General Rules

1.  The Association of Tennis Clubs shall be known as ‘The Dunlop Cleveland Tennis League’. Its programme shall consist of separate League Championship Competitions per season for Mixed, Men’s, Women's, Veterans and Junior teams respectively. Each league shall be divided into an appropriate number of divisions, each consisting of not more than eight teams, dependent on the total number of teams entering.

A trophy will be presented to the winning team in each division, the trophy to be held for a period of one year. In the event of a tie for any championship of any division, the tying clubs shall each hold the appropriate trophy for a proportionate part of the year. Competitions shall also be held each season for the Cleveland Cups for men, women and mixed.

2.  The management of the League should be in the hands of The League Management Committee. This shall consist of: The President, Chairman, Secretary/ Treasurer, together with four other members each from a different Club in the league. The committee shall be elected by the clubs at the Annual General Meeting and are responsible for the smooth running of the League. The committee on behalf of the Clubs have the final decision relating to disputes of any kind. A quorum shall consist of four for purposes of The League Management Committee Meetings

3.  An Annual General Meeting will be held in the month mid-March to mid-April, the date to be arranged by The League Secretary. The Annual General Meeting will consider the financial position of the league and deal with any other league business. Every club affiliated to The Dunlop Cleveland Tennis League or applying for affiliation must be represented by a Club official who is only able to represent one Club at the Annual General Meeting.

4.  No rule may be added to, rescinded or altered except at The Annual General Meeting except in exceptional circumstances, whereby the committee has the power to amend rules where necessary. Any proposals with this in mind must be submitted to The Secretary in writing as soon as possible, but not later than 3 weeks before The Annual General Meeting.

Any club wishing to add or withdraw teams to and from The Dunlop Cleveland Tennis League should submit their proposals in writing as soon as possible, but not later than three weeks before The Annual General Meeting.

5.  The number of clubs comprising the league shall be decided at The Annual General Meeting and the start and finishing dates for fixtures for the current season. The two May Bank Holidays will be excluded from the league fixtures.

6.  Subscriptions:

a)  Any club applying for league membership for the first time shall pay an affiliation fee of £5.00 when their application has been accepted.

b)   Every tennis club wishing to enter any team into the Dunlop Cleveland Tennis League must be affiliated to the LTA. This process ensures that all Clubs meet the LTA's 6 minimum standards: Safeguarding Policy and Procedure, Diversity and Inclusion, Welfare Officer, Criminal Records Check, Risk Assessment, Coaching Safeguarding Standards

It is requirement of the Dunlop Cleveland League to have an LTA Membership and World Tennis Number (WTN) to play in the matches. (If a player has not signed up to WTN the Committee has the right to consider all their matches null and void)

c)  Each new team elected into The Dunlop Cleveland Tennis League to pay a registration fee of £10.00, returnable at the end of the first season, provided that team has completed all league business to the satisfaction of The League Management Committee.

d)   All other annual subscriptions for league and cup competitions to be decided at The Annual General Meeting.

7.  If for any reason a team is withdrawn from the league without completing its fixtures in any particular section, then all matches in that section, in which the team concerned has already played, will be considered as not having taken place and the record of these matches withdrawn.

8.  If for any reason beyond their control, a club knows that they will be unable to take part in any fixture on a particular date in the season, special sanction may be applied for at the Annual General Meeting for this date to be excluded from their fixture list.

The League Management Committee shall have the power to accept or decline any such dates submitted.

9.  The Dunlop Cleveland Tennis League are owners of the:

a)   William Morris Mixed Cup, Ringrose Wharton Cup for Women and Cleveland Cup for Men. All knockout competitions.

b)  Trophies for Men’s, Women’s, Mixed, Veterans’ and Junior Divisions.

All clubs receiving trophies for any competition to sign a receipt for that trophy by the club’s representative. For failure to return that trophy the following season, the club will be fined £30.00.

10.  Should the Annual General Meeting decide to split any league into more than one section and to introduce promotion and relegation between these sections, then any tie on points at the end of the season between teams shall be decided on the results between the two sides. If still a tie a play off shall be organised to decide the final league placing.

11.  If a club disbands, or amalgamates with another club already in the league, the disbanding club must withdraw all its teams from the league.

 Organisation of League Matches

 12. Teams shall consist of 3 couples, each playing 3 rubbers. A match shall consist of 9 rubbers. Every effort should be made to field 3 couples, but if only 2 couples are available it is preferable to field 2 couples rather than concede the match.

However, teams should not turn up with only 2 pairs when they have lower teams to pull from. On the second and any subsequent such occurrence the team must write to the committee within one week explaining why this has happened. The committee will have the right to penalize that team through a fine or a points deduction.

