CONSTITUTION AND RULES
The Association
1. The Association shall be known as the West Kent Table Tennis Association. Our Association shall be affiliated to English Table Tennis Association Limited known as Table Tennis England and Kent County Table Tennis Association (K.C.T.T.A.) and adopts the disciplinary codes of those bodies.
The aim of the Association is to promote the game of table tennis and to create a local table tennis community in the West Kent area which will allow players of all ages and abilities to enjoy both competitive and social table tennis in a friendly and welcoming environment
The League
2. The Association shall run a League. The Rules under which the League's competitions shall be played shall be those of Table Tennis England subject to the discretion of the Association’s Committee.
Clubs shall be required to pay affiliation fees to the K.C.T.T.A., which shall be payable to the Association in advance, and must be paid by July 31st. A Development League, open to all players of all ages, shall be created as and when feasible to function outside the principal league and subject to such rules as the Committee shall from season to season decide, but to be considered as part of the West Kent Table Tennis Association.
Management
3. The Association shall be managed by a Committee consisting of the following Officers, namely:- Chairman, Vice-Chairman, General Secretary, Treasurer, Registration Secretary and at least seven others (provided there is sufficient interest from the membership to fulfil these roles).
Election and Retirement of Officers and Committee
4. All members of the committee shall retire annually, but shall be eligible for re-election. Nominations shall be made at the Annual General Meeting, and if more names are proposed than the number required to fill the vacancies the election shall be by ballot.
Power of Committee
5. The Committee shall have the power:
(i) to appoint Sub-Committees for specific purposes;
(ii) to co-opt to fill any vacancy;
(iii) to exercise their discretion where the Rules are silent.
Annual General Meeting
6. The A.G.M. of the Association shall be held not more than 84 days after the close of the season, when the Report of the Committee and the accounts for the past year, duly audited, shall be presented, the Officers and other members of the Committee and the auditors for the ensuing year elected, and all general business transacted. At least ONE Member of each Club shall attend.Each registered player and each member of the Committee shall have one single vote and the Chairman of the Annual General Meeting shall have an additional casting vote in the event of a tied vote. Those not attending the A.G.M will not be entitled to vote (other than in exceptional circumstances accepted in advance by the committee).
Extraordinary General Meeting
7. An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called at any time at the discretion of the Committee and shall be called within 21 days after the receipt by the General Secretary of a requisition in writing to that effect signed by at least six members. Every such requisition shall specify the business for which the meeting is to be convened and no other business shall be transacted at such meeting. Voting rights at an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be the same as those for an Annual General Meeting.
Notice of General Meeting
8. A notice of each General Meeting shall be sent to each Club Secretary at least 14 days prior to the day fixed for such meeting.
Quorum at General Meeting
9. No business other than the formal adjournment of the meeting shall be transacted at any General Meeting unless a quorum is present and such quorum shall consist of at least 5 percent of the membership.
Meetings of Committee
10. The Committee shall meet not less than three times a year and (if possible) at intervals of no more than two months during the season. No business other than the formal adjournment of the Meeting shall be transacted at any Committee meeting unless a quorum be present and such quorum shall consist of no fewer than five of the Committee. Resolutions etc. shall be passed by a majority of votes properly recorded, and in the case of any equality of votes the Chairman shall have the casting vote. Any members of the Committee having been absent from three consecutive meetings without satisfactory explanation being received by the General Secretary or Chairman shall cease to be members of the Committee.
RULES
The Principal League Competition
11. Clubs (which for the purpose of these Rules shall include any group of players wishing to play together not part of another club) shall make application to the Registration Secretary, in writing, by 31st July, stating their required team entries for the following season (usually running from September of the current year to the end of April the following year). A Club wishing to enter a new team into the League may nominate this team for a specific Division, the acceptance of this nomination resting with the Committee. A club entering more than one team shall arrange their teams in descending order (where practicable) of playing strength designated from "A" downwards. Teams that have been accepted into the League but who subsequently withdraw, either before or during the playing season, shall cause their Club to be fined at the discretion of the Committee.
12. The Committee shall be empowered to structure the League for the coming season in the light of team applications received and playing strength.
