Bylaws for Bristol County TAP as of 5/22/18 1. Start times and continuous play Matches will start at 7 p.m. with a grace period of 15 minutes. A team will forfeit the 1st match if they are not ready to play within 15 minutes of their scheduled start time. Thereafter, a team will forfeit a match every 5 minutes if they are not ready to play continuously. 2. Turning in score sheets and team/member dues It is up to the team captain to make sure all weekly dues are turned in. Any teams that do not pay the full amount will be barred and black listed in the league until all is paid in full. Any players on these teams will need to pay their share to the Bristol County TAP office regardless if they already paid their weekly fees to the team captain. NOTE: you choose to trust this person not BCT Team dues are $50 a week per team regardless of forfeits or no shows. The team captain is responsible for their team s dues, if this person defaults on it the obligation for this money owed falls to the individual players of that team. Submit Score sheets immediately after all matches end on league night. Weekly team dues are to be mailed and postmarked no later than the day after play. Any picture, score sheet not submitted, or weekly team dues we received late will result in that team can be penalized by 1 point for each offense at the end of session.
DO NOT SEND CASH Please send check or money order payable to Bristol County TAP. If you send cash and it gets lost in the mail you are liable for the payment. Any return checks made to BCT are subject to bank fee(s) Members need to have their yearly membership paid within 4 weeks of joining. 3. Time outs To speed up play on league night handicaps 4 thru 7 will only get one time out per rack. Handicaps of 2 and 3 will get two timeouts only. Teams that attempt to give an extra time out and have been notified they had none to use and proceed to give an extra time out will be considered a foul and ball in hand for the opponent. Calling out time out after already being notified they had none left even if they don t proceed to give a coach will result in a ball in hand foul. Players are allowed to inform the shooters if a foul has occurred without using a time out. 4. Tie breakers In the event of a tie the win will go to the team that won the overall match the last time both teams faced each other. Second tie breaker is most games (racks) won in head to head competition Thirdly competition vs like teams 2
5. Playoff week Playoff week always follows the last week of the regular session, unless there is a holiday. No dues are owed for playoffs. Only regular session matches and not playoff matches will count toward the minimum number of weeks required to play in playoffs. 6. Played matches required to compete at Playoff s 14 and up week session will require 6 matches played. Under 14-week sessions requires 5 played matches for established members, and 6 played matches for new members. Forfeits and byes do not count. Only played match s count Players can t combine matches if they play on different teams in two separate divisions, regardless if it is 8 ball or 9 ball. The two can t be combined Playoff matches will not count towards the total needed. If they have fewer matches played, then the required listed above they cannot play in the playoffs. To play in any national TAP events you have to be an active player in the session the event happens. 7. Roster deadlines and changes Rosters for new incoming teams are to be turned in no later then week 4. NOTE: can be extended depending on individual circumstances. Teams will be allowed to make changes to their roster all the way up to half the session minus 1 week. Team schedules are expected to change during the first 4 weeks of play due to new teams coming in. 3
Any team that had/ has a bye in the first four weeks could possibly be made to make up that match if another team joins 8. Forfeits, byes and no shows (league and National qualifier) Bye is a 3-2 win and $15 is owed for bye weeks and $50 for forfeits. If for some reason the home team decides they can t play that match at their home location, both teams can agree on a neutral location. If they cannot agree the match will be played at the away team s location. Dues are still owed for player matches that are forfeited. If a team is a complete no show the opposing team will be awarded a 5-0 forfeit. If a team is a no show on two consecutive weeks, the no show team will be dropped from that session and all following and prior matches will be a 3-2 bye. Anytime a team is a no show in any of the last 3 weeks of play then it will be a 3-2 forfeit. This is in place so teams that quit at the end of a session do not impact the standings as greatly as in the start of a session and also so bottom placing teams do not try help their friends place higher in the standings by giving them a 5-0 forfeit. If we suspect a match was thrown to help a fellow team advance in the standings, we reserve the right to allow the max amount which would be the same as a bye a 3-2 win. If both teams only have 4 players, the team that has to put up first in the 5th match will have to forfeit even though the opposing team does not have a 5 th player since that team is the first not to be able to field a player. NOTE: since no dues are collected for a playoff match, this rule will not be used during playoffs. Teams must show with at least 5 or take a forfeit. 4
