MBA Competition Rules

Participation in a Medway Basketball Association Competitions signifies acceptance of the Competition Rules and agreement to abide by them.

Trophies

If a winning team wishes to have possession of a trophy until its next presentation a £50.00 deposit will be payable, refundable upon safe return of the trophy. Trophies must be returned to a Committee Member upon demand.

General Rules Governing the Senior League, Cup, Plate, Play-Off & Rosebowl Competitions

1. Rules Governing Matches

a) All matches shall be played to FIBA rules except where otherwise stated in these Rules or agreed by the Management Committee or Association in General Meeting. For clarification where teams are tied on points, a play-off will not take place.

In the event of a tie, the first tie breaker will be the results of the games between the teams which are tied on points, the second tie-breaker with the points difference between the results of the games played between the two teams and the third will be the team’s overall points difference across all games.

b) Where possible, the winners of leagues / finals / play-offs should be determined on the court rather than through technical default

c) The Management Committee may make such rulings as it sees fit for the smooth running of the League and Competitions and such rulings shall be binding.

 

2. Fixture Dates

a) All matches played under the jurisdiction of the Medway Basketball Association shall be played on the dates laid down. Teams will not be allowed to concede fixtures to their opponents.

However, where the Fixtures / Competitions Secretary (as appropriate) considers it is necessary to change the date of a fixture, he may agree an alternative date – if not the match is forfeit by the team that cannot fulfil it.  

The unavailability of players will not be an acceptable reason.

b) The team initiating the change in date shall be responsible for informing all officials, the Officials Secretary and the Fixtures / Competitions Secretary (as appropriate)

c) The maximum number of requested postponement of games by a team for any reason to be limited to 3.

d) Where a game is cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice, other than by force majeure, the Management Committee is authorised to determine whether the referees’ fees should still be paid to the nominated officials by the team initiating the cancellation

e) Postponement requests made less than 7 days (168 hours) before the scheduled game will result in an administration fee of £40 being levied.

f) Postponement requests made more than 7 days (168 hours) before the scheduled game will not result in an administration fee.

[NB – the Committee shall have the authority to make exemptions to the above rules in cases where the venue is unavailable, subject to appropriate evidence being provided upon request]

 

3. Duties of the Home Team

The home team shall:

a) Provide appropriate table equipment, including a score pad, player foul markers, team foul markers, direction arrow, visual game clock (a small stopwatch is not sufficient), visual scoreboard and proper sounding device. The match referees shall report to the Management Committee if a Club has inadequate equipment.

b) Change kit in the event of colours clashing.

c) Be responsible for the payment of any court hire charges.

d) Be responsible for the payment of referee’s expenses for league games (see 8a below) at the current rate prior to the start of the game. This should be in cash or by electronic transfer by prior agreement.

e) Provide competent table officials. The match referees shall report to the Management Committee if they do not consider the table officials to be competent. Table officials should arrive at least 15 mins prior to tip off

f) Be responsible for submitting the result and the scoresheet

 

4. Results & Scoresheets

 

Full size copies of the scoresheet may be downloaded from PlayHQ

 

All Results must be sent to results@medwaybasketball.co.uk to inform the website. This should be done at the end of the game or at the latest by MIDNIGHT on the day of the game. 

The winning team shall notify the Fixtures Secretary or Competitions Secretary of the result of the match by text or email promptly – failure to do so will result in them defaulting the match.

The home team must also notify the Fixtures / Competitions Secretary with the result of a game within 24 HOURS of the fixture taking place. This must be done by sending a FULLY LEGIBLE scan / photo of the WHITE COPY of the scoresheet to the relevant official. Please see the 6.Fines and Penalties (below) for details of the fines that can be incurred by late delivery of scoresheets.

Please note that if any notes regarding Disqualifications / Abandonment / Signing Under Protest are made on the back of the scoresheet BOTH SIDES must be scanned and submitted.

It would be appropriate to copy the away team as well as the Fixtures / Competition Secretary.

 

5. Playing Courts

Each Club must provide its own venue. Matches may only be played on those courts, which have been accepted by all Member Clubs in accordance with Basketball England guidelines regarding insurance.

6. Fines and Penalties

Failure to e-mail a scoresheet to the Fixtures / Competitions Secretary within 24 hours of the game – £5.00 fine. In addition, if a scoresheet is not received within 7 days of the game in the case of a League fixture, a point will be deducted from the League table in respect of the Home team.

Failure to notify a valid cancellation or postponement within 7 days – £15.00 fine.

Failure to agree in advance with the Fixtures / Competitions Secretary a new date for a rearranged game – £15.00 fine.

Playing a player who has not been allocated to one of the Club’s teams on PlayHQ via the Club Administrator’s access – £5.00 fine per player and the result of the game will stand.

