NMBL

Tournament Rules 2005/6

Team membership:

• The team will comprise of 4 or 5 boys & 4 or 5 girls
• No World Class/World Class Observation players
• Maximum one grade 2 boy and one grade 2 girl per team (grade 2 for any age group shown on the latest list produced by Badminton England for the current season
• Players at U12, U14, U16 must be under the relevant age on the 31st December 2005
• Primary must be in year 6 or below
• U18 must be in year 13 or below and should not have played more than once for their senior county first team

Rank Order:

• A list of players, ranked in order of singles must be handed to the event organizer at the start of the day
• Team Managers may change their team for each match, provided that the players are always played in rank order - i.e. no player may play in a lower position than ranked
• If a new doubles pairing is used, the ranking of the new pair becomes binding
• The rank order will be scrutinised and may, if necessary, be changed by the Referee
• Penalty Where a team plays a player/pair out of rank order then the points will be awarded to the opponents game-0

The Referee:

• The event organiser for each event is classed as the Referee
• The Referee's decision in all matters is final

The Team Managers:

• The composition of the teams must be given to the Referee where possible at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start of the match
• Where for any reason a team cannot field a full side (due to injury or lack of player) then the 2nd events (e.g. 2nd singles/doubles/mixed) are to be conceded first
• In the event of any player being incapacitated after play in a match has begun, a Team Manager shall be entitled to include a substitute in subsequent games provided that:
  • the event organizer agrees that such substitution does not contravene the rules of the competition and
  • the Team Manager of the opposing team is notified
• Each Team Manager is responsible for the good behaviour of each member of the team, both on and off the court
• Shuttlecocks:
• Each Team Manager of the participating teams is to provide shuttles for the games

Players:

• A player is restricted to a maximum of 2 games per match, which must be in different events.
• Players must be ready to play when called
• Players are expected to act in an appropriate manner both on and off the court

Order of Play:

• The counties entered will be divided into groups appropriate for the size of entry
• Each county will play all other counties within the group
• The order of matches played is at the discretion of the Referee
• The Team Managers have the discretion to change the order in which the games are played within each match e.g. whether to play the mixed or singles first
• The Referee reserves the right to change the format if the size of the entry warrants it, but any such change should be notified to the counties in good time & in advance of the event
• At the discretion of the Referee, second round new groups are to be created from the results of the first round of games e.g. all counties who finish first in their group will play each other and so on to create overall team placing for the event

The programme:

A match will comprise of the following games where time allows

2 x boys singles
2 x girls singles
2 x boys doubles
2 x girls doubles
2 x mixed doubles

Match and Group winners:

The following criteria will be used in order to establish a winner

Matches:

1. The county which wins the most games
2. The county which scores the most points
3. The county which wins the majority of matches 1BS 1GS 1BD 1GD MD

Groups:

1. The county which wins the most matches
2. The county which wins the most games
3. The county which wins the most points
4. The winner in each match between the two otherwise equal counties

Overall winner:

The overall winner is decided by adding together the results from both tournaments for that age group. The winning county at each tournament is allocated a score of 1, the runner-up 2, the next 3, & so on. The scores for the two tournaments are added together to give an overall score. The county team with the lowest score wins. In the event that 2 counties have the same total, the winner is:

1. The county which has won the most matches in total
2. The county which has won the most games in total
3. The total points from both tournaments.