TSVL has introduced an update to the registration policies since Fall 2024 to help in the recruitment and retention of members of underrepresented groups in the league.

TSVL’s research and Member Survey data highlight that joining and forming Competitive Division teams rely heavily on referrals and general word of mouth, which advantage larger, well-connected communities, but create barriers for members of groups currently underrepresented in the league.

The groups currently underrepresented in TSVL, and which are defined as part of the Equity Priority Groups (EPG) are:

1. Gender Minorities: Women, Two Spirit, Non-Binary
2. Members Identifying as Transgender
3. Racial and Ethnic Minorities: African (all regions), Black/African Canadian, Central Asian, Caribbean, Indigenous, Middle Eastern, Pacific Islands, South Asian

Each of these groups represents less than 5% of the players in the division. With an average of 7.5 players per team, EPG members currently find themselves often the only member of their group on the court, not just on their team.

REGISTRATION

Registration takes place early in each new season (August, December, April).  The cancellation and refund policy for TSVL are found under League Policies on tsvl.org.

For in-season registrations/to join an existing team to which you've been invited, email Mith comp@tsvl.org, CJ finance@tsvl.org and James operations@tsvl.org for details on paying for a pro-rated registration.

NEW: EPG Team Allocation

6 Teams satisfying the following eligibility criteria and steps will be allocated spots in the Winter 2025 season of the Competitive Division:

1. ELIGIBILITY: Minimum 3 individuals on the official team roster are members of an Equity Priority Group(s) (see section above for definition).
2. Individuals will be provided the option to self-identify during registration as a member of an Equity Priority Group(s). TSVL expects that all self-identification is made with honesty and consistency with the individual’s lived experience.
3. The Captain of the team must email the Competitive Division Coordinator comp@tsvl.org and copy the VP Operations operations@tsvl.org to indicate their team’s eligibility and to request an EPG Team Allocation spot. All teams requesting an EPG Team Allocation spot will be reviewed for eligibility. TSVL reserves the right to make the final decision on eligibility.
4. If more than 6 teams satisfy the eligibility criteria and steps, then the earliest 6 Team Timestamp, as determined by the timestamp of the 6th eligible individual (including the minimum number of EPG members), would be part of the EPG Team Allocation, with the remaining teams prioritized according to the priority ranking criteria for the Competitive Division.
5. If fewer than 6 teams satisfy the criteria and steps, then the remaining spots would be reallocated to teams according to the priority ranking criteria for the Competitive Division.

COMPETITIVE DIVISION PRIORITY RANKING CRITERIA — WINTER 2025

Competitive team priority rankings are listed below for the Winter 2025 season. In the event we cannot accommodate all registered teams, teams will be given spots in the league based on these rankings. The priority ranking is divided into 4 groups.

PRIORITY 1

A team consisting of at least 6 players with at least 4 Returning Players* (see definition below) who were on ANY Fall 2024 Competitive Division team's roster (these Returning Players don’t have to be from the same Fall 2024 Competitive team).

Priority 1 status will also be given to a team of at least 6 players, with at least 4 Returning Players* from the SAME Fall 2024 Intermediate Division team.

A maximum of 4 Fall 2024 Intermediate Division teams can have Priority 1 status in the Winter 2025 Competitive Division (as determined by timestamping).

Also note teams are not permitted to play in the Comp and Intermediate Divisions simultaneously.

PRIORITY 2

A team consisting of at least 6 players with at least 4 Returning Players* from any Fall 2024 Division (Competitive, Intermediate, Recreational).

PRIORITY 3

A team consisting of at least 6 players with 1-3 Returning Players* from any Fall 2024 Division (Competitive, Intermediate, Recreational).

PRIORITY 4

LOTTERY SYSTEM (NEW for Winter 2025)

*Returning Player Definition

“Returning Players” are players who were registered on a team’s roster in the Fall 2024 season.

Subs do not count as Returning Players — unless they ended up officially registering onto a team’s roster later on in the Fall 2024 season.

Returning Players” are players who were registered on a team’s roster on a Fall 2024 season.