 13. Afternoon matches shall commence at 2.00pm and no rubber shall commence after 7.00pm (see Rule 42/43 re Veterans League). Any rubbers not then begun shall be drawn. The team winning five rubbers or more shall be the winner. The home team may provide tea for the visitors. All rubbers should be played to 8 games

 14. An evening match shall commence no later than 6.30pm. Ideally rubbers will be to 8 games, but this can be varied depending on light conditions.

 15. 2 playing pairs from each club must be present at the official starting time. Any playing pair not present a quarter of an hour later than the official starting time (i.e. 6.45pm or 2.15pm) will forfeit their first rubber. Any pair not present by 7.15pm or 2.45pm will forfeit their second rubber and any pair not present by 7.45pm or 3.15pm will forfeit their third rubber.

 16. For each match a minimum of 2 courts shall be made available and the home team shall provide 12 NEW Dunlop balls of good quality.

 17. Where more than one type of court is available, the home team captain shall decide which to use.

 18.  If, during a match, any couple shall fail to complete any rubber or rubbers for any reason other than weather or ground conditions, those incomplete rubbers shall be awarded to their opponents.

 19. The venue of a match may be changed by mutual consent of the two clubs concerned. The home captain shall determine at the start of the match whether to play under floodlights when necessary.

 20. At the start of the season each Club will name the 6 highest ranked players for each of their teams apart from the last team in the league. These players are unable to play down. For example, if a Club runs multiple teams in one league, 4 team’s in the men’s league, team 4 are not required to name 6 players.

All players will be considered tied to a higher team once they have played up for a team on a third occasion.

The names of the designated players need to be sent to the League Secretary at the start of the season. Once collated the named players in each team will be shared with all Clubs.

If a Club wishes to adjust the named 6 they must make their request to the League. For example, a named player may suffer a long- term injury, be out of action for the rest of the season and therefore unable to play.

 21. Team players in League matches shall be bona fide members of the club that they represent which is affiliated to The Dunlop Cleveland League. Players may transfer from one club to another during the season if both clubs are agreeable. (Note example below)

A player who has played for one club in a particular section (a section is deemed to mean either Men’s, Women's or Mixed League Competitions and Men’s, Women's or Mixed Cup Competitions) may play for another club in that section, provided that he or she transfers their playing membership of that section, and provided that The League Secretary receives prior written notification from one club secretary, including both Club Secretaries’ signatures.

A player who plays for one Club in a particular section e.g. Women's is allowed to play in a different section for another Club e.g. Mixed as long as they are members of both Clubs.

Clubs who have multiple venues and choose to affiliate to the Dunlop Cleveland Tennis League   must   select   players   from   their   local   tennis   membership. Any coaches who represent their club in matches must be bona fide members of that club and shall not be paid or compensated for the hours lost in playing matches.

 22. The League Secretary to inform any defaulting Club Secretaries of any rules that have been broken, for not complying with the league rules or decisions by The League Management Committee. Other than in exceptional circumstances (at the sole discretion of the League Management Committee) any team failing 3 league fixtures within a season for any reason other than weather or ground conditions will be relegated at the end of the season.

 23. The failure of a club to fulfil a fixture will not be penalized, but the team that has been given the match will receive 22 points. The League Management Committee reserves the right to vary this rule in exceptional circumstances.

Scoring and Recording of Results in League Matches

24. A rubber shall be won when one pair reaches 8 games and has a margin of two games (e.g.8 -6), unless the score reaches 8 - 8 in which case a tie breaker to 7 will be played, giving a score of 8-9 The team winning five rubbers or more will be the winner.

25. 2 points will be awarded for each rubber won or 1 point for a shared rubber and the winning team will be awarded 4 extra points. In the event of a draw 2 extra points will be awarded. A team winning all their matches will get 22 points.

26. The results (including notification of cancelled matches) must be put on the website by the home team within 3 days of the match. The away team has to confirm this result 3 days after it is put on the web.

27. Every effort will be made to allow for the promotion and relegation of two teams from each division, however a workable number of teams in each division must take precedence. This may result in promotion or relegation not adhering to 2 teams. If there are 6 or fewer teams in any division, only one team goes up and down.

Cancelling and Postponing League Matches

28. The only reasons for which a match may be postponed are weather or ground conditions. Should a match not be played for any other reason, unless agreed by the League Management Committee, the defaulting team will be considered the losers.

29. If a match has to be cancelled for weather or ground conditions, every effort must be made to stop opponents travelling.

30. The responsibility for deciding if courts are fit for play rests with the home captain. A match should not be cancelled before 5.00pm (or 12.30pm in the case of afternoon matches). In the event of deterioration in the weather after the arrival of the away team, both captains must agree that court conditions are safe and fit for play in order for the match to go ahead or to continue once started.

Any postponed matches and matches which have not commenced within an hour after the official time, because of weather and ground conditions, shall be re arranged by the TEAMS within 3 days and played within 4 weeks.

