1. The Yorkshire League is an inter-club competition run by the Yorkshire Squash and Racketball Association (YSRA).
2. Clubs must be located within the Yorkshire boundary. All participating clubs and players must be affiliated with England Squash (ES). Out-of-county clubs may participate at the committee’s discretion. Any new team wishing to enter the league must start in the lowest division.
Each club in the Yorkshire League must appoint a member to act as a representative for their club at the YSRA AGM. Failure to send a representative will result in a £100 fine.
3. Teams consist of five players. Participating clubs can enter as many teams as they wish.
4. The League will consist of a Premier division and as many other divisions as teams are available. Each division will generally consist of about ten teams.
5. The League season will normally run from September to April. Each team will play every other team in their division twice, once home and once away. The season will also consider half-term breaks and other national squash events, such as Masters, which may restrict the availability of players.
6. A team entry fee of £85 for the 2024-25 season must be paid before the first round of fixtures.
7. Juniors (Under 19) must wear eye protection; players must not play a junior who is not wearing eye protection, and they should claim a ‘walkover’ if a junior player refuses to wear eye protection.
8. Where a club enters more than one team in the league, the top two teams shall, as far as possible, play on the same night.
9. Premier division matches shall take place on Wednesday nights, and the final match of the Premier League will take place on 'Finals Friday’.
10. Matches will normally commence at 7.30 pm. The home club must ensure that adequate court time is available for the match's completion.
11. All matches must be completed on the fixture's day and played entirely on the courts of the home club (see also Rule 13).
12. Where 2 Teams play in the same division they must play each other at the start of each half of the season.
13. All matches allocated for the first half of the season must be played by the end of the first half. Doubling up matches from the first half to the second half is NOT permissible. All matches must have been completed, and the results must have been received by the end of April.
14. Teams can only rearrange fixtures with express permission from the league secretary. Clubs are not obliged to accept requests to rearrange and are entitled to claim the walkover (see rule 14). Rearrangements are considered under exceptional circumstances, such as temporary forced closure of the club, e.g. closed for safety reasons or severe weather conditions preventing teams from travelling safely. Any request to rearrange a fixture must be given in writing to the opposition captain and the League Secretary. If the rearrangement is approved, the match should be played as soon as possible after the original fixture and within the correct half of the season (see rule 12). The League Secretary should be informed of the new date and will update the fixture list on LeagueMaster accordingly.
15. Where a club fails to honour a fixture, it shall be penalised 20 points, and the offended club shall be awarded 20 points. The offending club will pay a £100 fine as out-of-pocket expenses to the offended club. A second offence or failure to pay will mean automatic relegation or expulsion from the League. (see also rule 13)
16. Three players from each team must arrive at least 10 minutes before the start of the match and the other two players within 30 minutes of the start time. Ties will be forfeited by players who only meet this requirement if the two captains have agreed to the contrary. If a player fails to turn up within 10 minutes after the rest of the match has finished, the team shall be deemed to have played out of order (if applicable).
17. Each team will play in order of merit, as nominated. The captains will exchange team lists before the start of the match, and these may not be changed afterwards. The order of play is 3,5,1,4,2 unless otherwise agreed. Team captains are responsible for ensuring each fixture is played according to Rule 27, and any queries relating to individual players must be made to the other captain or the League Secretary within 24 hrs of the fixture being completed.
18. All matches must be marked. Premier division matches must be marked by an England Squash qualified official appointed by the Yorkshire Referees Society. The fees for referees are £65 per match, which includes a travel allowance for the 2024-25 season, and this should be paid in advance to YSRA; all fees are agreed at the AGM for the following season. In the other divisions, the home team provides markers unless otherwise agreed. The league does not permit family members to mark their own family during a fixture; a penalty of 2 points will be applied against the string if this is to be found true.
19. All ties will be the best of five games. Point-a-rally, PAR 11 scoring will be used in all divisions. Each game counts one point, and the team winning the match gets five bonus points.
20. The home team must submit match results via Leaguemaster within 48 hours of the game's completion. Clubs that fail to comply with this limit will be penalised 5 points.
21. A 2-point penalty will be awarded for each walkover, i.e. 2 points per string, 10 points for a team walkover. The penalty will double where a name is entered instead of ‘walkover’ Any team giving two team walkovers in a season may be relegated regardless of their final position in the league.
