LANDMARK CONFERENCE CODE OF CONDUCT
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TENNIS
5/31/2012
1. Administrative Authority
a. Administrative authority rests with the Sports Committee and overseen by the athletic
administrator appointed as liaison to the Sports Committee. All resolutions passed by the
sport committee must be approved by the athletic administrators committee before it is
enacted and included as part of the conference handbook.
b. Sport Committee (three members for each gender)
i. Chair: Bob Jordan – Susquehanna, Sally Baum, – Goucher
ii. Members: 3 Representatives each from men and womemn’s teams
iii. Liaison: Landmark Conference Office
c. Appointment of Representatives - The primary athletic administrator of each institution shall
appoint individuals as appropriate to represent the interests of that institution at meetings of
the sport committee. Each committee (men and women) should include former Chair,
current Chair, and future Chair.
2. Eligible Institutions - The following schools will compete for the Conference championship in
tennis: Catholic, Drew, Goucher, Juniata, Merchant Marine (men only), Moravian, Scranton, and
Susquehanna.
3. Maximum Contest Limitations - An institution shall limit its playing schedule with outside
competition in any one year to 20 dates of competition (including not more than four individual
singles and/or doubles tournaments that are counted as single dates of competition), except for
those contests excluded in the NCAA manual.
4. Game Management - All conference dual matches will be officiated by one certified ITA/USTA
Tennis Official (i.e. one official for the men’s match and a separate official for the women’s match
when played at the same site*) unless the match is played on greater than three courts, where
there will be two certified tennis officials. The official(s) shall have responsibility for the
management of the contest and be assigned by a regional assignor. *If two officials absolutely
cannot be contracted then coaches can mutually agree to play the match
5. Playing Season Regulations - Per NCAA rules and regulations
a. Length of Playing Season - The length of the playing season in tennis shall be limited to a
maximum of 19 weeks (traditional and nontraditional combined).
b. Traditional Segment - The traditional segment for men’s and women’s tennis will be held
in the spring each academic year.
c. Nontraditional segment - The nontraditional segment will be held in the fall each
academic year.
d. Nontraditional Season Length - The nontraditional season will be held in the fall. Practice
and competition must end by October 30.
e. First Competition Date - The first date of competition (match or practice match) or
preseason practice may not be held before September 7 or the institution’s first day of
classes for the fall term, whichever is earlier.
f. Class/Lab time – no class time missed for practices.
6. Scheduling – Both men’s and women’s seasons will be contested in the spring. Single round
robin block schedule with all matches on Saturdays with two exceptions: a local travel partner
match, and another local opponent scheduled for the week prior to Easter Sunday. Pairings for
travel partner midweek are Catholic-Goucher, Juniata-Susquehanna, Moravian-Scranton, Drew-
USMMA. Pairings for Easter week midweek match are Catholic-Susquehanna, Goucher-Juniata,
Moravian-USMMA, Scranton-Drew. Schedule will alternate so each team plays one midweek
match at home, and one on the road. Men’s and women’s teams to play at the same site with
matches being contested based on participation and facility capacity. Matches can be played
during the week on different days if travel is less than 2 hours away. Match times no earlier than
2:30pm weekdays and no earlier than12 noon on Saturday. An option for a fall, nontraditional
individual tournament option may be developed for all member institutions; the tournament will be
flighted (ABC pool play) and if possible, men and women’s tournament will be on two different
week-ends. Game times may be altered with agreement between both institutions (ADs) except
for changes on the final day of the regular season which require approval of the conference office.