13. Each team shall consist of two players. Each player in one team shall play each player in the opposing team one set, the result of which shall be determined by the best of five games. A doubles match will also be played after the first round of singles (i.e. the third set of five sets).
14. At least two players shall be nominated for each team. Teams will have the flexibility to select players from within their division (or from divisions below where this applies) to fulfil a fixture. There will be no restrictions to playing for others teams or clubs unless the committee deems that a club or team is acting outside of the aim of the league. Generally, the expectation is that where a team uses a player from another team within the same division, that player will be of a standard not significantly higher than the player being substituted.
‘Floating’ players wishing to play occasionally in the league may also be registered for use by any club. This may be players from the development division or ad hoc players not associated with clubs registered in the league. Their rating (see below) will determine which divisions they are eligible to play in.:
A rating will be allocated by the Registration Secretary to a previously unrated player having consulted with the relevant club secretary or team captain and taking into consideration any data from Table Tennis England or other leagues. Such rating may be amended accordingly after the Registration Secretary has received the results from at least three relevant matches.
15. A player may only play in a match in the principal league of the Association once their registration has been completed in accordance with the next following Rule and they have been registered with Player Membership of Table Tennis England. The Committee reserve the right in all cases to define the Division below which any individual player shall not be permitted to play. Any Team contravening any part of this Rule shall forfeit the sets concerned.
16. The name of each player must be entered on a league registration form by their respective Club, and this form, together with a Team Registration Fee of £12 per team must be sent to the Registration Secretary. There will be no reduction in the Team Registration fee for teams made up of or including junior players.
A player registered after commencement of the season will not be eligible to play in any League matches until the Club Secretary or Team Captain has received confirmation of registration from the Registration Secretary or in his absence either the league Chairman, General Secretary or Treasurer. The Committee shall have discretion to decline any new registration after 31st December for any team for which their playing strength is considered inappropriate having regard to the division in which that team plays.
17. Any team having played at least two-thirds of its fixtures and unable to fulfil remaining fixtures forfeits these to its opponents.
18. Each team shall play every other team in the same division ‘at such frequency as determined by the General Committee prior to commencement of the playing season’. Matches shall commence by 19:45. Tables used in the same match are to be of the same standard in equivalent playing conditions. Unless otherwise agreed by both acting captains, sets shall only be played in the order shown on the official match card.
19. Points for matches shall be awarded on the basis of one point per set, i.e. 5-0, 4-1, 3-2, etc.
20. Clubs shall endeavour to provide the highest possible playing conditions with a minimum of 500 lux across the whole playing area and any written directives from the League Committee shall be carried out promptly.
21. (a) When submitting their team entry for the following season clubs shall state their regular home night which the General Secretary shall cause to be communicated to every Club Secretary before the playing season starts and any change of regular home night shall require the approval of the League Committee.
(b) A match may be played on a night during the week allocated for it in the fixture list other than the regular home night if both teams agree. Otherwise no fixture rearrangement shall be allowed except in the case of
(i) inclement weather or
(ii) non-availability of the home venue.
The decision of the Committee on both these points shall be final.
(c) If any match is not played in accordance with this Rule, a team judged by the Committee to be at fault shall receive no points and the Committee shall award points to a non-defaulting team taking into consideration relevant matches played up until the end of the first half of the season or the date of the relevant meeting of the Committee if later.
(d) The captain of a team requesting a rearrangement must notify the Registration Secretary no later than 24 hours from the time when the match was due to be played.
22. Teams must ensure that all rearranged matches are played no later than the end of the last week for matches in the League Competition matches shown in the fixture list.
23. The home and away teams shall be responsible alternately for providing an umpire for each set. The decision of such umpire, who may be a player in the match, shall be final. The doubles will be umpired by the home team players (unless agreed otherwise) if there is no non-playing umpire available.
24. Results must be notified to the Registration Secretary preferably using the online facility on the website of the Association and otherwise electronically by a scanned copy of the match card, by facsimile or by posting, in all cases within 48 hours of the end of each match. If the original match card is not sent, it shall be retained until the end of the season and provided to the Registration Secretary upon request by the Committee.
25. All teams shall endeavour to field a full team for every match. When only one team has a full side for a match the un-played sets shall be awarded to that team. One player can constitute a team in exceptional circumstances (e.g. a player being unable to attend due to traffic conditions or adverse weather) In such circumstances, a player from another table can participate provided they fulfil the criteria set out at rule 14.
