23rd
November 2005

Dear County League Secretary

County League Update

I hope this letter finds you
very well. The purpose of this communication is to update each County on a
couple of key areas of development that have a direct impact on County Leagues.

County League Management System (CLMS)

As some County League
Secretaries are aware, England Squash have spent a great deal of time in recent
months developing a league management system that fully integrates with our new
membership system and the world’s first ever online grading system
– esgrading.com.

Essentially what we have now
is a CLMS that enables you to instantly upload all of your players and clubs
from the central membership system, thereby alleviating time consuming data
input. It will also allow County League Secretaries, Team Managers etc to input
results into the CLMS which will then automatically update esgrading giving you
an online ranking system for all players in your county.

The CLMS has been designed
with simplicity of use in mind. But it has also been designed to encourage more
players to play county league squash. Once results have been entered, players
will automatically be able to see their ranking change online, see their new
point’s total, who they and their fellow players have played, match
results etc.

This is a fantastic product
and we are delighted to be able to offer this to Counties free of charge. We
will also cover the cost of the first years support. Counties will be expected
to cover the cost of annual support after year one but we do not anticipate
this cost being more than £100 per year.

Due to our own budget
limitations this year, we will be offering six licences for the remainder of
this financial year and then budgeting to expand this to the remaining counties
next year.

If your county would like to
be one of the first counties to use this exciting initiative then please let me
know via email – [email-masked]
- no later than Friday 9th
December 2005.

We are aware that several
counties have their own league management system and would be delighted to work
with those counties to develop an interface that links their own system to
esgrading.com. The interface would be developed at a cost to the individual
counties but would provide the same benefits to the league and the players as
with our own system.

If you are a county that
would like to explore the development of this interface rather than opt to use
our system, again please drop me an email and we can begin to have that
discussion with you.

ES National Cup

As you are aware, England
Squash have this year, extended the Play Off experiment of last season into the
new ES National Cup.

The ES National Cup will
feature the winners of each County/Combined County League Premier Division (or
equivalent) taking part in a series of Area qualifying rounds with the winning
team from each England Squash Area, qualifying for the Finals weekend which
will be held on 17th/18th June 2006 at the National
Squash Centre, Manchester.

The winning team will be
awarded the first ES National Cup.

Play
By dates for the Area Qualifying Rounds have been set and are as follows:

Quarter Finals                        -
Play by 6th May 2006

Semi Finals                           -
Play by 20th
May 2006

Play Off Final             -
Play by 3rd
June 2006

In order to give clubs time
to organise their teams for the qualifying rounds, we would like to ask that
your County/Combined County League Premier Division (or equivalent) is completed
no later than Friday 31st
March 2006. I appreciate that may mean rescheduling the last
part of your season but it is essential that we have time to get the invites
out to clubs and then allow the teams time to prepare.

I would like to take this
opportunity to thank you in advance for your cooperation and you’re your
representative team all the best in the ES National Cup competition.

Yours sincerely

Adrian
Christy

Director
of Development & Competitions

cc        County Secretaries

Area
Squash Managers

ES NATIONAL CUP 2005/06

REGULATIONS

1.         EVENT
CATEGORIES:

i)          ES
National Cup Men

ii)         ES
National Cup Women

2.         CLUB
ELIGIBILITY:

The ES National
Cup is open to all clubs winning their respective County/Combined County League
Premier Division (or equivalent), who are affiliated to England Squash for the
2005 / 2006 season and are located on the mainland of England.

To compete in
the ES National Cup, a club must have won a Premier Division (or equivalent) in
a league that does not allow non affiliated clubs to participate.

