1. Title – The association shall be known as the Shetland Pool Association

 2. Objects – The main objects shall be to foster the game of pool throughout the county of Shetland and to make arrangements for pool competitions within and out with Shetland. 

 4. Committee – The office bearers shall consist of a president, vice president, honorary secretary, honorary treasurer and a further 8 representatives who shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting.

 5. Quorum – The quorum of the committee shall be half the committee.

 6. Captains – The names of the team representatives shall be handed to the honorary secretary at the Annual General Meeting.

 7. Annual Meeting 

a) The A.G.M. of the Association shall take place in the month of August in each year. 

b) It is imperative that all teams are represented at the A.G.M., as failure to do so will result in that team not being entered into the forth-coming season. Voting at the A.G.M. will be administered as one team one vote. 

c) At the A.G.M all teams will be presented with player registration cards. 

 9. Competitive Rules – The conditions for the playing of competitions shall be left to the committee.

10. Player Movement – Players wishing to switch teams during the season can only do so at the half way stage on the agreement of both team captains and the committee. A player can only move across divisions and not within the same division.

11. League Reconstruction – In the event of two teams or more ending up on the same points and frame difference at the conclusion of the league or at the half way stage. The respective trophies will be awarded on the merit of the league results between those teams involved. If there is still no conclusion then a play off will be arranged between those two teams involved.

12. Representative Matches – The committee of the association shall be responsible for the selection of any team taking part in a representative game organized by the association.

13. Penalties – All infringements by players or officials under the jurisdiction of the association shall be considered and dealt with by the committee of the association, who shall have full power to impose a fine or suspension, or both or deal with the offender in any other method deemed necessary.

14. Development – Every effort shall be made by the association to assist and encourage the development of youth club pool in the county.

15. Miscellaneous (a) Any matter not provided for in these rules shall be dealt with by the full committee as they in their absolute discretion shall deem necessary or desirable, subject only to the ordinary A.G.M. following.

16. Miscellaneous (b) The income and property of the association are applied solely to the association stated objects, on dissolution, any income or property remaining to the association will not be distributed among the association members, but it will be devoted to a society with similar aims, or a philanthropic or charitable society.

 Association Rules

 There are a number of rules that should be understood and adhered to, these are a combination of official rules, and rules which are particular to the Shetland Pool Association.

 Cue Ball

(a)    If the cue ball is prevented from entering or is retrieved from a pocket, the frame will be deemed as having been conceded and will subsequently be awarded to the opposing team. 

(b)   After a foul is committed the opposing player is awarded two shots (one free shot and a visit). If the oncoming player wishes to play the cue ball from the ‘D’ they must ask their opponent to retrieve the cue ball for them. Failure to do so (i.e. repositioning the cue ball themselves) will result in loss of frame. 

Breaker Nominates

The player who has been awarded break once they have broken the pack must nominate their colour of choice. The nominating player must make sure his/her opponent acknowledges the nomination before continuing with play, if no acknowledgement is received then any futher shot played will be deemed a foul.

The player nominates regardless;

(a)    If they pot a colour off the break they can nominate the colour they have potted or nominate the opposing colour.

(b)   If the breaker pots the white or puts the white off the table while breaking they still nominate the colour of their choice.

The only time the breaker does not nominate is if a foul break occurs.

Foul Break

A foul break is deemed to have occurred if two object balls fail to fully cross the line of the center pockets (measured across the knuckles nearest the ‘D’). However this rule is superseded if an object ball (not including the black) is potted off the break.

If a foul break occurs then the balls are re-racked and the break is then awarded to the opposing player. All rules concerning the break will then apply to the new breaker. The player breaks (this is classed as the players first visit), nominates and then commences play. 

Who Calls A Foul

In the case of a foul occurring in a singles match, it is the responsibility of the two players to call a foul. Note:

If a situation arises where the calling of a foul is, for any reason, brought into dispute and the player cannot resolve this between them, then the following path of action should be taken:

(1)   Team captains will intervene in the hope of resolving the issue, at no time should any other team members become involved;

(2)   If it is not possible to resolve the dispute using the above means, then a committee member will require becoming involved. If no committee member (other than one participating in the match) is in the venue then one will require to be contacted.

(3)   If the matter cannot be resolved the committee member may call a nine-ball re-rack this is explained in Tournaments, section 6 in the information pack. 

Competitive Games

Please note that during games, the following applies:

(a)    Singles – no coaching or frame related contact can be given at any time.

(b)   If this occurs then the opposing player can call a foul and two shots are awarded. 

Team Captains

Could all team captains please ensure that the team members of their team are kept informed of all pertinent Association business. If possible, could team captains arrange for a full set of fixtures to be displayed in the venue for their teams?

Registration Cards

Team captains will collect 12 registration cards at the Annual General Meeting.

Team captains must ensure that their players fill out and sign both parts of the registration card and return the lower segment to the committee.

An individual player should only complete the registration card once they play their first frame for a team.

