Rules

Rules of the Kent County Volleyball Association

version: 19 July 2018

1	There shall be such divisions within the League as the AGM shall from time to time approve
2	Games will be played under Volleyball England Regulations, unless modified by the KCVA elsewhere in these rules. References to National Office within the Volleyball England Regulations shall for the purposes of these Rules be construed to mean the Kent League Secretary/KCVA Committee. All league and cup matches will be on the basis of the best of five sets. Where these Rules refer to communication with the KCVA/secretariat “in writing” it shall be understood that communication by email is accepted.
3	All clubs playing in the Kent League must:
	(a)	Be affiliated to Volleyball England, and
	(b)	Be affiliated to the KCVA on payment of such fees as the AGM approves
4	(a)	All players must be registered with the KCVA for the season in which the match is played
	(b)	Team Rosters must be obtained from the KCVA Registrations secretary prior to the start of each season and must be produced at every match.
	(c)	There shall be provision for temporary registration of a player in advance of a match. A temporary registration number must be requested from the KCVA Registrations secretary in advance of the match. This temporary registration must be completed by sending in a photograph of the player concerned, within a week of the match taking place. The temporary registration shall remain valid until an updated Team Roster is received from the KCVA Registrations Secretary.
	(d)	At every match, each team coach or captain shall provide a Team List which presents the names of their players who will contest the match, plus the names of their bench personnel. Player names (together with KCVA registration numbers) are to be listed in shirt number order, to assist with and speed up the preparation of the match scoresheet. Libero player(s) and Captain shall be clearly identified on the Team List.
	(e)	Where two teams from the same club play in the same division, the senior team must be stated. A minimum of 6 players must be registered per team before the start of the season.
	(f)	A player may be promoted to a higher team from his/her own club, but no player from a higher team can play for the lower team. When a promoted player has made 3 appearances in the higher team, he/she becomes a member of that team, and may not go back to the lower team.
	(g)	No player may play in the Knockout Cup or Plate semi-final or final unless he/she has played in at least 3 league games for that team. The provisions of Rule 7 (e) shall apply in respect of any player who may not be eligible to play in the match.
	(h)	No player may play in any knockout competition for more than one team.
	(i)	Any player who is registered with Volleyball England National League may not play below the top Men’s or Ladies divisions of the Kent League, without the express permission of the KCVA Committee.
5	Each club entering the league must provide:
	(a)	Name and address of the Club Secretary
	(b)	Name and address of the Team Secretary, if different from the above
	(c)	Address of their home venue and day of home matches.
	(d)	The playing facilities must be adequate. In the event of any dispute/doubt, the KCVA Committee will be the arbiter of whether the facilities are adequate or not.

6	All fixtures are to be played during the week shown in the official League Fixture List If for any reason a fixture is not played during the week shown in the League Fixture List, the following procedures shall be followed *without exception*:

	(a) Where a match is postponed for any reason (e.g. where the home team has no hall availability) and where both teams agree to reschedule:
		(i) The non-playing of the fixture shall be communicated in writing to the League Secretary by the home team within 7 days of the expiration of the week during which the fixture should have been played. The reasons for postponement must be clearly stated.
		(ii) Within 21 days of the original fixture date, the teams must agree a new date to play the fixture. This new date must be within 35 days of the original fixture date (or by the date for close of Leagues if there are less than 35 days remaining). The teams must notify the League Secretary of the rescheduled date as soon as it is agreed.
		(iii) In the event that the match is not rescheduled within the periods defined in Rule 6 (a) (ii), or within such further period which may be agreed between the 2 teams and approved by the League Secretary, then the match shall be declared null and void

	(b) Where there is a dispute between the teams or where the teams cannot agree a new fixture date within the periods specified in Rule 6 (a):
		(i)	The club aggrieved by the non-playing of the fixture shall communicate that fact in writing to the League Secretary, together with an explanation of the circumstances of the matter, within seven days of the expiration of the week during which the fixture should have been played (or within 7 days of the 21-day period specified in Rule 6 (a) (ii)).
		(ii)	A copy of the representations made by the aggrieved club will be despatched by the League Secretary to the Secretary of the opposing club.
		(iii)	Any representations about the matter to be made by the opposing club shall be made in writing within seven days of receipt of the communication from the League Secretary. *Failure to comply with this requirement will result in the automatic award of the match (on a three sets to love basis) to the aggrieved club.*
		(iv)	Upon receipt of written representations from both clubs, the dispute shall be considered by the Committee which shall have the power (inter alia) to direct that the match shall be played on a re-arranged date or that the fixture shall be awarded to one or other of the involved clubs upon such basis as the Committee shall think fit.
	It must be clearly understood that failure by one club or the other to make representations in accordance with requirement 6 (a) (i) or 6 (b) (i) of this procedure shall be construed by the Committee to mean that no club has been aggrieved by the non-playing of the fixture and that the particular fixture shall without exception be declared null and void with no points awarded to either club. The foregoing procedure shall apply with equal force in circumstances where a fixture is commenced but, for any reason whatsoever, is not completed on the due date.

