League Rules – South Cambridgeshire Badminton League

SOUTH CAMBRIDGESHIRE BADMINTON LEAGUE RULES (2024-25 season)
1) The league shall be called the South Cambridgeshire Badminton League (herein after referred to as ‘the League’).
2) The objective of the League is to run inter-club matches, inter-club knock-out, the Bill Pink Cup, the Variety Cup, League Tournaments and promote healthy competition between affiliated clubs.

THE LEAGUE COMMITTEE AND COMMITTEE MEETINGS
3) The League shall be administered by a Committee consisting of a Chair, Administrative Secretary, Results Coordinator, Treasurer, Tournaments Secretary, no fewer than 2 club representatives from clubs participating in the League (rotating between clubs on an annual basis), and Web Coordinator, who shall all be elected at the Annual General Meeting of the League. The County Treasurer, or a nominee from the County Committee, shall act as independent examiner.
4) The functions of the Committee are:
a) to ensure these rules are implemented effectively;
b) to make a decision on any matter not expressly provided for in these rules;
c) to co-opt further members as and when necessary; and
d) to draw the Bill Pink and Variety knock-out tournaments.
5) Committee meetings shall be held when requested in writing by any member of the Committee at such time and place as deemed reasonable. A quorum shall consist of four members.

THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
6) An Annual General Meeting shall be held in May, June, July or August of each year, at such time and place as the Committee shall determine, on a date to be notified to all clubs by the Administrative Secretary, such notice being not less than twenty eight days prior to the date of the meeting. The purpose of the meeting shall be to:
a) receive the officers’ reports;
b) approve the accounts;
c) elect the Committee Members for the ensuing season;
d) approve the League structure for the ensuing season; and
e) deal with other general business.
7) Each member of an affiliated club shall be entitled to attend a General Meeting without the power to vote.
8) Each club shall be entitled to one vote to be cast by their own members and officers, and League Committee members shall also have a vote, save for the Chair, who shall have a casting vote in the event of a draw.
9) At an Annual General Meeting, 50% of the affiliated clubs and officers shall form a quorum.

SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING
10) A Special General Meeting may be convened by the Committee or shall be called on the written request of not less than 50% of the affiliated clubs. At any Special General Meeting, 50% of the affiliated clubs and officers shall form a quorum.
11) Such Special General Meeting shall be convened within thirty five days from the date of the receipt of the Administrative Secretary of such request and twenty one clear days’ notice shall be given to affiliated clubs of such a meeting.
12) The notice convening such a meeting shall fully set out the business to be discussed thereat (together with the names of those affiliated clubs requesting such a meeting) and no other business shall be dealt with at such a meeting.
13) Voting powers shall be in accordance with those applicable at the last preceding Annual General Meeting.
14) Each member of an affiliated club is entitled to attend a Special General Meeting.

ACCOUNTS
15) The financial year ends 30th April.
16) The annual statement of accounts and balance sheets, duly certified by the Independent Examiner shall be sent to each affiliated club not less than twenty eight days before the date of the Annual General Meeting and shall be laid before the meeting.

AFFILIATION, LEAGUE FEES & LEAGUE ENTRY
17) Competitions shall be open to clubs affiliated to Badminton England and who are affiliated or associate members of the Cambridgeshire Badminton Association and shall be run in accordance with these rules and the laws of badminton as sanctioned by Badminton England.
18) League and cup entry fees shall be determined by the Committee and ratified at the Annual General Meeting of the League.
19) Clubs must advise the Results Coordinator prior to the AGM each year how many teams they wish to enter for the following season. Entry to the Bill Pink Cup and Variety Cup must also be notified to the Tournaments Secretary by this date. Clubs entering one or more teams in the mixed doubles league must automatically enter one team in the Bill Pink Cup or the Variety Cup, or both.
20) Each club must pay league and cup entry fees to the League Treasurer no later than 1st October each year, provided they have received at least 28 days’ notice of the total fee due. The total of these fees will cover all league and cup teams a club has entered on 1st September. In the event of non-compliance with this rule, a tiered penalty of league points will be applied as follows:
a) By 1st November, any club that has not made this payment will incur a penalty of 3 league points, deducted from all league teams from that club, provided at least 28 days’ notice of this has been given.
b) By 1st December, any club that has not made payment for all league and cup teams entered at the time of the AGM will incur a further penalty of 6 league points, deducted from all league teams from that club, provided at least 28 days’ notice of this has been given.
c) Further action may be taken at the Committee’s discretion.
21) If the Secretary or Match Secretary of a club resigns, the club must report the fact immediately to a member of the League Committee and must forward the name and contact details of the successor.
22) Any club entering the League must start at the lowest division, unless agreed by majority vote at an AGM.
23) Any resignations from the League must be sent to the Results Coordinator in writing.

