1   Clubs

The Los Angeles Ping Pong Federation (LA Ping Pong for short) is a federation of table tennis clubs and schools in Southern California. Any table tennis club or school in the region which meets the minimum requirements outlined in this section can participate in LA Ping Pong and field teams in the LA Ping Pong League.

1.1   Club Requirements

Clubs or schools participating in the league must:

a.     Have equipment (tables and nets) and playing conditions (flooring, space, lighting) suitable for competitive table tennis.

b.    Be open at least 1-2 days a week with afternoon or evening hours available for league competition.

c.     Be able to provide sufficient table time (approximately 2.5 hours on a single table) for each home contest scheduled for each team the club or school fields.

1.1.1  Assessing Club Suitability for League Play

In cases where a club or school wishes to participate in the league, but it does not obviously meet the above requirements or there is a question about its suitability for league play, the LA Ping Pong Board will appoint one or more individuals to meet with representatives from the club and inspect the club’s facilities. The appointed individuals will report their findings to the Board and the Board will reach a final decision regarding whether the club is allowed to participate in the League.

1.2   Club Representatives

Each club will designate a representative to serve as the primary point of contact for scheduling and other league related matters. The club representative could be a club owner/president or another member of the club.

2     Teams

Each team participating in the league must represent an LA Ping Pong club (see Section 1) and must be approved by the club owner/management. The decision about whether or not a particular group of people is able to form a team representing a particular club is at the sole discretion of that club.

2.1   Roster Size

A team roster must consist of a minimum of 3 players and a maximum of 6 players. Team rosters must be submitted prior to the season registration deadline. During the regular season, roster additions or replacements are allowed, provided that the team roster size limits are not exceeded. Once the playoffs begin, no further team roster modifications are permitted.

2.2   Individual Ratings

Each player on a team roster may have an individual rating, which could be either a league rating, USATT tournament rating, or NCTTA collegiate rating. If a player has multiple ratings, the highest of the ratings is used. Current ratings as of the league entry deadline for the season are used.

2.3   Team Ratings

A team’s rating is the average of individual ratings of players on the team roster, with the ratings of the top two players weighted more heavily (multipled by 1.5). For example, for a team roster of five players (A through E), the team rating would be calculated: (1.5 * A + 1.5 * B + C + D + E) / 6.

2.4   Team Captains

Each team is responsible for designating at least one team captain. The team captain will serve as the primary contact and spokesperson for the team. League related communication, including scheduling and rule related-issues, will go through the team captain.

3     Divisions

Each team will be assigned to a division based on skill level (team rating) or age group (for youth divisions). In forming divisions, some accommodation may be made for geography or to separate multiple teams from the same club.

3.1   Division Coordinators

A Division Coordinator will be assigned to each division. Division Coordinators will communicate with the teams and clubs in their division, put together a division competition schedule for the season, and generally oversee the successful progression of league play in their division.

3.2   Division Format

Each team will play every other team in the division twice over the course of the season, with typically one home and one away match against each team. In certain circumstances (due to rescheduling needs, club availability, or other concerns), some matches may be played at a neutral club, 3rd party site or other location with approval of the Division Coordinator and relevant team captains.

3.3   Scheduling

Prior to the start of the league season, each Division Coordinator will draft a schedule for competition within a division. This schedule will take into account: club hours and availability, team availability, and other special events or concerns. The division schedule will be approved by the team captains in the division prior to the start of the season. All team contests must be played by a designated season end date or they will be recorded as defaults.

4     Competition Rules

Competition will follow USATT rules with additional guidelines for league play outlined in this section.

4.1   Team Contest Format

Each team contest will be the best of 5 matches:

a.     Four singles matches and one doubles match played in the following sequence:
A vs. X, B vs. Y, doubles, A or C vs. Y or W, B or D vs. X or Z

b.    A minimum of 2 and a maximum of 6 players from a team’s roster can compete in each team contest.

c.     Any two players can pair for the doubles match.

d.    Each individual player on a team can play in a maximum of 2 matches in the team contest (either 2 singles matches or 1 singles and 1 doubles match).

d.    All five matches in the team contest are played out regardless of the score in the team contest.

e.    Individual matches are best of 5 games to 11 points.

f.      Teams will earn two (2) points for a win, one (1) point for a loss, and zero (0) points for a default.

g.    The winning team in each division will be determined by the number of team contest points earned.