7. Referees

Referees are currently arranged by the Officials Secretary except where teams play outside of the Area in which case they will be responsible for providing local referees as requested by the Officials Secretary. Referees for ALL Division 1 & Cup / Plate games will be arranged by the Officials Secretary

All referees must hold a current referee’s licence.

8. Expenses and Fees for Match Officials

a) Each referee shall receive expenses of £40.00 per match. This must be paid to the referee prior to the start of the match by the Home Team in the case of League Matches. In the case of Cup & Plate competitions each team will pay half of the referees’ expenses. Payment should be in cash or by electronic transfer by prior agreement.

b) Should only one Official arrive at a venue that match shall be played, subject to consultation with both teams; at the discretion of that Official and that Official shall receive expenses of £60.00.

c) In the case of disputes over the payment of expenses, a referee who travels to a game, having been legitimately requested to do so, but is not required to officiate is entitled to claim the standard expenses from the Management Committee. The Management Committee may require such sum to be paid by a member club if it is deemed to be at fault.

d) Payment of Table Officials will be by arrangement with the home team at a rate agreed with the home team.

 

Additional Rules Governing the Senior League

9.  League Season

The League Season will commence and end on such dates agreed by the Management Committee.

 

10. League Table

a) Two points will be awarded to the winning team of each game; one point will be awarded for a defeat.

b) In the event of a withdrawal or expulsion of a team the record of that team shall be deleted from the League Table and the Guarantee Fee shall be forfeited.

c) In the event of a team not completing 75% of its fixtures within the cut-off date for playing games (30 April unless determined or agreed otherwise by the Committee) its results will be deleted from the League Table and that team shall finish last with zero points.

 

11. Constitution of Divisions

The Constitution of the Divisions shall be determined by the Management Committee, taking regard where possible of the requests of any Clubs. However, the team finishing last in Division One shall be relegated and the team finishing first in Division Two shall be promoted.

If the team which wins division 2 does not take part in the league the following season, the next placed continuing team will be promoted instead.

Due to the significant imbalance in the number of teams across the two divisions, for the 2026-27 season  the top three continuing teams in Division 2 may be promoted to Division 1 subject to a similar number of teams entering the MBA competitions in the 2027-28 season.

New teams will be placed in the appropriate division

 12. Eligibility

A player must be affiliated to a Club/Team by 31st January in any given season in order to be eligible to participate in any subsequent league games in that season.

 

Additional Rules Governing the Senior Cup, Plate, Play-Off & Rosebowl Competitions

13. Competition Entry

All participating clubs must play in the Medway Basketball League.

The Management Committee shall have authority to allow entry by and to set fees for non-member Clubs wishing to participate in the Association’s Competitions.

14. Match Fees

The home team shall be responsible for court hire charges.  Each team will be responsible for half of the referees’ fees. 

15. Players

Players may only play for one team during any one season.

16. Eligibility for Finals

Players in the finals must have played at least one match in the earlier rounds of the competition.

17. Venues for Competition Finals

The finals of all competitions will be played at neutral venues on dates to be decided by the Competitions Secretary.

18. Additional Rules for the Senior Cup & Plate Competitions

a) The draw will be seeded, with the first division teams being kept apart from each other and second division teams playing at home as far as numbers allow.

b) The losers of the first round will automatically be entered into the Plate, which will be played alongside the Cup throughout the rest of the season. However, any team losing by default will NOT proceed to the Plate competition.

c) Defaults in Cup First Round – where a higher seeded team defaults in the first round of the Cup Competition, the winning lower seeded team shall have the option to progress either into the second round of the Cup Competition or the first round of the Plate Competition: with the decision on which option is being taken to be notified to the Competitions Secretary within 14 days of such default.

19. Additional Rules for the Play-Off Competition(s)

a) The Play-Off competition(s) will be contested at the end of the league programme between the top teams in each Division using a multi-game format to be confirmed prior to commencement.

b) To be eligible to participate in a Play-Off game, a player must have played in at least 3 regular league games for that team in the current season.

20. Additional Rules for the Medway Rosebowl (‘Handicap’ Competition)

a) Handicaps will be decided upon by the Management Committee and will be based on the performances of the current season, up to an agreed cut-off date.

b) THE HANDICAP IS NOT OPEN TO APPEAL.

c) The score at the start of each game is the difference between the handicaps, i.e.. Team A (10) v Team B (42) – starting score 0-32.

d) Players must have played a minimum of FOUR games before 1st March to be eligible to take part.

21. Regulations for Staging Tournaments

The Management Committee shall set such rules as it sees fit for any Tournaments run by or for the Association.

END OF COMPETITION RULES