31. Any match which has commenced, but is abandoned due to weather or ground conditions, should stand if five rubbers have been won by one team, or if the second round has been completed (i.e. six rubbers played). Rubbers not completed to be shared. This also applies when floodlights go off during a rubber.

Cup competitions

32. The men's cup (Cleveland Cup) will consist of teams of 4 players. Each player will be given an appropriate ranking, from 1 till 4.  The match will consist of 4 singles rubbers (player 1vs1, 2vs2, 3vs3 and 4vs4) followed by 2 doubles rubbers (1 & 2 vs 1 & 2, 3 & 4 vs 3 & 4).

33. The women's cup (Ringrose Wharton Cup) will consist of teams of 4 players. The match will consist of 4 doubles rubbers.

34. The mixed cup (William Morris Cup) will consist of teams of 6 players. The match will consist of 9 doubles rubbers.

35. In each cup competition the matches will be played first to 8 games, with a 7 point tiebreak to decide the winner if tied at 8-8.

36. In the men's cup if a game is tied at 3-3 in rubbers a deciding singles first-to-10 tiebreak will be played between a representative from each team - as nominated by the captain.  In the women's cup if tied at 2-2 in rubbers a deciding doubles forst-to-10 tiebreak will be played between pairs, as nominated by the captain.

37. Games in the men's and women's cup will commence at 10:30am on the designated date and mixed shall commence from 2pm.

Veterans League

38. A Veterans League shall be run at the end of each season - each team will consist of two ladies and two men playing, with 6 rubbers played -  1 ladies doubles, 1 men's doubles and 4 mixed doubles rubbers.  All participants must be at least 45 years of age on 1st September of that year.

39. The league will be played from September/October up until the end of November/early December.  If the league is not completed by this date then it will recommence towards the end of January/early February.

 40. All other summer league rules apply with the exception that a player can only play up once, and will be tied after playing for a second time.

Autumn League

The standard rules apply with the exceptions below:

Match dates and times

41. The League will start week commencing 4th September

42. There will be 2 designated gap weeks - w/c 2nd October and w/c 30th October

43. If games are called off these gap weeks must be utilised for rearranged fixtures, or sooner if clubs agree

44. Clubs should rearrange games themselves

45. If all goes to plan the league will finish w/c 20th November. Any outstanding fixtures, fromthe final 3 weeks should be arranged w/c 27th November and/or 4th December

46. Morning games (weekend only) to start at 10am and evening games (weekday only) at 6:30.

47. All matches to be played outdoors

48. In the event of the weather disrupting play and preventing it from continuing the game will need to be rearranged. As per the summer league we ask that you try your very best to get the game played and do not call it off 90 minutes before the start time.

Matches

49. The two first pairs and two second pairs will play each other in the first rubber and then switch, so that 4 rubbers are played in total (i.e. A vs A, B vs B, A vs B, B vs A)

50. Matches are best of three sets. The first two are standard sets (first to six) with a standard tiebreak (first to 7) to be played if tied at 6-6

51. If sets are tied at 1-1, the final set decider will be a champions tiebreak (first to 10, and win by 2 clear points).  Please note no games are played in the final set, it is solely a tiebreak.

52. If there is a concern that the game shall not be completed due to weather, time etc then sets can be reduced to first to 4, with a tie break at 4-4. This is to be agreed between captains.

Player eligibility

53. There is no requirement to submit a squad list

54. Players, as per the summer league, will be tied to a higher team once they play their third game. Please note that in the instance whereby clubs have three teams or more playing for any higher team will be considered. For example, if a player plays C,B,A,B they have played 3 above the C team standard and therefore will not be eligible for the C team again that season, but can still play for the B until they have played a further 2 A team matches

55. We don't want to impose further rules that make it difficult for clubs to put out teams, however, we would hope that as there are only squads of 4 there should be very little need for players to play for multiple teams in the same week and indeed would hope players remain with the same team for all/majority of the season

56. As per the summer league all players must be members of their club and be members of the LTA and have signed up for a World Tennis Number. Players must associate themselves with their club on the LTA website

Scoring

First thing to stress is it is different to that of the Summer League!

57. A team who wins the match will be awarded 2 points (so for a 4-0 or 3-1 victory in rubbers). A draw (i.e. 2-2) will see both teams awarded 1 point. A losing team receives 0 points

58. Should multiple teams be level on points league position will be decided on the following criteria: rubbers won, followed by set difference, followed by head-to head

59. If a team forfeits a game due to lack of players then it shall be awarded as a 4-0 win to the opposition - and points scored accordingly

Score entry

60. As per the Summer League it is the responsibility of the home captain to enter the results on the website within 3 days of the match

61. Away captains have a further 3 days to challenge the result, and if happy, confirm on the system

62. Although the scoring structure is different the process for inputting scores remains the same

63. To avoid issues we ask that all clubs add players into their squads as early as possible (don't leave it until the match day in case there are input issues)