RULESLeague FormatSeason: Flex format, you can play at any location and on any day of the week that is agreed upon between you and your opponent. Playoffs: Single elimination tournament, qualified by regular season performance, director will determine location and schedule.
RulesCurrent USAR OFFICIAL RULES OF RACQUETBALL including the use of approved eyewear and a tethered wrist cord attached securely to your racquet frame. Pro Penn HD Purple Racquetball is to be used unless both players agree on another ball for their match, would be best to play with a new ball if possible so please have some new balls with you for your matches. If you have any questions regarding any rules, please contact the league director, not knowing a rule during a match does not entitle any player to a replay, the rule stands so please take a few minutes and look over the league rules and the USAR OFFICIAL RULES OF RACQUETBALL.
LocationsThe league is not affiliated with LA Fitness but since that is where most of the courts and players are, that is where we play, just work out the time and location with your scheduled opponent and you are set to go. Pretty much all matches are played at the following LA Fitness Clubs but other clubs have been used as well:
Plano East Plano South Carrollton Richardson McKinney Only set location is for the division finals and they are all played at the LA Fitness Plano East Club.
Schedule
MatchesMake contact with your opponent scheduled for the week and make arrangements to play your match. Two games to 15, tiebreaker if necessary to 11, Win by 1. The winner of the match is responsible for entering the scores and must be submitted before 11:45 pm on Sunday of that week's schedule.
Match Pre-Play and Make UpsPlease try to keep to the schedule as much as possible as it will make for everyone being able to play their matches in a timely manner and not be overwhelmed with multiple matches in a short time period. That being said there are times and circumstances that arise and you will not be able to keep with the schedule and being a flex league you are allowed to pre-play or make up matches at anytime during the regular season as long as you follow the match priority, work it out with you opponent and be aware of the scoring system as to loss of points for any make up matches at the end of the regular season (see Scoring section below). Be sure you understand the scoring system and how you will lose points for any make-up matches you have at the end of the regular season as it will affect playoff eligibility and seeding. Be aware that putting off a match and not making it up could result in a forfeit depending on circumstances and if your opponent has tried diligently to play the match, this will be determined by the league director after gathering the facts from all parties (see Forfeits section below).
Match PriorityYour current week's match is the highest priority when scheduling your matches, makeups are just that, makeups are lower priority. Priority should be given to the oldest makeup match first and so on if you have make up matches. A good example would be the last week of the season, make sure you have your match scheduled for that week booked before you have any makeups set, failure to play your current match for the week but playing a makeup or two could be a valid reason to receive a forfeit as well as not playing your oldest makeup matches first as well. Example: You call your current weeks match and they can play on a day and time both of you are available, except you have already scheduled a makeup match for that day and time, unfortunately your current weeks match cannot do any other day or time that week, you would probably receive a forfeit in that case since you put your makeup as the priority, this comes into play more towards the end of the season than the beginning since there is more time to makeup matches, just be aware of it especially when the regular season is coming to an end.
ForfeitsForfeits are not good and unless there are circumstances that merit a forfeit we are going to try to have the match played. Something like scheduling a match and then not showing up without a valid reason may be a time that a forfeit would be allowed depending on circumstances. The league director will input scores for any forfeit upon approval and the player forfeiting receives no points and their opponent receives 3 points (just like winning the match). Any player who enters scores for a match they feel is a forfeit will automatically lose those points and the match will be considered not played and will count against total regular season points so do not enter any scores if you feel it is a forfeit, contact the league director. If you have any issues with getting your scheduled match in the week it is scheduled, you must notify the league director that week with the details, that way if there is an issue later on in getting it made up the league director can determine if it entitles you to a forfeit, this could come into play at the end of the season if making the playoff is in question. The league director must be notified the week it happens in order to be considered a forfeit now or at a later time, don't wait till the end of the season as it will not be valid unless it is the last week of the season that it happens.
Scoring and PlayoffsLeague fees must be paid in order to make the playoffs. Any player who has not paid their league fees by the last day of the regular season will not be eligible for the playoffs and will not be allowed to play in any future leagues until all league fees are paid and caught up to date. The offending player will also be required to prepay for any future leagues that they participate in. Players will receive 1 League Point for playing the match and 1 League Point for each game won. Example: PA wins the match in two games over PB. PA receives 3 League Points total for the match, 1 for playing and 2 for winning 2 games. PB receives a total of 1 League Point for playing the match.
League Make Ups and Forfeits will count against League Points and will be factored in for playoff qualification/seeding. Minimum matches needed to be considered for season completion and playoff eligibility is two thirds of total matches rounded up. Example: Let's say there are 12 players, an 11 week season, you have to play a minimum of 8 matches or have no more than 3 make up matches at the end of the regular season. In this example, you could have 3 make up matches and be eligible for the playoffs, keep in mind that 3 points would be deducted from total points for final position, but if you have say 4 make up matches, you would not be eligible for the playoffs and your regular season would be marked as a bye so that any points won by those who did get their match in would lose those points to be fair to those who didn't get a chance to play their match.
Playoff seeding is determined by the following sequence.
Most total League Points - Total Leagues Points = League Points - League Make Ups. In a two-way tie, the winner of the head-to-head match.
If players in a two-way tie have not played head-to-head then position is determined in the following order until the tie is broken: Player with no forfeits gets a higher position. Player with the least amount of makeup matches gets a higher position. Player with the most matches played, including bye matches gets higher position. Player with the highest point total from bye matches gets the higher position. If tie still exists then there will be a qualifying match.
In all tie break conditions where there are three or more players in a tie, head to head competition will be the first deciding factor if it can be determined in every circumstance. In a tie of three or more, option 3 above otherwise the tiebreaker will be the net difference between the numbers of games that each of those players won and lost when they played each other. Matches played against persons NOT involved in the tie are NOT counted. The player with the largest positive difference is awarded the position in question (Net Games = Games Won - Games Lost). If a two-way tie remains, the winner of the head-to-head match is awarded the higher position. If a multiple tie remains, option 3 above otherwise the second tiebreaker is the net difference between the numbers of game points that each player won and lost when they played each other. Matches played against persons NOT involved in the tie are NOT counted. The player with the largest positive difference is awarded the position in question (Net Game Points = Game Points Won - Game Points Lost). If a two-way tie remains, the winner of the head-to-head match is awarded the higher position. If a multiple tie still remains, option 3 above otherwise the player who scored the highest average points per match is awarded the position in question. Matches played against persons NOT involved in the tie are NOT counted (Average Match Points = Total Game Points / Total Number of Games).
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