The club has a policy on dropping out before tournaments. This policy exists to encourage people to decide early whether they can commit to playing a given tournament. The reason for this is that in addition to making life easier for the captains, it is also to avoid the situation where it is necessary to pull out a team due to a lack of sign-ups (as this results in a financial loss for the club and also lets down other players who have committed their time and money).
The policy is as follows:
If you sign up for a tournament, you are making a concrete commitment to attend.
For student tournaments
If you pull out more than 2 weeks before the tournament, we will not charge you anything.
If you pull out in the second-to-last week, we will charge you your share of the team fee (typically £10-£15).
If you pull out in the last week, we will charge you your FULL SHARE of the tournament costs (team fee + transport).
For club tournaments (Open/Women's/Mixed Tour)
Exemption from this policy is made in the case of pulling out due to injury, at the discretion of the captain/treasurer.
If a hotel room is booked for you or similar costs are incurred before you drop out, and the club is then unable to get a refund, we will charge you those costs in addition (regardless of injury).
This isn't because we are trying to be mean to people who may have very legitimate reasons for dropping out. Please remember the club receives no external funding and our continued existence relies entirely on players paying back the full costs incurred in attending tournaments.
