1. The name of the league shall be the “Weymouth Premier Pool League”, hereafter known as the League.

2. The League is formed for the purpose of promoting pool amongst all players in the Weymouth area. The League shall organise team competitions and individual competitions.

THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

3. The league shall select a management committee to undertake all League business.

4. The Committee shall consist of three main officers Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer and up to six other members drawn from the affiliated teams.

5. The three main officers will be responsible for the finances of the League;. The Treasurer will maintain adequate records of income and expenditure and at all times observe proper banking procedures. The accounting year shall end on the last day of the month immediately preceding that in which the AGM occurs.

6. The three main officers will hold office for two years, staggered, with the Chairman and Treasurer elected each odd year (11,13 etc.), and the Secretary each even year. Other elected members of the Committee will hold office for one year. The retiring members will be eligible for re-election without nomination. The Committee will appoint any member of the incumbent committee to fill any vacancy that may occur. The Committee may also co-opt any person, whose appointment would be beneficial to the Committee, will hold office for one year.

7. The Committee shall hold a meeting at intervals conducive to efficient management of League business. At all Committee meetings three members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of carrying on the business of the League.

8. At a Committee meeting all Committee members present shall be entitled to one vote. In the event of a tie the chairman shall have an additional deciding vote.

9. Any member of the committee may call a meeting after giving 24 hours notice and reasons for doing so to the rest of the Committee.

10. Subject to this constitution (as amended at any General Meeting), the Committee shall have full authority, to make any decision that, in their opinion, is deemed necessary or beneficial to the League members.

11. The League will endeavour to reimburse all reasonable expenses incurred by any member of the Committee while conducting business on behalf of the League, such expenses to be approved by the Committee.

CONDUCT OF GENERAL MEETINGS

12. An Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held by the League, within each calendar year, at which the election of the Committee will be held, and at which any member can charge the committee to give full account of any action taken by the committee.

13. Any member wishing to add any item to the agenda, or make a nomination for the Committee, must notify the Secretary, in writing, at least fourteen (14) days before the meeting. Committee must inform members of the time and venue of the AGM in good time.

14. An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) may be requested by any six captains of the League on application to the Committee. Any letter of request for an EGM must contain six signatures of current captains of the league. Such meeting should take place under the same conditions as for an AGM in rule 12. An EGM shall take place if at any time the Committee feel it necessary, or if circumstances reduce the committee such that a quorum cannot be achieved.

15. The following people will be entitled to one vote each at a General Meeting: a. All elected members of Committee present. b. All team representatives present, up to a maximum of two from any team affiliated for the summer and/or winter season in the twelve months previous to the Meeting. In the event of a tie the President/Chairman shall have an additional casting vote.

LEAGUE ORGANISATION

16. Membership shall be open to all teams, clubs and public houses in the Weymouth area.

17. The Committee reserve the right to refuse membership to any team or individual if for any reason they consider that granting membership shall be detrimental to the league.

18. All teams shall pay fees as agreed at an AGM. Only fully paid up teams will be entitled to enter any competitions organised by the League.

19. All monies held by the League will, after deductions for legitimate expenses, be used for the benefit of all League members.

20. All competitions run under the auspices of the League will be played under E&UKPF rules namely blackball pool rules as amended from time to time, and also under the League procedural rules. However the Committee shall have the right to alter any playing rule that they decide necessary. The Committee shall promulgate copies of all current relevant rules to member teams.

DISCIPLINE

22. All members shall endeavour at all times to abide by the rules of the League.

23. The Committee reserve the right to suspend, fine or expel any individual or team for breach of these rules or any other rule that the committee makes at any future time or for any act deemed to have brought the League into disrepute. Any member/team will be afforded every opportunity to defend/explain themselves to the Committee.

24. Any team expelled from the League will forfeit the whole of any subscriptions paid for the current year, and any rights accorded to them as members of the League.

25. All arrears owed to the league must be paid by the commencement of a season for the team to be eligible to play in that season.

26. Any member may request the committee to mediate in any dispute they may have with any other member/team within the League. Any decisions reached by the Committee will be final and binding on all parties.

27. Participants are expected to play their matches in a sporting manner. Players are reminded that when they play away from home they are to ensure that their conduct does not cause offence to their host.

28. In the event of a team having a genuine complaint against another team or player, the complaint must be sent to the league secretary, in writing, within 48 hours of the incident, accompanied by a £5 fee. If the complaint is upheld the fee will be returned to the plaintiff.

