R= ULES OF THE ASSOCIATION<= o:p>

NAME AND OBJECTIVES

1. = ; This association of clubs shall be called "Warrington and District Table Tennis Association" (hereinafter referred to as "the Association").

2.= The objectives of the Association shall be to provide and promote table tennis = for clubs in the neighbourhood of Warrington and to arrange leagues, matches, tournaments and all events connected there= with in accordance with the rules of the English Table Tennis Association with a view to the advancement, interest and fellowship of the game.

= The Association shall be affiliated to the National and = County Associations= .<= /o:p>

MEMBERSHIP

4. = Membership shall be open to such clubs within the Warrington area as the Executive Committee may approve. Membership shall also be open = by direct affiliation to such individuals as the Executive Committee may appro= ve. Such membership shall be subject to Rule 4a.

Subje= ct to no fines or fees being outstanding.

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5. = ; Clubs seeking membership should complete an application form and forward it to the General Secretary to arrive no later than the 30th June each year.

FINANCE

6. = On admission to the Association each club or individual shall pay an annual affiliation fee of 50p.

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7. = ; Monies shall be placed in a suitable bank account, withdrawals being authorised by= any two officers at the discretion of the Executive Committee.

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8. &nbs= p; The Treasurer shall present to the Annual General Meeting a duly audited statem= ent of accounts for the year to 30th April.

ADMINISTRATION

9. = ; The Officers of the Association, who shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting, shall be:

&n= bsp; = ; Chairm= an; Deputy Chairman; General Secretary; Treasurer;

Match Secretary(ies); Town Team Secretary(ies);

Minutes Secretary; Development Officer.

10. The Association shall be administered by an Executive Committee which shall con= sist of the Officers of the Association together with up to 5 Ordinary Members, = who shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting.

An Au= ditor shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting.

12. The Executive Committee shall meet at least once per calender month during the playing season. It shall have the power to fill casual vacancies, co-opt members and form sub-committees. If any member is absent from 3 meetings du= ring the season without reasonable cause, he or she shall automatically retire. A quorum shall be 4 members, including one Officer of the Association.

13. The Executive Committee shall be responsible for determining all other rules and regulations appertaining to tournaments or other championships (except for League Championships) and for their interpretation.

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14. &nbs= p; All Executive Committee members shall be deemed to have retired at the end of t= he Annual General Meeting. The new Executive Committee shall assume responsibi= lity on the day following the Annual General Meeting.

MEETINGS

15. Annual General Meeting: The Annual General Meeting shall be held in May each y= ear. All clubs and directly affiliated individuals shall receive 21 days notice.=

15a. The business of the Annual General Meeting shall be:

a) = ; To read and consider the Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting and any Extra-ordinary General meeting(s) held since that date and take any matters arising therefrom.

b) = To receive and consider the reports of the General Secretary, Treasurer, Match Secretary(ies), Town Team Secretary(ies).

c) = To fix the League fees for the ensuing season.

d) = To deal with any proposed alterations to rules.

&= nbsp; e) = To consider any other major business outstanding from the past season.

f) &= nbsp; To elect and appoint a President, Life Members, Officers and Committee for the ensuing season.

g) = To consider any other competent business.

16. Extra-ordinary General Meeting: On receipt of a requisition signed by at least 5 clubs= or on instruction of the Executive Committee, the General Secretary shall call= an Extra-ordinary General Meeting. All clubs shall receive 21 days notice and = no business not stated in the Notice shall be transacted.

17.       Every registered member of the Association will be entitled to vote at a General Meeting. The Chairperson shall not have a casting vote. In the event= of a tied vote, the motion shall be declared lost.

       Clubs= not represented at a General Meeting shall be fined £2.00.

ALTERATIONS TO RULES

19.       No new rule shall be made or= any rule altered except at a General Meeting.

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20.   &nbs= p;   Members wishing to propose new rules or amendments to the rules must give full deta= ils in writing on or before 31st March in any year to the General Secretary, who must notify all Clubs of the details of the proposed alterations. Any member wishing to put forward amendments to such proposed rule alterations must gi= ve in writing before 20th April to the General Secretary, who will then notify Clubs of the proposals and amendments which will be considered at the Annual General Meeting.

Alterati= ons to the rules proposed by the Executive Committee shall be similarly dealt with= . If an Extra-ordinary General Meeting is called for the purpose of considering = rule alterations, then amendments to the propositions will be accepted up to 7 d= ays before the date of the meeting.