26. The home team shall choose and provide 3-star balls of any colour approved under the Laws of Table Tennis, but the same colour ball shall be used throughout any match.
27. There shall be no automatic promotion or relegation. The divisional formation each new season shall be dependent on the strength of the players nominated for each team.
28. In the event of a tie on points for a place in the League Table, the final standings shall be decided by (a) matches won, and if still a tie (b) the results of matches played between the teams involved.
Amendments
29. Proposals for all new rules and amendments to rules shall be submitted in writing to the General Secretary by the end of the April preceding the relevant Annual General Meeting.
Conduct
30. Any dispute shall be referred in writing to the Chairman or General Secretary within 48 hours after the dispute has arisen, a copy of the complaint being sent by the Chairman or General Secretary to the club of the player or players concerned. Any such dispute shall automatically be referred to the Committee for settlement and the decision of the Committee shall be final provided that it is in accordance with these Rules and does not breach the rules and regulations of the County or National Associations or the principles of natural justice.
31. Clubs which are persistently in breach of these Rules despite a written warning to that effect shall not be readmitted to the League the following season.
Closed Tournament
32. The qualification and other rules shall be agreed by the Committee each year and shown on or referenced in the entry form. The Committee will determine if the closed tournament is run each year factoring in the level of interest and commercial viability of running the closed tournament.
Newsletter
33. Information contained in the Association Newsletter under the heading “League Committee Notes” is to be regarded as an official communication from the Association to its member clubs.
The Baldry Cup
34. The Baldry Cup shall be awarded to the individual who achieves the highest average in Division One, having played in at least two thirds of the maximum matches playable.
The Pilcher Trophy
35. The Pilcher Cup shall be awarded to the individual under 18 years of age on the 1st July preceding the playing season who achieves the highest rating at the end of the season, having played in at least two thirds of the maximum matches playable.
The Paul White Memorial Cup
36. The Paul White Memorial Cup shall be awarded to the individual who has shown the greatest improvement during the season.
1. The Association shall be known as the West Kent Table Tennis Association. Our Association shall be affiliated to English Table Tennis Association Limited known as Table Tennis England and Kent County Table Tennis Association (K.C.T.T.A.) and adopts the disciplinary codes of those bodies.
The aim of the Association is to promote the game of table tennis and to create a local table tennis community in the West Kent area which will allow players of all ages and abilities to enjoy both competitive and social table tennis in a friendly and welcoming environment
The League
2. The Association shall run a League. The Rules under which the League's competitions shall be played shall be those of Table Tennis England subject to the discretion of the Association’s Committee.
Clubs shall be required to pay affiliation fees to the K.C.T.T.A., which shall be payable to the Association in advance, and must be paid by July 31st. A Development League, open to all players of all ages, shall be created as and when feasible to function outside the principal league and subject to such rules as the Committee shall from season to season decide, but to be considered as part of the West Kent Table Tennis Association.
Management
3. The Association shall be managed by a Committee consisting of the following Officers, namely:- Chairman, Vice-Chairman, General Secretary, Treasurer, Registration Secretary and at least seven others (provided there is sufficient interest from the membership to fulfil these roles).
Election and Retirement of Officers and Committee
4. All members of the committee shall retire annually, but shall be eligible for re-election. Nominations shall be made at the Annual General Meeting, and if more names are proposed than the number required to fill the vacancies the election shall be by ballot.
Power of Committee
5. The Committee shall have the power:
(i) to appoint Sub-Committees for specific purposes;
(ii) to co-opt to fill any vacancy;
(iii) to exercise their discretion where the Rules are silent.
Annual General Meeting
6. The A.G.M. of the Association shall be held not more than 84 days after the close of the season, when the Report of the Committee and the accounts for the past year, duly audited, shall be presented, the Officers and other members of the Committee and the auditors for the ensuing year elected, and all general business transacted. At least ONE Member of each Club shall attend.Each registered player and each member of the Committee shall have one single vote and the Chairman of the Annual General Meeting shall have an additional casting vote in the event of a tied vote. Those not attending the A.G.M will not be entitled to vote (other than in exceptional circumstances accepted in advance by the committee).
