Last Amended September 2016 (New Rule No. 8, Rule 9 replaced and Rule 16 extended)
- The name shall be the Bury St. Edmunds and District Badminton League.
- The league shall be governed by a committee elected annually at the AGM consisting of the following:
- Chair
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- 4 committee members
- Representative for West Suffolk Community Badminton Network (who may be a member of the committee as above)
- Representative for Suffolk Badminton Association (who may be a member of the committee as above)
- Anyone may attend the Annual General Meeting, but only TWO representatives of each member club are allowed to vote.
- The Annual Subscriptions shall be decided at the Annual General Meeting.
- All entries for the League must be received by the committee by 1st August. The Committee will then recommend for approval at the Annual General Meeting, which will be called during the 1st or 2nd week in September, the formation of Divisions. Late entries will only be accepted to fill vacancies.
- The formation of divisions and system of play are to be decided at the AnnualGeneral Meeting.
- No Club shall be permitted to have more than two teams in any one division. Where a Club has two teams in the same division, all matches between these teams must be completed by the by end of December.
- No division will have more than 9 teams.
- In divisions with 9 teams, each team shall play the others once only, either home or away, to be decided by the committee. In all other divisions, each team shall play one home match and one away match with each other in the division. These matches must be arranged directly between Club Secretaries.
- All matches played in Divisions One are to be played using feather shuttles.
- All matches in the Mixed and Men’s Leagues shall comprise nine rubbers of two sets each and shall be played by the 15th April, unless dispensation is obtained from the League Secretary. A copy of each Club’s Fixture List/s shall be submitted to the Results Secretary and the opposing Clubs’ Match Secretaries by the end of September.
- All matches in the Ladies League shall consist of 6 rubbers and shall be played by the 15th April, unless dispensation is obtained from the League Secretary. Each player will play one rubber of three games with each member of their team. Players should be ranked correctly, so the strongest players play each other, and this should extend to the whole team.
- Each team is to be awarded two points for a win and one point for a draw.
In the event of two or more teams tying with equal points, positions will be decided as below:
- Number of rubbers (including rubbers halved)
- Difference in total aces (individual points) won and conceded in the league during the complete season
- Aces scored
- If teams still cannot be split, the league matches between the teams concerned are then reviewed using the list above.
- All League games must be controlled by Umpires appointed by the mutual agreement of the opposing Captains. However, games may be played without Umpires provided both Captains agree to this measure.
- At the end of the season, the top team in each lower division will displace the team placed bottom in the next higher division, except where rule 7 applies when the second team will be promoted.
- The date of a match may be altered if both clubs concerned agree. If both clubs do not agree, the match may only be altered due to unavailability of the hall or bad weather conditions. In the event of a match being cancelled and not played at a later date, the offending team shall concede the match 0-9. The Results Secretary must be notified by both teams of the rearranged date, no later than the original due date of the scorecard. The committee may insist on a match being played if the result affects league positions.
- No player may play in a team if he or she has in the same season appeared in THREE or more fixtures of any more senior team, or has been named as a member of a more senior team prior to the commencement of that Clubs League programme. If a team has not been named, as above, each senior team must play THREE fixtures before any more junior team commences its programme.
- If a club is unable to field a full team, as many games as possible are to be played and unplayed games shall be awarded to the opposing side. If an opposing team is more than 30 minutes late arriving, unfinished games should be awarded to the first full team to arrive. Circumstances to be sent to the committee if disputed.
- If, during a season, a team is forced to withdraw from a division, then all results relating to that team will be deducted from the league.
- Players can represent only one Club in the mixed league, one Club in the Men league and one Club in the Ladies in any one season.
- If a player is forced to retire during a match, because of injury or illness, that game and any of his/her subsequent games not played must be forfeited. On no account may substitutes be used or another member of the team play any remaining games for the injured player.
- It is the responsibility for the home club to forward the result card to the League Results Secretary within 14 DAYS. Fines of £2.00 per occasion are payable for late cards, and a fine of £1.00 per Club for incorrect cards.
- No alteration will be made to these rules, or those for the Club Knockout competition, except at an Annual General Meeting or meeting specially convened for that purpose. Notice in writing of any resolution or any amendment to these rules must be forwarded to the League Secretary by 15th August.
- Twenty-eight days notice will be given for any Extra-Ordinary General Meeting.
- All member clubs must be affiliated to the Suffolk Badminton Association or their appropriate County Association and competitive play must be conducted in accordance with the rules of the Badminton Association of England.
- No Player may play in more than one Badminton Team Match in any one night.
- The committee shall have power to decide on any matters not covered by these rules and its decisions shall be final.