Rules of Play
Rules of play – all ITF rules and regulations are in force with the following SEASAC modifications. Singles sticks are required.
1. Number of participants
1. Number of participants
- 7 players per team
- 1st, 2nd and 3rd singles, 1st and 2nd doubles
- 1 coach per team per school will be allowed on court
2. Players will be seeded by their own schools, and equivalent seeding paired up for matches. It is stressed that this system depends upon the integrity of the coaches in ranking their own players. Seeding will be submitted by the AD of the school to the TD on the Monday preceding the tournament and the TD will email the seedings to all other competing schools. Seedings will be posted on the tournament notice board and subsequently adhered to. The AD of each school will verify the seedings of their teams. It is a must the AD verify all seedings before being submitted to the TD.
3. Singles and doubles ranking are separate. (S1,2&3 should be ranked in ability order. D1 and D2 is separate but D1 should be a stronger pair than D2)
4. The TD, with the assistance of a technical advisor can change the seedings of a team if deemed that an AD seeded their team incorrectly. Additionally, if the TD feels a team intentionally did not seed their team accurately then it will be discussed with the SEASAC committee and discussed at the AGM, and that school will be put on probation for the following year in that sport.
5. Tournament format: Pro-set to 8. Tournament tie break at 7 all, normal deuce (tie break to 7). - Warm–up: limited to 5 minutes/match (It is recommended that a system be set up to monitor the
warm-up time). - Players can request a 30-minute maximum rest period between matches. The request must be made with the TD and should be used for playoff matches only.
6. Coaches are allowed to coach from coaching areas only however, it should not stop play. The TD has the authority to regulate appropriate coaching behavior. Coaching is considered to be communication, advice, or instruction of any kind, audible or visual to a player. Coaching will be allowed at the change of ends.
7. Order of play will be 1st singles, 2nd singles, 3rd singles, 1st doubles and 2nd doubles. All matches must be played and forfeits are not allowed to happen. Coaches must declare at the beginning of the match if a player is injured and they must use their reserve (following the reserve player substitution rules).
8. If a player forfeits a match, during play, it will be the discretion of the TD to allow that player to continue.
9. If a player forfeits a second match in the tournament, the TD has the right to exclude them from all future play with the exception of academic reasons, e.g. SATs.
10. Tournament tie-breakers - head to head
- total sets won among tied teams
- total games won among the tied teams points won (if possible)
- once a tie break has been resolved additional ties will be resolved in the same format using the same sequence of procedures beginning with the head to head result
11. Unplayed or partially played matches - if the match is 50% completed (the first person to 5) the winner is deemed the team/player ahead at that point
- if the match is not yet 50% completed it is deemed a tie but the team ahead at that point is placed higher in the final results.
12. Substitute player – schools may take a substitute player that can play #3 singles or #2 doubles at any time in the tournament from one match to another but not in the middle of a match. In the case of an injury seeding will be moved up accordingly (e.g., #2 moves to #1 if #1 is injured). Injured players are eligible to play again in the next match at the original seeding.
13. Receiving player makes the line call. If there is a disagreement that the players cannot resolve themselves, then coaches can be called in to help resolve the situation. If players continue to have problems, then the TD or neutral designee will umpire the remainder of the match.
14. Scheduling: the schedule is an estimate of match times. As matches vary in length teams must be prepared at the TD request.
15. Awards one MVP award per school and 5 Top Seed awards (1st, 2nd, 3rd singles, 1st doubles & 2nd doubles)
16. Hosts need to organize games and to have an allocated spaces for substitute players brought by schools.