Latest Basketball News From Around the Gloucestershire Area

1. Finance

The Gloucestershire Basketball Association (GBBA) will administer the Gloucestershire Basketball League (GBL)
A guarantee fee of £50.00 shall be paid by each team which shall be held in trust and will be refunded on request at the time of a team's withdrawal from the league, subject to the deduction of any outstanding penalties etc.
In addition to the £50.00 held in trust a further guarantee fee of £50.00 shall be paid by each team that incurs penalties in excess of £100 in any season as a guarantee of the administrative conduct for that team in the coming season.
Should any such team incur penalties in excess of £100 in the ensuing season, the £50.00 guarantee fee shall be forfeited, and the team shall be required to furnish a further £100 guarantee fee for the following season.
No team may compete in the full Gloucestershire Basketball League program unless the deposit is paid in full.
A guarantee fee of £50.00 shall be paid by teams entering additional GBBA competitions from November to the end of May. The amount will be held in trust and will be refunded on request at the end of the competition programme.
All penalties are to be made by electronic transfer into the GBBA bank account clearly stating the invoice number as the reference point. An email/text message should be sent to the Treasurer confirming payment has been made. If penalties are not paid within 30 days of the date of the notification, the penalty shall be increased by 50%.
If after a further 14 days, the penalty remains unpaid the team will lose their deposit or the amount equivalent to the outstanding penalty and be required to pay a further deposit and remainder of outstanding penalty.
If the penalty and deposit remain outstanding after the 45-day period, all games scheduled to be played will be suspended until all monies due are paid.
The league entry fee shall be £120.00 which includes entry into the Cup Competition.

2. Licenses

Before any player or referee may participate in a match organised by the GBBA, they must be registered with Basketball England and have a valid license.
Independent referees should register in their own right
Any team playing a player not licensed in the prescribed manner shall be deemed to have forfeited the match by default and shall be penalised by a penalty of £50.00.
Before any match organised by the GBBA, all license numbers must be shown in the appropriate column of the official score sheet and the coach must sign off the sheet as the correct record. Failure to comply will lead to a warning on the first instance, followed by a £25.00 penalty for each subsequent breach of this rule.
Clubs with more than one team must recognize their strongest team as their first team. They must then nominate their 6 "best" players when submitting their league entry form.

These 6 players can then only play for the nominated team.

The League will retain the right to request an amendment to the list if it is obvious that the status of a player has altered which deflects from the spirit of the rule.

The process is repeated for all but the last team within the club.

At the end of the process, any club player not nominated to a team, may play for any of the teams within their club, any number of times, during the league season.
Once a player represents a team in a cup or handicap competition, they are excluded from playing for another team in the same cup competition.
Only players who have PLAYED in matches up to and including the Cup and Plate Semi-Finals will be eligible to play in Cup/Plate finals.
The League Secretary will hold a list of players playing in each match.
To facilitate communication between the League and its players and officials it is desirable to hold email addresses for all participants. The GBBA Website will provide a facility for individuals to provide their email address for direct communication. It will then be up to the individual to update/remove this information year on year.