(a)

Unless directed otherwise by the Committee the Home team is responsible for:

(i)

Arranging the venue and equipment

(ii)

Providing and notifying the officials for the match (14 days before the match)

(iii)

Notifying the away team (a minimum of 14 days before the match) of the date, venue and travel directions, warm-up and start times

(iv)

Payment of any entrance fees for the visiting team

(v)

Providing a visual scoreboard and someone to operate it

(b)

Matches shall be played with first service between 7:30pm and 9:00pm on a Monday – Friday evening, or between 9:30am and 8:00pm at weekends. Matches may be played outside of these times with the agreement of both teams.

(c)

Matches in the Premier and Ladies’ Divisions must be controlled by a full complement of match officials: 1^st and 2^nd referees plus at least 2 linespersons. A scorer must also be provided so that a full Volleyball England scoresheet is fully operative throughout the match.

Matches in lower divisions must be controlled by at least 1^st and 2^nd referees. Teams are encouraged to provide at least 2 linespersons for the match. A full Volleyball England scoresheet shall be used to record the names and other details of the players and officials participating in and controlling the match. The result of each set shall be recorded as the match progresses, and teams are encouraged to make every effort for the scoresheet to be fully operative wherever possible.

(d)

Matches in the Premier and Ladies Divisions must be refereed by qualified officials, and in other divisions every effort should be made to obtain a suitable referee. The use of officials who are directly connected with the teams playing is discouraged.

(e)

Officials and captains must check names on the scoresheet against the Team Roster. Captains (and Coaches, if any) must sign the scoresheet to verify the team and player details before the match begins.

In the event of any objection being raised, it shall be recorded on the scoresheet before the start of the match. No objection to any player may be made subsequently. The match shall be played, and a ruling sought from the Committee by means of a written request from the aggrieved club to the League Secretary. If at the end of a match the aggrieved club wishes to withdraw its objection, the team captain should simply add a comment to that effect on the scoresheet.

The winning team must send in the scoresheet to the Results Secretary by e-mail the day after the match. For all Knockout Cup matches, the results must be e-mailed to the Results Secretary and League Secretary by the winning team, within 24 hours of the match being played.

(a)

League Points will be awarded on the basis of 1 point per set won.

(b)

League points may additionally be earned by an accumulation of Reward points, converted into League points in the manner stipulated by Rule 9(c). This applies only to the Premier and Ladies divisions.

(c)

Reward points will be awarded to teams for compliance with Rules 7(c) and (d), such points to be calculated in the manner set out in the Appendix to these Rules - Summary of Sanctions, Penalties and Reward Points

(d)

The team with the most league points (awarded and earned in accordance with Rules 9(a) and 9(b)) at the end of the season will be declared the winner of the division.

(e)

In the event of two or more teams tying for total League points, the winner shall be determined by the following sequence: (1) highest set difference, (2) highest set points difference, (3) matches won. In the event of a tie between two or more teams after these additional differentiators, those teams shall be declared joint winners.

(a)

No player may play for more than one club at the same time (exception - see Rule 10(b)). Transfers may be approved by the KCVA Committee providing they have the following:

(i)

A letter from the player concerned

(ii)

A letter from the secretary of the club he/she is leaving

(iii)

A letter from the secretary of the club he/she is joining

No transfers may be allowed after 31 January

(b)

Ladies registered with a KCVA Ladies Division team are eligible to play for any club within the Men’s or Mixed divisions. Such lady players must be included on the Team Roster of the relevant Men’s or Mixed division team for that season (request to be made to the KCVA Registrations secretary)

(c)

Boys under the age of 16 may play in the Kent Ladies Division.

The following Restrictions will apply specifically to boys who will reach the age of 16 during a season:

they may only play during that season with the express permission of the KCVA Committee
where the team has 6 ladies available to play, boys shall only be allowed to play as Libero i.e. the Ladies should field their 6 players, first.
in the event of injury to one of the players such that they cannot continue in the match, boys may take their place as a full-court player
where the team only has 6 players from the start of the match including boys, the boys shall be allowed to play as full-court players
where a boy plays as a full-court player he shall not be allowed to spike the ball from above net height, from either front or back court. To do so would constitute a ‘foul hit’ and loss of the rally. Teams will need to make sure the referee is aware of this, before the start of the match.
it will be acceptable, where a boy is playing as a full-court player, for him to tip or volley the ball from above the height of the net.

All players in a team must wear a strip of identical colour and design, with numbers on the front and back of the shirts. Numbers 1 to 99 may be used. A Libero player shall wear a shirt of a contrasting colour.