9. Nationals and local national qualifier Any team qualified to play in the local national qualifier must finish in the middle range of the standings all subsequent sessions to keep their qualification and prevent handicap manipulation. Any players on the qualified team found sandbagging or attempting to manipulate their handicap will be stripped from the qualified team s roster and subject to any other disciplinary actions as well. You must be an active player in the format you are qualified for. You must be paid up to date on all league fees and membership dues and have 10 lifetime matches in the format you are playing in. You must have a minimum of 6 played matches in the format you are qualified for in the last 16 weeks before the tournament cutoff date set by TAP national headquarters. Teams that win these trips during the year are obligated to attend. Teams cannot take the money as a prize from the National fund and not attend nationals. Teams that cannot attend forfeit all national monies earned and monies go back into the National fund. Players that win more than one national entry will get their entry and travel allotment for each team. Players that have qualified for nationals will have their handicap audited and then locked at that handicap for the entire national event. Any changes from play will occur after the event. Any player that goes up 2 or more handicaps during the event will be subject to disciplinary action by immediate disqualification and possible ban from all league play. Players that shoot on two different table size divisions will play at the qualifier at their highest attained handicap if they have two 5
different handicaps. This does not happen often and mainly when players do not have enough matches in. A team can only qualify once for the local national qualifier the first session they won the qualification in (they cannot choose) unless they have roster changes see below. In case of a team forfeiting their qualifier spot for any reason that spot will go to the next team in line in the division they qualified. 10. Requalifying a qualified team to play in the local national qualifier due to roster changes A qualified team can only requalify if there had been a member change to the original qualified team s roster to qualify the new player(s) on the team. If a team with roster changes requalifies they can choose to forfeit their original qualification in lieu of the new team roster and the original qualification goes to the next team in line of the forfeited session qualification. 11. Make up and rescheduling matches Bristol County TAP must be informed on all rescheduled matches. All makeup matches should be played as soon as possible, but before the last 2 weeks of play or both teams will not receive credit for them matches and receive a score of 0-5. No teams that represent us at Nationals forfeit their weekly matches while at Nationals these matches are to be rescheduled as long as they are before the last two weeks of play Bristol County TAP rarely cancels a league night due to weather. During inclement weather conditions it is left up to the individual teams to decide to cancel based on bad weather. Bristol 6
County TAP is not responsible for accidents coming and going from league matches. Common sense should always prevail, it s better to be safe than sorry. 12. National fund This fund this for the sole purpose of sending teams to nationals. Bristol County TAP reserves the right to pay this money in cash at or just before the Nationals or to see proof of purchase of airfare prior to payment. If a team decides not to go to Nationals, they forfeit the money and the National spot to the next team. If a player decides not to attend Nationals, they forfeit that travel money to their teammates. Travel fund is solely for the purpose of funding players and teams to nationals. In cases where the fund to send two or more teams from one area could be too difficult to do, the final teams will be given an approximate amount of the fund for two teams. Both teams will have to agree and then decide to either take the trips with the money that is allotted or both teams will play for it all. The winning team will get all of the second place team room and travel money. Only the unused $700 entry for the second place team will roll over into the fund for the following year. If one team wants to play for it and the other does not, then both teams get the trips and split the money allotted equally even if it isn t enough to pay for the entire trip in full. 13. Underage members Underage members and teams must understand that being a TAP player or a team member does not give them the right to be in taverns, bars, or clubs. 7
14. Bristol County TAP reserves the right to: Lock any player s handicap in that is suspected of cheating either by sandbagging or tuning in inaccurate score sheets for the purpose of holding a low handicap. The right to revoke membership to compete in BCT for any reason that we see as justified. The right to change playoff pairings from what is posted or change event format due to time constraints, etc, etc.. If a qualified team notified us ahead of time that they will be a no show that spot will go to the team they eliminated in the local qualifier. We reserve the right to make changes to these Bylaws at any time to properly run and make the league more fair and enjoyable for everyone. House rules supersede TAP rules when it comes to Masse and jump shots on their tables. All members must be able to provide positive picture identification upon request from League Operators or other teams at any time. Any questions please call Jason Ibay 508 873-7286 David Couture -508 558-7515 8