Roundhay Lawn Tennis Club (RLTC) Team Policy

 

Policy Overview:

This policy outlines the responsibilities of RLTC Team Captains, including guidance to be followed throughout the match season. It also highlights team player responsibilities and the commitment level expected. The policy, processes and guidance follows the RLTC Code of Conduct, with particular emphasis on inclusivity and fairness.

 

Definitions:

 

Club Captain: Committee members responsible for social and team tennis at RLTC. There is a Men’s Captain, Ladies’ Captain and Junior Representative.

 

Team Captain: Club Member with responsibility for running an individual league team.

 

Match Captain: A Regular Team Player who has responsibility of captaining an individual match within the season in lieu of the Team Captain. They will provide balls for home matches and record the scores of the match.

 

Regular Team Player:  A club member who commits to playing at least half of the teams matches throughout the season. This will vary per team but on average will be approximately 5-6 matches.

 

Reserve Team Player: A club member who wishes to play some team tennis occasionally, but is unable to commit to regular matches

 

Team Captain Guidance

 

Responsibilities:

• League Annual General Meeting (AGM) representation:

  • Prior to the league AGM there should be discussion amongst the Club and Team Captains to ensure adequate representation from RLTC at the league AGM

  • Issues or feedback should be raised to the AGM attending representative prior to the meeting.

  • Home match times should be confirmed prior to the AGM

  • Following the AGM, appropriate information should be disseminated via the Club Captains.

• Squad Selection (adult teams only):

  • This should be completed in collaboration with the appropriate Club Captains. For Juniors, team selection will be completed by the Junior Representative alongside the Club Coach.

  • Prior to the match season, all club members will be asked to identify themselves to the Club Captains if they wish to play team tennis for the upcoming season, highlighting whether they can commit to being a Regular Team Player or Reserve Team Player.

  • The Club Captain will collate a list of all members wishing to play team tennis and circulate around the appropriate Team Captains.

  • If there are members that have identified themselves as wanting to be a Regular Team Player who have previously had poor availability, the Club and Team Captains can transfer them to the Reserve Team Player list.

  • Captains will then rank players on the list based upon previous years match results, feedback from coaches or team captains and any other relevant information.

  • Starting with the highest ranked teams, squads will then be filled using the ranked list of players (Highest ranked players playing in the highest ranked teams).

  • Squad sizes should be approximately double the size of the playing team. For example, a Leeds League match that requires 4 players per match, should have approximately 8 regular team players within the squad. The Club Captains and Team Captains can alter these numbers if it is felt appropriate.

  • At the cut-off point between 2 teams on the player ranking list, the highest ranked player in the lower team will be discussed between Team Captains and the Club captain, with a decision to be made whether they should be moved up to the higher team, in place of the lowest ranked player in the higher team.

  • Once the squads are filled, the Club Captain will review the squad list and may consult other committee members and the coaching team to ensure a fair selection has been made.

  • The squad lists will then be published to the club members.

  • Members who have not been allocated to a squad will be added to the Reserve Team Player list.

  • Reserve Team Players do not require attachment to a specific team, and could be a reserve for multiple teams as long as complying with the specific league rules.

  • If there are a significant number of members that would like to play team tennis that have not been allocated a team, the Club Captains and Committee will consider the need for another team being entered in the league.

  • If there is no volunteer to be a Team Captain from the identified squad, that team will be withdrawn from the league.

• Team Practices

  • Each league team will be entitled to one weekday evening team practice pre-season which can be booked in advance by contacting the appropriate Club Captain.

  • The Club Captains may arrange a Team Selection/Practice event pre-season which should be open to all Regular and Reserve Team Players.

  • Individual team practices at all other times can be booked in line with the usual booking policy (7 days in advance) unless there are exceptional circumstances, in which case they should be discussed with the appropriate Club Captain.

• Match Team Selection:

  • Once the Team Captain has received the match schedule from the league they should circulate it amongst their squad and ascertain players availability.

  • Prior to the season starting, teams for each match should be published to the squad, with doubles pairings identified and order of the pairings clearly identified (e.g. first pair and second pair). A Match Captain should be identified if the Team Captain is not playing or unable to be present at the match.

  • During team selection, the Team Captain should endeavour to share the matches between all Regular Team Players as evenly as possibly. There may be teams with exception to this (e.g. NPL/YL teams).

  • If a Team Captain is unable to field a full team of players from their Regular Team Players, they should use players from the Reserve Team Player list or Regular Team Players from a lower ranked team.

• Match Rescheduling

  • It is the Team Captains responsibility to liaise with opposition captains when matches need rescheduling. This can be delegated to the appropriate Match Captain.

