Foster City Tennis Club Peninsula Tennis League Guidelines

The Foster City Tennis Club sponsors two Peninsula Tennis Leagues in the fall: Regular and Seniors. Please consult the various sections below for quick navigation if you don't want to read from beginning to end.

• Guidelines/Requirements
• Eligibility
• Rules of Play
• Official Time and Defaults

Guidelines/Requirements

The team with the highest number of cumulative points is the winner. If there is a tie a playoff will be scheduled.

The Peninsula Tennis League has two leagues: Regular league and Senior league. Both seasons start in September and end in April.

Regular League
There is an age requirement of 18 years of age to qualify for the Regular league. Six (6) doubles matches are played and the roster is limited to a maximum of 30 members.

Senior League
Seniors must be fifty (50) years of age or over in the season which starts from September to April to qualify in the Senior League. Four (4) doubles matches are played and the roster is limited to a maximum of 25 members.

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Eligibility

• Each player must be a member of the Foster City Tennis Club, who is sponsoring our team by providing courts and insurance during competition. See FCTC membership for information on membership fees. Click here to print out a membership form and send it to the address indicated on the form to join the Foster City Tennis Club.

• Team captains must mail a duplicate of team members to their Division Representative and to the League Manager by September 1st. A Release Form must be signed by all players and be sent to the Division Representative. Captains should keep a copy.

• Revised rosters may be submitted between 12/15 and 1/15. At that time team captains may delete or add names not previously listed on any other SFPTL team roster. A player may not move from one team roster to another team roster within one full season. Only those on the team list may play, and no substitutions may be made during the playing season.

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Rules of Play

• The hosting team will furnish drinks and tennis balls. (Note: If the match splits sets, new balls may be requested for the third set.)

• The hosting captain will call the guest captain ten (10) days before the match to confirm the time, place, availability of restroom facilities, and other details. The hosting captain is responsible for the scheduling of the individual matches.

• Each captain will either mail a map with complete directions to opponent at the beginning of each new season or hand it out at the captain's meeting before the season begins.

• Inclement weather will be the ONLY reason for cancelling a match. In case of rain, the hosting captain will be responsible for contacting the guest captain NO LATER THAN 7:00AM. (Note: If it rains heavily the day before a match, and it will be impossible for the courts to be dry by the official starting time of 9:00am the next day, the hosting captain should cancel the match the day before and reschedule the match as soon as possible.

  If rain begins after play has commenced and it is impossible to continue, the rescheduled game must be played from the point of suspension with the same line-up. Captains must write down the exact score, the last point, and who was serving.

If the guest captain arrives at the courts and finds that the courts are wet or damp, she has the right to refuse to play the match; and she has the option of rescheduling it at her home courts. (Note: It is the hosting captain's responsibility to see that the courts are in good playing condition before a scheduled match.)

• Rescheduling must be done within two (2) weeks of the cancelled match.

Rain make-ups for the first half of the season should be finished by 12/15 if at all possible. All rain-out matches should be scheduled as soon as possible and not be delayed until the end of the season. The hosting captain is to call the Division Representative with the new rain make-up date. The original match date should be listed on the scorecard along with the date the actual match was played.

Each match shall consist of 2 out of 3 sets. The 12 point tie-break rule shall apply when a set reaches 6 games all.

• Coaching is illegal. Teammmates, spectators, and/or coaches are not permitted on the court and may not volunteer any advice on play, strategy, line calls, scoring, or on the conduct of the match. It is both teams' responsibility to control the spectator's conduct during match play.

First infraction of this rule:
6 points to be deducted from total team score at end of season;
9 points for league play to be deducted from total team score at end of season.

Second infraction of this rule:
12 points for senior division to be deducted from total team score at end of season;
18 points for league play to be deducted from total team score at end of season.

Third infraction of this rule:
Team suspension for one (1) year league and senior divisions.

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Official Times and Defaults

Times for Rounds of Play:

First Round--
8:45am.....Players arrive, and warm-up, if courts and time permits.
9:00am.....Official warm-up.
9:10am.....Play begins. If all players on a court are not present, a default may result.

Second Round--
All players must be present by 10:30am, even though the courts may not be available.

10:30am.....Warm-up for 10 minutes.
10:40am.....Play begins or default rule applies.

If a player from one team is not present and two players from the opposing team are present, then three (3) points will be awarded to the properly represented team. If a player from each team is missing, then a double default will occur and no points will be awarded.

If a team has six (6) courts at one location (4 courts for Seniors), the official starting time may be adjusted to no later than 9:30am.

If a doubles team wins the first two (2) sets, it receives three (3) points. If a doubles team wins one (1) set out of three, it receives one (1) point and the opponents receive two (2) points.

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Updated 8/14/04