Senior League Rules

• 1 - The Nottinghamshire Senior Badminton Association shall appoint a League Executive Committee for the purposes of running league competition. The League Executive Committee shall comprise the Hon. League Secretary and two other members of the Senior General Committee.
  
  Subject to sufficient support being obtained competitions will be held annually for Men's Doubles, Ladies' Doubles and Mixed Doubles.
  
  The League Executive Committee shall have authority to arrange these in as many divisions as may be necessary and shall also have responsibilities to consider and deal with any matters, controversial or otherwise, arising out of the running of the league competitions.


• 2 - The Competitions shall be open to all clubs affiliated to the Nottinghamshire Badminton Association. These shall be run in accordance with the following league rules and the current laws and regulations sanctioned by Badminton England as at the start of the season, so far as they are applicable to the Nottinghamshire Badminton Association competitions.
  
  All clubs joining from season 2020/21 shall play their home matches within the Nottinghamshire county boundary.
  
  All clubs already playing in the Nottinghamshire Senior League competition at the end of season 2019/20 can play outside the county boundary but where possible make efforts to play some home matches within Nottinghamshire.
  


• 3 - The majority of the fixtures shall be made at a meeting of Club Secretaries and representatives, to be convened by the Hon. League Secretary on a Monday in September. The Hon. League Secretary shall give each club 14 days clear notice of such meeting. Alterations to these fixtures can be made by clubs after the meeting but must be notified to the Hon. League Secretary.
  
  No matches should be played before the Fixture meeting. This will prevent
  clubs playing matches before the final League tables are published at the
  Fixture meeting. There are often last-minute changes because of clubs pulling
  out or entering teams at the last minute.
  This proposal was carried.


• 4 - Any new Teams desirous of competing and those teams intending to withdraw from the Competitions must notify the Hon. League Secretary seven days before the Annual League Fixture Meeting. Teams withdrawing from the competition within the 7 days before the Annual League Fixture Meeting shall be fined £5 per team.
  
  Any new team entering the League shall be included in the lowest division. Any team being withdrawn shall be the club's lowest in that section.


• 5a - The Mixed and Men’s leagues shall consist of a Premier Division and as many divisions of seven teams as are considered necessary, playing one match only against each other team in that division.


• 5b - The Ladies' league shall consist of a Premier Division and as many divisions of seven teams as are considered necessary, playing one match only against each other team in that section or division.
  


• 5c - The venue to be decided by mutual agreement and to be reversed each successive year.
  


• 5d - Clubs shall have no more than 2 teams in any division.


• 5e - Promotion & relegation shall be 2 up & 2 down across all divisions in all 3 formats.


• 5f - In the event of a team NOT eligible for promotion finishing in first or second place in any Division as applicable, the next eligible team shall be promoted providing it has completed its programme, and has won at least half its matches. In the event of the next eligible team not having won at least half its matches, it may challenge the SECOND lowest team in the next higher Division. The League Executive Committee shall have the power to waive this option where the challenged team agrees to be relegated; except that if the challenging team is scheduled to be relegated, the right to challenge shall be lost. Any such challenge shall be played within three weeks from the end of the appropriate season. The challenging team to have choice of courts with costs being shared by both teams and settled on the day of the match.


• 5g - If any club has 2 teams in any division, this fixture MUST be played first prior to any other matches involving the teams being played. The penalty for not following this will result in all matches involving the defaulting teams being awarded 9-0 to the opposition.


• 6 - Each team shall consist of three pairs, each pair to play the best of three games against each pair of the opposite team, the team which shall win five or more rubbers shall be declared the winner. All rubbers shall be completed wherever possible. Matches shall be played with Regulation Feather Shuttles unless both sides have previously agreed to use nylon Shuttles.
  


• 7 - The qualification for playing for a Club shall be "bona-fide" membership of that club. The club's subscription to the Association should be sent to the Hon. Registration Secretary, and the Badminton England affiliation fee sent directly to Milton Keynes.
  
  All players must be registered with the Hon. League Secretary prior to playing in any matches. Registration will only be accepted after the 31st December at the discretion of the League Executive.
  
  No one shall be eligible to play for more than one club in the same competition during the same season.
  In the event of a club playing an ineligible player all matches in which that player has competed during the current season shall be awarded to the opposition 9-0.
  
  Any individual who is a member of two or more clubs shall be eligible to play for one Club in the Mixed League Competition and for another Club in the Men's or Ladies' Competition.


• 8 - Clubs entering more than one team in a competition shall 'star' their best four players for the first team, the next four for the second team and similarly for each additional team with the exception of the lowest. In the Mixed Competition Clubs shall 'star' an equal number of Ladies. The Hon. League Secretary must be notified of nominated players for each section, Men's, Mixed or Ladies' before the first match is played in that Section. A 'starred' player shall not play in a lower team than that which he or she is 'starred', the penalty for infringement being the loss of the match 9-0.
  
