1.0 PURPOSE: Our purpose is to have two competitive divisions based on skill levels. There will be two inter community leagues (A & B) play for 55+ senior men and 50+ women pickleball players via friendly doubles competition each Monday at 4:00 p.m. Months: 2nd Week of January 14th- March 25 th. Please commit your community by December 15th. 2.0 PLAYER ELIGIBILITY: 2.1 Any member in good standing of a community who reaches his or her 55th birthday during the calendar year shall be eligible to participate for that facility. Rosters are unlimited. The council will rely on the integrity of the captains to place their teams in the appropriate divisions (A or B) based on levels of play for each of the their players. League A will be for 3.5 and above and league B will be for 3.0 and below. A community may have an A & B team and all can play as long as they have been put on the team roster before the third scheduled match. If a community cannot field a full compliment of players they may select two 55 + players from outside their community and whose eligibility and compliance would be the same as a regular player. This allowance is for communities that cannot field a full roster and not for competitive advantage. 2.2 When a player plays at least one match for a team he/she cannot play or transfer to another team during the season unless approved by the Board. A default will be declared for the court played for the second team. A player injured moving to a lower division than the one played in the previous year may do so only with the approval of the Board. 2.3 Any person who is currently a registered Certified Pickleball Instructor & derives income by either playing professionally or teaching pickleball is not eligible to play in the League. 3.0 CLUB ELIGIBILITY: Clubs in Palm Beach County with at least two pickleball courts available for league play are eligible to join. Clubs must field all five doubles teams per match. A Club that has only away courts may play as an away team. 4.0 LEVELS OF COMPETITION: Community captains will be responsible for placing teams in a division commensurate with their skills. Our goal is to have two divisions, both an A and B. In each new season, teams will be upgraded or downgraded in accordance with their performance within their division in the prior season. Generally, 1st place teams move up to the next division. Last place teams move down to the next division. Second place teams may be moved up based on their closeness in points to the 1st place team & space availability in the higher division. Next to last place teams may also be moved down. 4.1 Captains must simultaneously submit complete line-ups to each other before the start of the match. No substitution may be made in an individual match after the line-up has been presented, except for injury to, illness of, or disqualification of a player prior to the start of such match. If the substitution is made during the warm-up, the substitute player is entitled to a five minute warm-up. 4.2 COURT / LINE POSITIONS Play your best male and female teams at position 1, your next strongest team at position 2, and your best mixed team. Stacking is not permitted and will result in points being forfeited.
Page 2 4.3 PLAYER LINE POINT VALUES Each of the five lines of court play will have different values that will offer an incentive for teams to place their players strategically as follows: LINE #1 MEN = 3POINTS LINE #2 MEN = 2-POINTS, LINE #1 WOMEN = 3-POINTS LINE #2 WOMEN = 2-POINTS MIXED DOUBS = 1-POINTS = TTL: 11-POINTS 4.4 SCORING: Matches shall be best 2 out of 3 continuous games. Games are played to 11 points with a win by 2-points at 10 all. Between the second and third game if one player requests a break there will be a 5 minute break allowed. Order of play is #1 men s and #1 women s doubles match followed by #2 men s and #2 women followed by 1 Coed doubles being the last match. Head to Head matches, and game points will be used in the event of a season ending tie. The top two teams will compete for the Champion Pickleball Trophy. An All Star Team from the Champions League will be formed an will compete against the Northern Stuart Champions. 4.5 Ball: For consistency the Home team will provide the Onix 2 orange or yellow ball. NOTE: Players will flip a coin or spin a paddle to determine serving or receiving 1 st. Loser gets to pick a side but switching sides after one team reaches 6-points is standard. Opposite team serves second game. In the event of a 3 rd game, a flip or spin decides. Coaching is only allowed prior to the start of the match. 5.0 MATCH INFORMATION & SCHEDULING 5.1 Matches will be played on Mondays at 4 p.m. This applies to Playoff matches as well. Teams formed without pickleball courts must supply the balls & drinks when their home match is scheduled. Home Team on the league schedule at sfpickleball.com will be noted. Bye on the schedule means that you have the week off. Home team will provide balls, water, arrange seating and restrooms. The home team will also report scores on www.sfpickleball.com. 5.2 The default start time for all matches is 4:00 PM. An earlier time can be arranged if agreed to by both captains. Either team may insist on the 4:00 PM start. At least 3 days prior to scheduled matches, the home team captain must contact the visiting captain to confirm the time of the match. 5.2.1 If all courts are not immediately available, the visiting captain shall have the privilege of deciding the order in which the matches will be played. 5.3 The League requires that all 5 court positions be played on the scheduled day at the agreed upon time. Captains do not have the option to allow one or more of the courts to be played on a different day. This regulation applies to the original scheduled match day: it is not relevant for rainouts.
