SECTION 2 – ENTRY REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL COMPETITIONS

1.      Affiliated clubs shall approve the number of teams and individual entries that they propose entering in the various leagues and knockouts. The composition of these teams will need to be registered to the GB&SA by the last day of July together with payment of affiliation and entry fees. Affiliated clubs may register up to eight teams per two tables that they allow to be used for snooker league matches. The number of divisions and in which division teams will play will be approved at the first full meeting of the General Committee.

2.      Entry to all League Competitions, the Team Knockout Competitions, the Individual Snooker Handicap for the Norman Wale Trophy and the Snooker Handicap Pairs for the Spillane Trophy will be open to all bona-fide members of affiliated clubs, who are also members of the G.B. & S.A.

a.      Bona-fide members are defined as players who have access to the facilities offered by the Club that he / she / they is representing, as determined by the Club itself, either by:

                                                    i.     Paying the annual subscription fee;

                                                   ii.     Becoming a life-time member;

                                                  iii.     Not having their membership suspended or terminated at the time of playing.

Under condition i., if the annual subscription for the club is renewable mid-season, the player will continue to be regarded as a ‘bona fide member’ until such time as the last date for renewal has been reached; or the club terminates the membership beforehand.

b.      Any club member who is not a member of the G.B. & S.A. may be allowed to play for a club team for up to two matches for a fee of £2.00 per match. The G.B. & S.A. will maintain a record of unregistered player fees and issue an invoice to the relevant team captain at the end of the season, for payment prior to the commencement of the new league season.  On the playing of a third match, the full G.B. & S.A. membership fee must be paid to the G.B. & S.A. no later than 72 hours after the date of the relevant matches or the team will be judged to have fielded an ineligible player.

3.      All players of the competing clubs must be bona-fide members of the club concerned for at least one month previous to playing.

4.      Junior players (under 18 years old at the commencement of the season) are not required to be affiliated to the G.B. & S. A. to take part in competitions, but must have the approval of the Club that they are playing from.

5.      Any Junior player (under 18 years old) who, contravening the rules of an affiliated G.B. & S.A. club by entering that club under age, will be automatically suspended for 1 year by the G.B. & S.A. regardless of what action that individual club may take.

6.      Professional billiards and snooker players are ineligible to play in all competitions designed for amateur players, organised by the G.B. & S.A.

7.      Entry to the Island Individual Snooker and Billiards Championships will be open to all persons who are members of the G.B. & S.A. who are prepared to travel for Inter Insular matches and who also qualify under Rule 2 of the Individual Island Billiards Championship and Snooker Individual Island Championship.

8.      Clubs entering a team(s) in any Division must register at least four players for Snooker and/or individual players for Billiards.

a.      Such registered player(s) shall be ineligible to play in any lower Divisions or teams in the same Division without the sanction of the General Committee.

b.      A registered player can play for any team from the same Club in a higher Division twice only. After his/her third appearance for a team, the player becomes registered to that team and becomes ineligible for all other teams in that division, or any division below it.

c.      After any unregistered player has made two appearances in a Division, he/she becomes ineligible for all teams in lower Divisions. After his/her third appearance, the player is registered to that team and rule 11(b) then applies.

9.      No player may represent more than one club in the team snooker league in any one season, except with the sanction of the General Committee. However, a player who represents one club in League competitions may play for a different club in Knockout competitions, as long as he/she is a bona-fide member of both.

Players are allowed to play Billiards for one club and Snooker for another if they so wish, as long as he/she is a bona-fide member of both.

A team may choose to play their team knockout matches at a different club to their league matches so long as all players that compete are bona-fide members of both clubs. Notification of this must be made on the GB&SA entry form. If a reserve is required in a knockout match, the reserve player must be a bona-fide member of the ‘alternative’ club and not play for any other team in that competition. In team Knockout competitions, any player, whether registered or unregistered, may represent one team only.

In the case of individual competitions, a player will be deemed to be playing from his/her home League club, unless indicated otherwise on the GB&SA entry form.

10.   If an ineligible person plays in any Knockout competition, the match is automatically awarded to the Opponent(s). In a team League match, the points scored by the ineligible player will be awarded to the opponent. Should the same team field an ineligible person on a second occasion within the same season, the said team may be expelled from their League Division, with all previously played and future matches being claimed null and void.