Doubles League Rules
Team Registration
Doubles League Teams may be initiated by a NY Squash member, or by the pro/squash staff at a member club. To register a League team, contact doubles committee by emailing Marshall at ulcsquash@aol.com or Bryan at bmfitzpatrick1@gmail.com
Once the team is registered, Captains must create team rosters on the Doubles League Website by mid October. Teams must have at least three players registered by this date (additional players may be added later in the season).
Club Eligibility
Squash clubs in the New York metropolitan area, Long Island, and Connecticut may host Doubles League teams. Clubs must be current NY Squash member clubs, and pay league team dues.
Player Eligibility
In order to be added to the roster, a player must have current US Squash/NY Squash membership at time of roster registration.
To be eligible to play in a league match, a player must have current US Squash/NY Squash membership and be listed on the team roster. If a player's membership expires mid-season, he or she may not play a match until membership is renewed. Captains won't be able to enter scores for a player with expired membership, so it will be scored as an automatic default. Players may join or renew membership at www.ussquash.com.
Teams may add players throughout the season.
A player may only compete in one team per division (though players may sub up to a higher division -- see "Substitutes" below).
A player may play in both the Country and City leagues for two different teams.
Women may compete in both Mixed B and Women's divisions.
ISDA, WDSA, PSA, PST, WISPA and Club/Asst Professionals are not eligible to compete in any Doubles division.
Players must wear protective eyewear for league matches. If a player participates without wearing eye protection and is reported to League Chairs by another player, team Captain or club pro, the un-lensed player may have his/her match defaulted with a win awareded to the other player. A player is not obligated to play a match against an un-lensed player.
Team Structure
Teams must have a minimum of three players registered by mid October, to be eligible for the season. (Teams may also have more than three, and can add players at any time during the season.)
Each team must have a Captain, who reserves courts, coordinates matches with opposing captains, arranges lineups, and enters scores. NY Squash encourages teams to be captained by a player on that team. One person may not be the Captain for multiple teams unless that person is the club pro.
Each team may also have a Co-Captain, who will also have access to the Doubles League Website. NY Squash recommends this for all teams, to help set up matches and enter scores if the captain is absent. The Co-Captain may be the club pro. The Co-Captain can fill this role for multiple teams.
Substitutes
A Player may sub up to a higher division twice per season. To compete in the higher division, the player must be added as a "Sub" to the higher team roster by the time of the match (see Website Help for directions).
After a player has competed on a higher-level team three times, then he or she may only play on the higher-level team going forward (including playoffs/finals).
Scheduling Matches & Captain Communication
NY Squash Doubles League Chairs set the season schedule in advance. The match schedule will be released to captains by late October and will be available on the Doubles League Website.
At the start of the season, captains should reserve matches for all their home matches. Matches should be played between 6:00-9:30 pm.
Matches must be played on the assigned night. RESCHEDULES ARE NOT ALLOWED.
Home Captain should contact visiting Captain at least the day before the match to communicate match start times, club location, and player names. Captains can find opposing captain's contact information on the Team webpage.
Home Captain should also explain all relevant club rules and dress code to visiting Captain. If a woman is participating on a men's team for a match played at an all-male club, her Captain will inform the home Captain.
Match Play & Scoring
All league matches will be played on Tuesday nights (Men's A and Mixed B divisions) or Thursday nights (Women's division) at clubs with doubles courts.
Teams will play one match per night.
If a scheduled player can not play, captain should ensure that an alternate team member is available to play. If no other teammate is available, a non-rostered player may compete to give opponent a fun game. However, the match does not count toward team rankings, and the official score will be recorded as a default in favor of the opponent. Only current NY Squash members registered on the team roster may compete in official league matches.
Warm-up should be limited to a maximum of five minutes (two-and-a-half minutes per side). Captains or home team player must ensure adherence to time limits since court time is constrained.
Matches will be three-out-of-five games, with Point-a-Rally (PAR) scoring to 15 points. All other US Squash Doubles rules shall apply to all matches.
Captains must enter match scores on the Doubles League Website within 48 hours of match completion. The League Chairs recommend that winning captain enter scores, but captain or co-captain of either team may do it. The system will automatically award a default to both teams, if scores have not been reported within 48 hours.
