London League Rules

1. VENUE: Ordinarily, a valid fixture shall take place inside the boundary of a London Borough. If a club intends to play a London League fixture outside of the region:

(i) more than twice in one season (i.e. the regular venue is outside the boundaries), permission shall be sought from the competition organiser to validate the fixtures.

(ii) less than three times in one season, the club need only seek the agreement from the opposition in advance.

2. AFFILIATION AND FEES: All teams in competitions administered by the London Volleyball Association shall be representatives of clubs affiliated to the English Volleyball Association. Entry fees must be paid with the application form.

3. REGISTRATION: All Players will have a registration card, which must be presented at each match, and the number recorded against the player, and their shirt number, on the score sheet. All teams must have uniformed shirts each distinctly numbered between 1 and 99. Clubs entering more than one team must specify for which team each player is registered. Each team entering the London League must nominate a qualified and registered referee. More than one team cannot nominate the same referee.

4. LEAGUE MEETING: All teams shall send a representative to the League Meeting of the London Volleyball Association. Teams not sending a representative will not be eligible for a discount on their league entry fees for the following season. The London Volleyball Association Executive Committee will agree the level of the discount.

5. PLAYER ELIGIBILITY: All divisions of the London League constitute one single competition. Players shall only represent one team in the competition although clubs with two or more teams may play players up or down subject to a maximum of 3 games played up or 1 game played down per person per season. Players who are registered as U18 juniors with the Competition Organiser may play up any number of times per season. In any one game only one player per team may play down. Men shall not play in the Women's section of the Competition, and neither shall Women play in the Men's Section. Only one player registered with the E.V.A. as National League 1st or 2nd Division is eligible to register with a club in the bottom Division.

The player or either club can apply to the competition organiser for the transfer process to be started by completing and submitting the transfer request form. Written agreement of all parties will be sought and the player's card must be with the organiser before the player can play for the new club. A current club refusing to release a player on either of the above grounds must provide written proof to support their claim. If indebtedness is discovered after the transfer is complete the new club shall be liable. In the event of a dispute, the organiser’s decision will be final. Any player transferring within a club forfeits any remaining entitlement to playing up or down.

7. MATCH RULES: Matches shall be played to F.I.V.B. rules as published by the E.V.A., except where modified by the rules of individual competitions. Matches shall be played to the best of 5 sets, unless mutual agreement, obtained in advance, is reached.

8. MATCH OFFICIALS: The home team shall appoint a scorer and match officials, as detailed below, except where officials are appointed by the Competition Organiser.

Division	First Referee	Second Referee	Scorer
Premier	Registered and Independent	Registered	Present
First	Registered and Independent	Present	Present
Second or below	Registered and Independent	Optional	Present

The First Referee must be independent of the home club. Referees must be registered with the English Volleyball Association 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.

9. FIXTURE DATES & TIMINGS: The fixture must be played on the date scheduled by the Competition Organiser, except in exceptional circumstances which must be agreed with the Competition Organiser. 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.

The home team must offer the arrangements in writing[1] to the secretary of the visiting team. The arrangements will include 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. Any alteration to these arrangements must be by mutual agreement, in writing, and with the approval of the Competition Organiser. The team cancelling the original fixture will be liable to any costs incurred by the home team, and a new date must be agreed within two weeks of such cancellation notice and advised to the Competition Organiser. All correspondence must be retained in case of a dispute arising.

Any team that arrives late will have a minimum of 10 minutes warm up time, provided the match starts within half an hour of the agreed time for the first service.

If a team has not arrived or is incomplete at the scheduled start time, this should be recorded on the scoresheet by the referee. If, after a further 20 minutes; either

(i) if either team has not arrived; this should be noted and the other team may claim the match, or

(ii) if either team is incomplete this should be noted, and a time agreed and noted when the incomplete team will be deemed to default.

If the match is stopped because of lack of court time, the result will be at the discretion of the Competition Organiser, taking into account the booked times and referee’s notes on the scoresheet.

10. SCORESHEETS: The home team must provide a visual scoreboard. Official scoresheets shall be used for all fixtures, the responsibility for which shall lie with the home club, and all sections shall be completed. Any reason for a late start of fixture shall be recorded on the scoresheet, prior to the first service. The winning team shall be responsible for sending the top copy of the scoresheet to the competition organiser, postmarked not later than seven days after the fixture.

11. LEAGUE SCORING SYSTEM: The winning team in each fixture shall receive three points and the losing team one point. Teams that default will receive no points. The final order of each division shall be decided by the number of points won by each team before a date fixed as the end of the season by the Competition Organiser. In the event of a tie on points, position will be decided by the following criteria, in order of descending importance:

12. PENALTIES & FINES: League penalty points and fines may be levied at the discretion of the Competition Organiser 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:

· Venue and venue equipment (as described in FIVB match rules, e.g. aerials, referee’s stands etc.)

13. DISPUTES: In the event of a dispute in the London League, that dispute should be referred to the Competition Organiser for judgement in settlement.

14. APPEALS: Any appeals against decision made by the Competition Organiser shall be addressed to the Secretary of the London Volleyball Association for consideration by the Executive Committee of the Association, whose decision shall be final. A deposit of £10 must be lodged with any appeal, such deposit will be returned if the appeal is successful.

15. ACCEPTANCE OF RULES: Any application to participate in a competition organised by the London Volleyball Association shall constitute acceptance of these rules and conditions.

16. 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. Suggestions for improvements to these rules are welcomed at any time and should be directed to the Secretary of the Association for inclusion in the next meeting of the Executive.

[1] ^{In writing include email, fax or post correspondence. This
correspondence should be received at least two weeks before the proposed
date for the match.}