1. The Yorkshire League is an inter-clubs competition run by the Yorkshire Squash and Racketball Association (YSRA).
2. Clubs must be located within the Yorkshire boundary. All participating clubs and players must be affiliated to England Squash (ES). Out of county clubs may participate at the committee’s discretion.
3. Teams consist of five players. Participating clubs can enter as many teams as they wish.
4. The League will consist of a Premier division and as many other divisions as there are teams available. Each division will normally consist of about 10 teams.
5. The League season will normally run from September to April. Each team will play every other team in their division twice, once home and once away.
6. A team entry fee of £60 must be paid before the first round of fixtures.
7. Juniors (Under 19) must wear eye protection, players must not play a junior that is not wearing eye protection, they should claim a ‘walkover’
8. Where a club enters more than one team in the league, the top two teams shall, as far as possible, play on the same night.
9. Premier division matches shall take place on Wednesday nights.
10. Matches will normally commence at 7.30 pm. The home club must ensure that adequate court time is available for the completion of the match.
11. All matches must be completed on the day of the fixture and must be played entirely on the courts of the home club.
12. All matches allocated for the first half of the season must be played by the end of the first half. Doubling up of matches from the first half to the second half is not permissible. All matches must have been completed and the results received by the end of April.
13. Matches should not be rearranged unless it is unavoidable, and clubs are not obliged to accept requests to rearrange. The rearranged matches should be played as soon as possible after the original fixture. The Secretary should be informed and will update the fixture list on League Master accordingly.
14. Where a club fails to honour a fixture, it shall be penalised 20 points and the offended club shall be awarded 20 points. The offending club will pay a £50 fine as out of pocket expenses to the offended club. A second offence or failure to pay will mean automatic relegation or expulsion from the League.
15. Three players from each team must arrive at least 10 minutes before the start of the match, and the other two players within 30 minutes of the start time. Ties will be forfeited by players who do not meet this requirement, unless the two captains have agreed to the contrary. If a player has failed to turn up within 10 minutes after the rest of the match has finished, the team shall be deemed to have played out of order (if applicable).
16. Each team will play in order of merit, as nominated. The captains will exchange team lists prior to the start of the match, and these may not be changed afterwards. The order of play is 3,5,1,4,2 unless otherwise agreed.
17. All matches must be marked. Premier division matches must be marked by an ES qualified official, appointed by the Yorkshire Referees Society. The fees for referees are £300 for the season and this should be paid in advance to YSRA. In the other divisions, the home team is responsible for providing markers, unless otherwise agreed.
18. All ties will be the best of five games. Point-a-rally, PAR 11 scoring will be used in all divisions. Each game won counts one point, and the team winning the match gets 5 bonus points.
19. Match results shall be submitted by the home team via League Master within 48 hours of the games being completed. Clubs will be penalised five points for failing to comply with this limit.
20. A 2 point penalty will be awarded for each walkover i.e. 2 points per string, 10 points for a team walkover. The penalty will double where a name is entered instead of ‘walkover’ Any team giving two team walkovers in a season may be relegated regardless of their final position in the league.
21. The rules of play shall be WSF current edition and the ball used shall be the Dunlop Pro double yellow spot.
22. The home team is responsible for providing refreshments and hospitality after the match. As a matter of courtesy, the away team captain is responsible for informing the home team captain if any of the away team will not be staying after the match.
23. Players must be bona fide members of the club they represent.
24. Players must be entered into the Players List in League Master together with their ES membership numbers and date of birth.
25. Teams must be nominated in League Master in merit order, a week before the first fixture date. Teams must play in nominated order and may be re-nominated at the half way point. Exceptions may be made by the league secretary.
26. Players may play for their nominated team or a higher team, but not a lower team.
27. Players may play up to a higher team twice in each half season. On playing up a third time, they will be team tied to the higher team for the remainder of the half season.
28. The players within a team must play in club nominated order, including those that are playing up.
29. If a player plays out of order, the string and all strings below will be awarded to the opposition.
30. Any team playing a non-nominated player will result in that player’s match and all those below them being void and the points being awarded to the opposition.
31. No player may play for two different clubs in the League or for two teams in the same division during a season.
32. Teams must not nominate players in a team that will not play for that team.
33. In the Premier division, each team must have a minimum of two players who are eligible to play for Yorkshire in the Inter-County Championships or reside in Yorkshire.
34. Teams may register new players until the Christmas break and they must have played a game before this date to be eligible to play for the rest of the season (unless there are exceptional circumstances, and with permission of the League Secretary).
35. Promotion and relegation shall normally be one up and one down between the Premier league and Division 1, and two up and two down between all other divisions. It will be decided by the number of points won by teams during the season. If two teams are level on points, the aggregate of points in the matches played between the two teams will decide. Should this be the same, there shall be a playoff match at a neutral venue, unless agreed otherwise by the two captains.
36. Trophies will be awarded to the winners of each division, and presented at the YSRA AGM or another suitable event. It is the responsibility of the winning club to have the trophy engraved and return it prior to the event.
37. All disputes shall be submitted in writing to the League Secretary who will either decide the matter or refer it to the Leagues Disputes Committee which is defined in the Code of Conduct. Should a season be truncated before the halfway point, play and tables to that point will be declared null and void. If after the halfway point, the divisional tables as they stand shall be taken as the final tables.
38. The League Secretary has authority to take certain actions as specified in the Yorkshire SRA Code of Conduct.
39. Changes to the Yorkshire League Format and Rules shall be agreed by the YSRA AGM where practical, or at the discretion of the committee when required.
The Yorkshire Squash and Racketball Association is run by an elected committee and supported by many volunteers. Details of roles and responsibilities can be found here...
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