A. The aims of the League are to promote darts within the Deepings and surrounding area, provide a competitive league structure for participating teams and to foster friendship and respect between players. The league will normally run two seasons per year, Summer and Winter, with matches played on Wednesday evening.
B. The League shall be run by a Committee comprising at least a Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary. Other posts, which may be combined when necessary, include Vice Chairman, Fixtures Secretary, Competitions Organiser, Trophies Monitor and Website Manager. Team Captains are also entitled to attend and vote at committee meetings. (See Appendix A – Duties of Committee Members). The Committee will be elected at the General Meeting.
C. The league will publish a subsidiary set of League Rules (see Appendix B – League Rules).
D. Amendments to this Constitution or to the League Rules must be agreed at a General Meeting with at least a 60% majority. A General Meeting will be called by the Chairman at or near the end of each season. All registered players are entitled to attend, submit proposals to and vote at the General Meeting. Proposals must be seconded by a registered player and submitted in writing to the Chairman or Secretary at least 4 weeks prior to the date of the meeting.
E. The Chairman will call Committee Meetings when necessary during the course of the season. Registered players not on the Committee may attend and take part in discussions but not vote. Issues requiring a vote at Committee Meetings (other than those amending this Constitution or the League Rules) will require a simple majority.
F. The League will operate a bank account for the receiving of League Fees and other income and the making of payments for trophies and other running costs. The signatories to the account will be the Treasurer, the Secretary and one other Committee Member, with two signatures required for all payments. If any signatory ceases to hold office he or she will, within 7 days, sign the appropriate form to update the Bank Mandate.
G. Any disputes or complaints (whether arising from league matches, competitions or otherwise) must be made via the team captain, who may raise the issue at the next Committee meeting. Any matter not expressly covered by the League Rules will be determined by the Committee with all possible fairness to all parties involved. The Committee's decision will be final.
All players will be expected to support the aims of the league (see Clause A above), in particular those of friendship and respect. The Committee may suspend the registration of any player whose behaviour is deemed to be contrary to these aims or is likely to bring the league into disrepute.
The length of the suspension will be stated and dependent on the severity of the offence. Where such behaviour is judged to be particularly serious the Chairman (or Vice Chairman in the absence of the Chairman) may suspend a player's registration with immediate effect, subject to ratification by the Committee within 14 days.
CHAIRMAN To call and chair Committee and General Meetings, implementing decisions made and applying rules adopted therein. To co-ordinate the work of the Committee.
VICE CHAIRMAN To deputise in the Chairman's absence and assist in the running of the Committee and the League.
TREASURER To keep books of account, receive funds and make payments as agreed by the Committee. To present a Financial Report to the General Meeting.
SECRETARY To keep minutes of Committee and General Meetings and deal with correspondence received or sent by the League. To retain as a record all Team Registration, Match Result and Competition Result Forms.
FIXTURES SECRETARY To receive team entries, to compile fixtures for each season, receive match results, maintain league tables, calculate Player Indices and allocate venues for competitions.
COMPETITIONS ORGANISER To run competitions for all divisions, ensuring adjudicators are present at each venue. To ensure blank Competition Result Forms and available at each venue and completed forms passed to the Secretary. To ensure that Competition entry fees are passed to the Treasurer.
TROPHIES MANAGER To manage the presentation and movement of perpetual trophies and coordinate the purchase and presentation of individual trophies or other awards season by season.
WEBSITE MANAGER To maintain the League's website and to coordinate with other members of the Committee to ensure the timely and accurate uploading of fixtures, results, league tables, competition draws etc.
Entry into the League shall be by Team Registration Form presented at or before the General Meeting together with all League Fees payable. Teams will consist of six or more players.
The League runs as a “not for profit organisation”. The League Fees will comprise a Team Fee (which will be set by the Treasurer based upon anticipated running costs) and a Player Fee of £1 per player. Team Fees are the responsibility of the Landlord or Venue Manager.
