the winning team is responsible for returning the scoresheet.

12.4All scoresheets must be signed by both captains; all players, umpires and scorers, and all other details are to be filled in.

12.5If a captain considers the scoresheet incorrect, she shall not sign it. The captain will inform the Convenors Office and lodge a formal written complaint.

12.6A team receiving a forfeit shall fill in and sign the score sheet and return the scoresheet to the Convenors Office.

13Timekeepers

13.1All Round Robin games will be centrally timed.

13.2TNA will provide timekeepers for Grand Finals. Timekeepers are responsible for keeping time for games during the Grand finals. There will be two timekeepers assigned to each game.

13.3The main timekeeper is to time quarters and quarter and half time breaks.

13.4The backup timekeeper times injury and blood rule time.

13.5The main timekeeper commences timing of play from the umpires whistle. If the umpire signals a break the main timekeeper stops the timer on the umpires whistle and restarts timing on the umpires whistle.

13.6If the stoppage is for an injury the backup time keeper commences timing.

13.7The main timekeeper should leave the official area when there are 10 seconds left in the quarter and follow the closest umpire until time is up when they call to the umpire “Time Umpire”.

13.8At quarter and half time breaks the timekeeper should advise the umpire when there are 30 seconds to the start of play and again at 10 seconds and when time is up by saying “Time Umpire”.

13.9During Grand Finals, injury time and blood rule time is two minutes. The back up time keeper commences timing on the umpires signal. When 30 seconds is left of the injury time the timekeeper advises the umpire, and again at 10 seconds, and at the completion of time.

14Points

14.1Points shall be awarded in Round Robin competition matches as follows:

  1. Win 3 points
  2. Draw 2 points
  3. Win on forfeit3 points
  4. Loss 1 point
  5. Bye 3 points
  6. Forfeiting team0 points

15Grand Finals

15.1Grand-finalists shall be the first two teams in each division with the highest number of points. If teams in the same division have an equal number of points, the finals positions shall be decided by counting goals scored for and against on a percentage basisfor the games played over the whole championship.

15.2If goals are even at full time in the Grand Final, an additional five minutes each way shall be played. If the score is still even play will continue until a team is at least two points ahead.

15.3When additional time is required teams may make changes only at the end of full time unless there is an injury during extra time.

15.4Teams are to change straight over during extra time.

16Wet Weather

16.1The TNA Vice President (Competition) and competition convenors will be responsible for wet weather decisions for all Round Robin matches.

16.2Decisions regarding complete abandonment of play shall be made by the Adverse Weather Committee (TNA Vice President - Competition and Competition Convenors). In the event of no play, announcements to that effect shall be broadcast through local radio stations on the morning of play and placed on the TNA website.

16.3Unless such an announcement of no play is made, all players shall attend their playing areas. If the game has progressed past half-time when adverse weatherstops play, the game is to be counted and the half time score counts. If it rains before half-time, the game may be abandoned and regarded as a draw.

16.4TNA reserves the right to reschedule games on the day in the event of adverse weather or to a latter date to enable completion of the event.

17Complaints

17.1Any match complaints or protests by a team or umpire must be notified to the TNA VP Competition(Competition Convenor) by completing a notification of dispute form. The protesting captain is not to sign the scoresheet. The matter shall then come before the Complaints Committee. The Complaints Committee shall consist of;

  1. TNA Vice President Competition (Competition Convenor)
  2. Designated Intermediates or Seniors Convenor;
  3. TNA Umpires Coordinator.
  1. Clarification of umpires interpretation and/or rules should be sought from the umpire in the first instance at the next interval of the game. Only the captain of the team may approach an umpire during an interval for clarification.
  2. If this does not resolve the situation then the TNA Umpires Coordinatorand/or Competition Convenor should be called to the court to observe the game and try to resolve the problem. In the event the team still wishes to lodge a complaint it shall do so in accordance with 17.1.