League Playing Rules

  1. This Association shall abide by all rules of USSquash.

  2. The decision of a referee as to interpretation of any rule of play is final.

  3. Unless otherwise specified, each doubles league team shall consist of two (2) pairs. Singles teams in the winter season will consist of three (3) players. Singles teams in the fall will consist of three (3) players for A and four (4) players for all others. Playoffs consist of four teams from each league.

  4. Except as may otherwise be designated by the Executive Committee, the scheduled days for league matches shall be as follows:

    A Singles - Tuesday
    B Singles - Wednesday
    C Singles -Thursday
    A Doubles - Thursday (Winter)
    Super-B Doubles - Tuesday (Winter)
    B Doubles - Wednesday (Winter)
    C Doubles - Monday (Winter)
    Veteran (40+) Doubles - Tuesday (Fall)
    Senior (50+) Doubles - Thursday (Fall)
    60+ Doubles - Monday (Fall)
    Mixed-AB Doubles - Thursday (Fall)
    Mixed-BC Doubles - Wednesday (Fall)

  5. All players are required to be both PSRA and USSquash members at the time that a match is scheduled for. Please note that both the PSRA and USSquash uses a rolling membership year, and that the membership dates for the PSRA and USSquash coincide (except in the case of lifetime memberships in either). In case of the emergency situation where a non-roster player is used for a match, that player is required to be a PSRA and USSquash member at the time of the match. In the event that a player is not a current member of the PSRA and USSquash, the offending team will lose credit for the match win. We have enabled a grace period for each season that ends 2 weeks after the first day of the first league to start. We have also enabled grace period of one week from the scheduled date of each match. If the membership is made current within the current season's grace period or within the match grace period, the match win(s) will be restored.

  6. Each team match in the Singles League shall consist of four individual Singles matches (except in the A League, in which a team match shall consist of three individual Singles matches), each of which will score one point.

    Each team match in the Doubles League shall consist of two Doubles matches, each counting one point.

    The order of finish at the end of the season, in preparation for the playoffs, will be determined by the percentage of individual matches scheduled which were won.

    In case of a tie between 2 or more teams at the end of the season, the order between those tied teams will be:
    Lowest percentage of matches lost vs matches scheduled.
    Lowest percentage of games lost vs matches scheduled (a default loss shall count as a 0-3 loss).
    Highest percentage of games won vs matches scheduled (a default win shall count as a 3-0 win).
    If there are Head-to-head matches between all teams involved, then:
    - Head-to-head match(s) between the tied teams, based on individual matches won.
    - Head-to-head match(s) between the tied teams, based on least number of games lost (a default loss shall count as a 0-3 loss).
    - Head-to-head match(s) between the tied teams, based on most number of games won (a default win shall count as a 3-0 win).
    If both teams would still make the playoffs, then a coin toss will determine the order of finish.
    If one of the teams would not be included in the playoffs, then a (regular season format) playoff match between the teams will be held at a neutral court. The winner of the playoff match will be determined by matches, then games and then points won.
    If number of points won are equal, a sudden death game will be played commencing within 5 minutes of determination that a tie did exist. Each club may select a player or form a 2-player team from any combination of the players utilized in the tied play-off match.

    (NEWLY REVISED)
    In the event that one team (A) has a substantial number of default wins where they make the playoffs to the detriment of another team (B) that has a higher percentage of actual wins, then upon appeal from Team B, the league committee and association president may elect to hold a playoff feed-in match between the 2 teams. Factors may be taken into account such as the default record of each of the teams.

  7. In the event a player (including any substitute player) is unable to play a match on the evening of date originally scheduled (or rescheduled by mutual agreement of the team captains) such match shall be defaulted to the player (including any substitute player) who was ready to play on the scheduled date unless the match is cancelled by agreement of both team captains, in which case neither team will be awarded a point for the match. Any match which is rescheduled by mutual agreement of the team captains and which is unplayed, for whatever reason, in the six (6) days after the date originally scheduled shall be deemed cancelled with neither team being awarded a point for the match.

  8. Every playoff match (whether in a preliminary or final round) for a league title shall be played on the evening of the date scheduled unless both team captains agree, with the approval of the President of the Association, to reschedule the match, or unless the match cannot be played on the date scheduled by reason of an Act of God or unplayable courts (in which case the match shall be rescheduled by the President of the Association).

