Scheduling Matches
Schedules
Schedules are published on the website on the first day of the regular season. You
can access your schedule by selecting ‘My Leagues -> My Schedule’ from the main
navigation then selecting the correct league from the list of ‘active’ leagues.
Communication
You can communicate with your opponents via email or text or phone. We highly recommend
that every phone conversation is followed up with a confirmation email or text. Save all
email or text communication until the season is over in case there is a dispute. We can
only resolve disputes based on documentation when teams do not agree on what has
occurred. If your opponent has not responded to one form of contact or the other,
then you must try both email and phone before you can score the match as a forfeit
per our lack of contact rules.
Initial Contact
Contact each opponent at least 2 weeks prior to the match deadline. It is the responsibility
of all teams to contact their opponents, not just the home team. You must make contact
with your opponent at least 5 days prior to the deadline with an offer of 3 valid
options to play or alternatively accept one of your opponents’ options or your opponent
can score the match as a forfeit against you (assuming your opponent has attempted
to contact you and made the proper offers by phone and email at least 5 days prior
to the deadline). 5 days prior to a Sunday deadline is by midnight the preceding
Monday. 5 days prior to a Friday deadline is by midnight the preceding Saturday.
Offer 3 Options (Dates) to Play!
Always start by offering your opponent 3 valid options to
play! We cannot stress enough how important this is! Make sure you save email documentation
of your offer and subsequent communication with opponents until the season is over.
You must have offered your opponent 3 valid options to play
or alternatively have accepted one of your opponents’ offers or your opponent can
score the match as a forfeit against you (assuming your opponent has made the proper
offers to you by phone and email).
Valid Options to Play
A valid option to play must follow these guidelines:
- Each option must be on different date!
- The date must fall in the 2 week period that ends on the match deadline. The deadline
date is included in this period!
- An offer must be made with at least 24 hours notice to ensure that the other team
has time to make arrangements for a court, find a babysitter, confirm with their
partner or make other necessary arrangements.
- The match start time must fall in a timeframe and on a day of the week appropriate
for the league:
- Weekday Leagues - Monday - Friday - 9 am to 1 pm start times
- Business Women, Men & Mixed Leagues - Monday - Friday - 6 pm to 7:30 pm
start times - Saturday or Sunday - 9 am to 7:30 pm start times
Teams can choose to play any time as long as scores are entered by midnight of the
final day of the regular season but both teams would need to agree to any arrangements
outside of the rules for scheduling.
Match Deadlines
Each match has a deadline shown on the schedule. No team is required to play the
match past this deadline as long as they offer their opponent 3 valid options
to play. The only exceptions would be if the match is incomplete
or unless they agree to play the match after the deadline.
No matches can be played after the final deadline of the season unless there is
inclement weather at the default time for the final match of the season.
Default Times - Regular Season
If you and your opponent have both offered 3 valid options
for playing the match but cannot agree on an option then the teams must either play
the match at the default time or both teams must agree to play late. If either team wants to play
it at the default time, then they must give their opponents 48 hours notice that
they want to do so. The other team must then play at the default time or forfeit
the match.
- Business Women, Men & Mixed Leagues –Sunday Deadlines - 7:00 pm match start
time; Saturday Deadlines - 4:00 pm match start time
- Weekday Women’s Leagues – Friday deadlines - 11 am start time.
Playing a Match after the Deadline
If everyone agrees to play the match after the original deadline, then the new deadline
is automatically set as follows and all scheduling rules apply to the new deadline.
These dates are purposely set the day before the deadline of week 7 matches to avoid
a conflict with week 7 default times. The scores can still be entered anytime prior
to midnight on the final day of the season.
- Weekday Leagues - The Thursday prior to the regular season end date
- Business Women, Men & Mixed Leagues - The Saturday prior to the regular
season end date.
