bylaws

LAUREL HIGHLANDS TAP LOCAL BYLAWS

1. Practice time before matches.

(a) Visiting teams will be allotted 1/2 hour table time before the start of their scheduled match. Matches start at 7:30 pm. If a visiting team comes in after 7:00 pm, they get only the time that is left before the start time of their match. The same cue ball that is used for practice must be used for the match unless both teams agree. (No switching cueballs on visiting teams.)

2. Played matches needed to compete at Titleholders

(a) 16 week session.....no byes.....6 played matches

(b) 16 week session.....one bye.....6 played matches

(d) 8 week summer session..no byes or one bye...3 played matches..New players need 4 matches in.

(e) 8 week summer session..New players will need a minimum of 3 played matches and if need be, handicaps will be set by TAP corp.

(f) Summer session shorter then 8 weeks.....3 played matches

(g) Summer sessions longer then 8 weeks....4 played matches

(h) Forfeits do not count....only played matches count.

(i) Players can't combine matches if they play on different teams in two separate divisions, regardless if it is 8 or 9 ball. The two can't be combined.

(j) Playoff matches will not count towards the total needed starting after the spring 2008 session. A player can compete in a playoff match if they have 5 matches in for that team in a 16 week session with no byes or 4 matches played in a session with byes. If they have 3 or less matches in, they can not play in the playoffs. They have not played enough matches and are not considered to be on that team.

(h) Players that shoot in two different table size divisions will play at the Titleholder at their highest attained handicap for both teams if they have two different caps. This does not happen often and mainly when players do not have

enough matches in on one or the other.

3. Taverns and host locations

a) LH TAP's only request is to have the tables open or quarters available for the tables.

(b) Complimentary food is not mandatory but is greatly appreciated

(c) Any roster changes, team moves, etc. is 100% in the hands of the person that submitted the team roster and not the host location (unless the tavern owner submitted the roster)

(d) Underage players are allowed to compete in LH TAP. We will honor any host locations right to not allow these players to compete in their establishments.

(e) LH TAP honors any host location to exercise their rights to not allow a member to enter and play in their establishment that has been banned from that location in the past.

(f) Tables,cloth and balls should be maintained and be kept in a reasonable condition. LH TAP does not dictate what type of cue ball to be used but we recommend a red circle cue ball whenever possible.

4. Team dues

(a) It is up to the team captain to make sure all weekly dues is turned in. Any teams that do not pay the full amount will be barred and blacklisted on the league web site until all monies are paid. Any players on these teams will need to pay their fair share to the LH TAP office regardless if they already paid their weekly fees to their team captain. Note: You chose to trust this person, not LH TAP. Team dues is $50 a week per team. regardless of forfeits or no shows. The team captain is responsible for their team's dues. If this person defaults on it the obligation for this money owed falls to the host location of that team.

**Note**.... Money that does not come in, can't expected to be paid out.

5. Turning in score sheets

(a) LH TAP would like to see all score sheets turned in within 12 hours. Since the app was launched in 2017 most if not all scores are in that night. Please be courteous to your fellow teams and submit them ion time. Note..Only one 7 cap can play on a 5 match set per night. This is to balance the league more evenly. Two 7 caps are allowed on the same team but only one can play per night..

6. Roster deadlines

(a) Week 6 for 16 week session

(b) Week 4 for a 8 week session

(c) LH TAP's reserves the right to extend this to any teams or players based on each individual case and circumstances such as team survival rule, which is in the TAP national rule book. This covers teams that are forfeiting matches constantly, etc. Any added players past this deadline must still get the required minimum matches in to qualify for Titleholders and nationals.

7. Forfeits, byes and no shows (League & Titleholder)

(a) Byes are a 3-2 win. No dues are owed for bye weeks

(b) If for some reason a home team decides they can't play their match at their home location, both teams can agree on a neutral location. If they can not agree, the match will be played at the away teams location.

(c) Dues is still owed for player matches that are forfeited. Do not put a opposing player on the score sheet for a forfeit. This match will go into open stats.

(d) If a team is a complete no show the opposing team will be awarded a 5-0 forfeit. If a team is a no show on consecutive weeks, the second week will be a 5-0 forfeit. The no show team will then by dropped from that session and all following matches will be a 3-2 bye. In the event I am notified before a scheduled match that a team is dropping then the scheduled team they would have played will get a 3-2 bye as well as all remaining scheduled teams for that session

(e) Note..LAST THREE WEEKS OF PLAY

Anytime a team is a no show in any of the last 3 weeks (or the last 2 weeks in a summer session) then it will be a 3-2 forfeit.This is in place so teams that quit at the end of a session do not affect the standings as greatly as in the start of a session and also so bottom placing teams do not try and help their friends place higher in the standings by giving them a 5-0 forfeit. If I suspect a match was thrown to help a fellow team advance in the standings, I reserve the right to allow the max. amount which would be the same as a bye, a 3-2 win or both teams the max at 0-5 I will make the judgement call as league operator.

