London Volleyball League Rules 2010 / 2011

1. Administration

1.1. Affiliation and Fees

All teams in competitions administered by the London Volleyball Association must be representatives of clubs who are members of the Association and affiliated to Volleyball England. Entry fees must be paid with the application form.

A goodwill deposit must be maintained at a level set by the London Executive.

1.2. Acceptance of Rules

Any application to participate in a competition organised by the London Volleyball Association will constitute acceptance of these rules and conditions.

1.3. Management

The League will be run by a League Sub-Committee of the Association. Each Division will be run by a Divisional Administrator appointed by the London Executive annually. The League Sub-Committee will consist of all the Divisional Administrators and a member of the Executive.

1.4. League Meeting

All teams should send a representative to the League Meeting of the London Volleyball Association.

1.5. Amendments to Rules

Amendments to these rules may be made by the Executive Committee of the London Volleyball Association at any time. However, in normal circumstances amendments applicable to a particular season would not be made after entries have been received.

2. Match Organisation

2.1. Setting Dates

Published match dates are treated as confirmed. Any date change request must be made to the opposition and Divisional Administrator with at least two weeks notice.

A request to change a match date must include the reason for requesting the change and 3 alternative dates which do not clash with known fixtures of the opposition. If the Divisional Administrator accepts the reason as being beyond the control of the Club and their Players, and the dates are acceptable, then they will inform the opposition that they should accept one of the proposed dates within a week of the notice.

A team not adhering to the timetable of re-arrangement will be deemed to default at the original date if a new date is not agreed with opposition and noted with Divisional Administrator within two weeks of such rescheduling request.

The team rescheduling the original fixture will be liable to any costs incurred by the home team.

2.2. Match Invitation

The home team must offer the arrangements in writing to the secretary of the visiting team (In writing includes email, fax or postal correspondence.). This correspondence should be received at least two weeks but no more than 4 weeks before the proposed date for the match.

The arrangements will include the venue, start time of the warm-up and time of the first service. There must be at least twenty minutes between these times.

The visiting team must confirm the arrangements in writing within one week of receiving the offer.

All correspondence must be retained in case of a dispute arising.

Any team who cannot make the confirmed match date will normally default the match.

2.3. Match Start

Matches shall be played with first service between 7.30pm and 9pm on a Monday-Friday evening, or between 11am and 8pm at weekends, or at other times with the agreement of both teams.

At least two hours of court time must be booked per game.

Late arriving players can play in the match provided their names are on the scoresheet at the beginning of the match. They cannot play until the start of a new set after their arrival.

Any reason for the late start of a fixture must be recorded on the scoresheet, prior to the first service.

An incomplete team will lose the first set 25-0 at the scheduled match start time, and the second set 25-0 15 minutes thereafter, and then default the match 3-0 15 further minutes thereafter.

When a late arriving team becomes complete, they can have a 10-minute warm up, but the sets lost through lateness would stand.

2.4. Match End

If the match runs over scheduled court time, the referee should allow the match to finish as much as possible. Based on information available to the referee, he/she should call time on the match when it can continue no more.

An incomplete match would be given to the team with the most sets won. For this purpose, an incomplete set is counted as a win for the team with a lead of 2 or more points, otherwise a tie. If set scores are tied, winner is the team with the most points won. If teams are still tied, then the two teams each get 2 league points.

3. The Match

3.1. Rules

Matches will be played to FIVB rules as published by Volleyball England. Matches will be played to the best of 5 sets, unless mutual agreement, obtained in advance, is reached.

3.2. Score Sheets

The home team must provide a visual scoreboard. Official scoresheets must be used for all fixtures, the responsibility for which will lie with the home club, and all sections must be completed. The winning team will be responsible for sending the top copy of the scoresheet to the Divisional Administrator, postmarked not later than seven days after the fixture.

3.3. Venue

Ordinarily, a valid fixture must take place inside the London Region. If a club intends to play a London League fixture outside of the region:

• more than twice in one season permission must be sought from the Divisional Administrator to validate the fixtures.
• less than three times in one season, the club need only seek the agreement from the opposition in advance.

4. Players

4.1. Eligibility

All divisions of the London League constitute one single competition.

A player can only represent one club in the competition, in addition to an Academy team.

A player's registration (4.2) associates them with a team. When a player's club has more than one team the player may represent other teams from the club that are in higher divisions for up to a combined total maximum of three games.

In addition the player may represent another team from the club that is not in a higher division for up to a combined total maximum of one game but only where the other team has a maximum of six other non-libero players recorded on the score sheet all of whom are associated with the team.

Players, who are registered as U18 juniors with the Divisional Administrator by submission of their Date of Birth with registration, may play up any number of times per season. Age is taken at 1st Sept of the start of season.

Men can not play in the Women's section of the Competition, and neither can women play in the Men's Section.

All players must have uniform shirts each distinctly numbered between 1 and 99.

Banned members are deemed ineligible until the ban is served.

4.2. Registration

The Club must get the agreement of each player to be registered with them for the current season.

All Players must have a registration card, which should be presented at each match, and the number recorded against the player, and their shirt number, on the score sheet. Clubs entering more than one team must specify for which team each player is registered.

