Home Counties Girls League

HOME COUNTIES GIRLS’ LEAGUE

RULES 2011/2012

1. Registration Fees

Entry Fees are payable to the 'Home Counties Girls’ League' by July 8th 2011.

2. League Committee

The League Committee consists of the Honorary President, Mrs Wendy Beaney and the League Secretary & Treasurer, Mrs Judith Jones. Any unresolved disputes between clubs should be referred to the League Committee via the League Secretary.

3. Qualifying Age

Players must be U18/U16/U14/U12 at 1st September 2011

4. Representation

A player may represent only one club during any one league season unless agreed by HCGL Secretary and all interested parties.

5. Nominated Players

Any Club having more than 1 team in a competitive league age group or a team in the Premier league and a team or teams in the competitive leagues of the same age group must nominate to the Secretary 7 outfield players who may not play for the Lower team. Notification of those nominated to be received by the Secretary before the 1st October 2011.

6. Match Rules

Matches should be played according to the current rules of hockey except that

A) every team must have a fully equipped Goalkeeper

B) U12 Development matches shall be for a maximum of 25 minutes each way.

7. Goal Difference

No team will have more than a 5 goal difference recorded in any one match, i.e. 5-0, 6-1.

The result of a forfeited game will be 3 goals to 0.

8. Postponement or Cancellation of Matches

A) Matches must be played on allocated dates and no postponement will be permitted except in the case of adverse weather conditions. Clubs may, however, agree an earlier, mutually convenient date to that allocated for the fixture and any new date must be notified to Judith Jones. If no agreement can be reached, the fixture must be played on the original date.

B) In the event that a team seeks to cancel or re-arrange a fixture within 7 days of the original date fixed by the League or any rearranged earlier date, a walkover will be awarded to the other team and the home team will be entitled to seek re-imbursement of the cost of pitch hire if the away team seeks to cancel the fixture.

C) Any fixture cancelled due to adverse weather must be rescheduled and should be played within 3 weeks of the postponed date and in any event before the final permitted dates as follows: by 18th March 2012 for U14 League, 25th March 2012 for U16 League, U16 Premier League, U18 Premier and U18 Leagues.

The U12 Development, U14 Development and U16 Development Leagues are exempt from this rule. 9. Result Reporting

Results of matches to be reported by BOTH TEAMS by e-mail WITHIN 48 hrs OF THE MATCH to

Judith Jones ([email protected])

Wendy Beaney ([email protected])

10. Points & Determination of League Positions

Points awarded – Win: 3 points Draw: 1 point Loss: 0 points

In the event of points being equal at the end of the round-robin league matches, Goal Difference will determine the placing. Should this be equal, Goals 'For' will decide, and if this is still indecisive, the lower Goals 'Against' shall decide.

Please note that when determining the qualification for the knock-out stages of U18, U16 and U14 leagues, the final league positions will be taken as at 48 hours after the final permitted date (see 8C above) for the relevant league.

The U12 Development, U14 Development & U16 Development Leagues will only have results recorded.

11. Umpires

HOME TEAMS will be expected to provide TWO UMPIRES for the game UNLESS the Away team notifies them that they will provide one.

12. Team Colours

Away teams will change colours if there is a colour clash.

13. Quarter-Finals (U14 & U16 Leagues only)

A) U14 Leagues

The quarter-finals will take place on or before SUNDAY 15th APRIL 2012.

The winner of each league (determined in accordance with 10 above) will qualify automatically together with the 2 best runners-up which shall be determined on the average number of points achieved by the teams in 2nd place (ie Total points ÷ Number of matches played). In the event of a tie, goal difference will determine. If still tied, the highest average of goals ’For’, then if necessary the lowest average goals ‘Against’ will decide.

A draw for the quarter-final matches will be made no later than 21st March 2012 and the teams notified immediately thereafter.

EACH TEAM shall provide an Umpire of at least Level 1 standard. Pitches must be booked for enough time to allow for extra time if required.

B) U16 Leagues

The quarter-finals will take place on or before SUNDAY 22nd APRIL 2012.

The winner of each league (determined in accordance with 10 above) will qualify automatically together with the 3 best runners-up which shall be determined on the average number of points achieved by the teams in 2nd place (ie Total points ÷ Number of matches played). In the event of a tie, goal difference will determine. If still tied, the highest average of goals ’For’, then if necessary the lowest average goals ‘Against’ will decide.

A draw for the quarter-final matches will be made no later than 28th March 2012 and the teams notified immediately thereafter.

EACH TEAM shall provide an Umpire of at least Level 1 standard. Pitches must be booked for enough time to allow for extra time if required. 14. Semi-Finals & Finals

A) U18 League

The Semi-finals and Final will be held on Sunday 22nd April 2012.

The semi-finals will be as follows:-

Winner League A v Runner-up League B

Winner League B v Runner-up League A

The League Secretary will appoint Umpires for the Semi-Finals and Finals.

B) U14 & U16 Leagues

The Semi-Finals and Finals will be held on Sunday 6th May 2012.

A draw will be made by the committee to determine the semi-final matches.

The League Secretary will appoint Umpires for the Semi-Finals and Finals.

15. All Finals - (Quarters, Semis & Final)

A) Players in the Quarter Finals, Semi-Finals & Final must have played in at least 2 of the preliminary league matches of the same age group.

B) In the event of a draw at full time :-

7½ minutes extra time will be played each way during which the FIRST team to score will WIN.

If no score, 5 Penalty Strokes to be taken by each team.

If still equal, sudden death Penalty strokes will be taken.

16. U16 League

The winners of the U16 League and the best 3 Runners-up will be eligible to enter the U16 Premier League in the 2012-2013 season.