FIXTURES SCHEDULE & LEAGUE STANDINGS
24) Matches arranged at the fixtures meeting cannot be re-arranged except with the agreement of both clubs concerned or at the request of the League Committee.
25) If a club has two teams in one division of the mixed, ladies’ or men’s leagues then the first match between the two teams must be played before the end of October. The second match (if there are two) should be played before the end of January. If there are not enough players available to play these matches, it shall be the lower-ranked team that has to field a team with fewer pairs.
26) Any club that has not managed to schedule all its matches must highlight this to the Results Coordinator before 1 October.
27) The following actions must be completed by the home captain following any league fixture: full details of the date and result of each match in terms of rubbers and sets to be recorded on the results form, and the scorecard used at the fixture, containing the first and last names of all players and signed by both home and away captains, to be uploaded to the results form. Any home team that has not submitted a score and returned a completed scorecard 14 days after a reminder from the Results Coordinator will be docked 1 league point.
28) The season end-date will fall on the last day of the month that the last match takes place in. All matches must be complete by 15 May, unless an exception is granted at the discretion of the Committee. Any home team that does not return a scorecard for a fixture 14 days after the season end-date, having received 14 days’ notice from the Results Coordinator, will have its score recorded as no points, and will docked 1 league point in accordance with Rule 27. Where possible, a missing scorecard will be obtained from the opposing team.
29) The League points rankings will be determined by the rubbers won.
a) A men’s doubles or mixed doubles team winning with 6 or more rubbers wins 3 league points, while the losing team does not win league points. A men’s doubles or mixed doubles team winning 5 rubbers wins 2 league points, and the losing team winning 4 rubbers wins 1 league point.
b) A women’s doubles team winning by 5 or more rubbers wins 4 league points, while the losing team does not win league points. A women’s doubles team winning 4 rubbers wins league 3 points, and the losing team winning 2 rubbers wins 1 league point. In a women’s doubles match where both teams win 3 rubbers, the teams win 2 league points each.
30) In the event of a division placing being tied on league points, the team scoring the higher rubbers difference will be placed higher. If rubbers difference is level, then the team with the highest games difference will be placed higher. If games difference is also level, the two ties between the two teams only will be considered, first on ties points, then on rubbers, then on games difference.
31) Any team winning a division must automatically accept promotion and similarly a team ending last must accept relegation.
32) Teams giving more than two walk-overs in any one season will be required to forfeit all their matches and be relegated at the discretion of the Committee.

PROCEDURE FOR MATCHES
33) Each team in the men’s and mixed leagues shall consist of six players. Matches shall consist of each pair of one team playing a rubber against each pair of the opposing team. Rubbers shall consist of best of three games to 21 points. Setting will apply.
34) Each team in the ladies’ leagues shall consist of four players. Matches shall consist of each player playing one rubber with each teammate. Each team shall rank their players one to four in order of ability, and the rubbers should be played as follows:
1. 1&2 vs 1&2
2. 3&4 vs 3&4
3. 1&3 vs 1&3
4. 2&4 vs 2&4
5. 1&4 vs 2&3
6. 2&3 vs 1&4
35) Feather shuttles must be used for all Premier Division mixed, ladies’ and men’s matches. The type of shuttle to be used in other League and knock-out matches to be at the discretion of the home club, but must have a kid and cork base.