3. Fixtures

Gloucestershire Basketball League, Cup, Plate and Handicap Fixtures will be arranged by the Gloucestershire Basketball Association through the Gloucestershire Basketball League, taking into consideration dates indicated on the application form showing availability for games, either home or away.
Teams should communicate with their venue to ensure they are appraised of any closure dates likely to fall within the GBL season as those must be included on the application form.
All teams shall be attired according to the rules of Basketball England, i.e. each player shall be numbered on the front and back of his/her vest with numbers clearly visible front & back. Tee shirts are not to be worn under vests. One unnumbered vest is permissible.
The latest acceptable tip-off time is 20:45
In the event of a colour clash of declared colours, the home team shall change, unless a prior arrangement has been made between the two teams.
In exceptional circumstances, the definition of which will be determined by the league, considering information known and the team's previous history, postponement of a fixture giving 2 weeks' notice will be considered without penalty.
A team wishing to postpone a game as at f above, must first contact the opponents and, match officials to agree a new date and then make the request with new arrangements to the League Secretary
Application to postpone a game with more than 2 weeks notice, will only be accepted if the team making the application are able to agree and provide a new date at the time the application to the league is made.
The league reserves the right to deny such a request if to do so would significantly impact on the ability to fit the rearranged fixture into the competition timetable or place the opposition at a significant disadvantage e.g. number of additional games to be fitted into their schedule.
Should it not be possible to do so the team making the request would be deemed to have forfeited the match and the relevant penalty and point implication would be applied.
Postponement of a game with less than 8 weeks' notice and more than 72 hours' notice will automatically be shown on the website as a forfeit.
A penalty of £25.00 will be levied.
If, within 48 hours of the request to postpone being made to the League Secretary in rule 3k) above, the League Secretary is informed of an agreed rescheduled date and confirmation of match officials the forfeit status will be removed, however the penalty will remain.
If the agreed new date is submitted to the League Secretary in the prescribed manner the fixtures secretary will reinstate the fixture.
Once reinstated, the fixture becomes active again.
Once the league has agreed a reschedule arrangement any subsequent postponement will result in an automatic forfeit attributed to the team requesting the postponement.
A penalty of £50.00 for forfeiture of a scheduled game will be applied.
If less than 72 hours' notice is given, a penalty of £50 will be levied and the match will automatically be recorded as forfeited.
The league secretary should be copied into all communication between teams and officials. This will enable the league secretary to date stamp communication and agreements.
The cost of court hire may be payable at the discretion of the GBBA Committee, following a claim by the home team, accompanied by the receipt for court hire. The claim must be made within 48 hours of the scheduled match start time. The receipt can follow at a later date which must be within 2 weeks of the scheduled match start date.
If a postponement is made on the same day as the match was due to be played, as well as the penalty described in rule 7r, a further penalty of £15 will be levied for each allocated referee who makes such a request.
Where all parties attend the venue and one team is unable to field 5 players registered to that team, the match will be deemed to have been forfeited by the defaulting team.

The match will be awarded to the opposition 20-0 and the appropriate penalty for forfeiture of a match will be applied.
If, at the discretion of the referee(s), a 'friendly' match is played, it will not be counted as a league fixture, however officials should be paid in the normal way, eliminating the need for a claim.
In addition, where a postponement request is made due to cancellation of facilities by the court organisers a administration penalty of £5.00 will be levied for each request.
If the League Secretary agrees to the postponement, refer to 3i), then they will take responsibility, on proof of cancellation by the venue, to rearrange the fixture and reappoint officials.

4. Officials Expenses

Claims from officials for expenses incurred due to the cancellation of a fixture may be submitted to the Committee for consideration. This claim must be made within 48 hours of the proposed start time using the official GBBA Expenses form (can be found on the web site )
If opponents or referees travel for a game which does not take place, their expenses and match fees will be paid. Referees fees and expenses should be paid by the team in attendance, who will subsequently be reimbursed, and the defaulting team invoiced.
If a match is forfeited, in addition to the £50.00 forfeiture penalty the offending team will be given a £15.00 penalty for each referee appointed, following a request from the official, and where the teams regular and qualified table officials have been arranged, they may at their discretion make a claim direct to the League for fees of £5.00 each to be paid.

5. Forfeit Matches

In addition to all other arrangements ...

The GBBA website will show all forfeited games as a 20-0 score against the offending team.
A record of reasons provided will be held to establish whether the team, will have successfully completed 80% of their allocated matches within the season.
Teams not fulfilling 80% of their published fixtures to the satisfaction of the league committee shall pay an additional deposit of £50 to enter the following season.

Points will be awarded as follows -

Winning team: +3 points
Losing team: +1 point
Matches not played: 0 points
Team forfeiting a match: -1 point

6. Officials

All GBL matches should be officiated by two Basketball England Level 2 or above qualified referees. (exception level 1 officials qualified prior to season 18/19) If only one referee is in attendance, wherever possible, a game should take place, and either team may appeal for the game to be replayed, if they believe that the result has been affected. The GBBA follows BE rules in determining the right of appeal and its process.
Teams exclusively consisting of actively playing senior players must provide for the refereeing pool, at least two qualified referees. The GBBA committee will determine the acceptability of nominated officials.
Any 'all junior' teams are exempt from providing qualified referees into the pool.
University and Student teams playing in the GBL League must provide one referee to the pool.
Teams new to the league are exempt for the first season. However, they must send at least one candidate on a level 2 referee's course during their first season to ensure they are able to supply 1 qualified referee for their second season of participation.
Teams participating in the league without the required qualified referees, must pay an additional £120 per (missing) referee in addition to their league entry fee at the time of submission.

