Metropolitan Squash Racquets Association

• MSRA League Teams may be initiated by an MSRA member or the pro/squash staff at a member club. To register a League team, contact leagues@msra.net by October 1, 2010.
• Once the team is registered, Captains must create team rosters on the Online League Management site by October 8, 2010.

• Squash clubs in the New York metropolitan areas may host MSRA League teams. Clubs must be current MSRA member clubs, and pay league team dues.
• Clubs may enter multiple teams for play on a specific night with permission of club pro, and as long as multiple courts are available for play.

Player Eligibility & Substitutes

• To be eligible to play in a league match, a player must have current US Squash/MSRA membership and be listed on the team roster. If a player's membership expires mid-season, he or she may not play a match until membership is renewed. Captains won't be able to enter scores for a player with expired membership, so it will be scored as an automatic default. Players may join or renew membership at www.ussquash.com.
• Teams may add players throughout the season.
• A player may only compete in one team per division. If a club enters more than one team in the same division, players may represent only one team during the season of League play; violation will result in a forfeit of the individual's match.
• A player may sub in for a higher division up to three times per season. To compete in the higher division, the player must be added as a "Sub" to the higher team roster by the time of the match. After the player has competed on the higher-level team four or more times, then he can only play on that higher-level team going forward (including playoffs/finals).
  • Example #1: At the beginning of the season, Jane is somewhere between levels. She gets herself registered on the W4.0 roster, and on the W5.0 roster as a Sub. She plays three matches for 4.0, a match for 5.0, then a few more 4.0 matches. She finds herself improving and starts playing more 5.0 matches. Once she hits that fourth 5.0 match that becomes the only team on which she can compete going forward, even in the playoffs/finals.
  • Example #2: John is a 5.5 player. However, the 5.0 team at his club is short a player. John may compete for the 5.0 team (clearly at the top of the ladder) as long as he is registered as a Sub for that team. However, if John has already competed in four or more 5.5 matches, he is not eligible to play any more 5.0 matches.
  • Example #3: At the beginning on the season, Jack is unsure of which division he should compete in. He plays a match on a 4.5 team and finds the competition way too hard, then plays a 4.0 match and again is quickly beaten. He joins the 3.5 team's official roster. However later in the season, the 4.0 team is short players and Jack plays two more 4.0 matches. At this point, Jack has played four matches for higher-level teams and is no longer eligible to play on the 3.5 team. He must play on the 4.0 team (or higher) going forward.
• A woman may compete on a men's League team. In addition, a woman may compete in both a men's and a women's division during the season, and in playoffs/finals for both.
• Players must wear protective eyewear for league matches. If a player participates without wearing eye protection and is reported to League Chairs by another player, team Captain, or club pro, the player violating the rule will have his/her match defaulted. A player is not obligated to play a match against an un-lensed player.

Team Structure

• Teams must must have a minimum of seven players registered per roster.
• Each team must have a Captain, who reserved courts, coordinates matches with opposing captains, arranges lineups, and enters scores. The MSRA encourages teams to be captained by a player on that team. One person may not be the Captain for multiple teams unless that person is the club pro.
• Each team must also have a Co-Captain, who will have access to the league website to enter scores and arrange matches. The Co-Captain may be the club pro. The Co-Captain can fill this role for multiple teams.

• MSRA League Chairs set the season schedule in advance. The match schedule will be released to captains in mid-October.
• At the start of the season, captains should reserve matches for all their home matches. Matches should be played between 6:00-9:30 pm. MSRA recommends that Captains reserve courts primarily between 7:00-8:30 pm.
• Matches must be played on the assigned night. RESCHEDULES ARE NOT ALLOWED.
• Home Captain must contact visiting Captain at least three days before the match to communicate court times, club location and preliminary (or final if available) lineup. Visiting Captain should respond with their preliminary or final lineup. Captains can find opposing captain's contact information on the Teams webpage.
• Lineups should be finalized by the day before the match. If lineups must be changed the day of the match due to player injury or unavoidable schedule changes', captain must communicate to the opposing captain. Common courtesy applies to lineup exchange. Please contact MSRA League Chairs if there are issues. Captains repeatedly causing consternation may be asked by League Chairs to step down and appoint another captain.
• Home Captain should also explain all relevant club rules and dress code to visiting Captain. If a woman is participating on a men's team for a match played at an all-male club, her Captain will inform the home Captain.

• The number of matches played per night varies by division:
  - M 5.5, W 5.0: three matches per night
  - M 5.0, M 4.5, M 4.0, M 3.5, M 3.0: four matches per night
  - W 3.0/4.0: four matches per night (two matches at 3.0 level, two at 4.0 level)
• The best available player from one team plays the best available player from the opposing team. The 2nd best plays the other team's 2nd best, and so on.
• Lineups will be determined by each team's Captain and exchanged in advance. The lineup must follow the current team player rankings.
• Team rankings may be determined through challenge matches, round robins, and comparative results against other players via the U.S. Squash rating system. Clear abuse of the rankings order may result in match defaults.
• For W 3.0/4.0 division: at start of season, captains must designate which of their players are 3.0 and which are 4.0 level. A 3.0-designated player may 'play up' in a 4.0 level match, but a 4.0-designated player may not play down.
• If a scheduled player cannot play, the team should have an alternate team member available to play.
• If no other teammate is available, a non-rostered player may compete in order to give opponent a fun game. However, the match does not count toward team rankings, and the official score will be recorded as a default in favor of the opponent. Only current MSRA members who are registered on the team roster may compete in official league matches.