21.   &nbs= p;   Any changes to the Association rules must receive two-thirds of the votes cast = at the meeting to be carried. Changes to League Championships, Trafalgar House Cup, Divisional and Town Championships Rules may be made on a simple majori= ty.<= o:p>

OTHER RULES

22.   &nbs= p;   A Town Team Secretary has priority on players for Town matches. If a selected player has a league match on the same night this may be postponed.

Members selected but unable to play for the Town Tea= m on any specific date shall not take part in any league match on that da= te.

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23.   &nbs= p;   Any protest must be made in writing to the General Secretary within 48 hours of= the event to which it relates. The General Secretary shall send a copy of the protest to the third-party. All persons connected with a protest shall have= the right to attend the Executive Committee meeting at which the matter is to be finalised.

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24.   &nbs= p;   The Executive Committee shall have the power to ban or suspend players for offe= nses against the league. Any ban or suspension imposed by the Executive Committee shall be binding. Any variation or cancellation shall be decided at a subsequent General Meeting only if a written application for the change or cancellation of the ban or suspension is received by the General Secretary, giving the same notice as would be required for rule changes, i.e. 31st Mar= ch before the Annual General Meeting and 21 days before an Extra-ordinary Gene= ral Meeting.

On recei= pt of such an application, the General Secretary shall notify all Club Secretarie= s as per the procedure in Rule 20.

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25.   &nbs= p;   All fines and fees must be paid within 28 days of the date of the letter. Any c= lub failing to do so may be subject to further penalties at the discretion of t= he Executive Committee. Said penalties may include the exclusion from the Association's competitions.

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26.   &nbs= p;   Team Captains and/or individuals shall sign for all cups and trophies on receipt= and shall keep cups and trophies in proper condition and shall be responsible f= or any loss, theft and damage thereto. All cups and trophies must be returned, without requests being made, to the General Secretary at least 14 days befo= re the end of the competition or before the final of the competition is held in the following year.

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26a.   &nb= sp; Any person other than the Team Captain and/or individual accepting a returnable= cup or trophy on behalf of the aforementioned persons, shall be deemed responsi= ble for any loss, damage & theft thereto.

RULES GOVERNING LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS

27.   &nbs= p;   The following rules shall be observed by all participating clubs. They shall be subject to amendment only in accordance with rules 19, 20 & 21 of the Association. The Executive Committee shall have the power to decide all mat= ters not specifically provided for in the rules.

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28.   &nbs= p;   A Club wishing to complete in the League shall complete an entry form and for= ward this to the General Secretary to arrive no later than 30th June each year. A Club may enter any number of teams. In the event of new Clubs, or complete teams of new players from existing clubs, joining the league, The Executive Committee, after having evaluated their standard of play and playing facilities, shall decide in which division each team shall play.=

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29.   &nbs= p;   Entry fees, which must be submitted with entry forms, shall be decided at the previous Annual General Meeting. National and County fees shall be due as levied.

Any club failing to pay all entry fees by 30th June shall not be entered into the league. The Executive Committee shall have the power to suspend any offendi= ng clubs for a season. A junior team shall be a team consisting of not more th= an one senior player.

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30.   &nbs= p;   Each club shall deposit a Guarantee Fee of £2.00 with the Association at t= he beginning of each season. This fee shall be returnable, on request, provided the club has met all its obligations.

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31.   &nbs= p;   Any bona-fide member of an affiliated Club shall be eligible to register as a senior player or any such member under 17 years of age on 1st July in the y= ear the season commences as a junior player, before the commencement of the sea= son.

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32.   &nbs= p;   Application forms for registration of player must be completed and signed by each club secretary and a list of all players in each team forwarded to the General Secretary with the application form for membership of the league. When, due= to extreme transient conditions, it shall be impracticable for the Match Secretary to receive individual notification and registration of players, the Executive Committee may, at their sole discretion, accept a composite list of player registration under a single heading provided such heading is received 28 da= ys prior to the commencement of the season.

Further registrations and transfers, after the start of the season, will become effective as soon as the Match Secretary is notified in writing, and in the case of transfers, as soon as the Match Secretary is satisfied that the Secretaries of both clubs concerned are in agreement. Both further registrations and transfers will have to be ratified at the next Executive Committee meeting.

If any p= layer plays for a team before his or her registration, his or her name shall be deleted and the team considered to have played a player short.

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33.   &nbs= p;   Clubs with more than one team shall register those teams, but not necessarily the individual players, in ranking order. Players may be transferred at the Executive Committee's discretion.

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34.   &nbs= p;   No player shall play for more than one club nor for a team of lower ranking th= an that which he or she is registered. A player may play as a reserve:

a)    = ;     For a team in a higher division; =

b)         = For the next higher ranking team only to that with which he or she is        regis= tered when the teams are in the same division.

