Brunswick County Tennis Association
 

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BCTA Men's Singles Ladder Rules

Enrollment and Free Challenge

1.      Ladder play is open to all members who have paid their dues to the Brunswick County Tennis Association (BCTA). There will be two sessions per year. The Spring Session, which begins in February and ends on the third week in June and the Summer Session which begins on the first Monday in July and ends on the third week in November. Initially the Ladder Captain will arbitrarily assign a player a position on the Ladder. At the beginning of each Session thereafter the Ladder Captain will draw the names of each player from a hat and place them on the Ladder as their names are drawn.

2.      Members obtain their position on the ladder by exercising one of the following options:

a.       At the beginning of each Session as their names are drawn from a hat.

b.      By joining at the bottom of the ladder when a session is in progress.

c.       By Challenging four positions up or down or by using their two Free Challenges (FC) a Session. You have all session to exercise your FC.

FC Guidelines

You may Free Challenge (FC) any position up or down on the Ladder. There are two FC’s per Session. When making a FC you must call or e-mail the person you are challenging. Then call or e-mail the Ladder Captain to register the match. Be sure to leave your name, phone number and e-mail and the name, phone number and e-mail of the person you are challenging. Retain a record of the e-mail sent. Should a challenger win the match then the challenger takes the position of the challenged player and the challenged player goes down one position. Should a challenger lose the match or not show up for the match then he goes down to the bottom of the ladder. Should a challenged player not respond to you within five days then it is considered a forfeit and positions are as stated previously. Should a challenged player not show up for a match that is also considered a forfeit and positions are as stated previously.

Ladder Matches

To challenge, call someone on the ladder within your range of eight positions, four up or four down on the ladder and set up a match date.  Challenge as often as you wish, however, you are not allowed to challenge the same player in the same month. You must play at least one match within two months or you will drop one position on the ladder.

  1. Notification and registration is the same as above for FC. The player requesting the match is responsible for registering the match with the Ladder Captain. Failure to do so will deny him credit for the match; however, the opponent will receive all credit.
  2. Should a challenged player not respond to you within five days then it is considered a forfeit and you take the challenged player's position. You are required to make both e-mail and phone contact.  Same affect if a challenged player does not show up for a match.  No excuses, if you do not respond to the challenge then you give up your position.
  3. There are only two legitimate reasons to cancel or reschedule a registered match; (a) a rain delay or (b) the temperature or wind chill factor is below 32 degrees (player’s option).
  4. Any match interrupted by rain, darkness, or being bumped off the court must be played from the point of interruption within five days.
  5. Any player who has played four matches in any month may decline to play a match. However, any player declining to play a fifth match in a month must honor the challenge at the beginning of the next month before he schedules any matches himself.
  6. If you are inactive on the ladder for two consecutive months you go down one position on the ladder.

Forfeits

  1. It is a forfeit if you are 15 minutes late for your match.
  2. You must accept a match when you are challenged, failure to do so within five days will result in a forfeit.
  3. The player giving the forfeit receives no credit for the match. The player receiving the forfeit is considered to have won the match and receives all credit.

Court Rules

  1. Any dispute not covered by BCTA rules will be settled by USTA rules or by the Ladder Captain.
  2. The player in the higher position has the choice of court and the responsibility of court reservations.
  3. The best 2 out of 3 sets with a 10-point tiebreak used at each 6-6 set to determine the winner. Coman Procedures are to be used for the tiebreak.
  4. Both players bring a new can of USTA approved tennis balls. One can is opened, the loser takes home the used balls and the winner takes home the new can of balls.
  5. Unsportsmanlike conduct will not be tolerated. Players who have multiple complaints may be removed from the ladder at the discretion of the Ladder Captain.

Playoff Rules

  1. Finals for each session will be on the last Saturday of June and the last Saturday of November.
  2. Top eight players to play in the end of session play-off. Prizes to top four players only. Single elimination tournament.
  3. Players unavailable for the play-offs must notify the Ladder Captain. The Captain will then contact the #9 player to participate or work down the ladder to get eight finalists. Adjustments will be made based on final results. (i.e. should #2 not be available #3 through #8 move up and #9 becomes #8.)
  4. You must have a minimum of four matches a session in order to be eligible for the play-offs.

Match Records

The winner of the match is responsible for reporting the win to the Ladder Captain within three days. Failure to do so will deny him credit for the match. However, the opponent will receive all credit. Should a challenger win he takes the higher position or remains at the higher position and the loser moves down one position or remains at the lower position. Match results will be recorded on the www.bcta.net web page. Since this page will be quickly outdated, the Ladder Captain will send out an e-mail at the end of each week (Sunday night) of match results. Players are to refer to the Dated Ladder received via e-mail to set up challenge matches.

Every effort will be made to keep the web page up-to-date. 

Ron Madden                                                                                       Revised: 2/28/2011

Ladder Captain

Tel: 910-454-9256

e-mail: alltrue@bellsouth.net