CALTA Captains' Responsibilities 2009 - 2010
All captains are expected to be familiar with the CALTA Rules and must comply with the rules for
roster submission (II), dues collection (III), recording of match results (IX) and rescheduling of matches (XII).
Captains should remind their players that they must meet the membership requirements of the team's home facility.
Captains are requested to encourage their team members to visit
the CALTA web site throughout the season.
It is each team captain's responsibility to ensure that the four courts required for her team
have been booked well in advance and are available for CALTA play as scheduled.
This is also very important for make-up matches.
On a weekly basis, once match play commences, the captains' ongoing responsibilities are as follows:
On the day before a scheduled match, the host team captain should make every effort to contact the captain of the visiting team. This will help ensure a minimum of mix-ups.
If the host club does not provide water, the visiting captain should remind her players to bring their own drinks.
On the morning of the match, if the weather is questionable, the host team captain should contact the visiting team captain before 7:30AM and both captains should follow the guidelines in Rule XII.
If a team has to forfeit one or more courts, the team captain should inform the opposing team -- by telephone -- no later than 8AM the day of the match (unless there is an emergency). A forfeit should be communicated the night before, if known. In the case of a "mutual forfeit" (i.e., both teams needing to forfeit one or more courts), it is permissible for the captains to reschedule the match(es).
Captains should be available by home or cell phone at all times on the morning of a match in case an emergency arises with one or more of her players or with the opposing team. (see note below re "emergency"). The captain should inform her players that no one should leave the house without knowing how to contact her captain on the way to a match and the captain should be reachable on her cell phone until all her players have arrived.
Captains should exchange score sheet line-ups no later than 9:30AM and should follow the schedule in Rule VI. If a club has both hard and soft courts, the visiting team captain may request to know which positions will be played on what type of surface before line-up exchange. A default will be in effect if a team is not ready to commence play by 9:45AM. Only if an emergency has occurred on the way to the match can the deadline be extended until 10AM. See Rule VI for clarification of what constitutes an emergency. No match will begin after 10AM due to late arrival.
After line-ups have been exchanged, the captain should ensure that each of her players knows what position she is playing, on which court, and the names of her opponents, and she should ask her players to confirm with the opponents prior to the start of warm-up. If a position is switched (e.g., if the team listed second on one line-up plays in the third position), the match will stand as played. If the switch is discovered during play, the match should continue.
The home team will organize light refreshments.
The home team will supply appropriate balls (see Rule IV). It is advisable for each captain to carry an extra can of new balls in case of need.
The home team captain is responsible for obtaining the signature of the visiting team captain on the score sheet and will fax the score sheet to the division coordinator within two days after the match is played -- preferably immediately after the match. If a sending fax is not available or if the receiving fax does not work, the captain should e-mail to her division coordinator the information on the "Total Points" line at the bottom of the score sheet (names/scores not necessary in the e-mail) and should mail a copy of the score sheet to the coordinator. Each captain is responsible for keeping a full set of copies of score sheets for her team's matches.
When the score sheet is submitted to the coordinator, the home team captain should also report any occurrences of the decision to play a match tie-break instead of a third set or the necessity to wait until 10AM to start.
Each captain should ensure that all her team members are familiar with the CALTA Rules
and the USTA Code of Conduct. Each captain is requested to communicate with the Board immediately
if she becomes aware of a conduct problem with a team or an individual.
Note re "emergency" deadline:
The Board has determined the need to redefine what constitutes an "emergency" in terms of CALTA's final deadline (see Rule VI). In general, getting lost or running into normal heavy traffic is not considered an "emergency". It is expected that ladies traveling some distance will allow time for getting lost or a bridge opening or heavy traffic -- and still be on the court by 9:30AM. If someone does run into an unexpected verifiable public situation (major accident, road closed, traffic re-routed) and she communicates with her captain and the captain is able to communicate the situation to the other captain by 9:30AM and the late player is able to stay in communication as she drives and be on the court by 10:00AM -- in that case the 10:00AM extension should apply. 9:45AM remains the default time for any other circumstances.
When the emergency extension is applicable, the home team can either hold the visiting team to the 10:00AM deadline or can choose to play whenever they arrive. In either case, when the visiting team informs the home team about the situation, the home team captain must communicate clearly to the visiting team what the case will be.