Team Captains may request new players be added to the Team Registration Form at any time up to the half-way point of the season. This request to be made to the Secretary one week prior to the new player being allowed to play.
A player may transfer from one team to another at any time up to the half-way point of the season provided that they have not played any games. The new Team Captain must inform the Secretary one week prior to that player being allowed to play.
The Committee may consider a request to register a new player during the second half of the season only when a team would not otherwise have the required number of players to fulfil its fixtures.
The rules of play will largely follow those published by the British Darts Organisation (see www.bdodarts.com/uploads/files/BDO_PLAYING_RULES.pdf) which govern such things as darts & board to be used, raised oches, the throw, scoring etc. However, the Bust Rule will NOT apply in The Deepings League, so that for example a player needing 15 who hits a single 7 followed by a single 13 will start the next throw needing 8.
A match will consist of six singles and three doubles, each playing the best of 3 legs from 501 (straight in double out). Home team throws first in the first leg and the away team throws first in the second. Bull decides who throws first in the third leg if necessary with the home player throwing first at the bull.
After no more than three 'warm-up' throws by each player, the game will commence with a handshake. It is customary in the singles for losing players to offer a drink (either a half-pint or soft drink) but team captains may agree beforehand that declining this custom will not cause offence.
Captains should be ready to carry out the draw so that play can commence no later than 8:30pm. Play may commence earlier if both captains agree. Captains will present their six singles players (usually by way of name cards placed face down) and the opposing captain will draw the names in order of play. The home captain will complete a Match Result Form.
It is not necessary for all players to be present when the draw takes place and the order of play
may be changed if both captains agree. However if a player has not arrived by the time his game is due to commence then his captain will present first any of his registered players present who have not yet played, or if none are present his losing players, for the opposing captain to draw a replacement. If there were no losing players (or other registered players present) then the game will be awarded 2-0 to the team with the full complement of players.
Team captains will then present their three pairs to make the draw for the doubles games. The redrawing of players will apply also in the doubles but where a redraw has been necessary in the singles, only players who have featured in the singles games can be included in the doubles draw.
When throwing for the nearest to the bull any dart that lands inside the 25 or bull rings must be removed. Any other dart that lands outside of the 25 ring must remain untouched. Any dart falling from the board may be re-thrown. If both players are tied after the bull up and the nearest dart position cannot be determined then players must continue to take alternate first dart throws for the bull until a clear winner is decided.
One point is awarded for every leg won and the final league tables will be based upon total points won. In the event of a tie then matches between those teams tied will determine the winner.
Where teams still cannot be separated then the captains can agree either to share the title or arrange a play-off.
It is anticipated that the League will have two (or more) divisions. Issues of promotion and relegation will be decided by the Committee. The top two teams in a lower division will normally be promoted to replace the bottom two teams from the higher division. New teams entering the League (or teams re-entering after one or more seasons absence) will normally be put into the lowest division. However where this would clearly be a mis-match against all other teams in that division the Committee may, at its discretion, place the team into a higher division, whilst keeping the number of teams in each division approximately equal.
An award will be made to the player who wins the most legs in the singles league matches over course of the season.
It is the responsibility of the winning team captain (or the home team captain in the case of a draw) to submit the fully completed Match Result Form (signed by both captains) to the Fixtures Secretary no later than the Saturday after the match.
All teams must make every effort to fulfil their fixtures on the specified dates. However, where a team is unable to complete a fixture the captain may request a postponement. The opposing captain will have the option of agreeing a new date (to be no later than one week after the date of the last league match of the season) or treating the match as cancelled.
Where a team is unable to field at least four players, or where a team is late in arrival so that play cannot commence by 9pm, the match will be deemed cancelled.
Where a match is cancelled and no alternative date can be agreed, the team cancelling the match will be awarded zero points and the opposing team will be awarded points equal to the average of the points gained in the rest of their matches, this to be calculated at the half-way point of the season.