PROCEDURAL RULES

These rules are issued to all registered teams and clubs within the league and will be used throughout the entire season. It is the responsibility of each team captain to ensure that all players are conversant with these rules. In the case of a breach of these rules, the captain of the non-offending team may agree to overlook it (in for example the case of late arrival by a few minutes). If the two captains cannot agree, the committee will uphold these rules.

To be eligible for cup, pairs or singles tournments organised by the league, a player must have played a minimum of one league match. 

1 TEAMS AND PLAYING FORMAT

1.1 Each team should elect a CAPTAIN to manage the business of the team.

1.2 The captain’s telephone number must be in the Rackem App under contacts; this must not be the pub/club number unless he/she resides there. The committee will automatically rule against teams failing to adhere to this rule should an opposing team be unable to contact the captain of such team.

1.3 All matches will be played to the European & United Kingdom Pool Federation (commonly known as BLACKBALL) Rules. These can be found on the Rackem App under rules. 

1.4 The captains are required to submit results via the Rackem App at the end of each game, thus giving declaration that the result correct. (You should not submit the result if there is any dispute over the result).

1.5 The home team will be responsible for the table money. Home teams are required to food (I.e. a light snack such as sandwiches, chips etc). Teams/venues failing to adhere to this rule. (Team Knock-out optional).

1.6 All league and cup matches will comprise of 5 players, each playing 4 frames. The home team will stay in the same order and the away team will alternate players after the first set (this will be done automatically via the app)

1.7 If the Rackem App is not working players will be expected to make a note manually and the submit them to the Chairman with 48 hours.

2 ARRANGEMENTS FOR AND COMMENCEMENT OF MATCHES

2.1 Matches will take place weekly on Wednesday and Sunday evenings, as detailed in the fixture list distributed by the league secretary. Rearrangement are allowed after the fixture however a limit of three per team and matches must be played within 30 days of the original fixture date or 14 days after last match of the season. Teams rearrange MUST give 24hrs notice to their opponents.

2.2 The official start time is 7.30pm. Teams will be ready to commence within 30 minutes of the start time otherwise the team at fault will forfeit the first frame; subsequent frames will be forfeit every 5 minutes. Full match points may be claimed if the team is more than 1 hour late (i.e. 8.30pm).

2.3 Play must be continuous; any player not present when due to play will result in loss of frame.

2.4 The order of play will be determined by each team separately and locked into the app. This must be completed prior to the start of the match.

2.5 Each individual match will commence by a lag.

2.6 Teams playing at venues that close early, i.e. 10.30pm should arrange to start their home matches earlier or use 2 tables if appropriate.

3 QUALIFICATIONS OF PLAYERS

3.1 Teams are able to sign on players at any stage during the season, providing the player is not registered with any other team and the team has less then 10 players signed up. 

3.2 Players are not permitted to switch teams after playing one league game for the original team. 

3.3 If a team plays an ineligible player, the frame(s) played by that player shall be awarded to the opposing team and the secretary will notify the offending team and request an explanation.

3.4 Any match be it played on a specified date or a rearranged date must consist of all 5 players competing on the same night. Teams can play with less players 5 if agreed with the opposing team. 

3.5 According to the Gaming Act, players under the age of 18 may only play on a pool table in a pub with the landlord’s express permission. Any captain who has players under the age of 18 is advised to check with the landlord before arriving at away venues.

3.6 If any player of a team is barred from the premises of another team, he/she will not be able to play at that venue, unless the Landlord agrees to make an exception. The barred player will forfeit their match points unless another player is available/eligible to substitute him/her.

4 PLAYING DISPUTES

4.1 In the event of a dispute involving the playing rules, If after consulting the rules a dispute still exists, both team captains shall consult privately and agree upon the correct action to be taken.

4.2 Any disputes about individual frames are not in themselves reason enough for a match to be abandoned. Any team refusing to complete a match because of such dispute will forfeit any outstanding frames.

5 OTHER DISPUTES

5.1 If a dispute arises and cannot be resolved by the team captains, a dispute must be raised on the Rackem App by pressing the dispute button on the scorecard. The committee will make an interim decision on the course of action to be taken which will be binding on both teams. Following a dispute resolved in this way, the committee will meet to ensure that the correct decision was made and to amend the decision if applicable.

6 REPORTING OF RESULTS

6.1 All results will be recorded using RackEmApp and submitted at the end of the match.

6.2 The Winning team (home team if match drawn) will complete the result via RackEmApp within 3 days of the date the match took place.