7. Regulations Governing Competition
General - All NCAA, ITA/USTA rules will be followed for all conference matches unless amended
(see below).
a. Schedule - All conference teams will participate in single round robin schedule to
determine the conference regular season results/standings. Matches will be played on
Saturdays (with Sunday rain date) with exception of two midweek matches noted in Section
6.
b. Order of Match – Dual matches shall begin with doubles, with singles matches filling in as
soon as possible after doubles, beginning at #1 singles in order through to #6 (in case of
injury or illness substitution). A men’s and women’s match contested simultaneously shall
begin with all doubles being played first, followed by the # 1, 2, 3 men’s singles and #1, 2, 3
women’s singles matches; as courts become available, #4, 5, 6 men’s singles and #4, 5, 6
women’s singles matches will be played (players will get a 10-minute warm-up). Each
match will be worth one point. Conference matches will consist of eight-game pro sets for
doubles, and singles will be best-of-three sets.
c. Match Outcome Decided - Once a team match outcome is determined, individual matches
in progress will play a 10-point tiebreaker in lieu of a third set. Any individual matches not
yet begun will still play the best of 3 sets and a 10-point tiebreaker in lieu of a third set.
d. Matches Moved Indoors - If a match begins outdoors and moves indoors, individual
matches in progress will be played to completion. Matches begun indoors will play 10-point
tiebreaker in lieu of a third set. Contracts for matches will include provisions for weather
related changes of venue. The USTA official on site will make the determination if a match
should be moved indoors.
e. Completing Matches - All team matches must be played to completion unless the coaches
mutually agree to terminate competition once the team outcome has been determined. If a
match is not played to completion, continuation of the match will be played according to
ITA/USTA rules, unless mutually agreed upon by coaches. The ITA/USTA rules stipulate
that if a match can be continued within 48 hours of suspension of play, the match resumes
where it left off. After 48 hours, a new match must begin.
f. Postponed Matches – Any match rained out on the Sunday rain date will be postponed.
All postponed conference matches will be rescheduled within the next seven days. In the
final week of regularly scheduled conference play prior to the conference tournament, a
postponed conference match will be rescheduled upon mutual agreement by the coaches
and administrators for the next available date and shall have priority over non-Conference
matches.
g. Practice/Warm-up – ITA/USTA warm-up rules will apply for all conference matches. The
warm-up period will be thirty minutes prior to every conference team match. With four
teams using six courts, each team will have a minimum of 1.5 courts to use for warm-ups.
A five minute warm-up period (including serves) for each individual match will be allowed,
after the contest has begun. No other practice time will be allocated.
h. Officials - Each conference match (men or women) using 6 or fewer courts must have at
least one paid ITA/USTA certified official. Matches using more then 6 courts will have 2
officials. The official(s) will be responsible for all conference matches.
i. Equipment - Players equipment and match balls shall at a minimum meet NCAA and
ITA/USTA specifications and guidelines. Singles sticks will be used for conference
matches.
j. Facilities - All facilities hosting an official conference match will meet all NCAA guidelines
and specifications.
k. Squad Size – Institutions will determine their own squad size.
l. Team Bench - An unlimited number of players may be outfitted for a conference match.
Exhibition matches are encouraged if practical within the framework of the scheduled
competition.
m. Coaches – All coaches should be pre-approved by their athletics department and should
not be parents. A maximum number of three coaches on court per match, and coaches
should identify their coaches in advance of match – for both regular season and
postseason.
n. Uniforms – A designated team uniform must be worn in all conference matches
o. Rest Between Matches - Players may receive a 15-minute rest period between matches.
p. Incomplete Season - In the event that one or more teams are unable to complete the
regular season conference schedule, the conference office, in consultation with the ADs, if
appropriate, will determine seeding and qualification for the Landmark postseason on a
case-by-case basis. Options for how such situations will be handled include, but are not
limited to: winning percentage for games that were completed, treating all games played
against teams that did not complete its season as non-conference games, treating any
games that are unable to be played as forfeits for the responsible team, and other
possibilities as discovered.