(f) EFFECTIVE FEB, 1, 2022...Teams must show with at least 3 players in the last 3 weeks of a session. Two or less it will be a 3-2 bye week. On the last week of play, if a team has players that can not make it and they forfeit those players in matches to help another team "leap frog" ahead to win the division,if this team is in the playoffs, those players CANNOT PLAY IN THE PLAYOFFS THE NEXT WEEK..

(f) If both teams only have 4 players, the team that has to put up first in the 5th match will have to forfeit even though the opposing team does not have a 5th player since that team is the first to not be able to field a player.

NOTE....Since no dues are collected for a playoff match, this rule will not be used during playoffs. Teams must show with at least 5 players or take a forfeit.

(g) Divisions that have less weeks then other divisions due to Valley Forge or nationals will have byes added to make the total matches played to balance with other divisions to compute total wins for tiebreakers.

(h)Titleholder NO SHOWS

If a team can not make the Titleholder, please let me know ASAP.

If a team in the first bracket can not make it, the team with the most wins in the 2nd bracket will get moved to the first and there will be no wildcard team for the 2nd bracket.The seedings will be adjusted depending on that teams wins in the regular session.

If a team in the 2nd bracket can not make it, there will be no wild card team in the 2nd bracket if it was a odd number. If it was a even number of teams and makes it a odd number then there will be a wildcard..

If by chance a team is a forfeit during the event, the team will get a 4-1 win. In the past a team thought they should get a 5-0 forfeit and The argument has merit on both sides. To split the difference the 4-1 win. This pertains to teams showing with less then three players. I think this is the fair thing to do

(i) Teams with multiple Titleholder and national playoff spots CAN NOT have players playing on multiple tables. One player per table pwr team.

8. Sessions needed for nationals and national play off format

(a) Division winners have to play 2 out of 3 sessions to compete in that areas playoff for nationals. Teams can not play in one area, win a playoff spot, and then not play the rest of the year in that area. This is unfair to the teams playing there year round. If a area is combined for a summer session then that team must decide what bracket for which area they will play for the national trip.You can play on a different team if you like but you have to play on the team you qualified with. Also, you can take the spring session off but than you have to play the 10 week summer session or you can play the spring and take the summer off but you have to get 2 out of 3 sessions in. This has always been this way since we started qualifying for nationals 15 years ago.You can be active in a singles league and that would count towards a session but a 9 ball session does not count towards a 8 ball handicap.

(b) Teams that win these trips during the year are obligated to attend. Teams CANNOT take the money from the national fund and not attend nationals. Teams that can not attend forfeit all national monies earned back into the national fund.

(c) Players or teams that win more then one national entry will get their entry paid for the 2nd team. Players on two teams will not get the full travel but will get the full room allotment and any extra all of their airfare covered in full. Any extra money will be divided between the other qualified teams.

(d) Players that have qualified on a national team will have their handicaps locked at the handicap they qualified with until the next nationals. They can go to a higher cap but they will not go lower then the handicap they played at when their team won the national spot.

(e) National playoff teams will be decided on the top team that make the final Titleholder 1st bracket board and the top 1 team from the 2nd bracket from those areas:

These teams from the three sessions will play for national trips in their respective areas in a double elimination format in August each year. The number of trips available will be determined by the team counts in that year.

NOTE: (e)_This is always subject to change depending on team counts and/or divisions added within that year.

NOTICE....Beginning for the Summer session 2016 and for the future national playoff spots will be awarded as follows.

1. Division winners for each session

2. Title holder bracket winners only (2 each Titleholder) (if a division winner wins the 1st bracket the spot will go to the highest placing or in case of a tie the highest seeded team in the 1st bracket)

3. 2nd chance winners only (1 each Titleholder)

Gone will be teams placing highest from their own areas. This will stop teams from trying to just play for the 2nd bracket and watching their handicaps.

Teams can still earn multiple spots. This will cut the spots down by 50% and make teams try harder to win and it will be easier to manage.

SINCE THE SPRING SESSION HAS ALREADY STARTED IT WILL NOT TAKE AFFECT UNTIL THE SUMMER SESSION

9. Rescheduling a match

(a) All makeup matches should be played as soon as possible but sometimes this is almost impossible.Taking this into consideration, ALL matches to be made up must be played before the 15th week of play. If these are not played before the last two weeks of play, they will not be entered into the system and both teams will not get any credit for that week. The LH TAP office needs to be informed on rescheduled matches

If a home team can not have a scheduled match played that week at their host location due to PLCB closing other leagues having a scheduled match, etc. then the match reverts back to the away team's host location. If the away team can not host the match then the home team can choose a neutral location.