The official US Squash ratings are not yet accurate enough to allow metric-based assignments to teams. At this point, it is impossible to form consistent skill levels based on ratings, and it is also impossible to monitor and enforce this as players are continually improving (and in some cases, declining due to injury or time off the court).

So we leave it up to players. If you are unsure, the subsitute rule allows you to try different levels. And always feel free to ask the MSRA League Chairs which skill level would be best. In short, you should compete on the team in which you will have the most fun.

Match Play

• Warm-up should be limited to a maximum of five minutes (two-and-a-half minutes per side). Captains or home team player must ensure adherence to time limits since court time is constrained.
• All matches in all divisions will be three-out-of-five games, with Point-a-Rally (PAR) scoring to 11 points. All other US Squash rules shall apply to all matches.
• Individual match victories may count towards a player's national ranking as well as towards the final team result in the match.
• In the event of a tie in four player-team matches, total accumulated games will decide the match winner. In the event of a tie in games, total accumulated game points will decide the winner.
• Captains must enter match scores on the Online League Management site within 48 hours of match completion. The League Chairs recommend that winning captain enter scores, but either the captain or co-captain of either team may do it. The system will automatically award a default to both teams, if scores have not been reported within 48 hours.

• MSRA suggests that matches be refereed and marked by a player from each team, since it can make the match more fun and fair. Each call will be decided by both referees -- if referees agree, then their decision stands; if referees disagree, play a let.
• If matches are self-refereed, players should be aware of the following guidelines:
  - Strokes cannot be taken or demanded by the player calling the let, but may only be granted by the obstructing player.
  - If the let is questionable or in dispute, play a let.
• At any point during a match, players and captains may ask a teammate, opposing team's player, club pro, or a spectator to referee if it will reduce disagreement and make the match more fun. However, once designated it must be clear who the 'official' referee and their calls will stand.

• All League matches must be played on the night scheduled. RESCHEDULING IS NOT ALLOWED.
• No-Shows: If a player is not ready to play within 15 minutes of the assigned match start time, the opposing team's player or Captain may enforce a Player Default.
• Expired membership: a Player Default will occur if a player's US Squash/MSRA membership is expired such that match scores can not be entered within 48 hours.
• Unfinished matches: If a match is started within 15 minutes of the assigned start time but court time runs out , then the unfinished match must be completed within seven days, according to these rules:
  - If two or fewer games of the match were completed when play was suspended, the match should be replayed in its entirety.
  - If three or more games were completed, then match will resume at 0-0 for the interrupted game, with all completed games remaining as they stood (e.g., if the match was at 2-1 games with a score of 4-2 in the fourth game, the match resumes at the start of the fourth game with a score of 0-0 and the winner of the third game to serve).
• A team that cannot fill all roster positions on a given night must notify the opposing team Captain and players in enough time to release courts, and the incomplete team will take a default for the missing roster position. If a player defaults and opposing team was not informed in enough time so that the full team arrives ready to play, then complete team decides whether incomplete team's players remain at agreed-to positions or move up to higher positions.
• A team with an average of at least one player default per match throughout the first half of the season may be ejected from the League.
• A Team Default occurs if more than one individual match is defaulted on a given evening. A team is permitted two Team Defaults per League season; with a third Team Default, that team may be ejected from the League.
• If a player competes in a league match without wearing eye protection and is reported to League Chairs by another player, team Captain, or club pro, the player violating the rule will have his/her match defaulted. A player is not obligated to play a match against an un-lensed player.

Pooled Play (for divisions with more than 10 teams)

• Divisions with more than 10 teams will play each team once in Phase I of regular season. In Phase II of their regular season, these divisions will then participate in ‘pooled play'.
• 'Pools' are created according to rankings calculated following the last match in Phase I:
  • Pool A: teams ranked #1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13
  • Pool B: teams ranked #2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11
• Note: Pooled Play is NOT a playoff; rather is a way to schedule the remainder of the season for large divisions.

• Divisions with fewer than eight teams will have a playoff with least two teams; divisions with eight or more teams will have at least four teams in the playoffs.
• For divisions with four-team playoffs, the semi-finals format will be:
  • #1-ranked team vs #4 (at #1's home court, if availale)
  • #2-ranked team vs #3 (at #2's home court, if available)
• The finals will be the winners of these playoff matches. Home Court Advantage will be held by the higher-ranked, if available.
• If two teams have tied win scores at the end of the regular season, the tie will be settled first by total individual matches won, then by total individual games won and then by total individual points won. If a tie still ensues, a pre-playoff match will determine which team advances to the playoffs.
• No player may compete in any playoffs or finals match unless he or she has played in at least three matches for that team during the regular season.
• If a team dropped out mid-season, final division rankings will be calculated by removing that drop out team's matches.
• If a match was double-defaulted, it will count as a loss for both teams.
• If a player has served as a sub for a second team during the season, he may only compete in playoffs/finals for one division (except for women who play on men's teams; they may compete for both teams).

Costs & Court Payments

• League team dues are $150.
  • Some clubs pay their league team dues; in those cases, invoices will be sent directly to club managers.
  • For teams whose clubs do not pay their league team dues, the invoice will be sent directly to the captain who should collect money from team players. The $150 payment can made online at www.msra.net or with a check made payable to Metropolitan Squash Racquets Association (MSRA), and sent to the MSRA at: 2A Anchor Court, Huntington, NY 11746.
  • League team dues are in addition to MSRA Member Club Fees (the MSRA bills the club seperately for this, on an annual basis).
• For clubs with court fees, the host Captain must arrange for payment of court fees.
• If a team is hosting but it's actually an 'away' game, then host Captain should reserve courts and collect money from opposing team.