OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS
2010-2011
PRESIDENT ........... Cindy Strickler
VICE PRESIDENT ...... Amy Dewees
SECRETARY ......... Valerie Matejowsky
TREASURER .......... Debbie Garner
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT.... Debra Blackman
Lee Ainsworth
Ruth Milonski
Nancy Wallace
Jackie Whatley
* * * * * * * *
PAST PRESIDENTS
BETTY EVERS
KAY McDONALD
CHARLENE TUBBS
DIANE GRAHAM
JoANN HOYER
DONNA UNDERWOOD
SUE ROBINSON
SHERRY AYCOCK - 1986-87
JOAN KNOX - 1988-89
KATHRYN VAN - 1990-91
AMY DEWEES - 1992-93
GLORIA ALVAREZ – 1994-95
GLORIA ALVAREZ – 1996-97
NANCY WILLIAMS – 1998-99
JANIS BATTAGLIA – 2000-2001
CATHERINE HARDY - 2002
NANCY WALLACE – 2003-2004
GLORIA ALVAREZ – 2005-2006
GLORIA
ALVAREZ – 2007-2008
DEBRA BLACKMAN –
2008-2010
BY-LAWS OF THE OUACHITA WOMEN'S TENNIS ASSOCIATION
Revised April,
2011
ARTICLE 1 - NAME
The name of the organization
shall be OUACHITA WOMEN'S TENNIS
ASSOCIATION.
ARTICLE 2 - OBJECT
The object of this
organization shall be to promote tennis through clinics and other educational
activities and to provide opportunities for participation in organized league play.
ARTICLE 3 - MEMBERSHIP AND DUES
The membership of this
organization shall be comprised of any woman interested in OWTA objectives who
has paid league fees. League fees, as determined by the board,
shall be assessed for each league season. Substitutes do not pay
league fees. A player playing in an adult league must reach at least the
age of 19 in the year in which she plays.
ARTICLE 4 - OFFICERS AND ELECTIONS
The officers of this organization shall be a President, Vice President,
Secretary, and Treasurer. The officers shall be active members who have
participated in three (3) out of the last six (6) league seasons.
The duties of the President, Vice President, Secretary and
Treasurer shall be those described in ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER NEWLY REVISED.
The officers, other than that of President, shall be elected by the general membership of this organization. A Nominating Committee appointed by the President and representing flight members shall present at least one name for each office to be filled at least one month prior to the Summer mail-Out. Members nominated must be notified of their nomination prior to the mail-out and must have agreed to accept their nomination. Nomination shall also be accepted from the general membership.
Any member meeting qualifications shall be eligible for election to any office. The term of office for officers and board members shall be two years. At the end of the term for the President, the Vice President shall succeed her and a new Vice President shall be elected from the current Board Members. Elections for Vice President and two members-at-large shall be held in even-numbered years; elections for the Secretary, Treasurer, and two members-at-large shall be held in odd-numbered years. No person shall hold any office for more than two successive terms. After one year of absence, the member may be elected to the office again. Where service involves less than one year, more than six months' service shall be considered one year. The term of office begins January 1 and ends December 31.
All elections shall be by plurality vote.
ARTICLE 5 – SPECIAL MEETINGS
Special meetings of the membership may be called at any time by the
President. The President must call a special meeting when petitioned by a
member in writing. Notice of such meetings shall be provided at least
three days before the meeting.
ARTICLE 6 - BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Subject to direction from the membership, the control and
management of the Ouachita Women's Tennis Association shall be vested in the
Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors shall consist of the four officers and
four board members. The four board
members shall be elected according to the
method outlined in Article 4. Board members shall not serve
more than four consecutive terms.
Members of the Board of Directors are exempt from league fees during their terms of office.
ARTICLE 7 – LEAGUE OPERATIONS
Members shall sign up for play at their current USTA rating level or one level above. For example, a player who has a 3.0 USTA rating may play at the 3.0 or 3.5 level in OWTA. Players who do not have USTA ratings shall self-rate in accordance with the National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP) guidelines. If doubles partners have different USTA level ratings, the doubles team shall play at the higher member’s level (or one level above).
Flights shall be offered for each NTRP rating. No qualified player shall be excluded from playing because her USTA level is too high or too low. Therefore, the lowest level flight will include “and below” and the highest level flight will include “and above”. For example, levels should be 2.5 and below, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5 and above.
Flights that are too small (fewer than 6 entrants) may be
combined with higher and/or lower flights. Flights with more than 11
entrants may be
subdivided into 2 divisions; flights with more than 17 entrants may be subdivided into 3 divisions,
etc. The distribution of entrants into the divisions shall be by random
distribution. The names (or teams) shall be drawn from a hat.