Subs do not count as Returning Players — unless they ended up officially registering onto a team’s roster later on in the Fall 2024 season.

If you registered for Fall 2024 season but your team did not make it in, and you didn't join any team's roster later in the Fall 2024 season, you still have returning player status for Winter 2025.

How Priority Rankings Work

Within each priority ranked group, teams are again ranked based on registration timestamps. A team registering online is only assigned a priority rank after their sixth team member is registered. The team’s timestamp is the time of their sixth member’s registration. If a subsequent team member’s registration alters the team’s priority ranking, a new rank will be issued with the timestamp of this subsequent member’s registration.

Teams will be eligible to receive a priority rank within the first 24 hours of registration. Teams can still register after that on a first-come-first-served basis. Also your team’s priority ranking will be locked as of 24 hours from registration start time and not subject to change after that with the addition of players.

We welcome all interested teams into the registration process!

Questions about the priority ranking or registration process? Contact the Competitive Division Coordinator: comp@tsvl.org

SUMMARY OF COMPETITIVE DIVISION OPERATIONS

Each competitive season will begin with at least one Recruitment Night to allow new players to be picked up by teams. (See “Important Dates” page)
There will be two weeks of play where points accumulated will not count toward your overall standings, to allow teams to adjust their initial placement.

There will be at least 12 weeks of regular play (barring any cancellations of permits that would be out of our control). There will be 1 week of playoffs for each season.

Regular play format and point accumulation continue unchanged.
The playoff format will be finalized closer to end of the season.

Season Map

Fall '23 Season Map link

Standings

Fall '23 Standings link

Weekly Play/Scoring

• Every week, each team will play 28-minute matches against the three other teams of the same pool, including a 1st game (to 25 points; win by two points, cap at 27 points) and a 2nd game (until the 28-minute match has elapsed; no cap).
  • A team that wins a 1st game is awarded 3 points towards the pool score.
  • A team that wins a 2nd game is awarded 2 points towards the pool score.  A team that wins a 2nd game to 25 is awarded 3 points.
  • A team that loses a 1st or 2nd game is awarded 1 point towards the pool score.
  • A team that defaults a 1st or 2nd game is not awarded any points.
• The score of a defaulted 1st game is recorded as 25-0. The score of a defaulted 2nd game is recorded as 15-0.
• There are no ties in the competitive division. If there is a tie after the last point of any game, one additional point is played to determine a winner.
• If 28 minutes have elapsed and a 1st game is still being played, the 1st referee will signal ‘last point’. The final point is played and a winner is declared (play an additional point if the game is tied after the final point).
  • The winner of this 1st game still receives 3 points in the division standings.
  • A 2nd game comprising of only 3 points is then played.
• A team defaults a 1st game if less than 4 players are available to play within the at the start time of the match, determined by the nightly play schedule.
  • An exception is made for the first match of every night, where a team is granted a 5-minute grace period (until 6:52 PM) before it defaults the 1st game.
  • A 2nd game can still be played if the defaulting team can field 4 players at any time during the 28-minute time period, so long as at least 3 points are played.
• At the end of every night, teams are re-ranked based on their pool score for the evening, with the top scoring team being seeded #1, next seeded #2, etc.
  • Tiebreaker System for Pool Points
  • If 2 teams are tied, look at their head-to-head match and whoever won more points, adding the points of set 1 & 2, is ranked higher.
    • In other words, calculate the +/- of the match and the higher scoring team wins.
    • If they both won the same number of points (i.e. +/- is 0), then whoever won the first set is ranked higher.
  • If 3 teams are tied, rank them the same way by tallying point differential of only the 3 specific matches in which they played each other (if 2 of the 3 teams are both tied on point differential, then refer to their head-to-head match as above as to who should be ranked higher/lower).
    • After calculating the 3-way point differential, if all 3 teams are still somehow tied, then use overall point differential of all 6 matches, and if still tied (ay!), do 3-way rock/paper/scissors amongst the captains of the tied teams to determine rankings.
• The top and bottom seeds of each pool are then sent up and down a pool respectively for the next week of play (i.e. the top seed of F pool at the end of the night will play as E4 the following week).
• Points towards the overall divisional standings are then awarded to each team based on their new pool ranking (see Standings link at the top of this section)..