Refereeing
Matches will be self-refereed, unless agreed otherwise by team captains, and players should be aware of the following guidelines:
Strokes cannot be taken or demanded by the player calling the let, but may only be granted by the obstructing player. If a call is questionable please play a let.
If a player is in your line of sight to the front, please hold your shot and play a let.
At any point during a match, players and captains may ask a teammate, opposing team's player, club pro, or a spectator to referee if it will reduce disagreement and make the match more fun. However, once designated it must be clear who the 'official' referee and their calls will stand.
Defaults, No-Shows, and Re-Schedules
All League matches must be played on the night scheduled. RESCHEDULING IS NOT ALLOWED.
No-Shows: If a player is not ready to play by the start time of the match, the opposing team's player or Captain may enforce a Player Default.
Expired membership: a Player Default will occur if a player's US Squash/NY Squash membership is expired such that match scores can not be entered within 48 hours.
Unfinished matches: If a match is started at the assigned start time but court time runs out , then the unfinished match must be completed within seven days, according to these rules:
If two or fewer games were completed when play was suspended, the match should be replayed in its entirety.
If three or more games were completed, then match resumes at the beginning of the interrupted game with a score of 0-0, with the score of completed games remaining as they stood (e.g., if the match was halted at 2 games to 1 game, with a score of 5-2 in Game 4, the match resumes at the start of Game 4 with a score of 0-0 and the winner of the third game to serve).
Injury: If a player is injured while on court:
If injury was caused by opponent: do not reschedule. The injured player wins the match if any recovery time is needed. [Scoring: mark score of any completed and interrupted games; mark score of unplayed games as 15-0]
If self-inflicted injury (sprained ankle, fatigue, etc): do not reschedule. The injured player is allowed 3 minutes to recover and must then play on (he may also concede that game using the 90 second rest period between games to recover). If he can't continue, injured player concedes the match to opponent [Scoring: player keeps points from completed games; unplayed games would be scored 0-15]
If contributed by both players, or if it was a court problem (e.g., something fell from the ceiling and hit a player, etc): you may reschedule. Follow "Unfinished Match" guidelines above.
Eye Protection: If a player competes in a league match without wearing eye protection and is reported to League Chairs by another player, Captain or club pro, the player violating the rule will have his/her match defaulted. A player is not obligated to play a match against an un-lensed player.
Season Structure, Playoffs & Finals
Men's A Division (City & Country Regions):
Regular season: teams play every other team in the Region twice.
Playoffs: Top four teams in each Region compete in Regional Playoffs:
Playoffs: #1 vs #4, #2 vs #3 (seeds based on regular season rankings)
Finals: winner of playoff matches
Championships: City A finalist vs Country A finalist
Coed B Division (City & Country Regions):
Regular season: teams play every other team in the Region twice.
Championships: City B+ #1 seed vs Country B+ #1 seed (seeds based on regular season matches)
Women's Division (city region only):
Regular season: teams play every other team in the Region twice.
Championships: #1 seed vs #2 seed (seeds based on regular season matches)
Eligibility and Seedings
Playoff rankings will be determined by regular season matches. If two teams have tied win scores at the end of regular season, tie is settled by how those two teams did against other head-to-head in the regular season (first by matches, then if a tie in matches by games won, and then by total individual points won).
For Playoffs, Home Court Advantage will be held by the higher-ranked team, if possible.
If a team dropped out mid-season, division rankings will be calculated by removing all of that drop-out team's matches.
If a match was double-defaulted, it will count as a loss for both teams.
If a player has played on a second team during the season, he or she may only compete in playoffs/finals/championships for one division.
No player may compete in playoffs/finals unless he or she has played in at least two matches for that team during the regular season.
Costs & Court Payments
Doubles League team dues are $125
Captains can remit payment with a check made payable to New York Squash
Doubles League team dues are in addition to NY Squash member club fees (the NY Squash bills the club separately for this, on an annual basis).
For clubs with court fees, the host Captain must arrange for payment of all fees for all scheduled courts at the start of the season. We do not expect any teams or captains to have to make any payments on the day of play.
Disputes
Squash is based on an honor system and basic courtesy.
NY Squash believes that the league rules and player common sense should prevent most disputes.
If disputes do ensue, contact the Doubles League Chairs as soon as possible.
Doubles League
Overview
Captain Responsibilities
Doubles League Rules