Entrants who win their flight two consecutive seasons shall be
designated as promoted and must play up one level. Entrants
who finish and win less than thirty-five percent (35%) of games for two
consecutive seasons are designated as restricted
and must play down one level for
at least one season. Promotion and restriction rules do not apply to
summer season. Promotion and restriction rules do not apply to combined
flights. When a doubles team is promoted or restricted, the designation
shall attach to each player. Players may not avoid promotion or
restriction by changing partners.
Matches shall consist of two sets and, if necessary a Deciding-Match-Tie-Break in lieu of a third set. The Deciding-Match-Tie-Break shall be played in accordance with USTA rule for Deciding Match Tie-break.
Scoring procedures for the determination of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places shall be determined by the number of matches won divided by the total number of matches played. In the event of a tie, the player or team that has won when they played each other shall place higher. In the event of no head-to-head competition, percentage of games won shall determine the winner. In the event of a three-or-more way tie, if head-to-head does not determine a winner, the higher percentage of games won shall determine the winner.
1. RULES
USTA
Rules of Tennis and The
Code: The Player's Guide for Unofficiated Matches shall
govern all situations unless otherwise specified in OWTA Rules or by board
decisions.
2. SCORING
All games shall be played using Ad (advantage)
scoring. Whenever the set score reaches six games all (6-6), a
Tiebreak (first to 7 by a margin of 2), as specified by USTA Rules for
Tie-Break Game will be used. All
scores must be reported to the Flight Captain within 24 hours after each match.
3. TIME AND SCHEDULING
a. Scheduled matches
are to begin on time or as soon as the
assigned courts become
available. A fifteen-minute
default rule shall be
enforced.
b. Warm-ups shall be limited to five (5) minutes.
c. Breaks between sets are limited to two minutes.
d. A toilet visit may be requested
after the completion of
a
point, a game or a set. Whenever possible, toilet
breaks
should be taken during the 2-minute break between
sets.
e. Scheduled matches in progress will be allowed to
complete
play on courts in use. Subsequent matches
scheduled
for the same court must be delayed until the
players
on that court have completed their match, or may
be
played on other unreserved courts at the same
facility
as they become available. Players/teams
shall
not be disturbed or interrupted to determine how
their
match
is progressing while a match is in progress.
Teams/players assigned to
bring balls for the match must provide an unopened can of new hard court tennis
balls.
5. ATTIRE AND ETIQUETTE
a. Players shall wear
proper tennis attire on the courts
during
all OWTA matches.
b. NO drinking, smoking or food shall be
permitted ON THE
COURT
while play is in progress.
c. Spectators, including parents,
friends, pets, coaches,
etc. are welcome to watch
and enjoy matches OUTSIDE the
fenced
playing area(s). Their role, however, is clearly
restricted
to that of a passive observer with NO
INVOLVEMENT
OF ANY KIND during the match.
d. Show consideration to all
players by keeping noise level
(volume)
down. Loud talking should be kept to a minimum
on,
near or around tennis courts
that are in use.
e. Wait until players on another
court have completed a
point
before walking across to another court, leaving
the
courts, retrieving/ returning a ball or asking for
one of
your balls to be returned.
f. To avoid controversy over the
score, the Server should
announce
the set score (e.g., 5-4) before starting
a game
and the
game score (e.g., 30-40) prior to serving each
point.
g. In returning a loose ball to
another court toss the
ball so
that it goes directly to one of the players on
another
court, preferably the server, between points.
h. After a game, collect the balls
that are on your side of
the net
and either give them to the next server or place
them on
her baseline.
i. If the ball touches any part of
the line, it is good.
Call
the ball out only if you can clearly see a space
between
where the ball hits and the line.
6. SUBSTITUTES AND SUBSTITUTION
a. Substitutes may play at their USTA rated
level or
above.
b. Substitutes
may NOT be drawn from the same division of
the
same flight.
c. Collegiate
and professional players are not allowed as
substitutes.
d. Each team may use up to three
(3) substitutes and still
be
eligible for a prize, but on the
fourth (4) and on
each
subsequent substitution, the team shall be
penalized
three (3) games. A team may have two (2)
substitutes
for the same match.
e. Substitutes, playing in a match that
will be
rescheduled,
are not required to complete the
rescheduled
match; the original team member may complete
the
rescheduled match.
f. If a person is injured, has a
major illness, major
surgery,
or change in employment, the partner is
strongly
encouraged to find a permanent
substitute for
her for
the remainder of the season. However, once a
permanent
substitute is obtained the rule limiting the
number
of substitutions shall remain in effect. If the
original
player returns during the season, those matches
played
by the substitute will be counted under the rule
limiting
the number of substitutions. The Flight
Captain
MUST be notified and MUST approve a permanent
substitute
before a match is played.
g. A player using a substitute must
notify her flight
captain
before arriving at the court, giving the
substitute's
name and whether or not she is on the
substitute
list. Teams failing to comply with this rule
will
be penalized two (2) games for each infraction. A
list of
substitutes will be provided. If a substitute
from
the names provided is not available, the player may
obtain
a substitute elsewhere as long as she receives
her
Flight Captain's approval before the match.