Where a = player is required to play as a reserve for a higher team, he or she may do so wit= hout jeopardising his or her appearance in his or her normal team fixture of the same week, subject to rule 35. Any player may be prohibited from making res= erve appearances for a higher team at the discretion of the Executive Committee.=

No playe= r may play in the last four league matches of a division unless he or she has pla= yed in at least four league matches for that club earlier in the season.

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35.   &nbs= p;   Any player playing for teams higher than that with which he or she is registered shall, in the event of playing 4 matches, be transferred up immediately at least one team.

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36.   &nbs= p;   Fixtures shall be arranged by the Match Secretary. A match may only be postponed und= er the following conditions:

a)         = Under Rule 22 of the Association. In this instance the Match Secretary must     be informed of any such postponement within 7 days of the scheduled date, and of the revised date as soon as possible.

b)=          In extenuating circumstances where the Match Secretary and both Club Secretari= es agree on the postponement. In this event the match must be played within 14 days of the date it was originally scheduled to be played.

c)=          In the event of a postponed match not being played within 14 days of the date = it was originally scheduled, the match will be graded by the Executive Committ= ee. The criteria the Executive Committee will use to grade the match is: 'what would the score have been had the match been played with both teams fielding their regular team'. Only the non offending team ( the team that did not ca= use the original postponement) will be awarded the sets resulting from the Exec= utive Committee grading.

d)=          In the event of a match being played after the scheduled date in the handbook without the agreement and knowledge of the Match Secretary, the Executive Committee shall declare the result null and void, with no sets awarded to either team. It is the responsibility of BOTH teams involved to ensure that= the Match Secretary is advised of any change to the original scheduled date of = any match.

The Executive Committee shall have the power to postpone, cancel or rearrange a= ny fixture.

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37.   &nbs= p;   Each Club shall play its registered league team in all league matches with equip= ment conforming to E.T.T.A. standards. A suitable supply of balls must be provid= ed by the home club.

38.   &nbs= p;   Matches shall consist of 10 sets; 9 singles and 1 doubles. For the purpose of single sets, teams shall consist of 3 players each playing 3 sets; ie one set agai= nst each of the opposing team players. Players taking part in the doubles set n= eed not necessarily have played in the single sets. Games are to commence at 7.= 30pm prompt and play shall be continuous in the order of the card unless prior agreement to change this order has been made with the opposing team.

39.       Clubs not playing a full team may be fined at least £1.00 for each player short. The offending team(s) captain MUST write an explanation on the sc= ore card stating why their team was a player short. Clubs not fulfilling a fixture may be fined at least £3.00. The offending club(s) MUST wr= ite an explanation to the Match Secretary stating why the match was not played within 7 days of the date it was originally scheduled to be played. Sho= uld any infringement of this Rule, by the insertion of fictitious entries on the score-card, come to the notice of the Executive Committee, a fine of at lea= st £5.00 will be imposed on the offending team, or at the discretion of = the Executive Committee, on both teams involved.

40.   &nbs= p;   Should a team arrive with a player(s) short, the match will be graded by the Execu= tive Committee, although the non-offending team will be awarded a minimum of 9 games. If both teams are a player(s) short then the match will be graded wi= th no minimum award.

41.   &nbs= p;   A score-card shall be filled in for each match and signed by both captains. T= he card shall be posted to the Match Secretary immediately after the match. Cl= ubs shall be fined £1.00 per week if the scorecard has not been received = by the Match Secretary 7 days after the date of the match.
If a mat= ch is not played, the home team shall post a score-card, endorsed to this effect,= to the Match Secretary unless prior advise has been given.
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42.    &= nbsp; Matches shall be decided on games won. The number of games won shall decide the position in a division. Where teams have equal games for, then the team with the least games against will decide the final position in a division, followed by the number of mat= ches won, then the number of matches drawn. Where teams have equal games for, against, wins and draws, there shall be a play-off on a neutral table. The play-off shall consist of 9 singles only.<= /p>
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43.       At the end of a season the = team scoring the highest number of games in each division, subject to rule 42, s= hall be awarded a trophy and declared champions. Runners-up in each division sha= ll receive prizes, funds permitting.

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R= ULES OF THE ASSOCIATION<= o:p>

NAME AND OBJECTIVES

MEMBERSHIP

FINANCE

MEETINGS

ALTERATIONS TO RULES

OTHER RULES

RULES GOVERNING LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS

RULES GOVERNING TOWN CHAMPIONSHIPS