Page 3 5.4 All players should meet at the home club at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled starting time. All matches will start promptly at that time. A match will be considered a forfeit by the team unable to play within 20 minutes of the starting time unless an official exception is made. 5.4.1 An official exception will be made if any team requiring a delay phones the home team pro shop and speaks to a pro or a member of the opposing team, preferably the captain, with both parties identifying themselves, prior to the end of the 20 minute grace period. The starting time will be extended an additional 20 minutes under these conditions. 5.5 Forfeits start at the bottom of the line-up, i.e. the lowest team is forfeited and all other teams are moved up to play on remaining courts. In the event of a postponement of the original match date where courts are rescheduled to be played on different days, & if a court other than the lowest court is forfeited that court position will be forfeited, & all other courts played will count toward the match result. 5.7 The home team shall, if possible, provide a person in charge, who may be the tennis director or a person familiar with League rules. This person may interpret a rule or officiate a match if asked by a team captain. 5.8 Cost & Release Forms: Cost per team will be a non-refundable deposit of $175.00 per team. Checks should be made out to Champions & mailed with the team members to: Scott C. Williams, 8401 Belvedere Road, West Palm Beach, FL. 33411 Checks and paperwork should be received no later than December 20th, 2018 6.0 INCLEMENT WEATHER OR UNPLAYABLE COURT CONDITIONS: 6.1 Before teams have assembled - The home team captain shall contact the visiting team captain no later than one hour before the match time to spare the players an unnecessary trip. 6.2 Assembled teams shall shall wait 45 minutes unless the captains agree to a longer or shorter wait. 6.3 After play has started - Continuation of play can be delayed up to 45 minutes unless both captains agree to a longer or shorter wait. If play is postponed, all games and points played before interruption stand and play resumes from that point, with the same player line-up. 6.4 Rescheduling of postponed games. 6.4.1 When postponement is necessary, captains must agree on a future date which shall be within 15 days Of the original schedule date. The five positions may play on different days and/or different times if necessary. If possible, the make-up days and times should be agreed to at the time of the postponement, but no later than 24 hours from the postponement. The home team captain must notify the coordinator of the dates and times of the makeup as soon as they are determined. Any courts not played within 15 days of the postponement will be considered no contest and no points will be awarded.
