The Challenge Ladders:

• Any member of TTA is eligible to join a Challenge Ladder - even after the start of the season. Those younger than 18 are eligible to sign up for the Girls' or Boys' Ladders (and only these, unless special permission is granted). Note that when you sign up for a Challenge Ladder but haven’t yet played a match, you begin on the 'bottom rung'.

• The Challenge Ladders begin July 14th and run through September 30th. However, a ladder isn't considered active unless at least 4 people are signed up for it. Currently, only the Mens' Ladder is active. Please encourage people who you think might be interested to sign up - especially for the inactive ladders!

• To participate, you must provide other members of the ladder with a way of contacting you (preferably an email address and a phone number); these will be distributed to everyone at the start of the season (by the ladder coordinator via email, if possible).

• Matches don’t have to be played at Troy Park courts. However, both players must agree in advance that a match being played counts as a Challenge Ladder match.

• These rules are subject to change; the ladder coordinator will make every effort to build a consensus among ladder players before doing so.

Scheduling Matches:

• You may *challenge* a player that is 1 or 2 rungs above you to a best-of-three-set match. The person you challenge must schedule a match with you within a week (exception: you may not challenge a player that you have just challenged and lost to, unless one week has passed).

• You may also *request* a match against a player that is no more than 4 rungs above you. The person you request a match with may decline without penalty.

• Players currently on the 'bottom rung' may *challenge* either player currently holding the two lowest-numbered rungs, *request* a match against a player who is 1 or 2 rungs above the two lowest-numbered rungs, or *request* a match against any other player also on the 'bottom rung'.

• Challenges and requests must be made based upon the current ladder as listed on another page of this web site. For example, if the player on the 6th rung challenges the player on the 4th rung and wins, that player may not *challenge* the player on the 3rd rung until the ladder is updated on the web site (see below); of course, (s)he may still *request* a match with that player.

Changes to the Rungs:

• If the winner of a match already occupies a higher rung, the ladder does not change.

• If the player occupying a lower rung wins a match, (s)he receives the higher rung, with the loser dropping down a rung - as do players (if any) holding rungs between the two players.

• When two players on the 'bottom rung' play each other, both the winner and loser acquire rungs on the ladder, with the loser obviously receiving the lowest rung.

• If a *challenge* is made and the person challenged doesn’t schedule a match within a week, they automatically lose their rung on a walkover (just as if they had played and lost).

• Finally, see Inactive Players, below.

Matters of Courtesy:

• Should any difficulties arise, the ladder coordinator will attempt to adjudicate. However, please remember that the purpose of these ladders is to provide the opportunity for fun, friendly competition!

• If you sign up, try to make yourself available to play matches; also, try not to become frustrated if those you wish to play have trouble finding a time to schedule a match against you - instead, consider contacting someone else!

Reporting Results:

• The victor of the match is responsible for reporting it to the ladder coordinator - via email (preferably) or by phone; report the winner, loser, score, and date of the match. Please do this the day of the match so that we’ll be able to keep the ladder as up-to-date and accurate as possible. When reporting a walkover, also send a copy of the email to the person who defaulted. Note that results will be applied in the order that the matches are played, as this might affect who holds which rung.

Ladder Updates on the Web site:

• The ladder coordinator and webmaster will make every effort to update the ladder in a timely fashion - hopefully within a day or two of any reported event. Whenever a change is made to the ladder web page, a short email will be sent to everyone on the ladder; people wishing to opt-out of these messages need only notify the ladder coordinator.

Inactive Players:

• Any person (other than a player on the first rung) who does not play at least one match in a calendar month will automatically be dropped one rung on the ladder (if the player holds the lowest-numbered rung, (s)he will be removed to the 'bottom rung'). Note that a challenge that results in a walkover counts as a match played for the challenger (only) - but not for purposes of awarding prizes (see below).

Prizes:

• At the end of the season, we hope to give out prizes of some sort (eg. TTA t-shirts) to the leaders of each active ladder in up to three categories (listed below). A player is not eligible to win more than one prize; in such a case, the prize would be awarded to the next eligible player.

- 1st rung (4+ rung-holders are required for this prize to be awarded)

- Most matches played (8+ rung-holders are required for this prize to be awarded)

- Most different opponents played (12+ rung-holders are required for this prize to be awarded)

• The tie-breaker for the last two categories is 'highest rung on the ladder'.