  If a player does not play in two out of the first three matches played by the team for which he or she is 'starred' the club concerned must immediately report the fact to the League Secretary unless the player concerned has played in a team for that club in a higher division.
  Clubs that fail to take such action may incur penalties
  
  Club starrings will be listed on the Website enabling all Clubs to check that eligible players are being played
  


• 9 - If any club cancels a match or fails to put in an appearance on the specified date arranged except by mutual agreement between the clubs affected, the defaulting club shall forfeit the match to its opponents, and shall forfeit 9 rubbers, 18 games, 378 points and shall have two points deducted from its record. Unless exceptional circumstances exist the defaulting club shall be responsible for any court costs incurred. The defaulting club shall have the right of appeal to the League Executive. All League matches must be confirmed by the Home team at least 7 days before a match is due to be played.


• 10 - If a club shall withdraw a team from the competition before completing its engagements or concede more than two of its Matches, all records of matches played by the team shall be expunged.
  


• 11 - The detailed result of every match shall be sent by email to the Hon. League Secretary and entered onto the tournament software within 4 days of the match being played, by the Home team. Failure to do this will result in a 1 point penalty against the Home team, even if they won the match. The result of the match will be recorded as played, with the Away team being awarded 2 points if they won, and 0 points if they lost. In all cases the Home team will receive –1 point for a rule 11 infringement.


• 12a - When the fixture is arranged the starting time is to be mutually agreed. For matches where there is more than one court available, the starting time for the second and third courts (not necessarily both the same and not necessary the same as for the first/second courts) shall also be mutually agreed


• 12b - For each court if a team has no couple ready, or the correct and agreed equipment and shuttles are not made available by the home team within 20 minutes of the agreed starting time, one rubber shall be forfeited 21-0, 21-0.


• 12c - Similarly for each court if a team has no couple ready to play, or the correct and agreed equipment and shuttles are not made available by the home team within 40 minutes of the agreed starting time, a second rubber shall be forfeited 21-0, 21-0.


• 12d - Similarly for each court if a team has no couple ready, or the correct and agreed equipment and shuttles are not made available by the home team within 60 minutes of the agreed starting time, a third rubber shall be forfeited 21-0, 21-0.


• 12e - If a team has no couple ready to play, or the correct and agreed equipment and shuttles are not made available by the home team within 90 minutes of the agreed time the whole match shall be forfeited 9 rubbers to 0.
  


• 12f - Once play has started, it shall be continuous apart from natural breaks, in the generally accepted order (of 1,2,3. 1,2,3. 1,2,3. for the visiting team and 1,2,3. 2,3,1. 3,1,2. for the home team) except if a team does not have its next pair ready to play when required, it may play out of order as long as the other team can play in its correct order. Should the position then be reached that it has no pair ready to play it shall forfeit all unplayed rubbers 21-0, 21-0.`


• 12g - A team without three playing pairs cannot win the match, which will be go to the other team and 2 points awarded to them. The defaulting team can bring a minimum 2 pairs to play the match. However, all rubbers played will be recorded for rubber average purposes. This encourages clubs to send part teams to play matches instead of forfeiting under Rule 9 and having 2 points deducted from their league record.


• 12h - As the league is established for the purposes of playing matches, the team that is not late shall have the option of allowing the rubber(s) to be played rather than forfeited, or of delaying the forfeit until later on when it can be seen that the match cannot be finished within a reasonable time.


• 12i - In the knockout competition the rubber(s) to be forfeited shall follow the agreed order of play.
  


• 12j - If a match is not completed within the time available and there were no unforeseen circumstances that prevented play then the visiting team shall claim any incomplete games 21-0. Where unforeseen circumstances prevented the match being completed then it shall be resumed by the same couples within 28 days. If a result has been obtained, then the result shall stand as at the finish of play. Part finished rubbers shall be completely replayed.


• 13 - All differences and disputes shall be referred to and settled by the League Executive Committee. Particulars thereof shall be sent in writing to the Hon. League Secretary by the Secretaries of the clubs concerned, who may be represented at the meeting convened to deal with the matter by giving notice in writing of such intention to the Hon. League Secretary and to the Secretary of the other Club concerned


• 14 - If in any division two or more clubs are level on match points, their positions will be determined by number of rubbers won, then games won, then points difference. If the clubs concerned are still level the result of the match between the 2 clubs will decide the final league positions. If a team involved in a promotion or relegation has gained an unfair position due to a Rule 9 fixture being awarded to them, this result and the corresponding fixture or fixtures involving other clubs vying for the same promotion or relegation will not be counted, and only results against the other teams in the division would count.


• 15 - For the breach of these rules and for irregularities, the Executive Committee may impose such penalties as it may think fit.
  
  The Hon. League Secretary shall be notified by both clubs of the mutual alteration of any fixture.
  
  Matches not played by 31st March season end, can be rearranged to be played within the 2 week period following this date. By both clubs mutual agreement and the league Executive Committee's permission.


• 16 - Law 15.4.4 with respect to faults shall apply to all league competitions. Where clubs play a venue with a low ceiling and/or obstructions the club shall give prior notification to the Hon. League Secretary stating that they wish to apply the local by-law permitted by the Badminton England whereby when the shuttle is hit by a player and hits the roof and falls within the opponent's court it shall be a let.
  
  Where there are temporary low obstructions lets and/or faults shall be agreed between the two captains before play commences.