Players will be required to carry the registration card with them at all times.

An opposing team captain (or representative) can refuse to let a player compete in a match if that player cannot produce their registration card.

Ranking System

Points for the ranking system are earned in relation to how far individuals progressed in Pool Association tournaments throughout the year.

Points Award System

Winner                                     10 Points

                                        Runner-up                                 8 Points

Beaten Semi-Finalists            6 Points

Beaten Quarter-Finalists        5 Points

Beaten Last 16                        4 Points

Beaten Last 32                        3 Points

Beaten Last 64                        2 Points

Beaten Last 128                      1  Point

Under Age Players

A list will be published of each of the venues policy’s on under age players and sent to each captain. The Association expects all teams to respect each venues policy.

Any team captains taking an underage player to a venue will be held responsible for the conduct of that player.

The rules that are detailed in this document are a mixture of those that are particular to the Shetland Pool Association, a reinforcement of certain UK 8 Ball rules (mainly cue balls and fouls). The new Official UK 8 Ball pool rules will be dispatched to venues as soon as they become available to the SPA.

Please remember that good sportsmanship is expected from all members of the Shetland Pool Association at all times. 

Format 

League Fixtures

League games, regardless of division, will be played as the best of twelve frames played as follows:

(a)    Two sets of six singles frames 

The Team Sheet

Team sheets are to be completed as follows:

(1)   The first six players are completed on the team sheet. Once completed the team captains (or their representative) swap team sheets so that the opposing team order can be completed on each.

(2)   The winner of each frame is then indicated on the team sheet.

(3)   Once all six frames have been completed then the names of the next six singles players are entered on to the team sheet, and they are again swapped for completion.

(4)   Again, on completion of a fixture, team captains (or their representatives) agree on the score of the game and sign the sheets.

(5)   On the completion of a fixture, team captains (or representative) of the winning team to phone in the result, the home team in the event of a draw to the Fixture Secretary on conclusion of the match. 

On completion of the fixture, the playing of a ‘beer-leg’ is optional (often plentiful). 

Tournaments

All singles tournaments in connection with the Shetland Pool Association will follow a similar format that being:

(1)   Players wishing to enter in a tournament must enter their names prior to the event. Entry sheets will be issued for all competitions. Players must have the entry forms and entry fee returned to the fixture secretary by the allotted date on the form. Each player will be given a start time, which will be published in the Shetland times prior to the tournament.

(2)   If a player is not present in the venue of the tournament when their game is called, they will be ejected from the tournament.

(3)   All singles tournaments will be held over two weekends.

(4)   On the evening of the finals players who have progressed this far will be required to be in formal dress as follows:

Black dress trousers, black dress shoes, shirt, tie and waistcoat.

(5)   Failure to comply with the dress code will result in a player not being permitted to take part in the final stages of the tournament.

(6)   At each competition at least one referee will be available throughout the day. If there is no appointed referee on the premises the fixture secretary as an SPA official will make any rulings as follows:

a.       If there is any query over a rule

b.      If there is a dispute over a shot that cannot be resolved between the participating players.

c.       If any player, either themselves or their opponent, wishes to play a shot that could result in a dispute.

d.      Note: the referee’s decision is final.

e.       In the event that any dispute cannot be resolved (after the intervention of a referee) the game will be abandoned and a nine-ball re-rack will be used to resolve the game.

f.        A nine-ball re-rack is only to be used if a dispute cannot be resolved; any other re-rack is a 15-ball re-rack.

Set up for the nine-ball re-rack will be as follows;

(a) Remove the first red ball from the front of a normal rack.

(b) Remove the back row of balls from the rack.     

7)   If a dispute occurs only the referee or an SPA official is allowed into the playing area. All other players and spectators must stay out of the playing arena.

(8)   At the start of each match players will toss a coin in order to determine the order of play (i.e. the break), once this has been decided then each subsequent break during the game will be played alternatively.

(9)   The Shetland Pool Association will not tolerate any of their officials being abused by players verbally or otherwise. Any member breaking this rule will be held accountable to the committee and dealt with as deemed necessary. 

What if a game requires to be postponed?

A match can still take place with a minimum of three players (a draw can still be obtained). In the event of a match being played with less than six players the team will have the frames dropped accordingly

If for any plausible reason, a team captain knows in advance that they will not be able to field a team for a fixture, then the team captain (or representative appointed by the captain) is required to:

(1)   Contact the opposing team captain at least 24 hours in advance. They should at this time re-schedule the fixture at a mutually agreed time. This time should be within two weeks of the original fixture.

(2)   The Fixture Secretary should also be contacted informing them of the postponement and of the time that the fixture has been re-scheduled for.

Failure to give 24 hours notice will result in the team canceling the match losing a point. The match should be re-scheduled within 2 weeks of it’s an original date. Once again failure to do so will result in the Fixture Secretary setting a date for the match to be played. The canceling team must comply with this new date. If the match is not played on or before the date set by the Fixture Secretary it will result in a further loss of a point.