Existing registrations can be renewed before league starts, and new registrations can be registered on the match day, where his/her card is sent to Divisional Administrator together with the scoresheet.

No registration will be accepted after 31 March.

Players registered to play with a Volleyball Academy team can also be registered with another London League Team in a different Division from that the Academy is assigned to.

4.3. Transfers

Players may transfer between teams once per season providing:

• The current Club is not left with less than 6 players.
• No money or kit etc. is owed to the current club.
• The transfer is completed before 1 April.

A current club refusing to release a player on either of the above grounds must provide written proof to support their claim.

The player or either club can apply to the Divisional Administrator for the transfer process to be started by completing and submitting the transfer request form.

A fully signed transfer form and the player's card shall be with the Divisional Administrator, whose approval is required before the player can play for the new club.

In the event of a dispute, the Divisional Administrator’s decision will be final.

Any player transferring within a club forfeits any remaining entitlement to playing up or down.

5. Officials

The home team must appoint match officials and a scorer, as detailed below, except where officials are appointed by the Divisional Administrator.

Division	First Referee	Second Referee	Scorer
Premier	Registered and Independent	Registered	Present
Div 1	Registered and Independent	Present	Present
Below Div 1	Registered and Independent	Optional	Present

The First Referee must be independent of the home club. Referees must be registered with Volleyball England and their registration number must be recorded on the scoresheet. Where a club fails to pay a referee his/her agreed fee a penalty will be applied, the penalty will be the same as the match being played without a referee.

6. Disciplinary Issues

6.1. Penalties & Fines

League penalty points and fines may be levied at the discretion of the Divisional Administrator for breaches of the rules. The maximum financial penalty will be to the level of team’s deposit. Serious and repeat offences may lead to teams being barred from further participation in the competition.

Penalties and fines can be issued for failure to adhere to rules regarding:

• Fixture Dates and Timing
• Venue and venue equipment (as described in FIVB match rules, e.g. aerials, referee’s stands etc.)
• Player registration
• Team kit
• Match Officials
• Persistent late arrival of teams
• Late arrival of scoresheets

Following suspensions shall be levied against players / coaches receiving sanctions from a referee:

• Two penalties - written warning (to the Club)
• Three penalties - 1 match ban
• One expulsion - 1 match ban
• One disqualification - 2 match ban

Any physical aggression shall be dealt with by a sub committee, where the severity of punishment will be decided upon.

Bans must be served at a match of the team the player is registered with. Coaches serve their bans with the team who they were coaching at the time of the sanction.

6.2. Disputes

In the event of a dispute in the London League, that dispute should be referred to the Divisional Administrator for judgement in settlement.

6.3. Appeals

Any appeals against decision made by the Divisional Administrator will be to the League Sub-Committee and must be submitted in writing within 2 weeks of the decision being communicated. A deposit of £10 shall be lodged with any appeal; such deposit shall be returned if the appeal is successful.

7. End of Season

7.1. League Scoring System

The winning team in each fixture will receive three points, the losing team one point and in the case of a tie when time runs out two points each. Teams that default will receive no points. The final order of each division will be decided by the number of League points won by each team before a date fixed as the end of the season by the Divisional Administrator. In the event of a tie on league points, position will be decided by the following criteria, in order of descending importance:

• Sets difference
• Game Points difference

7.2. Promotion Relegation

7.2.1. Automatic relegation

A team not playing at least 60% of its matches will lose their deposit and be relegated.

7.2.2. Between Men's Premier (MP) and the two Men's Division 1s (M1)

As of league table positions on 1st May, the bottom two teams from MP will be relegated and the winners in the two M1s will be promoted.

The runners-up in each of the M1s then play each other in a one match play-off (P1) for the right to play the 3rd from bottom placed team in MP in a second one match play-off (P2). The winner of P2 takes a place in next season's MP and the other a place in M1.

The Administrator (Admin) for both matches will be the Divisional Administrator for the first named M1 division in the handbook. The costs of each match will be shared equally by the teams playing.

The Admin will choose by random (coin toss) which team will host the P1 match and inform both teams on 2nd May. The match will be played under the rules pertaining to M1 and between 7th and 15th May. The host must give the opposition at least 7 days notice.

The P2 match will be played under rules pertaining to MP and hosted by the MP team between the 21st and 31st of May. The arrangements for this match must be announced to the Admin and both participants of P1 by 15th May.

Both P1 and P2 can be played earlier than specified above, and/or the host changed only if both participating teams agree and tell the Admin.

7.2.3. Between all other divisions

Divisional winners will be promoted, and the bottom team will be relegated.

When the number of entries to the league is known, a decision will be taken on the number of divisions and the number of teams in each. Other than the promoted & relegated teams, teams will be allocated to divisions working from the top downwards, filling the divisions.

If this results in only 1 team being promoted and 1 team being relegated between 2 divisions, then a 2nd team will be promoted and a 2nd team relegated.

Revision history:

Revised August 2010
Revised March 2011: Rule 1.4 had following sentence removed 'Only teams sending a representative will be eligible for a discount on their league entry fees for the following season.'

©London Volleyball Association