TENNIS SURREY

LITTLE LEAGUE 2016 - 2017

10 & UNDER RULES

ELIGIBILITY:

  1. Players must be aged 10 years on 31 March 2017; and have a rating of G4, G3 or G2 on the closing date; there can be no exceptions. Please note that Orange 1 rated players are not permitted to compete in this tournament. Teams are single sex. A player may only represent one team in the competition. If you wish to use another player later in the season, you must nominate this player with the County office before the match is played. Please telephone on 020 8487 7036. If you get through to the final and are unable to field one of your nominated players, you may submit another player who meets the above criteria; however they are not permitted to play if they have a better rating than your top nominated player on the date of the final.

A captain can manage a maximum of 3 teams – If a captain is looking to enter further teams they must assign another team captain from the club.

All matches will be submitted for ratings. Thus, all players must be members of British Tennis and have a rating; they must also be attached to your club within their LTA member’s profile.

The Little League competition will be run in accordance with the ITF Rules of Tennis, the Rules of the LTA and the LTA Competition Regulations, including the LTA Code of Conduct (as each may be amended from time to time).

For the purpose of Little League team results, where a player is not a member of British Tennis at the time of a match, the match will be awarded to the player who is a member of British Tennis.

ENTERING RESULTS ONLINE:

  1. All results must be inputted within 48 hours of the fixed play by dates. No extension will be given under any circumstances. Please adhere to the set play by dates. A match may be played before the play by date if both teams agree but not after. Extension by the County Organiser may be given under extenuating circumstances, i.e. weather.

-The finals will be played on the weekend of19/20March 2017. Venue tbc.

-The winning team captain is responsible for inputting the results on-line within 48 hours of each match so that league tables can be kept up to date. Please note that results will be loaded weekly for ratings purposes. Instructions of how to enter the results online were sent out to captains by email.

SCORING FORMAT:

  1. All matches will follow the abbreviated scoring system as follows.

For 10U Little League rubbers will be one short set only with a standard tiebreak (to 7 points, two points clear) at 4 games all if required. Please note, in 10U doubles you use the standard singles court, not the tramlines.

  1. For 10U Little League, each match will consist of 5 rubbers of one set only, (first to 4 games): 4 singles and 1 doubles, with each rubber being worth 3 points to the winner and 1 point to the loser. All rubbers must be played giving a final score of, for example, 15 – 5, 13 - 7 or 11 - 9 to the winning team.

-If you have any incomplete matches due to rain, only the completed rubbers will be submitted into the league results.

-Teams may only bring 2 players to each match.

  1. For 10U Little League, singles rubbers can be played in any order, but all singles rubbers must be completed before the doubles rubber. All matches must be finished.
  2. The home team is responsible for providing good quality balls for the fixture and should also offer light refreshments. 10U events MUST be played with GREEN MINI TENNIS BALLS.
  3. The home team is responsible for booking outdoor courts and covering court costs. If, however, the weather forces a match onto indoor courts it is hoped that the away team will share the cost.
  1. The away team must abide by the home club’s rules, particularly with regards to behaviour and dress (although we do ask clubs to be as flexible as possible).

WALKOVERS:

  1. Any team cancelling an arranged fixture less than 48 hours before the agreed time, or failing to show up, will forfeit the match by 5 rubbers to nil (and a result of 15 - 0 will be recorded in favour of the team which has been let down). Walkovers will not be awarded simply because one team has difficulties arranging a fixture with another. However it is at the discretion of the Tennis Surrey Little League Committee to decide what action to take if a particular team is persistently unavailable or refuses to cooperate over arrangements.

10. In the event of a team withdrawing from the League part way through the competition, the results of any matches played by that team will be negated.

FINAL STANDINGS + COUNTY FINALS- WEEKEND OF 19TH/ 20TH MARCH:

  1. The winning team in each league will be invited to play in a County Finals. The winning team will be determined as the team with the highest number of points (please see how points are allocated in rule 4). If you fail to play a match, you don’t get any points!
  1. If two teams have the same number of points when they have completed their matches the team which has won their head to head encounter will go through. If more than two teams have the same number of points the calculation will be based on the percentage of sets won to sets played or (if necessary) games won to games played.
  1. In the interest of giving all players a positive competitive experience, we reserve the right not to invite teams to the finals who have not played all their matches.
  1. It is the responsibility of both team captains to check that results have been recorded correctly on the website within the competition deadlines.
  1. You are invited to call the office on 020 8487 7036 if you have any queries.
  1. PLEASE NOTE: The philosophy behind ‘Little League’ is to create an atmosphere of team spirit and pride at representing one’s club!