This fee will be directed into the Officials Development Budget.

Arrangements for official’s development and funding can be found on the webpage.

Once a team takes advantage of the scheme and should the official fail to meet the criteria the team will be invoiced for a proportion of the amount spent on training and development

Any named referee, including junior officials, unable to officiate a fixture allocated to him/her must supply a suitable substitute and inform the League Secretary. The referee originally appointed will remain responsible for the attendance of the substitute.
Any breach of rule 6i) will result in a penalty against the official and/or the club by which he/she wasnominated.
Any team failing to fulfil its refereeing commitments will face a penalty of £25.00 for each refereeappointment missed by their appointed referee(s).
All officials shall be paid a fee in accordance with fees and criteria agreed at the Annual General Meeting of the GBBA
Referees will usually be paid fees as set out by Basketball England.

Level 1 - £17.00
Level 2 - £18.00
Level 3 - £19.00
Level 4 - £21.00

Travelling expenses shall be 45p per mile for the most direct route. Referees should travel together if possible and keep expenses to a minimum.
Only expenses actually incurred can be claimed.
The maximum claim for both officials, per game, shall be £90.00
Should a match official referee a match on his/her own, he/she is entitled to an extra 50% of their match fee ( not travelling expenses ).
All officials shall be paid before the start of the game, on submission of the standard invoice individual to each official, with each team responsible for 50%.If paying by bank transfer, this must have been pre-arranged with the referee.
All referees must be registered with Basketball England as a referee.
All referees with less than two years’ experience will be provided with a minimum of one independent assessment per year.
Independent assessment is available for all officials on request, or as periodically provided by the GBBA
Independent referees will be appointed to any team within the jurisdiction of the GBBA
Unless in exceptional circumstances, and agreed by the League secretary, a nominated team referee may not officiate any match involving that team for a full season after leaving the team.
Under normal circumstances where there is a clear and known association with a team, the league secretary will make every reasonable attempt not to allocate appointments relating to that team.
All officials shall wear a recognised BE official top and dark trousers (note tracksuit bottoms are not acceptable as part of the official’s uniform).

7. Duties of Match Officials

To arrive at least 20 minutes before the scheduled tip-off.
To check with table officials that all equipment is present, and that they are aware of their duties.
Before the game, check that the score sheet has been appropriately completed (including names of captain and coach, and license numbers), and that the coaches have signed.
Hold a pre-game meeting with the table officials and coaches/captains.
To inform the coaches of any irregularities or special situations of which they should be aware.
To keep a check as appropriate that table officials are fulfilling all their duties properly.
At the end of the game, to ensure that the score sheet is correct and complete before signing.
To report any problems or irregularities (including any breaches of GBL rules) on the appropriate website form designed for this purpose and should be sent direct by email to the league administrator.
To highlight Technical and disqualifying fouls on the appropriate website form designed for this purpose. In addition to submit a report for all disqualifying fouls to the League Administrator within 24 hours of the match taking place.
To provide the league with M.V.P. information and comply with any reasonable request made by the League.
To take care in language, actions and gestures that they are seen to be conforming to the principles as agreed at the pre-season meeting, and in such a way that the Respect policy is seen to be adhered to by both players and officials.

8. Equipment

The home team must provide the minimum of the following ...

EBBA score pad
Two timing devices
Sounding device (horn, bell, etc. - but no whistles)
A score board that is visible to both teams
Five personal foul markers
Red team foul markers that are easily visible to players and officials
Directional arrow
Two match balls (not new)
Sufficient number of pens

A warning will be issued on the first offence.