3.         PLAYER
ELIGIBILITY:

i)
For a player to be eligible to represent a club in the ES
National Cup, both the following requirements must be fulfilled.  A player must:

a)
be a registered and paid Player Member of England Squash
through the competing club by the date of the first tie to be played.  “Registered” means that the
details of and payment for a competing player have been received and can be
verified by England Squash

b)
have represented the club in local, county or any of the
national leagues in the current season

ii)
Players may only qualify to play for one club in a given
England Squash Area during the 2005 / 2006 competition

iii)
If a player does play for more than one club in the same
England Squash Area, the player has the choice of club he/she will represent

iv)
Players are permitted to play for more than one club
provided additional clubs play in  a
different England Squash Area.

v)
Teams may not be strengthened by the inclusion of any players who have not played in
at least two matches for the winning club in the preceding League regular
season prior to the Area Qualifying
Rounds excluding walkovers. The League Organiser may need to be
contacted after the match and it could result in a disqualification after the
playoff match has been completed.

vi)        Fielding
ineligible players will result in that match being awarded to the opposing
team.

4.         QUALIFICATION
FOR ES NATIONAL CUP

i)
Qualification for the ES
National Cup will come via a series of Area Qualifying Rounds

ii)
Once the outcome of each County League
is known, the draw will be made and England Squash will confirm the structure
of the Area Qualifying Rounds.

iii)
Depending on the number of
entries in an Area, the structure of the qualifying rounds may result in teams
having to bypass the earlier rounds. If that is the case, teams will fall into
line with the dates below corresponding to the rounds they will play in.

iv)
Play By dates for the Area
Qualifying Rounds are as follows:

§
Quarter
Finals             -
Play by 6th May 2006

§
Semi
Finals                 -
Play by 20th May
2006

§
Play
Off Final              -
Play by 3rd June
2006

v)
The
winners of each Area competition, will qualify for the ES National Cup Final which
will be held over the weekend of 17th/18th June 2006 at the National Squash
Centre, Manchester

vi)
The
winning team will be awarded the first ES National Cup

5.         FORMAT:

i)
Matches shall
consist of teams of five players.

ii)
However, in
Area’s which include Women’s County/Combined County
League’s where teams consist of 3 players, all women’s teams in the
Play Off shall consist of 3 players each. England Squash will advise whether
the Area Qualifying Rounds are a
3 or 5 player team at the publication of the 1st Play by date and this
ruling will remain for all subsequent matches

iii)
In Area’s
where Men’s County/Combined County League teams consist of 4
players or less, teams may recruit additional players to ensure five players in
a team. However, the player recruited MUST NOT be stronger than the
original team. E.g. a team has four players playing in the League. They must
recruit a fifth play to play in the Area
Qualifying Rounds – that player must play at No. 5 and not be
stronger than the original team of four players.

iv)
All teams shall play players strictly in descending
order of strength, i.e., merit order.

v)
For all rounds the home team must offer their opponents,
by telephone or email, a choice of at least three dates within three days of
the receipt by them of the draw for each round, and ties must be completed by
the published ‘Play By’ dates

vi)
The first date offered must provide a minimum of seven
days notice.  A response to the
offered dates should be made within three days.  Should no offer of dates be received by
the away side within the prescribed three days, the away team should initially
attempt to make contact with the home side, and if unsuccessful England Squash should be contacted
immediately.  If the home
team has offered dates as described, the away side must accept one.  If no mutual agreement’s can be
reached the ‘Play By’ date listed becomes the play on date.

vii)
Time extensions beyond round dates can only be granted
by England Squash, and will only be agreed in very exceptional
circumstances.  Teams are strongly
encouraged to make contact within the time stipulated to avoid the danger of
elimination if matches cannot be arranged.

viii)
Clubs who organise unauthorised extensions to round
closing dates are liable to disqualification.  Cancellation of ties with less than 48
hours notice will constitute a walk-over to the opposing team unless exceptional
circumstances prevail, e.g., extreme travel difficulties.  The judgement of exceptional
circumstances will be the responsibility of England Squash.

ix)
The competition will be played on a knock-out basis
(depending on the number of participating teams in an Area, it may be necessary
to operate a small league system); all matches being the best of five games,
traditional scoring to 9 points.
Matches will be played under the WSF Rules of the Game and the England
Squash Code of Conduct.