(a)

The Referee will have full powers as laid down by Volleyball England and KCVA rules. Yellow or Red cards (or combination thereof) awarded against players, coaches or authorised bench officials will attract disciplinary points as set out in NVL Competition Rules. These can be found on the Volleyball England website (see Misconduct section).

For information purposes these are currently as follows:

Penalty: Red Card

3 disciplinary points

Expulsion: Red and Yellow Cards jointly

5 disciplinary points

Disqualification : Red and Yellow Cards separately

9 disciplinary points

When a person reaches 8 points, he/she will be suspended for one match and will have his/her case reviewed by the KCVA Disciplinary Committee, who may take further action. When a person reaches 16 points, a further 3 match suspension applies.

(b)

The Disciplinary Committee will consist of at least 3 neutral KCVA Committee members.

Breaches of the above rules shall incur the penalties and sanctions set out in the Appendix to these Rules.

Appeals. Teams may appeal to the KCVA Committee, providing it is in writing to the League Secretary, and a deposit of £10 shall be paid to the KCVA when lodging any Appeal. Such deposit will be returned in the event of the Appeal being successful.

Kent County Volleyball Association

Appendix to KCVA Rules

Summary of Sanctions, Penalties & Reward Points

Rule 3

(a)

Club not affiliated to Volleyball England

(b)

Club not having paid KCVA entry fees

Penalty:

club not eligible to compete within KCVA League and Cup
any matches played immediately forfeit

Rule 4

(a)

Playing unregistered player

(b)

Non-production of Team Roster

(c)

Non-completion of temporary registration requirements

(d)

Non-production of Team List

(e)

Failure to nominate players in senior team before the start of the season

(f)

Player playing in lower team when registered for higher team

(g)

Player who has not played in 3 League games and is playing in Knockout Cup/Plate semi-finals or finals.

(h)

Player playing for more than one team in any knockout competition

(i)

NVL registered player playing below top mens or ladies divisions without express permission of KCVA Committee

Penalty:

in all cases except (b) or (d) forfeiture of match, or such other penalty as the KCVA Committee shall deem appropriate.
in case of breaches of (b) and (d), such penalty as the KCVA committee shall deem appropriate

Rule 6

Cancellation at short notice: in the event of either team defaulting on or cancelling a previously confirmed fixture at less than 2 weeks' notice, the following shall apply:

(i)

the fixture shall be rescheduled to a mutually convenient date, subject to the approval of the League

(ii)

the offending team will reimburse the aggrieved team's expenses (court and officials' fees for the Home team; travel fees for the Away team)

Rule 7

Failure to provide any Officials for the match.

Penalty:

forfeiture of match

Rule 9

Clubs will be rewarded for providing match officials on the following basis:

Providing a 1^st Official who is qualified and holds a current registration with Volleyball England	5 Reward points
Providing a 2^nd Official who is qualified and holds a current registration with Volleyball England	2 Reward points
Providing a scorer to comply with the provisions of Rule 7(c) so that a full Volleyball England scoresheet is fully operative throughout the match.	2 Reward points
Providing a minimum of 2 linespersons for the duration of the match	1 Reward point

When a team reaches 25 Reward points, they shall receive 1 Additional League point. Any Reward points in excess of 25 will be carried forward towards the next block of 25. So it will be possible for a team to earn multiple Additional League points throughout the course of a season.

For the avoidance of doubt, “so that a full Volleyball England scoresheet is fully operative throughout the match” shall mean to include that the scoring boxes are correctly and fully completed as in the example below (outlined red) for all sets of the match.

The Results and League secretaries shall be the arbiters of whether this element of the scoresheet has been completed appropriately. It is not the intention to withhold Reward points for minor mistakes on the scoresheet e.g. forgetting to circle the final points score in each set, or forgetting to rule out ‘unused’ points in the “points” tick columns (identified by the blue arrows).

Linespersons’ names must be recorded on the scoresheet – if these fields are left blank, no Reward Points will accrue as the Results Secretary will assume that no linespersons were present. At least 2 linespersons must be present for the whole of the match for Reward points to be earned (they do not have to be the same 2 people for the whole match).

In the event of KCVA fixtures being scheduled in multiple phases, Reward Points and Additional League Points earned/accrued will not be carried over from one phase to the next – they will only be applied in the Phase in which they are earned/accrued.

Rule 10

(a)

Player playing for more than one Club without the Committee's prior consent.

Penalty:

forfeiture of all matches in which the player has participated, from the point of playing for the second club

(c)

Ineligible boy player playing in ladies division without prior consent of KCVA Committee

Penalty:

forfeiture of all matches in which the player has participated, whilst ineligible

Clubs will at all times have the right to appeal against any ruling made by the Committee - procedures are laid down in Rule 14.

20180719 Rules of the Kent County Volleyball Association - Final 19 July 2018.pdf