8. Rules Governing Championships
a. Conference Standings / Seeding The standings will be determined by best won-loss
record in the conference’s round-robin dual match format. The team with the best won lost
record based on the regular season conference standings will receive the number one seed
for the conference championship tournament. The team with the second best record will be
seeded second, the third best record third seed and the fourth best record fourth.
b. Incomplete Tournament - If the championship tournament cannot be completed and each
team has completed at least one tournament contest, the highest remaining seed will be
the Conference’s champion and automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament. Otherwise,
the top seed as determined by the regular season will receive the automatic qualifier.
c. Cut Off Dates –
i. Conference regular season competition must be completed by the last Monday
immediately prior to the start of the postseason unless changes are approved by the
conference office due to extenuating circumstances.
ii. All teams must submit their lineups (8 singles players, 4 doubles teams) to the
conference office one week before the start of their postseason to be posted on the
Landmark website. Any protests of the lineups must be made within 24 hours of the
lineups being posted.
d. Tie Breaking Procedures – Ties will be broken in the following order:
I.
Head-to-head results between and among the tied teams in traditional season
conference contests. (Includes ties of more than two teams)
II. Tied teams traditional season won-loss records versus conference teams starting
with #1, then #2, etc.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
*Match/game differential among tied teams; for tennis ties will be broken by
comparing the number of individual conference matches won, the number of sets
won, and the number of games lost in matches played between tied teams.
Head-to-head results between and among the tied teams in traditional season
contests. (In tie of more than two teams, only used if all teams played each other in
traditional season contests).
Head-to-head results among common non-conference opponents at common site.
Head-to-head results among common non-conference opponents at different site.
Coin flip.
In a tie of more than two teams, once one team has won a tie breaker, the tie breaker
process among the remaining teams begins again starting with step 1.
e. Conference Championship Structure/Format - Champion will be determined by a fourteam tournament. Two ITA/USTA official required at all rounds of the championship.
Semifinals will be the Tuesday or Wednesday (alternating years by gender; men will play
Tuesday/Saturday and women will play Wednesday/Saturday in odd years or in even years
women will play Tuesday/Saturday, men will play Wednesday/Saturday) prior to the
Conference Championship date - #1 seed vs. #4 seed and #2 seed vs. #3 seed. Semi final
rain dates will be Thursday and Friday of that same week. If a conflict exists, Finals will be
held on Saturday or Sunday (odd year’s men on Saturday and women on Sunday alternating genders on even years). Highest seed hosts the championship tournament.
Matches begin at 1:00 pm. The home team sets the time for postseason matches within the
timeframe enumerated in the Code. Times may be altered with agreement between both
institution ADs and the conference office.
f. Matches - All championship matches will be played to decision in semifinal and
championship unless coaches agree prior to the match to play to completion.
g. Inclement weather - In the event of rain, the host institution will provide official indoor
backup courts with the cost to be covered by the conference office (up to $750). The site of
the indoor backup courts will be posted in the schedule section of the Landmark website.
Backup courts should be official hard court courts, but if agreed upon the court can be
flexible with other ITA requirements for official courts.
h. Championship Expenses – TBD by host institution with conference office approval.
i. Championship Dates and Times – Conference championships will be scheduled for the
Saturday two weeks before NCAA selection weekend.
j. Location / Host – The highest seed will host the conference championship
k. Officials - The Conference Office will secure an ITA/USTA certified official for each
semifinal and final match.
9. Awards – The following awards will be selected
a. Player of the Year
b. Coaching Staff of the Year
c. Rookie of the Year
d. All conference Team – First and Second Team - top six singles players and top three
doubles teams. Coaches may nominate up to four singles players and two doubles teams,
and players must have played a minimum number of conference matches (Men 4; Women
3) to be nominated.
e. All conference academic team
10. Statistics – Each host institution will be required to submit match statistics by the required
deadline on the day of the match to the conference office.
11. Sportsmanlike Conduct – Each member of a conference team will be required to follow all
conference sportsmanship guidelines.
12. Meetings – The tennis coaches committees will meet jointly every year via conference call or in
person (with an effort to meet every four years in person) following the season, with additional
meetings scheduled as needed.
13. Dispute Resolution – Any dispute will first be heard by the sport committee with a
recommendation forwarded to the conference commissioner for a final decision. The conference
office will make every effort for protest decisions to be announced no more than three business
days after the protest rebuttal is received, which should come no more than 24 hours after the
protest is received by the institution. An athletic administrators committee will be convened to hear
appeals.