Medway Basketball Association — Senior 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 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 Both the Senior League, Cup, Plate & 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 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 the team’s overall points difference across all games.

b) 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

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.

a) 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 to the team that cannot fulfil it. Retrospective permission may be obtained where there is insufficient time to contact the Fixtures/Competitions Secretary. 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. If there is insufficient time to notify the officials of the postponement before the time scheduled for the tip-off, the team initiating the postponement shall be liable for the officials’ fees.

c) The team initiating the postponement of a fixture shall be liable for any court fees.

d) It is the responsibility of the team initiating the postponement to arrange officials for the re-arranged fixture. The officials originally allocated will not be obliged to officiate at the re-arranged fixture.

e) Where the reason for postponement is severe weather conditions, both teams shall share any court fees.

 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, 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) Provide competent table officials. The match referees shall report to the Management Committee if they do not consider the table officials to be competent.

e) Send the Fixtures/Competitions Secretary the white copy of the score sheet by post and by e -mail

f) Send the result to results@medwaybasketball.co.uk copying the away team. This will inform the website.

 4. Result Notification

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

The white copy of your scoresheet should be forwarded to the relevant official within SEVEN days of the match taking place. Failure to do so will result in a £5.00 fine (see 6. Fines and Penalties for more details).

 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

Refereeing Defaults – The following fines will be levied in the event of a refereeing default:

• 1st Default: £20.00 fine
• 2nd Default: £30.00 fine
• 3rd Default: £40.00 fine
• 4th Default: Expulsion from League & Cup Competitions (subject to the Committee’s discretion)

Failure to send a score sheet to the Fixtures/Competitions Secretary to be received within 7 days of the game – £5.00 fine. In addition, if a score sheet is not received within 14 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.

Failure to enter any BE registration numbers correctly for players or coaches on a scoresheet – £10.00 fine per scoresheet – this fine will be levied on the home team (which has responsibility for completing the scoresheet), unless the away team has not provided registration numbers, in which case the table official should write “registration numbers not supplied” on the score sheet and the away team will be fined.

Playing a player who has been registered direct with BE or another area, but whose details have not been provided to the MBA Registrar – £5.00 fine per player and the result of the game will stand.

 7. Referees

Each Club will be allocated a number of fixtures for which it will be responsible for providing an independent referee or referees to officiate at. The scoresheet must show which club an official is representing.

 8. Expenses and Fees for Match Officials

a) Each referee shall receive expenses of £30.00 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 and by the Away Team in the case of cup competitions.

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 £50.00.

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 fee 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.

 9. Clubs with More Than One Team

Notwithstanding Regulation 5, for development purposes, a junior player may play up from a Club’s second team to its first team any number of times, in League games only, during a season, unless decided otherwise by the Committee.

Additional Rules Governing The Senior League

 10. League Season

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

 11. 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) it results will be deleted from the League Table and that team shall finish last with zero points.

 12. 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.

Additional Rules Governing the Senior Cup, Plate & Rosebowl Competitions

 13. Competition Entry

All participating clubs must play in the Medway Basketball League.

 14. Match Fees

The home team shall be responsible for court hire charges, whilst the away team shall be responsible for 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 first round 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.

19. 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 the start of the Rosebowl to be eligible to take part.

20. 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

CVL RULES

a.) All players, coaches and referees involved in Medway Basketball Association CVL games must be licensed with Basketball England.  Referees must be qualified up to at least level 1.  This is required for insurance purposes

b.) A size 5 ball is to be used for U10 competitions; a size 6 ball is to be used for the U14 and girls competitions with size 7 balls to be used for all other competitions.

c.) Man-to-man defence must be played at all times in U14 competition.  Principles for what should be considered zone defence are based on the guidance within Basketball England’s “No Zone Defence regulations” under the “Downloads” section of the Officiating section of the Basketball England website. However, the basic principles are that a violation has occurred when

• One or more players are not in a normal man-to-man position in relation to their player and the basketball (help defence is permitted, as would a double team on a press).
• A player cutting through the key is not defended in normal man-to-man coverage; i.e. by following them, switching or bumping them to change direction.
• The penalty for playing a zone defence is a team warning on the first offence with player technical fouls (with one free throw and possession from the half-way line) for every subsequent violation by the team.

d.) Players who are disqualified for two unsportsmanlike fouls or a disqualifying foul are suspended for a minimum of that teams next two CVL games at that age group (effective immediately) and are prohibited from playing in any other age group CVL games until their ban has been served.  Further disciplinary action may be taken after the event is over if the circumstances warrant.  If necessary, a disciplinary committee consisting of at least 3 representatives from the clubs present and not connected with the incident concerned or any independent referees or MBA officials present may be convened with full authority to make decisions impacting fixtures scheduled for that day.

e.) In cases where the head coach is disqualified from a game, the assistant coach provided on the team sheet will become the head coach. The assistant coach in this circumstance must be over 18. If no assistant coach is listed or they are under the age of 18, that team loses that game via forfeit, with the result standing at the point of termination or claiming the game 20-0, whichever is greater.