Rules for
Match Play in RI Squash
MEMBERSHIP
1.0
Membership: Individual membership in Rhode Island Squash
Racquets Association (RI Squash) is open to anyone. A member is
considered current when dues have been paid, a waiver signed, and any
other requirements established by the Board of RI Squash have been satisfied.
Information about membership may be found on RI
Squash's web site at www.risquash.org, or by
contacting RI Squash at
GENERAL
RULES
2.0 Principles: The intent
of these rules is to promote play of organized squash matches such that:
1. The outcome of individual and team matches is determined only
by the abilities of the players involved, and is settled on the court.
2. All players involved know and see that the contests are fair and unbiased.
3. The status of squash in
2.1 Authority: Decisions about application of the rules belongs, first, to the
league coordinator for the appropriate league (for team play) or to the draw
expediter (for tournament play). The President of RI Squash may review
and overrule any such decisions, if he/she deems it in the best interests of RI
squash. In cases where the rules do not address a particular situation,
or where unusual circumstances seem to require an exception to the rules, the
President is empowered to make decisions as needed, in consultation with
other RI Squash Board members as appropriate. In all cases, decisions
should transparently uphold the Principles described above.
In cases where a rule has been violated, the league coordinator or expediter is
empowered to impose penalties in order to restore fairness to the
results, in consultation with the President and other RI Squash Board
members as appropriate. This can include the action of awarding a forfeit
for a match already played. Members who
routinely or knowingly violate these rules may be suspended from league or
tournament play by action of the RI Squash Board.
In any situation in which the league coordinator,
expediter, or President may have a personal interest in a decision, such
official will request a disinterested RI Squash Board member to make the
decision.
2.2 Ball: All
matches shall be played with the DUNLOP XX YELLOW DOT ball.
2.3 Rules: All
matches will be played in accordance with the most recent rules of squash
adopted by the World Squash Federation (WSF).
2.4 Referees: All matches are to be refereed, unless no individual is available when
a match is to be played.
2.5 Eye guards: The use of lensed eye guards meeting the ASTM
standard or other protective eye guards as may be approved by the US Squash is
REQUIRED for all RI Squash play. There
are no exceptions to this rule.
In those matches where the required eye protection is not used, the
player using the eye protection shall win by default and the match shall not be
played. The eye protection shall be worn
properly for the entire match.
RULES FOR
LEAGUE PLAY
3.0 Player eligibility: To be eligible for league play, a player must be a current member
of RI Squash. Matches played by players whose dues are not paid or whose
other membership obligations have not been met are automatically scored as
defaults. RI Squash members who are not members of a club may
still join a team and play league matches as long as they are allowed to play
home matches at the team's home courts.
3.1 Leagues: RI
Squash will arrange competition among teams into leagues divided by skill
level. Each such league will be scheduled to play all of its matches on a
particular night of the week, as follows:
A
League: Monday
B League: Tuesday
C League: Wednesday
D League: Thursday
The RI
Squash Board may, from year-to-year, alter the specific league nights as it
deems appropriate.
3.2 Teams: In preparation for the season, each club shall submit a list of proposed teams to be entered in each league. The RI Squash Board will review submissions to ensure that teams are placed in appropriate leagues. In support of that review, clubs will have available lists of possible player rosters for each team.
3.3 Ladders:
Each club shall maintain an active challenge ladder to determine player
positions on each team. Ladder operation
details shall be at the club’s discretion. Player positions on a team MUST accurately reflect relative
player skill.
Players may not be arranged in alternative
order for tactical reasons. To this end, the club's ladder and record of
challenge matches must be available for review by the league coordinator and/or
the President of RI Squash in case of any dispute.
