Rules for Internal Leagues
- Organisation
- Playing Period
- Inclusion in League
- Deletion from League
- Injured Players
- Match Arrangements
- Match Play
- Results Recording
- Match Scoring
- Walk Overs
- League Positions
- Promotion/Relegation
- Rankings
1. Organisation
The League is arranged in divisions, each of which normally
contains five players. The lowest division, or two divisions, may
contain four to six players depending on the total number of players
in the leagues.
Several of the lower leagues may be handicapped, at the discretion
of the League Secretary. Handicapped leagues will be indicated
by "Hcap" after the Division number.
2. Playing Period
The League will operate throughout the year. Each playing period
will normally last 1 calendar month and will end on the last Sunday
of the month. This may be varied at times to allow for club
competitions, or holiday periods, at the discretion of the League
Secretary.
3. Inclusion In League
All currently paid-up members of the squash club except Off-Peak
members are eligible for inclusion in the league. Using the
League Request form, a player may request to
enter the league, or rejoin after absence, at any level. Normally a
player should expect to re-join at a level one division below that in
which he/she last played.
The league position for "included" players will be calculated
based on their ranking as follows:
a) Count the number of players currently in the leagues with equal
or better rank than oneself. Starting at the top of the league, drop
down by the number of places just calculated. There should now be
the same number of players with equal or better rank below oneself as
there are players with worse rank above oneself. Having found this
position, drop another 3 places.
b) In the division requested on the League Request form if this
is below the place calculated in (a) above.
Newly included players will be indicated by their name appearing
in green on the leagues.
4. Deletion From League
A player may request to be deleted from the League via the
League Request form. To rejoin after an
absence, it is the player's responsibility to request inclusion via
the form or by contacting the League Secretary.
Players must play a minimum of two matches each month to continue
in the League. Any player who fails to play the required minimum
will be given a grace period of 1 month before automatic deletion
from the leagues. Players who are "At Risk" because they have played
insufficient matches for 1 month will be indicated by their name
appearing in red on the leagues.
A player may continue in the League despite playing insufficient
matches if he/she requests inclusion via the League Request form.
5. Injured Players
If a player becomes injured or cannot play his/her matches for any
other reason, then they should mark themselves as Injured on the
League Request form.
A walk-over will automatically be awarded against
that player for all unplayed matches. If the injured player has only
played one match, then that match will also be scored as a walk-over
to the opponent. If the injured player has already played two or
more matches, then any existing match scores will stand.
Note that it is in a player's interest to declare himself/herself
as injured when appropriate, since the number of places which that
player may be dropped at the end of the month is limited (see
Promotion/Relegation). If the "injury" is likely to be prolonged
such that the player cannot compete in the subsequent month's league
then they should also mark themselves for deletion on the
League Request form.
An injured player will not be automatically
deleted from the League unless they are already marked as "At Risk".
6. Match Arrangement
Each player will play the other players in their division during
the League playing period, at mutually arranged times. Each player
is responsible for contacting certain other players in their division
to arrange matches, as shown in the table below.
| 5-Player Division |
6-Player Division |
4-Player Division |
| Player |
Must Contact Players |
| 1 |
2,3 |
| 2 |
3,4 |
| 3 |
4,5 |
| 4 |
5,1 |
| 5 |
1,2 |
|
| Player |
Must Contact Players |
| 1 |
2,3 |
| 2 |
3,4 |
| 3 |
4,5 |
| 4 |
5,6,1 |
| 5 |
6,1,2 |
| 6 |
1,2,3 |
|
| Player |
Must Contact Players |
| 1 |
2 |
| 2 |
3 |
| 3 |
4,1 |
| 4 |
1,2 |
|
7. Match Play
Each match will consist of the best of five games, 'PAR' 15 scoring.
If any game reaches 14 points all, then the game will continue until one player
is 2 points ahead.
A match is completed as soon as one of the players has won three games. Where a
match has not been completed, the players may agree to record the
incomplete result, or complete the match later, or replay the match.