7. RESCHEDULING
a. All doubles matches must be played on the
date and at
the time and location assigned unless weather or safety
preclude. Failure to comply will result in an automatic
default for both teams.
b. Players shall call their Flight Captain if there is a
question
regarding playing conditions at their assigned
courts. The Flight Captain is responsible
for calling off
matches
due to weather. The
Flight Captains are the
only
ones who should contact the facility management to
determine
court conditions.
c. Exception:
Teams or persons who live out of Ouachita
Parish
shall be allowed to contact their
opponents
during
inclement weather two (2) hours prior to their
match
to determine if match can be played or should be
rescheduled. The
decisions made at that time between
those
four (4) or two (2) players should
stand. The Flight
Captain must be notified.
d. Matches may be rescheduled after
play has begun, if a
weather
or safety concern arises. Each player should
record
the score and who was serving from which side.
e. Postponed matches shall be
played by the end of the
season. In
the event of last/final week “rain-out”,
team
will have seven (7) days to complete play or both
teams
will default.
f. Players who are competing in
USTA tournaments at state
level
or above are allowed to reschedule that week’s
OWTA
match.
g. Substitutes may be used in a
rescheduled, postponed, or
interrupted
match if all four (4) players cannot agree
on a
time. Any problem should be reported to the Flight
Captain.
h. SINGLES PLAYERS ONLY will be allowed the week of their
scheduled
match and the week following to play their
match
unless weather does not permit. Any problems
should be reported
to the Flight Captain.
8. WITHDRAWALS
a. If any player/team drops out for any reason at any
point in a season, all of the
teams/persons who
have played them and all teams/persons
scheduled
to play them will receive a Bye.
The person/team,
who drops out, except for injury or
serious
illness, will not be allowed to play singles OR
doubles in the next season.
b. If a team or person drops out
with below 35% of games
won,
they must move down in the next season in which
they
play.
9. DEFAULTS/FORFEITS
a. In the event of a
default, the defaulting team will
receive
a 0-6, 0-6 score. The opposing team will
receive
a single 6-0 score. Any team
defaulting/forfeiting
twice (2 times) in a single season
will
not be allowed to play singles or
doubles in the
following
season nor will they be eligible for a prize.
b. A team must have two eligible
players available for play
in each
match or the entire match shall be forfeited.
10. RETIREMENTS
If a player must retire during a match because of injury, illness or emergency (work, family, etc.), the score shall be calculated as if match play were completed. Each player/team shall be given credit for any games won before the match was interrupted. Enough games/sets shall be credited to the other team/player to constitute a win.
EXAMPLE: Team X wins the first set 7-6 over team Z in a tiebreaker. The second set is tied 5 games all when play is discontinued due to injury or illness of a player on team X. The score is calculated based on a completed match as follows:
SET NO. 1: Team X - 7 games; Team Z - 6 games
SET NO. 2: Team X - 5 games; Team Z - 7 games
(Team X member injured - team Z must win by two games.
SET NO. 3: Team X - 0 games; Team Z - 1 game
11. NEW TEAMS
After two (2) years of non-participation in OWTA, a person who does not have a current USTA rating must self-rate in accordance with the National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP) guidelines.
12. FLIGHT CAPTAINS
a. One person in each
flight shall be designated the Flight
Captain. The Flight
Captain shall serve as liaison
between
OWTA players and the board.
b. Flight Captain responsibilities and duties include:
1. To attend the Flight Captains meeting before the season starts.
2. To contact each team with necessary information concerning league play.
3. To obtain a good selection of qualified substitutes.
4. To record all scores and report them to the admininstrator in a timely manner .
5. To promote courtesy and cooperation among flight members.
6. To facilitate communication between flight members and board members
7. To explain and enforce OWTA rules.
8. To prevent infractions when possible.
9. To notify players when infractions occur and penalties are levied.
13. PROTESTS - APPEALS
a.Protests must be made in writing
within two (2) days
after a match and presented to the President or e-
mailed to admin@owtatennis.com.
b.Appeals must be made by
players and presented in
writing
to the President for approval by the Board of
Directors.
The Board may enact rule changes at any time.
Section H. Glossary.
A retirement occurs when a player is not able to continue playing a match after it is started.
A match is two sets and, if necessary, a Deciding Match Tie Break in lieu of third set.
A season is a portion of the calendar year, for example, fall, spring or summer.
A flight is a skill determined level of play, for example, 3.0, 3.5, etc.
A league is an organization such as the OWTA.
A division is a subdivision of a flight whose matches are played against each other.
End of by-laws and OWTA Rules