x)
It is the responsibility of the home club to book and
pay for adequate court time for the tie to be completed, including time
required in respect of delayed commencement. The home team must also provide
and pay for a post match meal for players.
The cost of drinks and responsibility for refereeing is shared between
the teams.

xi)
The
choice of ball to be used in rounds prior to the Finals will rest with the home
club, provided it is a ball approved by England Squash.  The ball to be used for the Finals will
be that supplied by England Squash.

xii)
Prior to the commencement of the tie, captains will
exchange teams in order of merit, and also confirm the order of play.

xiii)
Result details must be returned to your England Squash Area
Office by BOTH team captains within 24 hours of the match being completed, even
in the event of a walk-over.  If you
do receive a walk over, please ensure that you include on the match card the
names of the team members that should have played.

xiv)
Winning teams will be notified of their next round
opponents by email/post.  Non‑receipt
of such information within seven days of the end of the previous round may
indicate postal difficulties and the captain should contact England Squash
immediately.

xv)
The right is reserved to give byes in earlier
rounds.

xvi)
England Squash reserve the right to declare certain
matches, involving considerable travel as neutral venue matches.  In such circumstances England Squash
will appoint one team to make adequate arrangements suitable to both parties.  Any costs incurred should be split
between the participating teams.

6.         ADMINISTRATION:

i)          All
enquiries relating to the ES National Cup should be directed to the England
Squash Competitions & Events Department.  Any complaints relating to ties must be
made in writing and sent to England Squash within 48 hours of the complaint
arising.

ii)         The
decision of England Squash shall be final.

ES NATIONAL CUP 2005/06

REGULATIONS

1.         EVENT
CATEGORIES:

i)          ES
National Cup Men

ii)         ES
National Cup Women

2.         CLUB
ELIGIBILITY:

The ES National
Cup is open to all clubs winning their respective County/Combined County League
Premier Division (or equivalent), who are affiliated to England Squash for the
2005 / 2006 season and are located on the mainland of England.

To compete in
the ES National Cup, a club must have won a Premier Division (or equivalent) in
a league that does not allow non affiliated clubs to participate.

3.         PLAYER
ELIGIBILITY:

ii)
For a player to be eligible to represent a club in the ES
National Cup, both the following requirements must be fulfilled.  A player must:

a)
be a registered and paid Player Member of England Squash
through the competing club by the date of the first tie to be played.  “Registered” means that the
details of and payment for a competing player have been received and can be
verified by England Squash

b)
have represented the club in local, county or any of the
national leagues in the current season

vi)
Players may only qualify to play for one club in a given
England Squash Area during the 2005 / 2006 competition

vii)
If a player does play for more than one club in the same
England Squash Area, the player has the choice of club he/she will represent

viii)
Players are permitted to play for more than one club
provided additional clubs play in  a
different England Squash Area.

ix)
Teams may not be strengthened by the inclusion of any players who have not played in
at least two matches for the winning club in the preceding League regular
season prior to the Area Qualifying
Rounds excluding walkovers. The League Organiser may need to be
contacted after the match and it could result in a disqualification after the
playoff match has been completed.

vi)        Fielding
ineligible players will result in that match being awarded to the opposing
team.

4.         QUALIFICATION
FOR ES NATIONAL CUP

vii)
Qualification for the ES
National Cup will come via a series of Area Qualifying Rounds

viii)
Once the outcome of each County League
is known, the draw will be made and England Squash will confirm the structure
of the Area Qualifying Rounds.

ix)
Depending on the number of
entries in an Area, the structure of the qualifying rounds may result in teams
having to bypass the earlier rounds. If that is the case, teams will fall into
line with the dates below corresponding to the rounds they will play in.

x)
Play By dates for the Area
Qualifying Rounds are as follows:

§
Quarter
Finals             -
Play by 6th May 2006

§
Semi
Finals                 -
Play by 20th May
2006

§
Play
Off Final              -
Play by 3rd June
2006

xi)
The
winners of each Area competition, will qualify for the ES National Cup Final which
will be held over the weekend of 17th/18th June 2006 at the National Squash
Centre, Manchester

xii)
The
winning team will be awarded the first ES National Cup

5.         FORMAT:

iv)
Matches shall
consist of teams of five players.

