I. Financial Obligation
a. The Travel League entry fee is $125 per team. All private clubs, YMCA’s, JCC’s or Park Districts are eligible to enter teams.
b. Teams forfeiting matches will be responsible for paying court costs for courts that are reserved, but not used.
II. Divisions and Time of Play
a. Women’s Open/A: Monday; 8 pm or later
b. Men’s Open/A: Tuesday; 8 pm or later
c. Men’s A/B: Wednesday; 8 pm or later
d. Men’s B/C: Thursday; 8 pm or later
NOTE: Any league may play at a time earlier than the one specified above, provided courts are available at an earlier time and both teams agree to the time.
III. Eligibility
A player’s eligibility for the current Travel League season will be based on his/her ISRA tournament eligibility on June 1st of the current year. In addition, the ISRA Travel League reserves the right to reclassify a player or team in the interest of fair play.
A player may request a reclassification of eligibility by petitioning the ISRA Board. Requests for reclassification will be considered on an individual basis.
All Travel League members are required to be members of the USRA. Membership is available to any Illinois resident for a fee of $35 per year and must be paid through March 31st of the following year (i.e. a league starting October 2004 requires payment through March 2005) by the time league play starts.
IV. Player Rosters
a. A team shall consist of a minimum of 6 players and a maximum of 14 players.
b. A team roster shall be submitted by October 1st in order for the team to be added to the current year’s schedule.
c. All players on the roster should generally be members of the facility that they represent. Club owners have the right to determine whether non-members will be allowed to play for their club’s travel teams.
d. A player may be listed on only one roster in a division.
e. Players may be added to a roster (to replace a player or to bring the roster number to 14) by completing a “Change/Addition Form” and sending it to the Travel League Coordinator. There is a 3-day waiting period (including the day of the match) before the added player can participate in a match.
f. A player may only be deleted from a roster if he/she has never played a Travel League match during the current season. A “Change/Addition Form” is required. The same player may move to another team after waiting the required 3-day period and being added to the new team’s roster.
g. Team rosters that carry a maximum of 14 players may not make any roster changes after January 1st.
V. Rules of Play
a. Current USRA rules govern play.
b. All players must wear approved eyeguards. USRA Rule 2.5 (Apparel) states: “(a). All players must wear lensed eyewear that has been warranted by its manufacturer or distributor as 1) designed for use in racquetball and 2) meeting and exceeding either the full ASTM F8-3 standard or Canadian (CSA) impact standard. This rule applies to all persons, including those who wear corrective lenses. The eyewear must be unaltered and worn as designed at all times. A player who fails to wear proper eyewear will be assessed a technical foul and a timeout to obtain proper eyewear. A second infraction in the same match will result in immediate forfeiture of the match.”
c. Matches for all divisions will consist of two games of 15 points and one game of 11 points, resulting in a possible total of 41 points earned by an individual or doubles team.
d. The “One Serve” rule will apply in the Men’s Open division.
VI. League Play
a. If the visiting team will be unable to field a full team, they are responsible for calling the home team at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled match with the number of players that WILL be attending the match.
b. Visiting teams will call to verify starting times and number of courts. Prior to signing up for the league, teams will check with the sponsoring facility to ensure that court time is available on the days and times listed above.
c. The home team is responsible for court costs and/or visitor fees.
d. Forfeit time will be one half hour (30 minutes) past the scheduled start time for the match. Team captains should call the opposing team captain for exceptions – to provide the “position” affected, NOT the player’s name.
e. Either Ektelon or Penn blue balls or Penn green balls are acceptable for league play. The home team has the choice and will provide new balls for the match. (Note: Balls may be switched if agreed to by both teams.)
f. Postponement of scheduled matches is NOT allowed unless due to unfavorable weather conditions. No exceptions will be permitted.
g. Team captains will complete score sheets with the lineup for the match and do a blind exchange. After the exchange, there will be no changes.
h. In cases where 5 singles matches are played and one team has only 4 players present, the must play the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions. The 5th position is not played. If only 3 players are present, the 4th and 5th positions are not played.
i. In cases where 3 singles matches and 1 doubles match is played, and one team has only 4 players present, doubles and 1st and 2nd singles will be played. If only 3 players are present, doubles and 1st singles will be played.
j. If matches are played while waiting for other players to arrive, they will not count. For instance, 1st and 2nd singles play while waiting for 3 players and only one player arrives. The 2nd singles match just played does not count. Instead, the new player and the 2nd singles player must play doubles and forfeit singles positions # 2 and 3. Injury substitutions are allowed in doubles play only.
VII. League Scoring
a. Each match consists of two 15-point games and one 11-point game, providing each singles player or doubles team with the possibility of winning a maximum of 41 points. Total points will determine the winner of each match.
b. The visiting team serves first in the first game. The home team will serve first in the second game. The player or doubles team that scores the most points in the first two games will serve first in the third game. If the points are equal, the visiting team will serve the third game.
c. Individual match scores are added together to arrive at the team score.
d. League standings will be determined by the total of the weekly team scores. Standings will be sent to team captains every two weeks and will be posted on the ISRA website.
VIII. Reporting Scores
a. A representative of the home team must report match results within 48 hours of the scheduled match time. Teams that do not report the scores within that time limit will be given a 0 until scores are reported.
b. The preferred method for reporting scores is via FAX. The FAX number is (630) 469-3748. If FAX is not an option, scores may be called in to Pam Grace at (630) 462-0244.
IX. Playoffs
a. If there are multiple divisions within a division, an end of season playoff will occur. The format will be determined based on the number of teams in the division. Playoffs may also occur in leagues that have one division, but a minimum of eight teams.
b. To be eligible to play in the playoffs, a player must have been on the team roster for at least 30 days and have played in at least 3 matches.
c. The host team will be responsible for any court costs.
d. Men’s divisions will play 3 singles and one doubles match in the playoffs. Men’s Open/A and A/B will play 4 singles and one doubles match.
e. Total points will determine the match winners.
f. If there is only one division, a playoff will not occur. The league winner will be determined by the total number of points accumulated in that division of play.
g. Playoff teams will be seeded in tournament format.
Highest point totals at end of season will determine seeding.
X. Awards
Awards will be presented to the first place winners in each division and to the playoff champion. To be eligible for an individual award, a player must have participated in at least 3 matches.
XI. Rules Interpretation
All questions or problems related to Travel League play should be directed to the Travel League Committee in the following order:
1. Pam Grace (630) 462-0244
2. Liz Molitor (630) 469-3739
3. Laurel Davis (630) 737-0669
Last Updated: September 12, 2006