Where the referee indicates lack of equipment has had a negative impact on the management of the game, a penalty of £25.00 will be levied.

9. Table Officials

The home team must provide ...

A non-playing, competent (or deemed competent and attended the pre-season officials meeting), scorer
A non-playing, competent (or deemed competent and attended the pre-season officials meeting), timekeeper
A visual score operator (if the timekeeper does not also control a display of the score on an electronic scoreboard)

It is not permitted for one person to act as both scorer and timekeeper.

Failure to provide a competent scorekeeper and timekeeper will result in a penalty of £15.00.

The 2nd and subsequent breaches of this rule will attract a one-point deduction from the home team's league points.

Table Officials Match Fees ...

Qualified Level 1 £5.00
Level 2 £7.50
Level 3 £10.00

Teams who have volunteers interested in qualifying as a table official who, had they been a player, would have been classed as a junior player, may apply to the league to have the young person trained and mentored as a table official from the proceeds of the official's development fund.

Once a team takes advantage of the scheme, if the mentored official fails to continue for a full season of table officiating, the team will be invoiced for a proportion of the amount spent on training and development.

10. Duties of a Table Official

To arrive on court 20 mins before the game is scheduled to begin.
To attend the pre-game meeting.
To ensure all equipment is available and working correctly.
To bring any shortfalls to the attention of the referee.
To obtain team lists, captains, coaches and starting five in accordance with BE rules.
To ensure the scoresheet has all the necessary information including match number and licence numbers.
To administer substitutions in accordance with BE rules.
To show impartiality in the administration of the game.
To act in accordance with their role as part of the officiating team including providing the referee with necessary information when requested and which may impact on the outcome of the game.
To bring to the attention of the referee any player on two Technical fouls, or a Unsportsmanlike foul together with a Technical foul, or where the player remains on court when not eligible to do so.
To highlight technical and disqualifying fouls on the side of the scoresheet before the referee signs off the sheet.

11. Results

The home team is responsible for sending, the organizer's (white) copy of the score sheet and a match result to the league secretary.
This scoresheet must be emailed to (ianhgreaves53@gmail.com) or sent as a text message to 07801 446 145 on match day.
Failure to do so after a warning, will result in a fine of £10.00 for the next breach increasing by £5.00 for each subsequent breach.

12. Disciplinary Action, and Claims

The disciplinary officer shall manage all disciplinary matters, other than automatic fines.
All disciplinary action taken shall be reported immediately in writing to the person(s) and/or club. Results of hearings shall be strictly confidential until such time as the person(s) and/or club has been notified of the outcome.
Where it is necessary to inform teams of a suspension or an action which is likely to affect a fixture this will be published on the website without disclosure of information relating to the impending hearing.
Clubs and individuals have the right to appeal on any action taken by the disciplinary officer. Any appeal must be lodged with the league administrator, in writing, within 72 hours of the time of the notification.

A £40 deposit, refundable if the appeal is upheld, shall be sent with the appeal.
Appeals against initial decisions made by the Disciplinary Officer will be heard by the League Committee.
Any player or coach disqualified during a game shall automatically be suspended from the team's next game, unless an appeal is lodged within 72 hours, and before the suspension would take place.
The penalty at f above does not apply to BE automatic disqualifications of the coach, i.e. where the coach is disqualified for sanctions against bench players
The penalty at f above does not apply to players who are disqualified as a result of BE automatic
Penalty points in f, g, h above will in all circumstances still be applied.
There is no right of appeal against BE automatic disqualifications.
Details of the disqualification will be posted on the website. If the appeal is upheld this will also be posted on the website.
The game official(s) concerned shall make a written report to the league secretary.
The Disciplinary Officer shall have the power to extend the suspension further if it is deemed necessary, or if they feel the appeal has been made against the spirit of fair play and sportsmanship.
There will be a points system awarded to technical fouls and disqualifications, leading to suspensions and penalties.
1. Each technical foul will carry a points total of three.
2. When a player or coach reaches ten points, the league administrator will suspend that player or coach for one game and instigate the £25.00 penalty. Sixteen points two games and £25.00 penalty. Twenty-two points five games and £25.00 penalty and referred to disciplinary officer.
3. A disqualifying foul other than those attributed to BE automatic penalties, for a coach or player will a carry a minimum five points over and above their automatic one match suspension.
4. A disqualifying foul attributed to a BE automatic penalty will, in addition to the points accrued above, will carry an additional one-point penalty.
All participants are expected to follow the "Code of Ethics & Conduct" published by Basketball England, and the League reserve the right to act against individuals and/or clubs who fail to do so.