  • A match may need rescheduling due to team unavailability/injury, poor weather or lack of court availability.

  • In the event of a match being rescheduled due to poor weather, the decision should be made 1-2 hours prior to the match start time rather than in advance based on the weather forecast (with exception of severe weather warnings).

  • When rescheduling matches, the Team Captain should follow the specific league rules, particularly ensuring to tell the league what the new match date is.

  • For a home match that needs rescheduling, the Team Captain should offer alternative dates at the same time as their usual home team matches (if normally play home matches on a Thursday 7pm, dates offered should be Thursday 7pm). Offering a different day/time should only be done after agreement with the appropriate Club Captain.

• Court Booking

  • Once the Team Captain has received the match schedule from the league, they should inform the appropriate Club Captain of the dates for any home matches. The Club Captain will then book the courts for the matches.

  • When booking the court, if there is a clash with another booking, the initial booking will take priority. It is the responsibility of the Team Captain to liaise with the person responsible for the initial court booking before changing their court booking. Over-riding a court booking is not allowed without prior agreement.

  • If a home match is rescheduled, it is the Team Captains responsibility to ask the Club Captain to move the court booking.

• Tennis Balls/Refreshments

  • Once the match schedule has been received, the Team Captain should calculate the number of new balls (in tubes) they require and communicate this with the appropriate Club Captain.

  • Tubes of balls will be allocated to each team at the beginning of the season and left in the clubhouse for collection. Tubes should be collected by the Team Captain, or a regular team player if necessary, within 7 days of them being informed that they are ready for collection.

  • If tubes go missing from the clubhouse due to not being collected in the required time frame, it is the Team Captains responsibility to replace them.

  • It is the Team Captains responsibility to ensure that there are new balls available for each home match, either via themselves or via a delegated Match Captain.

  • If the league rules state refreshments should be provided by the Home Team, the Team or Match Captain should liaise with the opposition with regards to whether this is simple refreshments throughout the match, or food to be eaten post-match. It is then the Team Captains responsibility to provide this, or delegate to the Match Captain.

• Submitting match scores:

  • The Team Captain should submit scorecards/match results to the League promptly and in line with the league rules.

• Safeguarding:

  • The Team Captain should raise any team or player concerns with the appropriate Club Captain and Welfare Officer (if appropriate).

  • If there are junior members within the squad, appropriate safeguarding arrangements and policies should be followed (e.g. lift sharing/communications).

• Match Fees:

  • The Team Captain should collect individual match fees at the end of the season

  • The sum of match fees should be submitted to the Club Treasurer/Account within 14 days of the last match of the season.

• Feedback:

  • At the end of the match season, the Team Captain should provide feedback to the Club Captains, including whether they are willing to continue their captaincy for another season.

 

Team Player Guidance

 

Responsibilities

• Pre-season communication

  • Members wanting to play team tennis should complete the circulated team interest survey and identify themselves as either a Regular Team Player or a Reserve Team Player based upon the level of commitment they can offer to matches.

  • Once players have been allocated a team, they should complete their match date availability promptly to aid the Team Captains at picking a team.

• Match availability

  • Team Players should commit to their matches as agreed at the beginning of the season.

  • If a Team Player has a clash with another RLTC Team match they should follow the order of priority detailed below when deciding which team to play for:

    1. Regular team – a player’s regular team should take priority.

    2. Date agreed to play – if both teams are a regular team for the player, they should honour the match that they agreed to play first.

    3. Team Captains may liaise between themselves to ensure both teams are able to field players in the event of a clash.

  • If later in the season a Team Player is no longer able to play a match (e.g. due to injury) they should inform the Team Captain as soon as possible and offer to help find a replacement player.

  • If the Team Captain is trying to find a replacement team player, all members of the squad should reply to their message even if they are unable to play.

• Match behaviour

  • Team Players should endeavour to arrive at least 5 minutes early to all matches and be ready to start playing at the published match start time.

  • Team Players should follow the RLTC Code of Conduct when playing matches, specifically they should be inclusive and act as part of the team.

  • Team Players are not allowed to refuse to play with another Team Player. If this happens they will be removed from the team.

  • On court behaviour should follow LTA and RLTC guidance (e.g. if there is a challenged line call, players should offer to replay the point).

• Match Fees

  • At the end of the season the Team Captains will inform players of the match fees that they owe. Team Players should pay this within 7 days. If a Team Player does not pay their match fees they will not be allowed to play any matches for RLTC until they have paid their debt.

• Safeguarding

  • Team Players should raise any concerns with their Team Captain, the appropriate Club Captain and Welfare Officer (if appropriate).

  • If there are junior members within the squad, appropriate safeguarding arrangements and policies should be followed (e.g. lift sharing/communications).