Team Selection Policies
Because of the high demand for places in UQ teams, it has been necessary to develop procedures to ensure that all applicants are looked after fairly and equally and are placed in a suitable team:
- Nobody will be included in a UQ team unless all fees and an on-line application or a signed printed application to join the UQ Tennis Club are received. One person lodging a form and listing a group of people he/she wants to play with will not result in those other people being included unless they lodge their own forms and pay their fees.
- New members must be graded to play Fixtures. New members, who do not attend one of the advertised grading sessions, will not be included in a Fixture team (unless clear information about standard and previous Fixture experience is supplied, to the satisfaction of the Selection Committee).
- Requests to play together will be considered but cannot always be granted. Players of a similar standard will generally be able to play together provided they ask to play with each other. Players A and B will probably not end up in the same team if Player A asks to play with Player B but Player B does not ask to play with Player A. However, because of the numbers that apply for a particular competition, it will sometimes prove impossible to grant all requests to play together. For example, in a Pairs competition where there are only enough courts available to field 30 teams, a maximum of 90 players can be accommodated (with 3 players per team). However if there are applications from 40 pairs and 10 individuals, 10 of the pairs will have to be split up to form the 30 teams of 3 players each.
- Applications received without fees will be ignored. No Fees-No Play-No Exceptions.
- Off-campus home courts will not be used. This means that all UQ Tennis Club teams will have home courts at UQ. UQ teams in BNTA Fixtures may still have to travel anywhere in Brisbane for away matches.
- Quotas will be applied to all competitions. This means that lodging an entry by the relevant closing date will not guarantee all applicants of a place in that competition.
- Players will be requested to nominate their preferred alternative competition should their first choice be over-subscribed or there are not enough players of the appropriate standard. Applicants who do not nominate an alternative, or nominate alternatives that are over-subscribed, will miss out if their chosen competition is full when their application is received (in which case, fees will be refunded).
- Teams will not be formed with just the bare minimum of players needed (unless there is a shortage of players of the appropriate standard or gender). This means that there will be one extra player in each any-gender team and one extra male & one extra female in mixed teams (with a roster to apply). Season fixture fees are calculated to be break-even based on these numbers being in a team.
- Late applications will only be accepted where there are shortages or where vacancies arise after the season begins.
- Players are not entitled to a refund after teams have been finalised and registered with the Fixture associations (or the draw completed for Internal Fixtures). With the optimum number of players per team, anybody pulling out can cause havoc unless there are some late applications to fill the vacancy. Players pulling out because the Club or Fixture association grading committees didn't put them in the grade they think they should be playing will not get a refund and future nominations from them will not be accepted. In extenuating circumstances, the Committee may approve a partial refund (e.g. where somebody is transferred or seriously injured before playing any matches).
