Court Waiting System

IBC uses a court waiting system to ensure all players have equal and fair access to the courts. The waiting system also encourages players of different skill levels to play together.

The rules of the waiting system are simple. All players must abide by the rules of the waiting system. Members who violate these rules will have their club membership revoked, with no membership refund. Drop-ins who violate these rules may be asked to leave, with no refund, and banned from dropping in in the future.

The waiting system has proven to work very well in past seasons. It brings order to an otherwise potentially chaotic situation. Your cooperation in helping the waiting system work is most appreciated. We welcome any suggestions to further improve the waiting system.

 

 

Default Court Waiting System

Unless otherwise noted, IBC will use the following system:

  • At the entrance to the gym, there are boxes numbered sequentially (eg: 1 to 8). A marker tracks which box is “next available” and will play when the next free court becomes available.
  • A player who wishes to be in queue for a court puts his/her racquet into one of the boxes. Maximum 1 racquet in the wait queue per player. A player is absolutely not allowed to reserve a spot for another player.
  • A player already playing on a court cannot be waiting in queue at the same time. In other words, a player already playing on a court cannot have a racquet in any of the boxes.
  • Players are free to choose which box they want to put their racquet in. Maximum 4 racquets per box.
  • Do not arbitrarily move another player’s racquet from one box to another without the player’s consent.
  • Players who wish to play together can choose to have their racquets put into the same box.
  • When there are other players waiting, only groups that have assembled 4 players can go on to a court. It is up to the players to make sure they have a foursome assembled before their turn to play is up.
  • A group with an incomplete foursome will lose its turn until the group has completed its foursome. An incomplete group may ask any of the players coming off the court that the group is going on to join the group.
  • Players are free to withdraw their racquet from a box. When withdrawing from a box that has 4 racquets in it originally, the player withdrawing the racquet should work with the rest of the group to find a replacement. However, a player cannot withdraw his/her racquet from a group which is in the process of going on to a vacant court as this will render the group incomplete and prevent the group from going on the available court.
  • A player has the right to join any waiting box that has 3 or fewer racquets.
  • The group going onto an available court should move the “next available” marker from its box to the next higher-numbered box (or back to box 1 if  at the highest numbered box).

 

 

Social Play Days

To encourage greater social play, IBC may use a modified court waiting system on designated days/dates. When the Social Play waiting system is in effect, signage will be posted near the court waiting system boxes.

The waiting system operates as follows:

  • At the entrance to the gym, there are boxes numbered sequentially (eg: 1 to 8). A marker tracks which box is “next available” and will play when the next free court becomes available.
  • A player who wishes to be in queue for a court puts his/her racquet into one of the boxes. Maximum 1 racquet in the wait queue per player. A player is absolutely not allowed to reserve a spot for another player.
  • A player already playing on a court cannot be waiting in queue at the same time. In other words, a player already playing on a court cannot have a racquet in any of the boxes.
  • Players are free to choose which box they want to put their racquet in. Maximum 4 racquets per box.
  • Do not arbitrarily move another player’s racquet from one box to another without the player’s consent.
  • Players who wish to play together can choose to have their racquets put into the same box.
  • Only groups that have assembled 4 players can go on to a court.
  • If a court becomes open before the group of the next box in the queue has obtained the necessary 4 racquets, the recently vacated court will remain open until the current box in the queue has obtained the required 4 racquets.
  • An incomplete group may ask any of the players coming off the court to join their group.
  • If people from the foursome that just vacated the court do not wish to split up to complete the current box in the queue, they can put their racquets in the next available box in the queue and wait for the current box in the queue to complete their foursome. Once the current box has completed their foursome they will fill the recently vacated court.
  • If another court becomes open before the current indicated box’s group has obtained the necessary 4 racquets, the second recently vacated court will also remain open until the current box in the queue has obtained the required 4 racquets. This will continue until the current box in the queue has obtained the required 4 racquets.
  • Players from subsequent boxes in the queue may also withdraw their racquet from their box to add to the current box in the queue to help complete the foursome (as a courtesy, the player withdrawing their racquet should inform the group that (s)he is withdrawing their racquet.). However, a player cannot withdraw his/her racquet from a group which is in the process of going on to a vacant court as this will render the group incomplete and prevent the group from going on the available court.
  • Once the current box has completed their foursome, they will claim the first vacated court. The remaining vacated courts (if any) will be filled by the next numbered box in the queue. If the next numbered box does not have 4 racquets, the court(s) will remain open until this box contains 4 racquets.
  • The subsequent open courts will be filled in the same manner.
  • A player has the right to join any waiting box that has 3 or fewer racquets.
  • The group going onto an available court should move the “next available” marker from its box to the next higher-numbered box (or back to box 1 if  at the highest numbered box).