Organisation Name: Welsh Pickleball
Directors: Joel Baker - Matthew Hazlehurst
Email: welshpickleball.league@hotmail.com
Information
Leagues
Open League - Made up of teams of 6 players of any gender and age.
Womens League - Made up of teams of 4 women only of any age.
Women can play in both the open and Womens league. Both leagues are separate so a women can play for one club in the open and a different club in the women's league if they so choose to.
Regions
North Wales - South East Wales - South West Wales
The leagues will be split into 3 regions. The location of your club will determine what region you will be in as well as the distance between other clubs. Region boundaries will be decided once all teams have registered and clubs will be notified which region and division they are in.
Divisions
Every club within a region will have their teams placed in a division based on their standing within the club (A team, B team, C team etc.) Once the first season has ended, teams will move up and down divisions depending on performance and the league will function like a football league with promotions and demotions to each division after each season.
Seasons
4 months per season - 2 seasons a year
Each team has to complete their matches in the 4 month period of each season. A two month break will happen between season which will have Welsh Pickleball Events and tournaments. At the end of the year we plan to have a grand final with the top teams of each division and region playing each other (TBD)
Clubs
Official and established clubs are allowed to enter but we are also considering groups and communities as clubs for the purpose of the league if players wish to represent those instead of a standard club. As long as the group or community follows the same rules and guidelines as clubs then they will be allowed to join. All groups must also assign themselves a base location for the purpose of placing them in the correct region.
Teams
6 minimum for the open league - 4 minimum for the women's league
While the open league has 6 and the women's league have 4 players, teams can actually consist of more than those numbers. 6 and 4 are the number of players who can play at once but a team can have as many players as they wish. We recommend at least 8 for the open and 6 for the women's league. This is because the availability of players can change with different circumstances so having extra players offers flexibility to carry out matches. Players can simply rotate or fill in whenever they wish based on their own teams availability and schedule. Should a team require a player and no team members are available then they may borrow a player from a team of the same club but that player must come from a lower ranked team, not higher. E.g. Team A may borrow a team B member to fill in but not the other way around. A player may only substitute for a team once, if a team is short on players then will have to substitute a different player in. Each Team must also nominate a captain.
Team Captains
1 Per team
There must be one team captain per team. The role of the team captain is to firstly select players for the team, then organise fixtures with other team captains and then decide on what players will play in those matches. During matches the captain will also then decide the seeding of each pair or individual players for that match. Players don't need to stay the same seed for different matches. Team Captains must provide their email address upon team registration for communication purposes only. If your team has a situation where they have multiple team captains then they must nominate one to be the point of contact for other team captains.
Matches
Consisting of 9 games (Open) and 6 games (Women's) Home and Away style format
Each team in the league will play each other twice, one home match and one away match. Home match location and balls used during the match are decided upon by the home team. Captains are expected to schedule these matches within the 4 months of the season, failure to complete all matches will result in penalties. The home team can select to play at any venue they wish as long as it is suitable for pickleball and they do not have to only play at the venue the club plays at most often. If a team elects to play outdoors then they are fully responsible for the weather conditions and the dangers it brings. Home teams must provide all equipment necessary and must book the courts themselves at no cost to the away team. Home and away teams may agree to play at venues in between each other to limit travel time or may choose to play at venues based on availability of courts or players. Again, the Home team is responsible for all decisions, equipment and logistics for their home games.
Games
Each game will be first to 11 and win by one as per standard tournament rules. A template of the game schedule will be provided by Welsh Pickleball closer to the league start date. This template must be filled in with the player names, seeding and results once all games are completed in a match. This match schedule with the final results must be submitted to the Welsh Pickleball League, either by photo or email. In the women's league it can be possible to have a tie with 3 wins each, in this instance a final game will be played called a "Dream Breaker". A Dream Breaker is a short game that's first to 5 win by 1 played by players selected by the captain during the match.
Rain Cancellations / Outdoor Matches
Captains may arrange to play outdoors for their home fixtures and are responsible for the safety of all players and abiding the following rules.
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All outdoor courts must be fully marked with connecting lines such as tape, chalk etc but must not be marked with partial outlines such as plastic corner markers.
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If the weather forecast may jeopardize a fixture then the home captain must make a decision to cancel or play before the day of the fixture. Captains may meet or decide on whether to play or not between themselves at any time (even on the day) but only if both parties agree to do so before the day of the fixture.
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If a home captain cancels the fixture on the day of play without prior consultation of the away captain then the away team has the option to claim a full win (0-9 or 0-6) or rearrange the fixture.
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If the away team arrives at the outdoor courts and deems the courts unsafe or dangerous to play on then evidence must be taken (photo/video) and sent to the organisers for a ruling.
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Teams are advised to book outdoor fixtures with caution, we play in a very rainy country and leaving games till late in a season (summer) to play outdoors is risky due to weather and could lead to penalties towards your team if you fail to fulfil your fixture requirements before the season ends. If in doubt, contact the organisers via email.
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We apologise if this ruling seems harsh, we do want players to experience the joy of playing outdoor pickleball but we also don't want to waste players time travelling only for rain to cancel the day. Please feel free to send us feedback and suggestions for this ruling as we may change it in the future.
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Late Cancellation
If both teams have agreed and locked in a date and time for a match then that fixture must go ahead as planned. The only reasons to cancel a booked fixture is weather (if outdoors) or if the venue becomes unavailable through no fault of the home team (damages, flooding etc.). You cannot cancel a fixture because you don't have the players as this will result in teams cancelling at short notice if they don't have their strongest side available. If for some reason your team is short on numbers you must then pull members up from your B team (if you have one) or members from your club that haven't played for any other team. Failure to bring a full team to a match or cancelling without a good reason will result being forfeited by that side. If there is any dispute between reasons for cancellation then please report it to the organisers with proof of reason otherwise it will result in a penalty for the cancelling team.
Price
Open League £30 per team - Women's League £20 per team
The payment process will be sent to clubs and teams closer to the league start date. All payments are non-refundable.
Dates and Deadlines
Team Registration Deadline - February 21st
League Season 1 Start Date - March 1st
Team Payment Deadline - March 31st
Season 1 End Date - June 30th.
Questions
If you have further questions or queries then please email us at Welshpickleball.league@hotmail.com
Registration
Click the button below to start the registration process. You can register more teams later if you wish as long as its done by the registration deadline.