A player may not play on more than one team in the
same league during the season (e.g.: a Brown Red A League player may not play a
match for the Brown Green A League team, nor for the U-Club A League team). The sole exception to this rule is that at
the bottom position on the lowest level at
a given club, a player may be moved from one team to another within
that club (for example from Red to Green) with
the approval of the appropriate League Coordinator. For any given player, this switch of teams
may only happen once per season. This exception is to avoid forfeiture
of matches when extra players might be available on a
sister team; the exception is not to be used to gain tactical
advantage by “stacking” a team. (exception adopted by Board vote 1/14/2010)
3.4 Lineups: Captains are required to exchange
lineups prior to the league match. The
visiting team captain is responsible for contacting the home team captain.
3.5 Rescheduled matches: Matches shall be played on the evening of the scheduled date. However, in extenuating circumstances and if
both players agree, the match may be played at another time. The player who agreed to accommodate a
reschedule request shall have choice of court.
Any rescheduled match is to be played and the result reported within 14
days of the original scheduled date, or a forfeit shall be scored against the
team that originally requested the reschedule.
In the case where both teams needed to reschedule a match, and the match
was not played in 14 days, neither team will receive the forfeit.
3.6 Forfeits: If necessary, teams may forfeit a match at any position. However, teams may not move players down from
a higher position in order to fill a vacancy.
(If the #3 player must default, a captain may forfeit the #3 spot, or
may move players up from #4 and #5 to forfeit a lower spot, or may fill the
vacancy with a substitute. In any event,
rule 3.3 must be followed, and the skill order of the team as fielded must be
maintained.) Teams are encouraged to borrow players
from a lower league and/or a list of substitutes to avoid forfeiting
matches. It is not permissible to
borrow substitute(s) from a higher league to fill in missing spots from the top
down.
For purposes of this rule, a player who forfeits at
a position more than two weeks in a row or more than six times for the season
will be considered to have abandoned this spot.
In that case, all lower players on the team must be moved up to fill the defaulted position, and any forfeit,
if necessary, shall be at the lowest spot on the team. Again, rule 3.3 requires that the skill order
of the resulting team be maintained.
Unless otherwise agreed upon, the forfeit time for
league matches is 7:00 p.m. on the scheduled evening. At Brown, and only at Brown, the forfeit time
for league matches is 7:30 p.m.
3.7 Substitutions: A player may play in two league levels during the same week provided
he/she substitutes in a HIGHER league, (i.e.: a B Division player may substitute
in the A Division as well as play in the B Division during the same week, but
an A Division player may not substitute in the B Division.) A player may not substitute under this rule
for two consecutive weeks.
Note that there is no rule against a player moving
back and forth between two league levels, playing only one match a week, week
after week, perhaps because of other player absences and/or challenge match
outcomes.
No player may fill more than one
spot in the lineup for a team in a given
week’s match. (adapted by
Board vote 1/14/2010)
3.8 Scores: Home team captains should report scores and players
via the web site within 3 days of the match date. Visiting team captains may also enter results
of a match, and are free to do so if the home team captain has not entered the
results. Players and captains receive
warning e-mails when an individual match result is incomplete, and if not
entered within 14 days of the scheduled play date, the match is scored as a
forfeit for both players.
3.9 Standings: Within a league level,
team standings are determined by a point system, as follows:
A team receives 2 points for an individual match
won by play or by forfeit
A team receives 1 point for an individual match
played and lost
A team receives 0 points for an individual match
forfeited
A tie in the standings is broken as follows:
First, the team that earned the most points in
head-to-head play among the tied teams is placed ahead, but if still tied, then
Second, the team that has forfeited the fewest matches
for the season is placed ahead, but if still tied, then
Third, the team whose players have won the most
games for the season is placed ahead, but if still tied, then
Fourth, the
teams will be placed using a coin toss, performed by a RI Squash Board member
who is not a player in the league in question.
In leagues
that have two divisions, the standings for each division are determined as
above, and are independent of the standings of teams in the opposite division.