13. Transfers

If both teams involved agree to the transfer, a player may be transferred upon a request being made to the League Secretary accompanied by a copy of the agreement, and snapshot of the payment of £25.00 into the GBBA account.
A player may only transfer once during a season.
The player may not play until agreement from both teams (in writing, email will be accepted), and the transfer fee, has been received, and the league secretary has confirmed the transfer. Teams who raise an objection to a transfer need to state a reason, its then for the committee to determine the reasonableness of the objection. Where money is owed to a team the GBBA will support the objection providing evidence of monies owed is provided.
A player may not transfer from a team where the team has outstanding penalties owed.
When a player leaves the club, an email should be sent to the league secretary advising that the player no longer plays for that team.

14. Withdrawals and Outstanding Commitments

Any team withdrawing during the season shall be liable to a penalty of not less than £50.00.
All players registered with the team withdrawing shall be automatically suspended, and their registrations held by the League, until such time as all monies outstanding have been paid in full to the League, other clubs and individuals.
If a team fails to pay all its debts within 30 days, then any player wanting to resume playing with other clubs may pay 20% share of the total team debt to the league secretary. The committee may suspend or amend this provision in specific cases.
Players moving to other clubs must pay the transfer fee of £25.00, in addition to any debts due as described in rule 14c.

15. Complaints

Teams/individuals wishing to raise a complaint about administration, or any other factor outside the jurisdiction of the match officials should be so by sending an email outlining the concern to the League Administrator , who will either address the issue or place it on the agenda for the next committee meeting.
A response will be provided outlining the action to be taken with timescales.
Any complaint against individuals must be accompanied by facts and where possible evidenced or witnessed and that individual will have the right of response before any action is taken.
Where the complaint is against a member of a committee organised by the GBBA, that member will have the right of response but will not attend any meeting of the committee where the matter is being discussed.

16. Signing Under Protest

A team may file a protest if its interests have been adversely affected by

an error in scorekeeping, timekeeping or shot clock operations, which was not corrected by officials.
a decision to forfeit, cancel, postpone, not resume or not play the game.
a violation of the applicable eligibility rules.

In order to be admissible, a protest shall comply with the following procedure:

The captain (CAP) of that team shall, no later than 15 minutes following the end of the game, inform the crew chief that his team is protesting against the result of the game and sign the score sheet in the 'Captain's signature in case of protest' column.
The team shall submit the protest reasons in writing no later than 1 hour following the end of the game. The League secretary will take account of the end time of the game when applying this rule.

An administration fee of £25.00 should be sent with the documentation. If the Protest is successful, the fee will be refunded.

17. Safeguarding

The GBBA will co-opt a Welfare Officer who has/will undertake safeguard training and who has or will apply CRB clearance as required by Basketball England before taking up the position.

The Welfare officer may if suitably qualified act as a Basketball England verifier

The GBBA will publish on its Website BE information in relation to Safeguarding along with its guidance for teams to follow as appropriate. It will be the responsibility of teams to adhere to BE advice and for the GBBA to highlight issues particularly relevant to its structure and membership.

18. Annual General Meeting of the Gloucestershire Basketball Association incorporating the Gloucestershire Basketball League

Only current member teams, members of the Executive Committee, and guests invited by the Chair, are permitted to attend the Annual General Meeting.
Each team shall be allowed one vote, if it is not under suspension nor owes money to the League at the time of the meeting.
Members of the Executive Committee and co-opted Executive members shall be allowed one vote each.
No individual shall represent more than one team or vote in more than one capacity.
Failure to send a team representative to the Annual General Meeting shall incur a penalty of £35.00
Note: There is also a compulsory requirement to send at least 3 (three) team representatives to the pre-season meeting.
Failure to send representatives to the pre-season meeting, who should be a secretary or replacement, referee and table official, will incur a penalty of £25.00
The AGM will be administered by the Chair. Should the Chair, for any reason, be unable to attend the A.G.M., the Vice Chair will administer the meeting.
GBBA Honorary Officers shall along with a representative from the GBL and NL or an affiliated association will form the Executive Committee and have the right to make decisions not covered by the GBBA constitution or required to be ratified at the AGM. The Executive Committee are expected to attend Executive meetings and will be entitled to an Honorarium relevant to the role.