  9. If a court is available for play and a player or team is not ready for play within 30 minutes of the official starting time of a Doubles match or 7:00 P.M. in the case of a Singles match, the tardy team or player is liable to default at the option of the player or team prepared for play, unless by prior mutual agreement a contrary arrangement has been made subject to these rules.

  10. In the event that a regular member of a team is unable to play, a substitute player shall be allowed to play for the team. If no player is substituted, the player or players below the absent member shall move up one position to fill the missing position and the lowest match position on the team shall be defaulted, i.e., #3 for an A team, #4 for a B, C or D team. The player shall be substituted at his or her level of ability. All playing positions on the team shall be determined internally according to challenge ladder results or, if no challenge match results are available, on order of ability as determined by the best judgment of the team captain and/or club representative.

  11. The Executive Committee shall decide the number of times each team entered in any league shall play pursuant to the suggestions of the Scheduling Committee.

  12. Each Club Squash Chairman is responsible for classification of its members who will be playing on squash teams. These players will be classified as A, B, C (or D) for team purposes and they will not be allowed to play in a lower league or tournament than that in which they are classified.

    Please note that Male Squash Pros are not eligible to play in the Mixed AB league. Exceptions to this rule may be granted by the ranking committee, based on the age and/or skill level of the player involved.

  13. The Ranking Committee has the authority to certify all players for league and tournament play regardless of their age and former league record.

  14. No player can represent more than one member club in the same league, nor can a player represent one member club on two different teams in the same league. If a player does participate on a second team in the same league, or on a team of a different member club in the same league, all such matches played by such individual for the second team or for the team of a second member club will be forfeited.

  15. A player classified in a lower league may play as a substitute on a higher league team and his right to play on his regular team during the same week will not be affected. A player who substitutes more than three times in a higher rated league will be reclassified at the higher level and will be ineligible to play in the lower level league from that time forward through the end of the season, including playoffs.

  16. Players under 21 are not permitted to play in the C or D Leagues without permission of the Executive Committee.

  17. A player who wins the Philadelphia District B, C or D Singles Tournament shall not be eligible to compete in such tournament for 5 years. A team which wins the Philadelphia District SB, B, C or D Doubles Tournament shall not be eligible to participate in such tournament for a period of 5 years; however, the individual members of a team which wins the Philadelphia District SB, B, C or D Tournament shall be eligible to participate with a new partner in such tournament if the entry constitutes a bona fide team at the appropriate level.

  18. (NEWLY REVISED) Any team that defaults 25% or more of their individual matches during the season will not be eligible to win its league and shall not participate in league playoff competition.

  19. In order to be eligible to participate on a team in league playoff competition, a player must have competed in at least two league matches for that team during the regular season.

  20. If any player in league competition fails to show for two or more individual matches, he or she shall be barred from playing in the leagues for the following year. Notification of the desire to reschedule an individual match under rule 6 of these rules must be given to the opposing team captain at least 24 hours in advance of the scheduled match time. Appeals from decisions barring a player under this rule may be made to the President of the Association. Any player who is considered to have a committed a first infraction of this rule shall be notified in writing of the fact by the Association.

  21. Captains are expected to manage their rosters and report results through the web application supplied by USSquash. Appropriate links to the location are available at the PSRA PhillyBoast website.

    If you feel the results are in error, please contact the league recorder Ken Jaffe. If you feel that membership information is incorrect, please contact the US Squash Membership Officer, Bill Buckingham.

  22. ALL regular season matches need to be completed by the date of the last scheduled regular season match on the league's schedule, and that ALL results, including player names, must be submitted by the end of that next day through the web site, or by email to the league recorder Ken Jaffe if the website is unavailable.

  23. For all doubles leagues, with the exception of A, Mixed-AB, Mixed-BC and 60+, playoffs matches will consist of 3 matches. Thus, each team must qualify 6 players for the playoffs. If a team is unable to field 6 players, then they will default the 3rd spot (and thus must win both the number one and two matches in order to advance).

  24. ALL playoff matches, including finals, will be hosted by the team that finished higher in the division. A neutral court for the finals will only be used in the case where there are two separate but equal divisions in the league, where the first place team from each division plays the second place team in the other division in the semi-finals, and the resultant winners playing in the finals are of equal seeding.