1) Playing Formats

1a) Competitive Format (2 out of 3 sets)
Best two out of three 6-game pro sets with ads.  If a set goes to 6-6 a first to 7-point tie breaker should be used to determine the winner of the set. The tie breaker format should be used for all three sets. Preferred Playoffs and Tourney format if time is not an issue.

1b) 2 sets with 3rd set tie breaker
If the match is tied at 1 set apiece and the match is running too long, the players can agree to play a 10-point super tie breaker to decide the match.

1c) 10 game pro set
If the players agree before the match or you are limited to 1-hour of court time. This means the first to win 10 games. But, if the match is ended because of a time restriction than the score at the conclusion is the score for the match. At 9-9, a best to 7-point tie breaker will be used to determine the winner. This format is played with ads.

1d) Fast Tennis - 4 game pro sets
If the players agree before the match or you are limited to on court time. This comes by many names: NextGen Format is one of them. This format keeps even a full match to no more than 1 hour and 30 minutes. First to 4 games, 3 set format with No ad scoring. Play 7 point tie-breakers at 3-3. At deuce the next point is a golden point with the receiver having choice of side.

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Format 1a is the recommended default and can be adjusted based on the limitations laid out above.

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2) Tennis Balls

Each player is required to bring a new can of tennis balls to every match. We recommend the winning player  take home the unopened can. The other player can take home the used balls. 

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3) Honor System

Line calls must be made without delay by the side playing the ball; otherwise, the ball shall be presumed to have been good. In general, no ball can be called out upon less than 100% certainty. The best approach on a call that both players disagree on is to replay the point.

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4) Changing court ends

Participants must change court ends after odd number of games have been played.

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5) Choosing court location

The league wants players to choose a location to play that is convenient for both players. The league plans to provide a SUGGESTED schedule but that is just a guideline. Both players should be choosing a location that works best for both players. We have the best list of tennis courts with player submitted ratings to help with determining where to play.

Players need to follow the rules of the courts they are playing at. Participating in a WSSC matchup doesn't give you privileges to break the rules of the local court. If we receive word that players are improperly using the WSSC name in such cases it will lead to immediate removal from the league.

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6) Reporting Scores

All scores shall be reported by the winning player using the website developed for the league. If an issue shall arise reporting the score please send an email to play@txsportswaco.com

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7) Qualifying for the Playoffs

A player who gets 'X' of wins criteria defined by the league during the season will qualify for the playoffs. With 'X' being the win total on the division report. It is usually 5 wins for Male Divisions and 4 wins for Female Divisions. It could be different for each division in a season. No-show wins will count towards the 5 wins to qualify for the playoffs. Qualifiers will be bracketed against the other qualifiers from the same level. Players need to be available for the playoffs to qualify for the playoffs.

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8) Playoff Positioning, Tie-Breakers

Regular season ties are broken by this order:

10a) Overall Record, based on matches over .500.  So 6-1 is 5 matches, 8-2 is 6 matches and would be better.

10b) In Season Head-to-Head record for players tied at #1

10c) We want to promote players playing matches, so 6-1 would be better than 5-0.

10d) Percentage of games won

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9) Player Disqualification

Based on complaints to the organization, we reserve the right to:

a) Place any player who has violated the standards of good conduct, abuse of cancellation policy, abuse of league administrators, fair play and/or good sportsmanship on probation for an indefinite period. League fee will not be reimbursement in such player disqualifications.

b) Ban any player from the league indefinitely.

c) Any player found submitting a fake win for whatever reason will be banned from the program.

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10) Canceling a scheduled tennis match

A participant is required to make phone calls and send emails to cancel a tennis match. The league is not responsible to cancel matches for players. YOU NEED TO REACH THE PLAYER TO LET THEM KNOW, so to avoid a potential no-show situation. If the player doesn't try all forms of communication to cancel a match a strike will be applied to the offending player.
 

11) Withdrawals from league

A participant who withdraws from the league due to injury or time constraints is required to make the administrator aware of the withdrawal. This player will either be removed from the website or receive the '**' Out for the Season flag. The player will not be reimbursed the league fee.

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12) Lack of Payment rule

No player shall receive the contact information of other opponents in his/her projected league until they have made payment to the administrator. If a player has started in a league w/o payment, we reserve the right to replace that player at anytime with a player who has paid League fees.

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13) Match Play Official Defaults

A player who is found in violation of any of these will be ruled in default.

a) 20-Minute Late Rule without notification: Failure to appear on the court within 20 minutes of the starting time without notification.

b) 30-Minute Late Rule WITH notification: Failure to appear on the court within 30 minutes of the starting time with notification.

c) Injury or Walk-off: Matches not completed due to an opponent's injury or quitting before match completion shall award the win to the remaining or non-injured player. Final score will be the final score before the injury or walk-off.

d) Equipment failure: Should an item of a player's equipment fail for any reason (broken racquet string, sole of shoe comes apart, etc.), and that player cannot continue with the match, the player needs to retire and the score is deemed final with the other player being credited the win.

The league does not give default wins for a match where two players just couldn't get on the courts and play.

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14) Resolving on Court Conflicts

All matches that are reported back to the league with an on court conflict will be put on a 24 hour time clock to allow for cooler heads to prevail. If the conflict is reported over the weekend it will be resolved on the next non-holiday workday.

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15) No-shows and Late Cancellations, 3-strike policy

Late cancellation within 4 hours of the match: Players now get a 0-0 win for the non-offending player and 1 strike will be recorded to the player canceling within the 4 hour time period. Only exempt reason is rain/wet playing surface. Please refer to rule #14 for cancellation policy

No-show or canceling within 1 hour of the match: If a player doesn't show up to a match without trying to call and send an email, 2 strikes will be recorded against the offending player. If the player contests the 2 strikes, they can appeal and potentially have it decrease to 1 strike. The match will be recorded as a 0-0 win for the non-offending player and the league suggests the players not reschedule the match.
A player who gets canceled within one hour of the match is requested to submit a no-show.
The player left waiting at the courts needs to wait at least 20 minutes before submitting a no-show.
The player who did not show up for the match needs to reimburse any court fees or parking fees before they will be allowed to continue playing.

A player may receive strikes for poor sportsmanship. If a player attains 3 strikes in a calendar year, they will be removed from the current season and they need to take the following season off. This player's league fee will not be reimbursed.

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16) Court Fees need to be reimbursed upon No-show.

If a player no-shows to a match and a court fee was paid for the court, the player who no-shows will be retired from the season until the court cost is reimbursed.

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MOST IMPORTANTLY!

THIS IS A SOCIAL LEAGUE: Have fun and make new friends. The game may or may not go your way!