Page 4 6.4.2 All games & points played before the postponement will stand. No player substitutions will be allowed for a court that has started even if the court is rescheduled for a different day. The court is considered to be officially started when the first ball of the official match is struck (warm ups don't count}. If a court had not started (the first ball has not been struck) and is RESCHEDULED for a different day the players may be changed on that court even if lineups had been exchanged on the originally scheduled match day. 6.4.3 If captains cannot agree on a make-up date, each will submit two dates within the 15 day limit to the coordinator. A coin toss will decide which team s dates will be considered. The loser of the coin toss will choose one of the winner's dates. 6.4.4 If one or more of the positions are unable to play on the rematch date(s), it will be considered a default of that position (not a forfeit). If neither team is available on the agreed make-up date, neither team will receive points for that position. 7.0 SPECTATORS: Spectators, including coaches, are welcome to watch and enjoy matches. Their role, however, is restricted to that of passive observers with no involvement of any kind during a match. Spectators Cell phones and beepers must be turned off on and near the court area where matches are being played. 8.0 PLAYERS RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Players must remember that they represent their club and their behavior reflects on their fellow team members. When playing at home make the visiting team feel welcome. When playing away, remember you are a guest at your opponent s club. Players must adhere to the dress code and footwear requirements of the home club. If you have any problems or questions address them to the person in charge in a polite manner. A player must show good sportsmanship during all League matches 8.1 A player may request a rule interpretation from the person in charge. 8.2 LINE CALLS If the players make the line calls and there is a disputed line call, the player s call on the receiving side will stand. The receiving team makes the call. Under no circumstance will the opposing team be allowed to cross over the opposing side of the net to dispute or subject to a penalty. A team may then request a line judge if necessary. Spectators should not be consulted on any calls. 8.3 Any team violating these rules or the Code of Conduct may be suspended for the balance of the season and/or not invited back for the following season at the discretion of the Board of Directors. 8.4 Captains and players should familiarize themselves with these rules prior to the start of the season. Captains cannot agree to any situation which violates these rules. Misinformation regarding these rules provided by any member of the league hierarchy is no excuse for violating any rule. Any situation that cannot be resolved by the team captains must be brought up through the proper chain of command, i. e., the section Coordinator should be contacted first. If necessary, the section Coordinator will contact the Head Coordinator for a resolution. If the Head Coordinator cannot resolve the situation, the League Board of Directors shall resolve the problem. The Board of Directors will resolve any situation that might arise that is not covered by these rules or the Code of Conduct.
Page (5) MISC. Disputes and Sportsmanship: While this is a competitive league, it is also a community league (we will see one another again over the years).represent your community well by demonstrating good sportsmanship and respecting one another. Recognize when your opponents hit great shots, touch paddles after the match, look one another in the eye.i f the ball touches the line, or the receiving side is unsure if it touched the line, then the ball is in. Immediately prior to serving, the server must call out the score, which must include the points & the number of server, loud enough to be heard by the receiving team. If the server fails to do this prior to serving the ball, this shall result in the loss of serve for that server.the receiving team calls the shot in or out. If receiving team cannot make a call or there is a dispute between receiving team members the ball is good. If you see the ball clearly out, than call it out and your call stands.there are no liars or cheaters playing in this league nor should anyone accuse someone of cheating.verbal infractions, yelling at opponents, swearing, throwing paddles or acting in an unsportsmanlike way will result in a yellow card! One week team suspension with loss of points for two weeks.repeated unsportsmanlike conduct will result in a red card or league suspension with no refund.if there is a dispute at the time of the match with respect to a violation of any rules. That dispute will be resolved by the two co-captains at that time.game will be played by the IFP rules. Dress Code: Loud and proud (Neon) or your choice. Tennis shoes for safety but no black soled shoes. Men: No sleeveless shirts. No denim or cutoffs. Team Club Clothing is encouraged. Commitment: Communities must be willing to travel to participating communities & possibly be a host to those communities who do not have suitable courts or that are under construction. Full season commitments only please! Championships: The top two point winners for the season will compete to have their name placed on the Champion Pickleball League trophy which will than reside in their club until the following year.each position, Men s Doubles, Women s Doubles, and Coed Doubles will compete for Gold and Silver medals for their entire team. Match Example: Team A plays Team B Team A men s doubles beat Team B men s doubles 11-9, 8-11, 13-11 Team B women s doubles beat Team A women s doubles 11-3,11-5 Team A 2nd men s doubles team beats Team B 2nd Doubles Team 11-7,11-9 Team A coed doubles beat Team B coed doubles 19-17, 11-4 Team A wins the match 3-1 and receives a 1 pt bonus for the win! Team A would have 4 pts and Team B would have 1pt toward their totals Each Captain signs the league score card & the home team will report the results. Scores will be inputed into the sfpickleball.com website by the home team captain using their email address & the top secret password,