Enter a team into the 2014 Adult Sponge Ball League now!!!

Q. Who is the league for? Anyone aged 16 years or over on 31/03/14 Mixed sex (male and female) Four players per team Any ability Q. What is the format of the league? Each player will play four sponge ball singles rubbers against the four players from the opposing team during any one match against another team. Matches will be kept as local as possible (max distance. by District) and teams will be split into divisions by standard within each area if entries are sufficient.

The winning team from the top division of each area league will be invited to a Scottish Sponge Ball Finals in March (date and venue TBC).

Q. Where will the matches be played? All matches must be played indoors using either one badminton court per match or one mini tennis red court set up on an indoor tennis court per match. If indoor tennis courts are to be used for matches, only two sponge ball courts can be marked out on any one full sized court (using the areas between the service line and the base line to form the court see Q. How do I set up a sponge ball tennis court below for more info). Two full sized courts would therefore need to be booked to allow for four sponge ball singles rubbers to take place at any one time. If badminton courts are to be used, four badminton courts should be booked. Home teams must provide a four sponge ball court facility (either two full sized indoor tennis courts or four badminton courts) for a period of 2 hours per match. All rubbers against any one team must be completed during this 2 hour period. Q. When will the matches be played? All matches will be played during February and March 2014. Matches should be played on a Thursday evening between 6.30-8.30pm or as close to this time period as possible. Should the allocated time not be available, the home team should liaise with the away team to find an alternative time within 7 days of the allocated date to complete the match. Q. What is the scoring format? Each rubber will be one short set (first to four games with a tie-break at 4-4) with sudden death deuce. The receiver should choose to receive from either the deuce or the advantage side should the score in any game reach deuce (40-40). Q. What equipment do I need? All matches must be played using a racket of length 21 or smaller with foam balls (which are 75% slower than traditional yellow tennis balls). Any rubbers won using a racket larger than 21 will be forfeited. Home teams must provide the balls (min. two balls per court therefore 8 in total). Each player is responsible for providing their own racket. Q. How do I set up a sponge ball tennis court? Sponge Ball Tennis on a mini red court marked out on a full sized tennis court: For a video explaining how to set up two mini red courts on a full sized court please see http://www.lta.org.uk/LTA-Mini-Tennis/Red/Mini-Tennis-Red/ (at the bottom right of the page) or http://goo.gl/XtDGty for a diagram. Sponge Ball Tennis on a badminton court: For the sponge ball tennis area on a badminton court please see http://goo.gl/XtDGty. Please note that for the purpose of this league there will be no service line at 4m from the net as indicated in the diagram therefore the service box will extend back to the inside back line. Set up a 6m mini tennis net across the centre of the badminton court OR use a lowered badminton net (as in http://goo.gl/2eHNdi).

Q. What are the rules of sponge ball tennis? Players should spin a racket or toss a coin to decide who will serve first. The server has one serve only at the start of each point (therefore no second serve). The server can chose to use either an overarm or underarm serve to begin each point. Sponge Ball Tennis on a mini red court marked out on a full sized tennis court: Server must stand behind the outside tramline of the full sized court and serve diagonally cross court into the opposite service box. The ball must land inside the inner tramline on the opposite side of the net. Following the serve the ball can land anywhere within the sponge ball court. The ball must bounce once before the receiver can return the serve. Thereafter the ball is not allowed to bounce more than once (although it can be played before it has bounced provided it has crossed the net before contact is made). If any part of the ball touches the line it is in. The point ends when the ball goes in the net, lands out or bounces twice. Sponge Ball Tennis on a badminton court: Server must stand behind the baseline (inside back line) of the badminton court and serve diagonally cross court into the opposite service box. The serve must land inside the inner back line and inside the outside side line. Following the serve the ball can land anywhere within the inside back line and the outside side lines. The ball must bounce once before the receiver can return the serve. Thereafter the ball is not allowed to bounce more than once (although it can be played before it has bounced provided it has crossed the net before contact is made). If any part of the ball touches the line it is in. The point ends when the ball goes in the net, lands out or bounces twice. Q. Do I need to be a member of a Tennis Club to enter a team? No - you can enter as any group of individuals or on behalf of a Club / Sports Centre (as long as you have a team name and a venue to play the matches at)! Q. Can a Tennis Club or Sports Centre enter more than one team? Absolutely, provided that both teams can get access to the required court time. Q. How will the league be managed? The League will be managed using online league software called League Planner. All results and match statistics will therefore be available online for all teams to view. Q. Do I need to be a British Tennis Member? Yes in order to record the matches on League Planner all players must have a British Tennis Membership number (BTM). Players who are not already members can join British Tennis through the link below. It is free to join if you are a member of a registered Place to Play: http://www.lta.org.uk/fans-major-events/British-Tennis-Membership/ Q. How much does it cost? It costs 10 per team to enter All entry fees will go towards prize money for the winning team at the Scottish Sponge Ball Finals.

Q. What should I do after each match? Please shake hands with your opponent after every rubber. If there is still court time remaining after all singles rubbers against any one team have been completed and there is an overall winning team, please feel free to play some additional singles or doubles matches in the remaining court time. Please note that any additional matches played will not count towards points in the league. The winning team captain should input all the results online using League Planner following each match. Q. Who should I contact if I have any questions about the league? Please contact Erin Lisk on 0131 444 1984 or erin.lisk@tennisscotland.org. Q. What should I do now? Get some friends together, think of a team name and ENTER! Entries close on Friday 17th January please click on the link below to enter your team. Most importantly, have fun playing your sponge ball matches and we look forward to hopefully seeing you and your team at the Sponge Ball Scottish Finals.

ENTER HERE https://tennisscotland.wufoo.eu/forms/adult-spongeball-league-2014/