Chair
Secretary
Treasurer
Registrar
GBL representative
NL Representative

The Webpage will list Posts and Postholders as ratified at the AGM. Where additional co-opted roles are identified, maximum of 5, those postholders will not be required to attend Executive meetings but may elect to do so or be invited for specific purposes. Where roles are identified as necessary, but unfilled, an Honorary Officer will undertake the task.

Rule	Reason	Amount
Rule 1B	Initial Guarantee Fee	£25.00
Rule 1C	Additional Guarantee Fee	£25.00
Rule 1D	Penalty fines in excess of £100 additional fee and loss of £50.00 deposit	£100.00
Rule 1F	Cup Competition only guarantee Fee	£12.50
Rule 1J	League Entry Fee including £10.00 entry to Charity Cup	£90.00
Rule 2C	Playing an unlicensed player	£50.00
Rule 2D	Licence number not shown on scoresheet after warning	£25.00
Rule 3	Forfeiture of a game	£50.00
	Postponement of a game less than 8 weeks’ notice	£25.00
	Postponement of a game less than 72hrs notice	£50.00
	Postponement due to court unavailability	£5.00
Rule 4C	Same day Postponement	£50.00 plus £15.00 for each appointed referee
	Forfeit fee for qualified /regular table officials	£5.00 for each appointed table official.
Rule 5C	Failure to fulfil 80% of published fixtures	Additional deposit of £50.00
Rule 6F	Failure to provide acceptable qualified referee to pool with league entry	£120 to be transferred into development fund
Rule 6J	Referee failing to attend fixture or find suitably agreed alternative or where alternative agreed alternative fails to attend on your behalf	£25.00
Rule 6i	BE Referee Rates season 19/20	Level 1 £ 9.00 Level 2 £13.00 Level 3 £14.00 Level 4 £15.00
Rule 6J	GBBA enhanced rate for officials attending 3^rd September and 21^st January Personal Development Sessions	Level 1 £12.00 Level 2 £16.00 Level 3 £17.00 Level 4 £18.00
Rule 6m	Referee Travel Expenses	30p per mile
Rule 6o	Maximum joint claim referees	£60.00
Rule 6p	Official officiating on own	Match fee plus 50% of match fee
Rule 8	Lack of required table equipment after warning	£25.00
Rule 9	Failure to provide competent timekeeper and scorekeeper each failure	£15.00
	Qualified Table officials’ fees as per BE	Level 1 £5.00 Level 2 £7.50 Level 3 £10.00
Rule 11C	Failure to send in scoresheet and referees’ invoice on match day after a warning	£10.00 increasing by £5.00 for each further breach
Rule 12D	Appeals	£40.00
Rule 12Nii	Technical and Disqualifying foul total accumulated points penalty	10 points £25.00 16 points £25.00 21 points £25.00 and referred to Disciplinary Officer
Rule 13A	Player Transfer mid-season	£25.00
Rule 14A	Teams withdrawing mid season	Not less than £50.00
Rule 14C	Teams withdrawing whereby team has outstanding monies owed to GBBA (also applies to teams at end of season)	Each registered player to pay 20% of outstanding monies before being able to register with BE again
Rule 14D	Players wishing to transfer to another team once penalty has been paid	£25.00 transfer fee
Rule 16	Signing under protest	£25.00
Rule 18E	Failure to send eligible representative to AGM	£35.00
Rule 18G	Failure to send three representatives to 3^rd September preseason meeting, i.e. secretary, referee and table official	£25.00
Rule	Reason	Amount

---End of File ---