Leighton Buzzard Netball League (LBNL) Rules
1. Teams
- All clubs and players must be affiliated to both England Netball and Bedfordshire County netball Association prior to taking to court. Failure to comply will result in the team forfeiting points awarded for the relevant match.
- All players must be at least 13 years of age to be eligible to play in LBNL. However, if a player has been talent identified and LBNL receives an age-banding application form completed in line with the EN age banding process then permission may be given for a younger player to participate.
- All players registered to play in LBNL must sign the code of conduct when registering to the league.
- All jewellery must be removed. Fingernails are to be cut short. Gloves may only be worn for medical reasons on production of a medical certificate and must conform to England Netball requirements.
- All players shall take the court in suitable netball attire i.e., dress/skirt/skort. Kit should be in the teams’ registered colours.
- . All teams must have a First Aid Kit at all matches
- All Clubs are encouraged to provide a representative on the League Committee.
2. Multi-Team Clubs
- Every multi-team club must seed their teams when registering to enter/re-enter the league.
- Within multi-team clubs players are allowed to play up to higher team/teams twice during a season. Playing down is not allowed. However, transfers downwards are allowed but must take place before the lower seeded teams last four matches. Once a player has transferred down, they cannot return to any higher team for the remainder of the season.
3. Guest Players
- All Guest players MUST be affiliated to England Netball (see Rule 1.1 above)
- In any one game up to two guests may be used.
- A player may only guest twice within the League during the season, and if she is to play again for any team within the league, she must first be affiliated to that team
- The Guest player must be included on the Team sheet
4. Matches and conditions of play
- All matches shall be played under the rules of England Netball.
- All matches shall be played at a centralised venue and all fixtures, dates and times shall be arranged by the Committee. All teams must adhere to the published fixtures list.
- The first named team is to be deemed the Home Team. Home team to provide:
Ball – which must meet with the approval of both umpires
ii. Change of colours should a clash occur
- Any teams who have players who play at Regional level must inform the Committee of their names and provide the higher representation match schedule as soon as it becomes available.
- EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF INCLEMENT WEATHER ALL MATCHES MUST BE PLAYED ON THE DAY STATED IN THE Fixtures. FIXTURES will only be re-arranged if they are unable to be played due to higher representation. The new date must be agreed by both teams within two weeks of the original scheduled date.
- Matches will commence at 9.30 am and 10.50 am. These will be started centrally but will then continue on the umpires’ timing (they will not be stopped centrally in case of stoppages).
- If a team concedes they must:
Advise the team they are playing
ii. Advice umpires who are due to umpire their match – failure to do so will result in the umpires’ travel expenses being paid, subject to a minimum fee of £10.
iii. Advise Match Secretary
PLEASE NOTE: CONCEDING GAME RESULTS IN THE CONCEDING TEAM LOSING ONE POINT.
iv. Continue to provide Umpire and Scorer for the relevant match
- In the event of a match not being played or abandoned due to causes over which neither team has control the Committee shall decide if and when the fixture shall be replayed. In the event of a match being abandoned after the half time break the score shall stand and the match shall not be replayed.
- Matches must be played if at least five players attend.
- Prior to the game, teams must send their Team list, including their Umpire and Scorer to “Team Info” WhatsApp Group by midnight on the previous day.
- Immediately after the game, each Umpire must send a photo of the Scorecard to the LBNL Umpires” WhatsApp Group.
5. Umpires and Scorers
- All teams must have at least one League qualified umpire who shall be required to umpire as specified by the system implemented by the Committee.
- Each team shall provide a scorer to score for their umpire (or replacement umpire). The scorer is not required to be an affiliated team player, but the umpire should be satisfied of their competence. Failure to provide a scorer will result in a £10 penalty plus a 1 point deduction for league games. Repeated failure may lead to further disciplinary action.
- The umpire’s decision is final. No comments or dissent will be tolerated. Players may be warned and/or sent off and reported to the Committee.
- Any team failing to fulfil their umpiring commitment will incur a penalty charge and may be deducted points at the discretion of the Committee.
- In the event that a team concedes a match, they are still responsible to cover their umpiring and scoring duties.
6. Results
- Five points for a win
- Three points for a draw
- Two points for scoring at least half the total of the winning teams goals
- One point for losing as long as the game, or over half the game has been played.
- Minus one point to conceding team
- When a match is conceded, the team being conceded to will be awarded an average of their “Goals For” and “Goals Against” throughput the season, to ensure goal difference balance. The offending team will forfeit the average number of goals scored against them throughout the season.
- Defenders and Goals Cups will be decided on the actual number of games played that season.
7. Protests
- Any disputes between the clubs, or complaints concerning teams or individual players shall be referred in writing to the Committee within seven days. The Committee has the right to call on team captains, team representatives and umpires to attend any meeting that is convened to discuss a dispute in which that team is involved.
8. Violation of Rules
- At the Committee’s discretion, breaking of League rules may result in loss of points.