RULES FOR
TEAM PLAYOFFS
4.0 Player
eligibility: To play in team playoffs, a team member shall have
played a minimum of four league matches, either as part of that team or as part
of a lower level team or any combination thereof. However, if a
member who is eligible to play in a higher level league is displaced from that
league to a lower league by a challenge he may play in that lower league’s
playoff matches. In those
cases where there is no lower level team, a player may be substituted who has
not played four league matches. With one
exception, once playoffs have started a player may only play on one team –
there are to be no substitutions where a player plays on two teams in a week,
and there are to be no movements of players between teams (e.g. because of
challenge matches or absences). The only
exception is that if a team is eliminated from the playoffs in one round, that
team’s players may be used as substitutes on a team in a higher league in
subsequent rounds
4.1 Rescheduled matches: If possible, league matches are to be played on the date
scheduled. In cases where a player is
unable to play on that date, the player may request that his/her opponent play
the match at a later date. When
so-requested, the opposing team’s player is expected to make a good-faith
effort to accommodate the request. The
opposing player shall have choice of court.
Any rescheduled match is to be played and the result reported no
later than 3 days prior to the date of the next scheduled round,
or a forfeit shall be scored against the team that originally requested the
reschedule. In the case where both teams
needed to reschedule a match, and the match was not played by the required date,
neither team will receive the forfeit. (deadline changed by Board vote 1/14/2010)
4.2 Team selection: Teams are seeded in a playoff tournament draw
based on their league or division standings at the end of scheduled league
play.
In single-division leagues with 8 or more teams,
the top 8 teams enter the playoffs. In
single-division leagues with fewer than 8 teams, all teams are in the playoffs,
and first-round byes are given to the top-seeded teams as necessary to make the
draw even. In two-division leagues, the
top four teams in each division enter the playoffs.
4.3 Scoring: The winning
team of a playoff match is determined as follows:
The team that won more individual matches will be
the winner, but if tied, then
The team that won more individual match games will
be the winner, but if still tied, then
The team that won more total points will be the
winner, but if still tied, then
The #1 players on each
team will play a one-game tie-breaker match.
Players and captains are expected to retain a
record of game scores for each match in team playoffs, in case they are needed
for tie-breaking.
4.4 Playoff format: Team playoffs are done as single-elimination
draws. For all playoff matches except the finals, the
higher-seeded team shall have home court.
a. Single-division
leagues: In a full
8-team format, the first-round matches will be #8 at #1, #7 at #2, #6 at #3 and
#5 at #4. If fewer than 8 teams are
playing, the highest seeds receive a bye, and there are to be enough first round matches among the lowest seeded teams such that four
teams advance to the second round. The
winners of the second round advance to the finals.
The second round shall be played with the winner of
8/1 playing the winner of 5/4 and the winner of 7/2 playing the winner of 6/3
b. Two-division leagues: The first round of playoffs will be matches within
each division, with #4 at #1, and #3 at #2.
The second round shall be cross-division, with the
winner of 2/3 in division A playing at the winner of
1/4 in division B, and vice versa.
4.5 Forfeits: The regular
season rule regarding forfeits (see rule 3.6) shall also apply to team playoff
matches.
4.6 Courts: Playoff
matches are to be played on 21’ courts unless both teams agree otherwise.
RULES FOR
STATE TOURNAMENTS
5.0
Tournaments: The
following tournaments may be held for participation on an individual basis:
·
Men’s and Women’s State Championships
·
Men’s and Women’s Skill-Level Tournaments
·
Men’s and Women’s Age-Level Tournaments
·
Men’s
and Women’s Handicap Tournaments
5.1 Player
eligibility: To be eligible for a State Championship Tournament,
the player must be a resident of Rhode Island or affiliated with a member club
or be invited by the RI Squash Board. To
be eligible for skill-level, age-level, and handicap tournaments, players must
have played in a minimum of four league matches during the current season, or
must meet entry requirements established by the RI Squash Board. A player who has won a skill-level
championship must enter the next higher level tournament the following year. The RI Squash Board reserves the right to
assign a player to another tournament draw.
A player may enter one skill-level draw and one age-level draw.
5.2 Court: All matches are to be played on a 21-foot wide
court, unless both players agree otherwise.