Winter Season Update – Week 8

This week is our designated free week so there are no matches.

National Finals: well done to the Sun over the Meridian for drawing both games at the Champion of Champions, unfortunately it was not enough to progress in the competition, Richard Chapman was also defeated by the eventual winner but well done to everyone for qualifying and representing the FSPL.

App Issues: it has been noticed that the Quarter Final of the TKO is showing incorrectly in the app, the actual date is the 3rd Feb, the date format is also showing in the US date format, both have been raised with the developers and will be addressed in the next update (2.1.3).

Ongoing Rule questions: as everyone knows there has been several questions around the rules so we are trying to organise a member of the International Referees Organisation to run a seminar to cover all the rules and for a Q&A session, it will be a ref you will have seen on the Ultimate Pool matches on tv, once we have a date booked we will invite all captains to attend.

Rule Clarifications: we have had some calls over the last week about clarifying certain rules, we have always anticipated these particular questions so added links to videos from Professional Referees advising on the correct calls, these can be found in the Rules Clarifications section on the website.

Deliberate Foul: while a deliberate foul is subjective there are instances where this is not the case, for example forgetting which colour you are, in this example the term deliberate will still be the case as it is a direct action of hitting your opponents ball, regardless of whether it was accidental or not. here is an example:

Player A is on yellows and forgot their colour choice and potted a red ball, the Ref called Foul, ball in hand - the ref determined that this was a pure accident and not intended as a deliberate foul and exercised discretion and playing the game in a sportsmanlike manner, however, while this is commendable this is the incorrect call and should be loss of frame, intent and advantage should no longer form part of the decision, if the player directly/deliberately played the wrong colour then loss of frame should be called. please refer to Rule 6f (1).

Coaching: any player deemed to have been coaching during a match will be given a first and final warning, any further coaching and a Standard Foul will be called and the player will be asked to leave the match and venue.

Refereeing - Foul Breaks

After a foul on the break, it is the referee’s duty to advise the incoming player of cue ball placement:

·  If the white is potted, the call is: Ball in hand from baulk (i.e. behind the line).

·  If the white leaves the table, the call is: Ball in hand (anywhere on the table).

The referee may call this at any time prior to the cue ball being struck. This is not considered coaching - it is the correct procedure; we are also allowing both captains to advise the player of either team that this is incorrect, this should only be done if the referee has not called it, if the ref makes the correct call and the player still places incorrectly and someone calls out then this will be coaching and the coaching rule will apply.

Refereeing - picking up the white ball

After a foul the referee will call Foul, ball in hand; the player is then free to:

·  pick the white ball up

·  play from where it lies

·  ask the referee to hand them the white ball if they feel moving it could impact balls nearby

the referee does not need to immediately collect the white ball.

All players are required to have a good knowledge of the rules and not knowing certain rules is not an excuse for mistakes; such as handling balls after the black is potted from the break or not knowing where the white should be placed after a foul from the break or not knowing when to nominate colour choice.

We have qualified referees within the committee who can assist at any time with any rule anyone is unsure of.

Updated Transfer Policy - amended

Players can now transfer at any time during the season until the registration cut-off.

Fees & Conditions:

·  No fee if signed but not played

·  £10 fee if less than 25% of singles matches played

·  £20 fee if 25–75% of singles matches played

·  Max 2 player transfers in or out per team

·  All transfers must be approved by the FSPL Committee.

Sponsorship Opportunities

We're actively seeking sponsors for the League and the Website or you could sponsor a Competition, like the New Eltham Social Club have done.

We currently have two sponsors online. Interested? Contact Simon to discuss sponsorship packages.