Extraordinary General Meeting
7. An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called at any time at the discretion of the Committee and shall be called within 21 days after the receipt by the General Secretary of a requisition in writing to that effect signed by at least six members. Every such requisition shall specify the business for which the meeting is to be convened and no other business shall be transacted at such meeting. Voting rights at an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be the same as those for an Annual General Meeting.
Notice of General Meeting
8. A notice of each General Meeting shall be sent to each Club Secretary at least 14 days prior to the day fixed for such meeting.
Quorum at General Meeting
9. No business other than the formal adjournment of the meeting shall be transacted at any General Meeting unless a quorum is present and such quorum shall consist of at least 5 percent of the membership.
Meetings of Committee
10. The Committee shall meet not less than three times a year and (if possible) at intervals of no more than two months during the season. No business other than the formal adjournment of the Meeting shall be transacted at any Committee meeting unless a quorum be present and such quorum shall consist of no fewer than five of the Committee. Resolutions etc. shall be passed by a majority of votes properly recorded, and in the case of any equality of votes the Chairman shall have the casting vote. Any members of the Committee having been absent from three consecutive meetings without satisfactory explanation being received by the General Secretary or Chairman shall cease to be members of the Committee.
RULES
The Principal League Competition
11. Clubs (which for the purpose of these Rules shall include any group of players wishing to play together not part of another club) shall make application to the Registration Secretary, in writing, by 31st July, stating their required team entries for the following season (usually running from September of the current year to the end of April the following year). A Club wishing to enter a new team into the League may nominate this team for a specific Division, the acceptance of this nomination resting with the Committee. A club entering more than one team shall arrange their teams in descending order (where practicable) of playing strength designated from "A" downwards. Teams that have been accepted into the League but who subsequently withdraw, either before or during the playing season, shall cause their Club to be fined at the discretion of the Committee.
12. The Committee shall be empowered to structure the League for the coming season in the light of team applications received and playing strength.
13. Each team shall consist of two players. Each player in one team shall play each player in the opposing team one set, the result of which shall be determined by the best of five games. A doubles match will also be played after the first round of singles (i.e. the third set of five sets).
14. At least two players shall be nominated for each team. Teams will have the flexibility to select players from within their division (or from divisions below where this applies) to fulfil a fixture. There will be no restrictions to playing for others teams or clubs unless the committee deems that a club or team is acting outside of the aim of the league. Generally, the expectation is that where a team uses a player from another team within the same division, that player will be of a standard not significantly higher than the player being substituted.
‘Floating’ players wishing to play occasionally in the league may also be registered for use by any club. This may be players from the development division or ad hoc players not associated with clubs registered in the league. Their rating (see below) will determine which divisions they are eligible to play in.:
A rating will be allocated by the Registration Secretary to a previously unrated player having consulted with the relevant club secretary or team captain and taking into consideration any data from Table Tennis England or other leagues. Such rating may be amended accordingly after the Registration Secretary has received the results from at least three relevant matches.
15. A player may only play in a match in the principal league of the Association once their registration has been completed in accordance with the next following Rule and they have been registered with Player Membership of Table Tennis England. The Committee reserve the right in all cases to define the Division below which any individual player shall not be permitted to play. Any Team contravening any part of this Rule shall forfeit the sets concerned.
16. The name of each player must be entered on a league registration form by their respective Club, and this form, together with a Team Registration Fee of £12 per team must be sent to the Registration Secretary. There will be no reduction in the Team Registration fee for teams made up of or including junior players.
A player registered after commencement of the season will not be eligible to play in any League matches until the Club Secretary or Team Captain has received confirmation of registration from the Registration Secretary or in his absence either the league Chairman, General Secretary or Treasurer. The Committee shall have discretion to decline any new registration after 31st December for any team for which their playing strength is considered inappropriate having regard to the division in which that team plays.
17. Any team having played at least two-thirds of its fixtures and unable to fulfil remaining fixtures forfeits these to its opponents.
18. Each team shall play every other team in the same division ‘at such frequency as determined by the General Committee prior to commencement of the playing season’. Matches shall commence by 19:45. Tables used in the same match are to be of the same standard in equivalent playing conditions. Unless otherwise agreed by both acting captains, sets shall only be played in the order shown on the official match card.