NOMINATIONS
36) It is the intention of the below rules regarding nomination, to limit clubs such that any player playing for a club’s lower team should not be clearly stronger than any player regularly playing for a club’s higher team. For example, a player who features at any time for a club’s 2nd team should not be a better player than regular 1st team players. It is appreciated that the ability level of new players or those returning from a long break can be difficult to judge.
37) Clubs with two or more teams in a section (men’s, ladies’ or mixed) must nominate their best players for each of their higher teams. These nominated players cannot play for a lower team. Nominations must be sent to the Results Coordinator before the first match of the season. In the event of this not happening, the players playing that match will be deemed to be nominated for that team.
38) Lower team players may play up; however, once they have played 3 or more games for any higher team, they become “tied” to the next higher team and can no longer play down.
a. For clarity, if a player is nominated for a 3rd team, and plays 2 matches for the 2nd team and 1 match for the 1st team, they are tied as a 2nd team player.
b. If a player is nominated for a 3rd team, and plays 3 matches for the 1st team, they are tied as a 1st team player.
39) It is expected that all nominated players will play at least half of the scheduled matches for their team or for a higher team. If a nominated player is seriously injured or leaves the area, or is otherwise unable to play the required number of matches, the matter must be referred to the League Committee as soon as possible.
40) A player may represent only one club in any one competition. Players may, however, represent one club in the men’s or ladies’ and another club in the mixed doubles and the Bill Pink and Variety Cups.

LATE ARRIVAL, UNFINISHED MATCHES & CANCELLED MATCHES
41) If either club cannot raise a team for a match and a postponement proves to be impossible, the club concerned may, after informing the opposition, field a team of two pairs. In this event, three rubbers will be awarded as walk-overs to the opposing team and six rubbers only will be played.
42) If both clubs cannot raise a full team, the match may be played with both teams fielding two pairs; the rubber between the two absent pairs will be considered to be lost by both teams (for a maximum of 8 rubbers won).
43) Clubs playing with ineligible players without prior agreement shall concede the match 9-0. If prior agreement has been reached, they shall concede each rubber in which the ineligible player participates. The facts shall be recorded on the scorecard submitted to the Results Coordinator, duly signed by both captains.
44) If for any reason an eligible player cannot complete a match, then that player cannot be replaced and all affected games shall be forfeited to the opposing team.
45) The home team is generally responsible for ensuring games are started in a timely manner, in an order that does not block play, and that adequate court time is available.
46) Away teams should ensure they are not blocking play by arriving late. If an away team does not have sufficient pairs (arrived and ready to start play) to fill all available courts within 20 minutes of the agreed start time, the away team will concede any games that have not been played at the end of the booked court time.
47) Unless [45] applies, or the away team has otherwise caused significant delay, when court time runs out before the match is completed, any remaining games will be conceded by the home team.
48) All matches must be played to a finish, with all eligible pairs present completing all matches against all opposing pairs unless [43] or [45] apply.
49) If it is not possible to complete a match due to unforeseen circumstances, e.g. power cuts etc, and a result has not been obtained, the match shall be replayed. If a result has been obtained, the matter shall be referred to the League Committee.

COMPLAINTS
50) If a team considers that the conditions of the hall are hazardous to players they may refuse to play, and can submit a complaint to the League.
51) Clubs due to host a match who receive a cancellation notification from their opponents with less than 24 hours’ notice may raise a complaint with the League if they feel they are entitled to compensation for funds spent on courts and for lost match fees, and if the opponents have declined to provide such compensation. The League Committee may decide to seek compensation from the opponents on the home club’s behalf.
52) All complaints are to be sent to the Results Coordinator within 48 hours. At the same time a copy of the complaint must be sent by the complainant to the secretary of the club against whom the complaint is being made.

OTHER
53) All League trophies must be returned to the League Committee by the 30th April.
54) Tournaments will be organised at the absolute discretion of the League Committee.