Risks in Playing a Match after the
Deadline
Do NOT get in a situation where you have put off multiple matches matches until
late in the season as you risk forfeiting a match or having it go unscored if you
can’t find time to play. Excessive forfeits and unscored matches can result in suspension
from the league. As long as you follow the rules for match scheduling and offer
3 valid options to play in a timely manner, you do NOT have to agree to play
a match late even if the opponent requests it, so remember that you control your
destiny!
Canceling/Rescheduling a Match
Each team is allowed to cancel/reschedule a match one time with at least 24 hours
notice with no penalty assuming there is still time to play by the deadline or if
both teams agree to play late. If the match has already been rescheduled one time
then it is up to the other team whether they will allow their opponent to reschedule
it a second time.
If a match is cancelled with less than 24 hours notice or if the match is being
canceled for the 2nd time, the match can be scored
as a forfeit against the team that cancelled/rescheduled. Teams are welcome to play
the match later if both teams agree but if it doesn’t get played by the end of the
season, then the original forfeit can be scored as long as the team who agreed to
allow the reschedule, has offered at least 2 additional options for playing the
match. This avoids a situation where team A calls team B with less than 24 hours
notice and asks if it is okay to reschedule and team B says “sure” but then does
not actually offer them any other options before taking the forfeit. Team A may
have chosen NOT to reschedule had they known that they would not actually be given
another opportunity to play.
Home vs. Away
Matches are designated as Home or Away on your schedule.
Balls
The home team supplies the balls for their home matches. There is no exchange of
balls based on who wins or loses.
Court Fees
The home team pays all necessary court and guest fees for their home matches. We
do not require teams to split the fees since we want every team to have control
over their expenses and do not want to require a visiting team to split fees at
an exclusive private facility or indoor court when they may have budgeted for a
less expensive facility. And others pay for court usage on an annual or monthly
basis through association or membership fees and cannot easily split these fees
with the visiting team so they would end up paying all fees for their home matches
plus half of the fees for their away matches if we required the teams to split the
cost.
Home Court Facility Requirements
All leagues except the Weekday Women’s league require lighted courts. Courts must
have bathroom facilities that are accessible. Courts can be hard court or clay court surface.
Courts must be reasonably maintained. Examples of courts that are not reasonably maintained include:
- Courts with cracking that is significant enough to impact the bounce of the ball
or cause someone to lose their footing.
- Courts with surfaces that are buckled or uneven enough to impact the bounce of the
ball or cause someone to lose their footing.
- Courts where net heights cannot be accurately adjusted or the height maintained
throughout the match.
Court Availability & Reservations
The home team should provide a court reservation for a minimum of 2 hours to ensure
that there is ample time to complete a match and to avoid an incomplete match being
rescheduled at their opponents’ court. If the match cannot be completed in the timeframe
provided, then the match should be handled as follows:
- Teams should reschedule the match for completion any time prior to the end of the
season.
- Rescheduling will follow the rules for Playing a Match after the Deadline
if teams can’t agree on a time during the regular play period with the exception
of a week 7 match which cannot be played after its regular deadline so if no other
options are available, the match would be rescheduled for the default time.
- If one team wants to reschedule but the other team does not, then all completed
games should be entered and a ‘Retire’ given to the team that does not want to complete
the match.
-
If both teams do not want to reschedule, then all completed games should be entered
and the match marked as ‘Incomplete’
If the home team does not provide a playable court for the minimum timeframe for
any reason (the reservation was for only 1.5 hours, the lights on a timer go out,
the facility closes early, the facility did not have a reservation), then the match
should be handled as follows:
- Teams should reschedule the match for completion any time prior to the end of the
season.
- Rescheduling will follow the rules for Playing a Match after the Deadline
if teams can’t agree on a time during the regular play period with the exception
of a week 7 match which cannot be played after its regular deadline so if no other
options are available, the match would be rescheduled for the default time.
- The visiting team can require the match be completed at their courts (as long as
the match started at the scheduled time and was not delayed due to the visiting
team arriving late). Please consider that every drive to your opponents’ court is
essentially another “away” match for whoever has to drive. This simply distributes
the “away” matches in a reasonable manner.