22. The rules of play shall be the World Squash Federation's current edition, and the ball used shall be the Dunlop Pro double yellow spot.
23. The home team is responsible for providing refreshments and hospitality after the match. As a matter of courtesy, the away team captain is responsible for informing the home team captain if any of the away team will not be staying after the match.
24. The home team is responsible for the courts' condition before matches occur. They must ensure that the courts are safe to play on, with particular care taken on the playing surface (floor).
25. The height of the front wall Tin must remain 480mm; however, if two professional players play each other, they may request to play their match at the lower height of 430mm; all other matches must be played at the standard height.
26. Players must be bona fide members of the club they represent. Any club wishing to register a Yorkshire player must do so before the first match of the season and must meet the eligibility criteria to be considered a Yorkshire Player. The following criteria will be used to approve requests:
27. Players must be entered into the Players List in League Master with their valid ES membership numbers and date of birth.
28. Teams must be nominated in Leaguemaster in merit order a week before the first fixture date. Teams must play in nominated order and must be re-nominated at the halfway point. The league secretary may make exceptions. It is recommended to use Squash Levels as a guide; the league permits some discretion where players are ranked very close; if players are not nominated in merit order, the league reserves the right to seek clarification and request a change if deemed necessary.
29. Players may play for their nominated or higher team but not a lower team.
30. Players may play up to a higher team four times over the whole season. On playing up a fifth time, they will be team-tied to the higher team for the remainder of the half-season.
31. The players within a team must play in club-nominated order, including those playing up.
32. If a player plays out of order, the string and all strings below will be awarded to the opposition.
33. Any team playing a non-nominated player will have that player’s match, and all those below them void, and the points will be awarded to the opposition.
34. No player may play for two different clubs in the League or two teams in the same division during a season.
35. Teams must not nominate players in a team that will not play for that team.
36. In the Premier division, each team must have at least two players eligible to play for Yorkshire in the Inter-County Championships or reside in Yorkshire. Teams can only play a maximum of 3 professional players in any fixture.
37. Teams may register new players until the Christmas break. They must have played a game before this date to be eligible to play for the rest of the season (unless there are exceptional circumstances and with permission of the League Secretary, e.g. If a player was injured in the first half or if a team needs a player to fulfil a fixture, but may only request a player at the lower order below string 3 using squash levels as a guide, each request is dealt with on a case by case basis, the decision of the league secretary is final. No team will be permitted to bring a player in at no 1 or 2, which is deemed as obtaining an unfair advantage and being anti-competitive.
38. Promotion and relegation shall typically be one up and one down between the Premier League and Division 1 and two up and two down between all other divisions. It will be decided by the number of points won by teams during the season. If two teams are level on points, the aggregate of points in the matches played between the two teams will decide. Should this be the same, there shall be a playoff match at a neutral venue unless agreed otherwise by the two captains. Where there are two divisions of equal standing (E.g. North & West / South & East), the winners of each division will be automatically promoted to Division 1.
39. A trophy will be awarded to the winner of the Premier League and presented at the YSRA AGM or another suitable event. The winning club is responsible for engraving the trophy and returning it before the event.
40. All disputes shall be submitted in writing to the League Secretary, who will either decide the matter or refer it to the League Disputes Committee, as defined in the Code of Conduct. The League Secretary will compile a log of disputes over the season for review at the end. All decisions from previous seasons cannot be used in argument for any current season. All decisions are final.
Should a season be truncated before the halfway point, play and tables to that point will be declared null and void. If after the halfway point, the divisional tables as they stand shall be taken as the final tables.
Any disciplinary outcomes are open to an appeals process; in the first instance, team captains must write to the League Secretary to start an appeal. Once the appeal has been reviewed and a decision has been made, the league secretary will write to each club affected by the decision. The committee’s decision is final.
41. The League Secretary has the authority to take specific actions as specified in the Yorkshire SRA Code of Conduct.
42. The League reserves the right to overturn any decision should new evidence or information be necessary to alter a previous decision. All decisions consider the competitive balance and fairness in the league so that clubs/teams and fixtures are treated equitably.
43. Changes to the Yorkshire League Format and Rules shall be agreed upon by the YSRA AGM where practical or at the committee's discretion when required.
The Yorkshire Squash and Racketball Association is run by an elected committee and supported by many volunteers. Details of roles and responsibilities can be found here...
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