Point-A-Rally to 11 wef 1 April 2009

Of all the changes in WSF rules, the point a rally to 11 is the most significant. I suggest that the club formally accepts this in both bilateral games and in house tournaments from henceforth to be aligned with WSF rules.

Let Please ........errr what should I do as a referee

This is a good write up about what a referee should consider when somone asks for a let

I suggest that every player should print and keep a copy of this and keep in your squash bag so that you can refer to it with regards to the award of LETs and STROKES and the rule about TURNING.

New Rules at WSF website

Please visit the WSF website for some updates on rules:

Rule 17

Know your rights as a competent referee in managing unruly players:

This is the link to a PDF copy of a summary of rule 17.

It is reproduced here for ease of reference:

Guidelines for the Application of Rule 17 (Conduct on Court)

Rule 17 mandates that in the event of unacceptable behaviour on court the Referee ”shall penalise the
player.” However, the severity of the offence and the nature of the penalty are left to the discretion of
the Referee. This has led over the years frequently to the imposition of different penalties (or none at
all) for similar offences, depending on who is refereeing. On the one hand, a harsh (inappropriate)
penalty might be assessed for a single or mild offence; while on the other hand, a serious offence is
penalized lightly, or not at all. The players do not know in advance what standards will be applied, and
the referees are left individually to set their own standards.

The development of these Guidelines is an attempt to bring some order to the existing chaos, and to
offer both referees and players some guidance on the application of Rule 17. If referees follow these
Guidelines fairly closely, then players will know in advance what the standards are in relation to Rule
17. This is, in effect, no different from the desirability of knowing what the standards are for the
application of the rules concerning interference: a greater measure of consistency is the aim. The
achievement of such consistency will greatly benefit the sport of squash.

Referees will apply the following Guidelines in the appropriate circumstances. While the Referee under
Rule 17 retains discretion in deciding whether or not there has been an offence under that Rule, once
the Referee has decided that an offence has occurred, the following actions must be taken:

Abuse of equipment (racket or ball or other equipment):
Minor offence (e.g. throwing the racket onto to floor after losing a game, hitting the ball hard after
the rally is over): Conduct Warning
Major offence (e.g. deliberately breaking the racket; smashing the racket against the wall; hitting
the ball or throwing the racket out of the court): Conduct Stroke

Audible or Visible Obscenity:
Minor offence (e.g. muttered expletive; blaspheming): Conduct Warning
Major offence (e.g. audible obscenity): Conduct Stroke

Time-wasting
Minor offence (e.g. a few seconds late back on court; taking excessive time to serve): Conduct
Warning
Major offence (e.g. very late back on court; prolonged discussion with Referee): Conduct Stroke

Dissent:
Minor offence (e.g. questioning a decision): Conduct Warning
Major offence (e.g. prolonged or repeated questioning of or disagreement with decisions): Conduct
Stroke

Abuse of Official:
Minor offence (e.g. unflattering comments about official or decisions): Conduct Warning
Major offence (e.g. pejorative comments about official or decisions): Conduct Stroke
Severe offence (e.g. hitting ball at official or into spectators; throwing racket at official or into
spectators): Conduct Game or Match (depending on the severity of the offence and the danger
caused)

Excessive physical contact:
Minor offence (e.g. running into the opponent): Conduct warning
Major offence (e.g. physical abuse of the opponent): Conduct Stroke
Severe offence (e.g. deliberately injuring the opponent; dangerous play that injures the
opponent): Conduct Game or Match (depending on the severity of the offence and the extent
of the injury caused)

Unsporting conduct:
Minor offence (e.g. making negative comments to the opponent): Conduct Warning
Major offence (e.g. repeated negative or pejorative comments to the opponent; any attempt at
intimidation of the opponent): Conduct Stroke
Severe offence (e.g. extreme behaviour that brings the game into disrepute): Conduct Game or
Match (depending on the severity of the offence)

Coaching:
First occurrence: Conduct Warning
Second occurrence: Conduct Stroke and expulsion of offending person
Repeated and excessive bad conduct:

When, in the Referees opinion, the player is guilty of repeated acts of unacceptable conduct on
court following the imposition of the penalties outlined above, the Referee may impose for the
next occurrence of the offence either the same penalty for the second offence or a more severe
penalty than the one already imposed. However, if a Conduct Warning has been given for both the
first and the second offences, for the third offence of a similar nature a Conduct Stroke must be
applied. (Example: If a player has received a Conduct Warning for Dissent, on the next occurrence
of this offence, either a Conduct Warning or a Conduct Stroke may be imposed. On the third
occurrence, however, a Conduct Stroke is mandatory.)

Coaching Clinic May 2009

Sticky Residue From The Walls

There has been occasions in the past where the squash balls get a white sticky layer after a game at the courts. This has been traced to the cleaners using Jif to remove the black ball marks on the wall and not washing away the Jif later.

I have brought this to the attention to the club and as of Monday this week when we had the E grade league game, there was no trace of the sticky residue on the squash balls after play.

Anyone who notices the recurrence the white residue, please let me know, so that we can bring it up to the club again.

Thanks

Jeremy