In January the NECLTL Committee sent a document to all club’s match/tennis secretaries which shows the team a player is tied to for the forthcoming season. Please refer to this document first before contacting the NECLTL Match Secretaries.
We appreciate that some players will be moving down to a lower team. Please refer to the Rule 20 and the information below.
(Just substitute the team name, to suit your own club’s circumstances. i.e. 2nd team to 3rd team, 3rd team to 4th team etc…)
The basic rule that the League adopts is that if a player moves down into a lower team, the player must play the majority of the season’s matches in the next lower team down. We also appreciate that these players are usually the first to be asked to play occasionally in the higher team when there is a shortage. So, for example, if Player A, who was a 1st team player in 2023, is now a 2nd team player, it’s no problem, provided that the majority of their matches are now played for the 2nd team – if this situation is likely to change, (longer term injuries, illness, work commitments of the higher team players etc), please let the relevant NECLTL Match Secretary know immediately.
Eg: “Player A” plays 7 times for the 2nd team and 4 times for the 1st team – ok, as they have played the majority of their matches for the 2nd team.
“Player A” plays 4 times for the 2nd team and 4 times for the 1st team – not ok as they haven’t played the majority of their matches for the 2nd team. The 2nd team will be penalised for every time they play “down”.
“Player A” plays 3 times for the 2nd team and 6 times for the 1st team – not ok as they haven’t played the majority of their matches for the 2nd team. The 2nd team will be penalised for every time they play “down”.
Note: Players can only move to the next team down and must not “jump down” to play for a team which is two or three levels below their previously recognised team. Eg, if a player was a 2nd team player last year, then this year they can only move permanently down to the 3rd team and not play on the 4th or 5th teams etc, unless specific authorisation has been granted in advance by the relevant NECLTL Match Secretary.
It is the team captain’s responsibility to monitor the playing record of all their club’s players. Any breaches of this rule will be referred to the NECLTL Disputes sub-Committee.
