Bergen County Women's Tennis League

Tuesday

BCWTL BYLAWS AND RULES (Revised November 14, 2024)

TITLE

The name of the league shall be the BERGEN COUNTY WOMEN'S TENNIS LEAGUE, hereinafter referred to as the BCWTL.

PURPOSE

The purpose of the BCWTL shall be to promote tennis and competition in a courteous, honest, sporting and friendly manner.


  1. Structure
    1. The BCWTL consists of two separate leagues, one on Tuesday and a second on Thursday.
    2. Each league has provision for six divisions: A-1, A-2, B-1, B-2, C-1. C-2.
    3. A division will consist of a maximum of twelve teams, each fielding three doubles partnerships per match.
  2. Officers
    1. The Officers of the Executive Board are President, Vice-President, and Secretary.
    2. An Advisory Board, if deemed necessary, shall consist of past-presidents, scheduling chairpersons, divisional secretaries, and any individuals appointed by the President.
    3. The duties of the Officers of the Executive Board are as follows:
      1. President
        1. The President presides over all Executive Board, Advisory Board, and general meetings.
        2. She collect dues for the leagues and deals with all financial matters, including careful record keeping.
        3. She will report the status of the treasury at the general meetings.
        4. She has the authority to call special meetings and conducts the league's business in a fair and orderly manner.
        5. She appoints league officers whenever an elected officer resigns.
        6. She appoints special committees when needed.
        7. She holds executive meetings before each general meeting and may call additional meetings as she may deem necessary.
        8. If teams are unable to resolve disputes, the President must be called to render a ruling. The call must be made within twenty-four hours of a disputed occurrence. The President, after consultation with the Executive Board, may declare a forfeit of a match if an infraction of the rules has clearly occurred. Any member of the Executive Board whose team or club is involved in a dispute will abstain from participation in discussion or resolution of the issue. The President must present the Board's decision to the disputants by the end of one week.
        9. On odd-numbered years, at the Fall meeting, the President will ask for volunteers for a nominating committee consisting of a chairperson and four members, one of whom shall be a member of the Executive Board.
      2. Vice-President
        1. The Vice-President will act in all matters of business whenever the President is unavailable.
        2. She may may select and chair a Rules and Bylaws Committee, whenever she deems it necessary, consisting of a representative from each of the following: private club, town team, indoor team.
        3. She will be in charge of the annual Spring picnic in years that one is held.
      3. Secretary
        1. The Secretary will keep minutes of all general meetings.
        2. She will make copies of minutes available to the Executive Board within one month after meetings.
        3. She will handle all league correspondence.
        4. She is responsible for scheduling each division of league play.
        5. Schedules will be made available to Captains prior to the start of league play.
  3. Elections
    1. League officers will be elected on the even-numbered years at the spring general meeting.
    2. The two-year term of office will begin on July 1st.
    3. There will be no term limits.
  4. Meetings
    1. Meetings of the general membership will be held semi-annually in the fall and spring.
    2. Each team will sign in at the general meetings. The sign-in will constitute a record of the teams present and be used to declare the presence of a quorum.
      1. A quorum will consist of representation from a minimum of 25 teams.
      2. A quorum must be present to vote on any league business.
      3. A majority of the quorum will decide the vote.
      4. One vote per team will be in order for any and all matters.
  5. Team Eligibility
    1. Anywhere the word team is used, it shall refer to a private club, town, or indoor facility. Teams will not be able to move from one private club, town, or indoor facility to another location without the approval of the Executive Board.
    2. Facilities must have three courts available for league play per team.
    3. Each team must pay a $25 yearly league fee. The fee is due to the league president by February 15th in order to secure a spot for the spring season. This fee is separate from a player registration fee (see VII).
    4. A team will have three doubles partnerships.
    5. All new teams seeking admission into the BCWTL must apply to the Executive Committee.
  6. Leave of Absence
    1. A team may take a leave of absence for a period of one year. No dues will be collected to hold a spot in the division, but there is no guarantee of the team returning to its previous division. The team will, however, be given priority over new teams looking to join in that division. A leave of absence must be requested by notifying the President in writing prior to February 1st.