6.3 Captains are responsible for making sure the result is filled in correctly. If a result is incomplete, the score will be whatever is on the app.

6.4 Teams not complying with rule 6.1 & 6.2 will be deducted one point.

7 VENUES AND CHANGES OF VENUE

7.1 All teams must register their home venue with the league.

7.2 In the event of a team wishing to change its venue mid season, the secretary must be given 7 days notice, preferably in writing.

7.3 The minimum desirable requirement for an acceptable venue shall be:

7.3.1 A standard six, seven or eight foot table, a seven foot table being the recommended size.

7.3.2 The match table shall be level and have a surface of reasonable quality. During practice frames, the Captain of the away team should make sure that he/she is happy that the table is in a fit condition for the match. If he/she deems it in an unacceptable condition then they should consult with the other Captain and try and remedy the situation prior to the start of the match (i.e. try and level the table together). If this is not possible then a Committee member should be contacted for further guidance immediately, and the match may be postponed. Unacceptable conditions may be an unlevelled table, inadequate lighting, bad rips in the cloth etc. It should be noted that the league does not expect every table to be in perfect condition. For your guidance, we consider a roll of less than one half a ball width over the length of the table to be acceptable.

7.3.3 The table shall be clearly marked and maintained in a clean and well presented manner.

7.3.4 Every effort should be made to ensure adequate playing space is available around the table.

7.3.5 Procup match balls should be used for league matches. If this is an issue please speak to the committee. 

8 AVAILABILITY OF LEAGUE RULES

8.1 A copy of these league rules and current official playing rules shall be made available on the Rackem App. 

9 DETERMINATIONS OF CHAMPIONSHIP, PROMOTION AND RELEGATION

9.1 If two or more teams are tied in positions affecting the championship, promotion or relegation places the tie shall be broken as follows:

9.1.1 The team having the greater frame difference shall take precedence.

9.1.2 If there is still a tie, the team the most amount of frames will take precedence.

9.1.3 If there is still a tie, the teams involved shall play off under a format to be decided by the committee, at such time and venue as is decided by the committee.

10 TROPHIES TO BE AWARDED

10.1 Trophies will be awarded to all winning teams, runners up, and all knockout finalists, the trophies will be awarded on PRESENTATION NIGHT ONLY. League, Team Knockout and Team Knockout (Plate) winners and runners up will receive 6 trophies for per team (extras can be ordered at additional cost). 

10.2 The league will award team trophies to the winning and runner-up team in each division and to the winners of Knockout competitions. 

10.3 The Landlord/Manager of the Pub/club, where a trophy is being held will be entirely responsible for its safe custody during the season, and as such are fully liable for any damage or loss incurred during the time in their care All trophies must be returned in a polished condition, 4 weeks prior to the presentation night.

10.4 A ‘Most Wins’ trophy is awarded to the player topping the performance-ranking list in each division, as shown on the Rackem App.

11 CLUBS WITHDRAWING OR FAILING TO FULFIL FIXTURES

11.1 Any team failing to turn up for a fixture without notice (see rule 11.2) on 2 occasion will be expelled from the league. If expelled, all results against them, including player performance will be expunged. Players expelled under this rule will also be refused entry for the following 1 season.

11.2 Teams unable to fulfil a fixture due to exceptional circumstances (not player shortages), must give 24 hrs notice to their opponents. Any team failing to do so will be deemed to be in breach of rule 11.1. Additionally, the Secretary must be informed should this situation arise. The committee may agree to waiver this rule in very exceptional circumstances.

11.3 If a team forfeits the game the oppostion will be awarded a 15-0 win. Frames will be awarded as forfiet frames and no individual frames will be assigned to players.

11.3 If special circumstances arise i.e. pub refurbishment, whereby a team cannot fulfil a home fixture the committee may grant a ‘date extension’ for the affected match (es). If the fixture is a cup match, the team will be instructed to play the fixture away. The Captain/Landlord of said team must contact the Secretary immediately this situation arises. The committee, if granting a ‘date extension’ will inform any teams affected and advise of any appropriate action to be taken. Please note that each case will be decided on its own merit. Teams may agree to play at a neutral venue. 

11.4 Should any team wish to withdraw from the league at any stage during the season, notice must be given to the secretary (All points gained will be deducted). Any team that withdraws from the league, without exceptional reasons, will be banned from the league for the following season.

12 COACHING

12.1 Coaching is deemed to be unsportsmanlike behaviour and will result in the frame being awarded to the oppostion.