v)
However, in
Area’s which include Women’s County/Combined County
League’s where teams consist of 3 players, all women’s teams in the
Play Off shall consist of 3 players each. England Squash will advise whether
the Area Qualifying Rounds are a
3 or 5 player team at the publication of the 1st Play by date and this
ruling will remain for all subsequent matches

vi)
In Area’s
where Men’s County/Combined County League teams consist of 4
players or less, teams may recruit additional players to ensure five players in
a team. However, the player recruited MUST NOT be stronger than the
original team. E.g. a team has four players playing in the League. They must
recruit a fifth play to play in the Area
Qualifying Rounds – that player must play at No. 5 and not be
stronger than the original team of four players.

iv)
All teams shall play players strictly in descending
order of strength, i.e., merit order.

v)
For all rounds the home team must offer their opponents,
by telephone or email, a choice of at least three dates within three days of
the receipt by them of the draw for each round, and ties must be completed by
the published ‘Play By’ dates

vi)
The first date offered must provide a minimum of seven
days notice.  A response to the
offered dates should be made within three days.  Should no offer of dates be received by
the away side within the prescribed three days, the away team should initially
attempt to make contact with the home side, and if unsuccessful England Squash should be contacted
immediately.  If the home
team has offered dates as described, the away side must accept one.  If no mutual agreement’s can be
reached the ‘Play By’ date listed becomes the play on date.

vii)
Time extensions beyond round dates can only be granted
by England Squash, and will only be agreed in very exceptional
circumstances.  Teams are strongly
encouraged to make contact within the time stipulated to avoid the danger of
elimination if matches cannot be arranged.

viii)
Clubs who organise unauthorised extensions to round
closing dates are liable to disqualification.  Cancellation of ties with less than 48
hours notice will constitute a walk-over to the opposing team unless exceptional
circumstances prevail, e.g., extreme travel difficulties.  The judgement of exceptional
circumstances will be the responsibility of England Squash.

ix)
The competition will be played on a knock-out basis
(depending on the number of participating teams in an Area, it may be necessary
to operate a small league system); all matches being the best of five games,
traditional scoring to 9 points.
Matches will be played under the WSF Rules of the Game and the England
Squash Code of Conduct.

x)
It is the responsibility of the home club to book and
pay for adequate court time for the tie to be completed, including time
required in respect of delayed commencement. The home team must also provide
and pay for a post match meal for players.
The cost of drinks and responsibility for refereeing is shared between
the teams.

xi)
The
choice of ball to be used in rounds prior to the Finals will rest with the home
club, provided it is a ball approved by England Squash.  The ball to be used for the Finals will
be that supplied by England Squash.

xii)
Prior to the commencement of the tie, captains will
exchange teams in order of merit, and also confirm the order of play.

xiii)
Result details must be returned to your England Squash Area
Office by BOTH team captains within 24 hours of the match being completed, even
in the event of a walk-over.  If you
do receive a walk over, please ensure that you include on the match card the
names of the team members that should have played.

xiv)
Winning teams will be notified of their next round
opponents by email/post.  Non‑receipt
of such information within seven days of the end of the previous round may
indicate postal difficulties and the captain should contact England Squash
immediately.

xv)
The right is reserved to give byes in earlier
rounds.

xvi)
England Squash reserve the right to declare certain
matches, involving considerable travel as neutral venue matches.  In such circumstances England Squash
will appoint one team to make adequate arrangements suitable to both parties.  Any costs incurred should be split
between the participating teams.

6.         ADMINISTRATION:

i)          All
enquiries relating to the ES National Cup should be directed to the England
Squash Competitions & Events Department.  Any complaints relating to ties must be
made in writing and sent to England Squash within 48 hours of the complaint
arising.

ii)         The
decision of England Squash shall be final.