Where a match is cancelled through no fault of either team (for example due to severe weather conditions) and no new date can be agreed for the match to be replayed, both teams will be awarded average points.
In all instances the circumstances must immediately be communicated to the Fixtures Secretary and any disputes will be resolved by the Committee, whose decision will be final.
COMPETITIONS
League matches will be interspersed with competitions (see Appendix C – Competitions) during the course of the season. The competitions included in each season will be at the discretion of the Fixtures Secretary who will take into account the number of teams in the league and the number of weeks available to complete each season.
Competitions will be shared as fairly as possible across all venues. The Fixtures Secretary will take into account the size of each venue, the number of teams based there and the number of boards available when allocating each competition.
Unless otherwise stated competitions are open to all registered players.
Players must register with the Adjudicator on arrival at the venue by 8:00 pm ready for play to commence at 8:15 pm. A £1 per player Entry Fee is payable on registration.
Competitions are played on a knockout basis with the Adjudicator completing a Competition Result Form. The first name drawn will throw first in the first leg, second name throws first in the second. Bull-up for any deciding leg (see Rule 7).
Bye positions will be inserted into the draw to round up to 4,8,16 etc positions. Late arrivals may, where possible, take up the first available bye position until such time as the first round is complete. No late entries will be accepted after 9 pm.
Competitions will normally by played to the semi-final stage, with the final being played on Finals Night at the end of the season. Players should ensure that they will be available for Finals Night prior to entering any competition. However, in the Triples, if a player has to drop out due to unforseen circumstances, one reserve (who must not already have played in that competition) may be brought in. This will be at the discretion of the Committee, who will refuse such a request if the reserve may be seen to be strengthening the team unfairly. For the Fours, a reserve may be allocated by the Committee from either the whole pool of registered players or those players
available at Finals Night, again at their discretion.
Small trophies or other awards will be presented at (or shortly after) Finals Night for performance in the League or Competitions, for retention by the recipient. Where a perpetual trophy is held by the League (for example the Roy Binder Memorial Cup) the trophy will be presented to the winner on Finals Night but will normally then be retained by the Trophies Manager until the following season. Any recipient wishing to take possession of a perpetual trophy will be required to sign a full indemnity, taking responsibility for the trophy's safe keeping,confirming that sufficient insurance cover is in place in case of theft, loss or damage and agreeing to meet the full cost of replacing or repairing the trophy if necessary.
Best of three legs from 501, straight in double out.
Best of three legs from 501, straight in double out.
Best of three legs from 501, straight in double out. Players need not be registered for the same team to enter the doubles.
Best of three legs from 501, straight in double out. Players need not be registered for the same team and only one of the pair needs to be registered with the Deepings League. Unregistered players who are currently playing at County, Professional or Inter-Planetary level will not be allowed to take part.
Best of three legs from 701, straight in double out.
Best of three legs from 1001, straight in double out.
An open “Blind Draw” competition, played at one venue at the start of the season and designed to encourage new players into the league and to foster friendship between players from different teams. Teams of four players will be drawn from the pool of players at the venue and losing players from preliminary games can be redrawn to make up a final team of four (so that everyone gets the opportunity to play).
Best of three legs from 501, straight in double out.
Best of three legs from 301, double in double out.
Best of three legs from 401, double in double out.
Singles competition with the preliminary rounds played within the teams to determine their House Champion (or alternatively a player nominated by the captain) to go forward to the knockout stage.
Matches will consist of six singles and three doubles playing all three legs from 501, straight in double out. Bull up to throw first in the third leg. The first team to achieve 14 legs is the declared winner of the match. Matches shall be drawn for each round in the competition.
A team knockout cup playing three Doubles, two Triples and six Singles (all one leg). Players to be drawn at random.
A 'Blind' Pairs event at the opening of the Summer Season. 501, straight in, double out, best of three legs. Teams of 2 drawn from the pool of players at the venue with a losing player redrawn if necessary to make up the final pairing.