ITTF tie-breaking procedures (as described in Section 3.7.5 of the ITTF Regulations) will be used to determine winners among teams with the same number of team contest points.

4.1.1  Warm-Up

30 minutes prior to the scheduled team contest start time will be allotted for warm-up/practice. Warm-up will be on the designated competition table for the contest only (unless use of other tables is allowed by the home club operator). Club policies must be followed (see Section 4.3).

4.1.2  Defaults

The scheduled contest start time is default time. In the event a team does not show up by the scheduled start time, whichever team is present at the scheduled time is responsible for reporting the default.

4.2   Equipment

The home club is expected to make available at least one table/court for the team contest. Team contests will typically be played on a single table.

4.2.1  Balls

The home team is responsible for supplying balls for a team contest. At the start of the season, each team will be provided with 6 three-star balls for use in league matches.

4.3   Facility Policies

League participants and spectators are subject to the rules and policies of the home club or facility hosting a team contest. Members of the home team are still responsible for paying any club usage or membership fees charged by the host facility. Though visiting team players are not charged for league matches, use of the facility beyond the scheduled team contest may be subject to any club’s regular usage fees.

4.4   Uniforms

a.     Each team must have uniforms consisting of matching team shirts of the same color and design. Including the club name on a team’s uniform is preferred, but not required.

b.    Players must compete in uniform for all matches of the contest (some players may need multiple uniform shirts for a team contest).

c.    Players not in uniform cannot compete in a team contest. Matches played by players not in uniform will be defaulted.

4.5   Results Submission

a.     Match results from a team contest must be submitted by the home team electronically within 24 hours of the scheduled contest.

b.    Match results must be accompanied by at least one photo of the teams and players participating in the team contest, at least one action photo of one or more of the players during the competition, and at least one video of a highlight point from the team contest.

c.   Any incomplete results (submitted without photos or video as described in 4.5b) will be recorded as a default for the home team. Any players not appearing in the team photo wearing the team uniform will have their matches defaulted for uniform violations (see Section 4.4.c).

d.   Any results submitted more than 24 hours after the scheduled time for a team contest will be subject to a penalty of 0.5 team contest points (Section 4.1f) deducted from the home team for each additional day the results have not been submitted. The maximum penalty is the number of points the home team would have earned without any penalties.

4.5.1  Additional Content

Submission of additional photos, write-ups, videos or other content from a team contest is encouraged (and greatly appreciated).

4.6   Team Contest Rescheduling

Each team in a division approves the division schedule prior to the start of the season (as described in Section 3.3). After this initial approval of the schedule, any reschedules are at the discretion of the Division Coordinator. Reschedule requests must follow these procedures:

1. Submit a request to reschedule a team contest to the Division Coordinator at least 48 hours prior to the originally scheduled time for the contest. The request must propose at least two new dates/times for the team contest.
2. Wait for confirmation from the Division Coordinator that the match has been rescheduled and the online division schedule has been updated accordingly.
3. If a reschedule request remains unconfirmed and the online division schedule has not been updated as of the originally scheduled match date and time, the match must be played as indicated on the schedule. Any team that fails to show up at the originally scheduled match date and time will be defaulted per section 4.1.2.
4. If a reschedule request is submitted, but a new date/time for the team contest is not set by the end of the season, the team that submitted the reschedule request will be defaulted.
5. Any team contests rescheduled without Division Coordinator approval (for example, via the direct negotiation of participating teams) or without following the rescheduling procedures outlined in this section, will be recorded as a default for both teams.

4.7   Rule Violations

Rule violations should be reported by a team captain to the Division Coordinator and are subject to the following guidelines:

a.    Any rule violation must be reported within 48 hours of the violation or the point/game/match/contest will stand as is.

b.     Teams with more than three infractions of the same rule during the season may be subject to additional penalties including disqualification from the remainder of the season.

c.     For other rule violations or misconduct, the Division Coordinator or LA Ping Pong Board will determine an appropriate resolution and/or penalty. Penalties for rule violations, unsporting behavior, or other misconduct may include: loss of match, loss of team contest, suspension of player or team from future team contests, expulsion of player or team from league.

d.    A Division Coordinator’s decision on a rule violation can be appealed in writing to the LA Ping Pong Board. Any decision made by the LA Ping Pong Board is final.