    2. A team on a leave of absence must pay dues by February 15th of the following year in order to rejoin the league, space permitting.
    3. A team must notify the President in writing of its intention to re-enter active play or to leave the league by February 1st of the following year.
  7. Player Eligibility
    1. A player's membership will be determined by her club, town team, or indoor facility.
    2. A player must be at least 18 years of age by April 1st.
    3. A player may only be rostered on one team per league. A player may be rostered on different teams (club and/or level) in different leagues (Tuesday vs. Thursday).
    4. A player currently or formerly ranked in singles or doubles at the national, sectional, or intercollegiate level may compete in the BCWTL on a club's highest fielded team, unless otherwise sanctioned by the Executive Board.
    5. Players are responsible for a $5 fee per year to cover the cost of the BCWTL online system. If a player is rostered on both a Tuesday and a Thursday team, they only need to pay one fee. Fees are to be submitted to the team captain, who will register the entire team.
  8. Substitution Eligibility
    1. Substitute players must be registered in the system prior to playing in a match. If there is an absolute last-minute emergency that prevents a captain from entering a substitute prior to a match, the captain must notify the league President by text or email, prior to the start of the match.
    2. All substitute players are required to pay the $5 registration fee.
    3. A player may not substitute within her own division.
    4. A player may only substitute from a lower ranking division of the same club.
    5. A substitute player may only be brought into the higher ranking division a maximum of two times.
    6. A sub is a player rostered on a lower level team within the leagues.
    7. No substitute players may be added for the last two matches played by a team.
  9. Captains
    1. Captains are responsible for paying the $25 league fee to the Board President by February 15th. This fee is for league expenses.
    2. Captains are responsible for registering each player (including subs) on their team into the online system, by March 15th.
    3. Captains are responsible for collecting $5 per player (including subs) to be paid as part of the registration process. These fees are to support maintenance of the website.
    4. Home captains will call visiting team captains no less than 24 hours before each match.
    5. Home captains will advise visiting team captains of any special dress codes or club rules.
    6. Captains are responsible for communicating directions and locations to her team members from information posted on the website.
    7. Captains are responsible for assuring the accuracy of directions and locations of her club on the website.
    8. Captains are expected to arrive at the playing location with written line-ups in hand. The line-ups for matches will be exchanged by the captains before play. Once the line-ups have been exchanged, no changes may be made.
    9. The home captain will record match scores on the website within 24 hours of the conclusion of all of her team's matches.
  10. Rosters
    1. Captains must enter additional permanently rostered players' names on the website during the season and pay the registration fee.
    2. Substitute names must be entered prior to such a player's participation in a match.
    3. Line-ups should reflect strength of players available to play on a particular day. All teams are called upon to obey the spirit of this rule and to avoid placing a superior player or partnership in a lower position in order to win that position. A captain is on her honor to uphold this rule which implies that the number one partnership should be able to defeat the number two partnership and that the number two partnership should be able to defeat the number three partnership. In a weekly line-up of positions, a partnership may move up and down only one position. An individual player may play any position with a different partner.
    4. No new players or substitute players can be added to a roster for a team's last two matches, and all players rostered for a team’s last two matches are required to have played in at least two prior matches during the current season. This is to avoid rostering players for the sole purpose of stacking at the end of the season.
  11. League Play
    1. All league play will follow rules, regulations, and courtesies of the USTA. All matches are best of three tie-break sets and must be played to completion. A minimum of a 2-hour block must be booked by the home captain. The twelve-point tie-break will be used.
    2. Home teams will provide new USTA approved balls appropriate to the surface.
    3. Proper tennis attire is required, and any dress code of the home team will be observed.
    4. The season will begin eleven weeks (or fewer) prior to the week of July 4th. All matches should strive to commence at 10:00 AM, although matches may start between the hours of 9 AM and 12 PM if necessitated by a club’s court availability.
