PongSpace Urban Professional Table Tennis League Winter 2022-2023
Purpose
The purpose of the league is to facilitate social interaction between employees of one corporation and other corporations as well as improve team building and physical wellbeing of the participants through the Olympic Sport of Table Tennis. Through team-based table tennis competition at premium locations, participants can achieve a sense of belonging to their corporation while creating networking opportunities for the companies.
Costs and Fees
The entry fee for the league will be $1,000 per team. Each team will have a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 6 players. Each player will receive a PongSpace League t-shirt. The fee also includes 6 matches at Spin plus 3 hours of practice time.
Support Youth of Need
PongSpace will donate 10% of the proceeds to American Youth Table Tennis Organization (AYTTO a 501c3 not for profit organization) to bring free coaching to under-privileged and at-risk students as well as other youth table tennis initiatives across the country.
League Concepts
General
1. Officials: All league events will have at least one experienced official.
2. Meet Referee: The umpire during the meet will settle all the disputes.
3. Meet Format: The format is team. Athletes represent a corporation and play for their team.
4. Venues: Matches will be played primarily at Spin located on 42 East 23rd St. in Manhattan. Occasionally, matches will be played at other top table tennis clubs at or near Manhattan.
5. Practice Sessions: Teams are encouraged to spend time practicing table tennis and training. Each team will have 3 hours of practice time at Spin.
6. Equipment: All equipment must be ITTF or USATT approved. Table Tennis racquets, specifically, table tennis racquet coverings, must be International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) or USA Table Tennis Approved. The league will modify these rules somewhat to allow flexibility, but it is recommended that all players play with “approved” racquets. You will find the ITTF or USATT seal of approval on each rubber sheet, with either an ITTF stamp # with the ITTF logo or with a USATT approved logo.
7. Competition Attire: All players are given a t-shirt from PongSpace. We encourage all players to play with t-shirts, shorts and sneakers.
8 Scheduling: There will be a coordinator to work with each team to schedule the matches. Matches are generally on Monday evenings.
9. Rosters: The captain of the team must submit the list of players at the beginning of the season. Before each meet, the captains need to electronically submit the players of the day.
10. Commissioner: PongSpace will designate a commissioner. The commissioner will be responsible for communications and ensuring league rules are enforced and to settle any disputes.
13. Divisions: The league will be broken up by divisions consisting of 3 to 5 teams.
14. League Championships - Culminating Event: The top two teams from each division will advance to the League Championship playoffs at the end of the season. PongSpace will invite additional teams based on regular season records. Regular season results will determine the seeding during the championship. Stay tuned for further announcements.
15. Gender: All matches are Co-Ed
League Logistics
1. Team Size: There will be a minimum of 3 players and up to 6 players per team.
2. Divisions: Each division will consist of 3 to 5 teams. All teams are CO-ED.
3. Meets: Each team meet will play 4 singles and 1 double match. The team that wins 3 out of the 5 matches wins the meet. For regular season division meets, all 6 players can partake in matches. 2 singles, 1 doubles, follow by 2 more singles. For the Championship playoff, each team picks 3 players to compete. One will play 2 singles and the other 2 players play one single and one doubles each.
4. Matches: All matches during the regular season will be 2 out of 3 games to 11 points.
5. Game: All games are best of 11 (deuce scoring when game is tied at 10).
6. Scoring: Each team meet won will count as 3 points. Each team meet loss will count as 1 point. The top two teams from each division will earn automatic invites to the playoffs.
7. Rounds: Each team will play one home meet and one away meet against each other team in the division.
8. Roster and Match Score Sheets: Prior to each match, each team is required to fill out a roster sheet on the Pongspace App.
9. Table Tennis Rules: The league is abiding to the USA Table Tennis Rules and Regulations
10. Team Match Duration: Each team match is expected to take 2 hours on one table.
11. Forfeitures: A team that fails to provide sufficient players to field a team will lose that match. A team that cancels within a 48-hour window, will lose the match 5-0 with that match counted towards the results. The only exception will be inclement weather. A team who loses without sufficient players will earn a point whereas the team that fails to show up will not have a single point.
12. Disputes: The umpire of the meet will have final power over the dispute.
League Playoffs
The League Playoffs will be held in March 2023 at Spin.
Format: Depending on the number of divisions for the season, the league can decide between a round robin format followed by single elimination of the top two teams or simply just a round robin or single elimination format. Matches follow the same rules as the regular season.
Referee: PongSpace will provide a USATT certified umpire to oversee the championships. The umpire will enforce USATT rules and regulations of the tournament as well as handle any disputes during the championships.
Captains' Meeting: Prior to the start of the competition, there will be a Captains’ meeting to explain the rules and to answer questions. It will be held at Spin
Insurance and Waiver Forms: Insurance is covered by Pongspace and Spin. However, all participants needs to sign a waiver to release liability of PongSpace.
COVID Restrictions:
We will be following the NYC COVID restriction this season.
Registration:
Registration is open until December 10th 2022. Competition starts in January 2023. Teams can register online: https://forms.gle/eGXeqhpMhZm3rf4X7
Payment can be sent via Paypal to info@pongspace.com
*(note 'PongSpace Corp League 2022' and team name in Paypal memo). We will be invoicing you before the start of the season. All payments must be made before the first team meet.
Entering Scores:
Both teams will submit player roster and record scores on https://competition.pongspace.com