- If one team wants to reschedule but the other team does not, then all completed
games should be entered and a ‘Retire’ given to the team that does not want to complete
the match.
- If both teams do not want to reschedule, then all completed games should be entered
and the match marked as ‘Incomplete’
If a match is scheduled and confirmed by both teams and a court is not available
at the match start time, the visiting team can score the match as a forfeit if the
court does not become available within 20 minutes. However, if both teams agree,
they can move to another location, or reschedule the match.
Changing Facilities
Since schedules are based on the location of a team's chosen facility, teams must
play home matches at their home facility. If the home facility is not available,
the home team can offer a facility within 2 miles from the original facility (using
Google Maps). If no other facility is available within 2 miles of the original facility,
the visiting team can request that the match be played at the visiting team’s facility.
If neither facility is available, teams must find a mutually agreeable public facility
and court fees will be split between the teams.
Driving Directions
The home team MUST ensure that the visiting team has a good address and directions
to their courts. Therefore every home team should go to their ‘My Schedule’ page
and click the Google Map link for their facility then review that the address and
driving directions are accurate. If the information is not correct, or if it is
apparent that googlemaps does not take the visiting team to the courts, it is up
to the home team to advise the league and to provide a good address and driving
directions to each of their opponents in writing.
25 Mile Rule
If an away match is greater than 25 miles distance from your home court facility
using Google Maps, you may request that the match be played at a public facility
that is approximately midway between the two facilities. If there is no facility
midway between the two, then the teams should choose a facility that results in
neither team traveling more than 25 miles with the shortest distance given to the
home team where possible. The court fees will be split between the two teams. If
the teams cannot agree on a facility, contact
us and we will make a final decision.
If teams are in a division where they play someone twice and the 25 mile rule is
applicable, teams must decide whether they will utilize the rule or not and it must
be handled the same for both matches. In other words, if you are 25 miles away from
an opponent, and you let them drive to your courts, you cannot then turn around
and force them to meet you halfway when you have to travel to their courts.
Inclement Weather
Inclement weather is defined as precipitation (rain, snow, hail, sleet) or severe
weather (temperature below 34 degrees or above 98 degrees Fahrenheit according to
www.weather.com). Use the following guidelines in the event of inclement weather:
- If there is inclement weather, teams must contact each other via telephone to cancel
a match. Do not assume that a match is cancelled!
- Teams should reschedule the match for completion prior to the end of the season.
- Rescheduling will follow the rules for Playing a Match after the Deadline
if teams can’t agree on a time during the regular play period with the exception
of a week 7 match which cannot be played after its regular deadline.
- If one team wants to reschedule but the other team does not, then any completed
games should be entered and a ‘Retire’ given to the team that does not want to complete
the match
- If both teams do not want to reschedule, then any completed games should be entered
and the match marked as ‘Incomplete’
- If a regular season match that is scheduled on the last day of the season is interrupted,
you must contact us immediately. We
will extend the deadline for these matches by one day if this is reported but if
we get no reports of issues by midnight, we will not extend the deadline.
- If a playoff match that is scheduled for the default time is interrupted, we will
extend the deadline for these matches by one day if this is reported, but if we
get no reports of issues by midnight, we will not extend the deadline.
Scheduling Etiquette
Please follow these simple but important suggestions for playing in the league:
- Always start the conversation by offering 3 valid options to play. We cannot
stress how important this is!
- You should check your email, texts and voicemail regularly if you are in an active league.
Teams must be able to contact you and get responses in a timely manner.
- You should never rely on email to communicate something that must be seen or responded
to quickly. Pick up the phone!
- Don’t use ALL CAPS in an email - it is the same as YELLING!
- Consult with your partner before making offers to play. It is really frustrating
when one player offers several options when their partner is not actually available.
- Do not assume that a match is confirmed without confirmation of the exact date and
time from your opponents. You can't say ‘If I don’t hear from you I’ll assume you
confirmed.’