Any incomplete games do not count to the match score.
During the summer months (April through to October), matches will be played with
a double yellow dot squash ball, and with a single yellow dot ball during the winter months.
By mutual consent before the start of a match, a squash ball of any type may be used.
8. Results Recording
It is the responsibility of each player to ensure that his or her
match results are recorded via the website.
If no result is recorded via the website before 5pm on the last day of
the playing period, no points will be given to either player for the
match. The only exception to this is when a player claims a
walk-over (see below).
9. Match Scoring
Players are awarded points under the following scoring system:
· Each player receives 2 points for playing a match
· A player receives 1 point for each game won
· The winner of a completed match (as defined above) receives
a bonus of 1 point
· The winner of a 3-0 match receives a bonus of 1 point
The number of points awarded for each possible result is
therefore:
| Result |
Points |
| 3-0 |
7-2 |
| 3-1 |
6-3 |
| 3-2 |
6-4 |
| 2-2 |
4-4 |
| 2-1 |
4-3 |
| 2-0 |
4-2 |
| 1-1 |
3-3 |
| 1-0 |
3-2 |
| 0-0 |
2-2 |
10. Walk-Overs
There are three considerations in dealing with walk-overs:
· As much as possible should be done to encourage people to
play
· Despite "Match Arrangement" rules, players who do their
best to arrange matches should not be unduly penalised because of
their prospective opponents
· A player claiming a walk-over must have made reasonable
efforts to have arranged a match against their prospective opponent
The scoring for walk-overs is as follows:
· 4 points are awarded to the player claiming the walk-over
· 1 point is deducted from the player against whom the
walk-over is claimed
No other score can be claimed for a walk-over. A walk-over will
only be awarded if claimed by a opponent via the website or a
player marks himself/herself as being injured.
11. Leagues Positions
At the end of the League playing period, the points total, ranking
and position of each player within the division is calculated. For
Normal league divisions, the player with the highest number of points
has the highest position, and so on. For Handicapped league
divisions, the player with the best (lowest) adjusted ranking has the
highest position, and so on.
If two players have equal points (or ranking for Handicapped
leagues), the player who was higher at the start of the month will
remain so.
12. Promotion/Relegation
Promotion/relegation will be calculated on the basis of final
league position at the end of the month. Each player will be
allocated a finishing place from 1 to N as if the leagues were
continuous (i.e. top of league 1 = 1, bottom of league 1 = 5, top of
league 2 = 6 etc.).
Each player's new place will then be calculated as follows:
Player finishing top of each league and points scored exceeds
upper threshold
Place improves by 5.1
Player finishing top of each league but with less than upper
points threshold
Place improves by 3.1
Player finishing second in league
Place improves by 2
Player finishes second from bottom
Place drops by 2
Player finishing bottom of each league but with more than lower
points threshold
Place drops by 2
Player finishing bottom of each league and with less than lower
points threshold
Place drops by 3.1
Any player who marks himself/herself as injured will only drop by
a maximum of two places.
Upper points threshold = maximum score - 2 (i.e. 26 for a 5 player
league)
Lower points threshold = minimum score + 2 (i.e. 10 for a 5 player
league)
New league positions will be then be calculated by ordering
players according to their revised place and re-allocating to new
leagues (i.e. top 5 in league 1, next 5 in league 2 etc.). The whole
process is based on a "top two go up, bottom two go down" principal,
but is designed to ensure that players who win or lose their league
convincingly are more likely to change leagues even when other
players join/leave.
13. Rankings
Players will be ranked and a list shown on the website. Rankings will be used to
allocate handicaps for competitions, to calculate which league a
player should re-enter the leagues at when requested, and to
determine the league positions for Handicapped leagues. Rankings for
players will adjusted on the basis their league match results at the end of
the month. A complete description of the ranking system can be found here.
Darren Sooprayen - League Secretary