    5. A fifteen-minute grace period is allowed, but a default will be given to either team if players arrive more than fifteen minutes late. The on-time captain will register the default.
    6. In case of inclement weather, the match will move to an indoor facility. The home captain will arrange for the facility for the scheduled day of play and both teams will share the court cost equally. Both teams must be available to start between 10 AM and 12 PM at the indoor facility. Every effort should be made to play the match on the scheduled day. If the match is unable to move indoors on the scheduled day of play, captains should arrange to post play, and the match must be concluded prior to the next week’s match. The league President must be notified within 24 hours if match play is postponed from the original league day of play.
    7. Pre and post play is permitted for non-weather-related issues if both captains agree in advance. Post play must be concluded prior to the next scheduled match. Notice of pre or post play must be provided in advance to the league president.
    8. If inclement weather interrupts a match already in progress, both captains will write down the score, the positions of players on court, the position of both teams (north, south, east, west), the order of service, and the exact point at which play was interrupted. If resumption of the match is impossible within a reasonable length of time, the teams will complete the match as soon as possible, prior to the next match date.
    9. For all indoor matches:
      1. If there is no time limit on the indoor courts, and both teams agree before the start of the match, teams are permitted to play out a full match without following indoor rules.
      2. If there is a 2-hour time limit on the courts, matches will be completed using league indoor rules as follows:
        1. At 10 minutes prior to the end of the 2-hour block, a game in progress should be completed using no-ad scoring. After that game:
          1. If a team is leading by 2 games or more in the set in progress, the set is awarded to that team.
          2. If a team is leading by 1 game in the set in progress, another no-ad game will be played. If the leading team wins the second game (putting them up by two games), they are awarded the set. However, if this game results in the two teams being tied, a 9-point tie-break will be played to determine the set.
          3. If the teams are tied in the set in progress, a 9-point tie-break will be played to determine the set.
        2. If teams split sets, a 9-point tie-break will be played to determine the winner of the match.
    10. Home teams who do not have courts available at their facility for scheduled play must make other arrangements for the match. The home team will pay any and all costs. If the home team can provide courts between 10:00 AM and 12:00 PM, the visiting team should make every effort to be available.
    11. When an indoor club is the home team, if courts are not available due to contract time, the matches may be played outdoors if both captains agree one week ahead of time. In case of inclement weather, section XI.F applies. If both captains do not agree to play outdoors, the home indoor club must provide indoor court time at its own expense. The matches must be scheduled to begin between 10:00 AM and 12:00 PM on the scheduled day of play. If the home indoor team cannot provide indoor courts during this time frame and the visiting team can provide indoor courts, the match must be played at the visitor's indoor courts at the home team's expense.
    12. A ten-minute break may be taken between the second and third sets.
    13. The use of cell phones and beepers on all courts during match play is prohibited until the completion of all matches. All electronics must be set to silent during matches. Should electronic devices be engaged, penalties will be assessed as follows for each infraction by a partnership: 1st infraction-point, 2nd infraction-game, 3rd infraction-set, 4th infraction-match.
  12. Forfeits
    1. In any given match, if a team must forfeit, the forfeit will occur in the third position.
    2. If a team must forfeit two positions, these will occur in the second and third positions.
  13. Movement Within the League
    1. The top two teams in each division will move up to the next higher division and the bottom two teams will move down to the next lower division. If two teams within a division have the same number of wins and losses at the end of the season, the team that defeated the other team during the regular season match will be ranked above it.
    2. In the case of a three-way tie, the team that has defeated the other two teams outranks them. If there is still a tie, a "5-3-1 point system" will be used:

      3. 5 points - 1st position

      3 points - 2nd position

      1 point - 3rd position

      If there is still a tie, the number of games lost in the matches won will be calculated. The teams with the fewer games lost will win.





    These Bylaws and Rules will be effective as of November 14, 2024 and will not be retroactive.