19. Points for matches shall be awarded on the basis of one point per set, i.e. 5-0, 4-1, 3-2, etc.
20. Clubs shall endeavour to provide the highest possible playing conditions with a minimum of 500 lux across the whole playing area and any written directives from the League Committee shall be carried out promptly.
21. (a) When submitting their team entry for the following season clubs shall state their regular home night which the General Secretary shall cause to be communicated to every Club Secretary before the playing season starts and any change of regular home night shall require the approval of the League Committee.
(b) A match may be played on a night during the week allocated for it in the fixture list other than the regular home night if both teams agree. Otherwise no fixture rearrangement shall be allowed except in the case of
(i) inclement weather or
(ii) non-availability of the home venue.
The decision of the Committee on both these points shall be final.
(c) If any match is not played in accordance with this Rule, a team judged by the Committee to be at fault shall receive no points and the Committee shall award points to a non-defaulting team taking into consideration relevant matches played up until the end of the first half of the season or the date of the relevant meeting of the Committee if later.
(d) The captain of a team requesting a rearrangement must notify the Registration Secretary no later than 24 hours from the time when the match was due to be played.
22. Teams must ensure that all rearranged matches are played no later than the end of the last week for matches in the League Competition matches shown in the fixture list.
23. The home and away teams shall be responsible alternately for providing an umpire for each set. The decision of such umpire, who may be a player in the match, shall be final. The doubles will be umpired by the home team players (unless agreed otherwise) if there is no non-playing umpire available.
24. Results must be notified to the Registration Secretary preferably using the online facility on the website of the Association and otherwise electronically by a scanned copy of the match card, by facsimile or by posting, in all cases within 48 hours of the end of each match. If the original match card is not sent, it shall be retained until the end of the season and provided to the Registration Secretary upon request by the Committee.
25. All teams shall endeavour to field a full team for every match. When only one team has a full side for a match the un-played sets shall be awarded to that team. One player can constitute a team in exceptional circumstances (e.g. a player being unable to attend due to traffic conditions or adverse weather) In such circumstances, a player from another table can participate provided they fulfil the criteria set out at rule 14.
26. The home team shall choose and provide 3-star balls of any colour approved under the Laws of Table Tennis, but the same colour ball shall be used throughout any match.
27. There shall be no automatic promotion or relegation. The divisional formation each new season shall be dependent on the strength of the players nominated for each team.
28. In the event of a tie on points for a place in the League Table, the final standings shall be decided by (a) matches won, and if still a tie (b) the results of matches played between the teams involved.
Amendments
29. Proposals for all new rules and amendments to rules shall be submitted in writing to the General Secretary by the end of the April preceding the relevant Annual General Meeting.
Conduct
30. Any dispute shall be referred in writing to the Chairman or General Secretary within 48 hours after the dispute has arisen, a copy of the complaint being sent by the Chairman or General Secretary to the club of the player or players concerned. Any such dispute shall automatically be referred to the Committee for settlement and the decision of the Committee shall be final provided that it is in accordance with these Rules and does not breach the rules and regulations of the County or National Associations or the principles of natural justice.
31. Clubs which are persistently in breach of these Rules despite a written warning to that effect shall not be readmitted to the League the following season.
Closed Tournament
32. The qualification and other rules shall be agreed by the Committee each year and shown on or referenced in the entry form. The Committee will determine if the closed tournament is run each year factoring in the level of interest and commercial viability of running the closed tournament.
Newsletter
33. Information contained in the Association Newsletter under the heading “League Committee Notes” is to be regarded as an official communication from the Association to its member clubs.
The Baldry Cup
34. The Baldry Cup shall be awarded to the individual who achieves the highest average in Division One, having played in at least two thirds of the maximum matches playable.
The Pilcher Trophy
35. The Pilcher Cup shall be awarded to the individual under 18 years of age on the 1st July preceding the playing season who achieves the highest rating at the end of the season, having played in at least two thirds of the maximum matches playable.
The Paul White Memorial Cup
36. The Paul White Memorial Cup shall be awarded to the individual who has shown the greatest improvement during the season.