SUBSTITUTE/DROP IN OVERVIEW

1. Substitute players are allowed in the Competitive Division, per the Competitive Substitute Player Policy outlined below.
2. Substitute players and drop-in players are considered the same thing and the terms are interchangeable. These players do not need to be TSVL members in order to play for the first 3 nights they sub.
3. The Sub List is considered a resource for competitive teams to know who is available to play when they are in a pinch. While it is not necessary to be on the Sub List to act as a drop-in player, it is a useful way to get your name out there if you want to be called on to sub (and potentially get picked up by a comp team mid-season). Both members and non-members can be on the Sub List.

POLICY

1. Competitive teams are responsible for contacting substitute players themselves and must appropriately register their player and notify the Competitive Division Coordinator (comp@tsvl.org) before the substitute player is used.   If someone else is registering for the substitute player, the sub must complete the waiver of liability form.
2. If a team uses substitute players in any matches without following the above protocol, all matches involving said players will count as defaults.
3. All subs/drop-ins must register as a sub before they play.
4. Subs/drop-ins cannot already be on a competitive team.
5. A player can only sub/drop-in for the same team 3 times during the season.
6. Subs/drop-in players can play an unlimited number of times during the regular season, but are not allowed to be used during playoffs.
7. Teams can have maximum 2 sub/drop-in players per night, and up to 6 subs/drop-in players per season. As mentioned, they may not use the same sub more than 3 times during a season, or use any sub during playoffs.

FEES
Subs play for *FREE* the first 3 nights they sub! After that, a sub can buy a TSVL membership ($20), which covers any subbing for the rest of the season. This is for subbing across all divisions. This policy was created to make it easier for teams to get subs and avoid playing short-handed or default, and make it easier for subs to get more TSVL action throughout the season!

REGISTRATION  (Please read Sub Rules & Fee Info, prior to registering)

SUB REGISTRATION LINK   Only use this link if you've been asked by a captain to sub.

All subs, whether a member or non-member, have to register themselves (not have someone else sign for them!) prior to when they sub. Teams who field an unregistered sub default their matches.

WHO'S ON THE SUBLIST?  CHECK IT HERE:

COMP SUBLIST LINK

GET ADDED TO THE SUBLIST:

Email comp@tsvl.org. Provide your preferred email contact, court position(s), and pool(s) you wish to sub for.

GET A TSVL MEMBERSHIP (needed after subbing on 3 occasions)

Click here to purchase a TSVL membership ($20/season)

RECRUITMENT NIGHT - JAN 9 7:00pm - Rosedale SS

For competitive (and intermediate) teams who are still looking for players and free agent players still looking for a team, we are having a Comp + Intermediate Division Player Recruitment Night at Rosedale SS.  Please only attend if you are looking to recruit a player(s) and only send 1 or 2 representatives from your team to scope out the recruits - we will have opportunities for team practices in the upcoming weeks.

ROSTER FREEZE

Players must have registered players to their roster by 11:59 p.m. on November 21 (i.e. the 3rd last night of play in the regular season) in order to have those players be eligible to play in playoffs on December 12. In other words, players must be on the team roster by the end of the 3rd last night of the regular season to play in the playoffs.

Players must have registered players to their roster by 11:59 p.m. on November 21 (i.e. the 3rd last night of play in the regular season) in order to have those players be eligible to play in playoffs on December 12.

GHOST & DEFAULT PENALTIES

The ghost rule applies if the team only has 4 or 5 players.  The "ghost" position must be identified to the ref.  Teams playing with a ghost player will lose serve and not a point when the ghost player rotates into the serving position.

If a team only has 3 players or does not show up, the match will be defaulted, teams that default will gain points as if they lost the match (i.e. 1 point). The team that defaulted will still lose a defaulted set by a score of 25-0.