(b) Any teams going to nationals with 2 or more players attending can reschedule their matches.. No teams that represent us at nationals forfeits their weekly matches while at nationals In the event of either the national team or their opponent can not make the match up before December 31, neither team will receive any points and their record will stay as is. Both teams will be at a disadvantage when it comes to seedings in the Titleholder and possibly national playoffs since the Titleholder first bracket and the national playoffs are seeded based on wins for that session. This could also possibly put teams in the play offs. PLAY THE MAKE UP MATCH.

(c) LH TAP never cancels a league night due to weather since many teams are close to each other and can play while others may have a drive time and different weather conditions so it is left up to individual teams to decide to cancel based on bad weather. LH TAP is not responsible for accidents coming and going from league matches. Common sense should always prevail. It is better to be safe then sorry.

10.Tiebreakers (Session and Titleholders)

(a) Session .. Ties will be broken by the least amount of games lost in the session. This can be found on the score keeping app. Second tiebreaker is most games won Ties will not be broken by head to head as in the past.

(b)Titleholder tiebreakers are decided by the most wins in the round robin. If teams are tied the tiebreaker is the total wins in the past session.

11. Playoff week

Always follows the last week of the regular session unless there is a holiday. No dues is owed for playoffs. Since the inception of Pool-Net, only regular session matches and not playoff matches will count towards the minimum number of weeks required.

12. Division winner pay outs

Teams that win their division in only the spring and fall sessions (summer session is to short) will receive $250 minus their $30 green fees paid for that Titleholder.

13. National Fund

(a) LH TAP reserves the right to pay this money in cash at the nationals or to see proof of purchase of airfare prior to payment if a team is suspected of not planning on attending nationals and staying home and keeping this money. This fund is for the sole purpose of sending teams to nationals. This is a fund, not a 100% guaranteed all expenses paid fund.

(b) If a team decides not to go to nationals, they forfeit the money and the national spot to the next team. If a player decides not to attend nationals they forfeit their travel money to their team mates.Travel fund is soley for the purpose of funding players and teams to nationals.

(c) In cases where the fund to send two or more teams from one area could be difficult to do, the final teams will be given a approx. amount of the fund for two teams. Both teams will have to agree and then decide to either take the trips with the money that is allotted for both teams or play for it all. The winning team will get all of the 2nd place team room and travel money. Only the unused $700 entry for the 2nd place team will roll over into the fund for the following year. If one team wants to play for it and the other does not then both teams get the trips with the money allotted

(d) If a player decides they can not attend nationals, they are not entitled to any travel fund money. It is up to the team to decide what to do with this share of the money. The team is not obligated to pay the person since it is to be used to offset expenses to travel to nationals.

14. National Playoff Spots

(a) All division winners from the Summer, Fall and Spring sessions earn a national playoff spot.

(b) Highest placing non division winners from that session in the first bracket from each of the 4 areas wins a playoff spot.

(d) The 2nd chance winner from each Titleholder wins a playoff spot

15.Substitution for the league op

Since league operators are not allowed to compete in league Titleholders for the players money, a team with the licensee on their roster can replace them with a player only from that division and from a team that did not make the Titleholder. This player chosen can only be the same handicap or lower as the league operator. The operator can play in play off matches but has to be put up first in the first match so the opposing has the advantage of matching up how they wish. This is the only time in TAP that substitutions are allowed for any reasons..

16. Underage Members

Underage members and teams must understand that being a TAP player or a team member does not give them the right to be in taverns or clubs. LH TAP will always side with the host location and the PLCB laws. If a underage player is on a team and there are curfews that need to be enforced then they will abide by them and leave the host premises without question. They will forfeit any entries or monies won while in the middle of any tournaments or other LH TAP events. Teams will not be allowed to replace these players after the event has started. In short, if you have a underage player on your team you risk the chance of this player not being allowed to remain at the host location the entire time. I am leaving it up to the team captains to make the call on this and also letting them know the risk. This includes league nights, Titleholders, MVP team events, captains events and any other LH TAP related event.

17. Time outs

To speed up play on league nights, 4 to 7 caps will get only one time out per game. 2 and 3 caps will get the standard 2 time outs with 2 caps receiving unlimited 10 second coaches per each shot.

(NOTE....This is only a local rule and not a national rule.)

18. LH TAP reserves the rights to:

(a) Lock players handicaps in on short summer sessions. This is to protect the rest of the league from players that do not have enough matches in for a accurate handicap. These locks will be released at the start of a full 16 week session,

(b) Lock any player's handicap in that is suspected of cheating either by sandbagging or turning in inaccurate score sheets for the purpose of holding a lower handicap.

(d) The right to change play off pairings from what is posted or change a event format due to time constraints, etc.

(e) If a Titleholder team notifies me ahead of time that they will be a no show that spot will go to the team they eliminated in the playoff. If that team can not attend it goes to the team with the most wins in that division. After that it goes to the team with the most session wins of all divisions in that bracket. To avoid byes in a bracket, and if no forfeiting teams but just a odd number I will take the team with the most wins that did not make it out of the playoffs.