CENTRAL CAROLINAS SUPER LEAGUE - RULES

updated - April 29, 2024

League Administrators – Bill Englebreth, Harry Karr, Miguel Roldan, Martin Lessa, Patty Hill, Vijayendra Nerurkar, Vishva Abhishek Tarar

1. Eligibility

You must be a USATT and CTTC club member in good standing (dues paid up) to participate. Guests (USATT members) may be approved for play by either a league administrator or a CTTC club officer.

2. Registration and Start Time

Both the Thursday and Saturday leagues use stadiumtt.com for registration and match records.

The Central Carolinas Super League runs on Thursday evenings or occasionally on both Thursday and Friday evenings (split league) and also on Saturday mornings (Saturday league). 

For Thursday - you must sign in on stadiumtt.com  between Monday 5 PM and Thursday 5 PM. Players that do not sign in  before noon Thursday are not guaranteed participation in that week’s league. There is a maximum of 48 players and sign-up is first-come, first served. The process of setting groups begins on Thursday afternoon. Play will start by 7:00 PM. If you cannot arrive before 7:00 PM and wish to participate, you must text message 704-560-2441 and leave your name. You must arrive before 7:45 PM to play.

For Saturday - you must sign in on stadiumtt.com  between Monday 5 PM and Saturday 9:00 AM. Players that do not sign in  before 9:00 Saturday are not guaranteed participation in that week’s league. There is a maximum of 24 players and sign-up is first-come, first served. The process of setting groups begins on Saturday early morning. Play will start by 10:00 AM. If you cannot arrive before 10:00 AM and wish to participate, you must text message 704-560-2441 and leave your name. You must arrive before 10:30 AM to play.

3. League Ratings

League ratings are calculated using the USATT league webpage algorithm (the same as the USATT tournament algorithm). Initial league ratings are set using:

   a.  League rating from any other USATT league

   b.  Current USATT tournament rating

   c.  Average of best win and worst loss

For initial seeding, an unrated player is given an estimate by the league administrator or CTTC club officer

The Central Carolinas Super league is unsanctioned – USATT membership IS required to play but league matches do not have any effect on USATT tournament ratings.

4. Group Assignments

Players are assigned to Groups in league rating order, with the exceptions of players selected for move up or move down by the criteria outlined below. Just because you play in a particular Group one Thursday or Saturday does not mean you will be in the same Group the next Thursday or Saturday. It all depends on how many players with higher ratings than yours show up to play. If you should find yourself in a Group lower than the previous week even though you believe you deserve to stay in the same Group, please do not annoy the league administrator with your complaint as he is busy arranging play for 30 or more other players and would appreciate participating in his own matches with a minimum of distraction. Resolve to play even better this week, win all your matches, and move up on merit. We strive for no less than 6 players and no more than 8 players in each Group, with a maximum of 6 Groups.

5. Move Up

Players may be selected to move up the next time they play to a Group higher than their previous Group by either most matches won or highest league rating points gain. The first player in a Group selected to move up will be the player to win the most matches in their Group. Ties are decided by head to head results first, then by win-liss ratio. The second player to move up will be the one with the highest league rating points gain not including the player with the most match wins and not including players who do not win at least 2 matches. A move up is only good for the first Thursday league event played in the next two weeks or the first Saturday league played within one week.

6. Move Down

Players may be selected to move down the next time they play to a Group lower than their previous Group by fewest matches won or most league rating points lost in the Group. The first player to move down will be the player with the fewest match wins in the Group. Ties are decided by head to head results first, then by win-loss ratio. The next player to move down is the player with the largest league rating point loss for that Group, not including players who win more than half their matches. A move down has no time limit and will remain until the player next competes in the league.

7. Withdraws and Defaults

Players that choose to not compete in all their assigned matches (retires) in a Group will forfeit all unplayed matches with corresponding loss of league rating points. The retiring player’s opponent will select retired on the Stadiumtt admin screen. The abandoning player’s opponent may decline and select default on the Stadiumtt admin screen, in this case there will be no exchange of rating points.Players who are no shows for a league event will be removed from the draw.

8. Service and other Rules of Play

As this is a USATT league, our aim is to follow USATT rules and guidelines as much as possible. If there is some doubt as to the legality of a serve, there are several USATT certified umpires in the CTTC who are willing to observe if requested. (Ling Fan, Simon Brain, Bill Englebreth). Advice may be given informally by anyone, but only between rallies when the ball is not in play and provided the advice giving does not delay play.

9. Efficiency

Be considerate of others. Groups run most efficiently when all players take turns and rotate appropriately. Look at the match record sheet and see who has not played as many matches and get them on the table next.

10. Player of the Week/Year

The Player of the Week is decided simply by the largest Thursday league rating increase for that week. The Player of the Year is decided by the player who is most often Player of the Week during a given year. In the event of a tie, the Player of the Year will be awarded to the player with the greatest total rating points gain for the year.

11. League Administrator

All matters not covered by these rules will be decided by the league administrator or by CTTC officers in the absence of the league administrator.

The Youth League meets on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 PM. This is moderately competitive league for young beginning players who are not yet adept at attacking underspin balls with loops, giving them the opportunity to gain experience with peers at a similar skill level before moving on the the Central Carolinas Super League. Service rules are slightly relaxed and matches are best 2 out of 3 instead of 3 out of 5. For more information, contact Steven Thompson at charlottettacademy@gmail.com