Tournament Regulations 2021

[<<] [>>] by Samir Patel
9th March 2021 (CqE Official News)

The CA Tournament Regulations for the 2021 playing season have been published.

The most significant changes made since the previous edition are as follows:

7th Edition Association Croquet Laws - This new edition of AC Laws has been approved by the WCF Council and CA Council and apply within the CA's Domain from 1 March 2021. A number of consequential changes have been made to these Regulations.
- Laws variations relating to Balls Jammed in Hoops, Impasse, Super-Advanced play, Alternate Stroke Doubles, State of the Game and Short Croquet Court Sizes (previously L1-L5 and L9) have been removed as these are now contained within the 7th Edition Laws.
- Old regulation T2 (Expiry of Time Limit) has been removed as this is now included within the 7th Edition Laws.
- References to specific laws and regulations have been updated.
Referees - The CA has adopted the WCF Refereeing Regulations and so Regulation R has been replaced with a link to them. Progress towards internationally aligned regulations began in 2010, and there is consequently no change in operation. Note however Approved Variations L1 and L3 (sequence umpires and use of video respectively) continue to apply.
Charity Events - Additions to Regulations C1(a), C2(b)(6) and P1(a) to create a new "Charity" designation for events. To use this designation, permission is required from the relevant Tournament Committee, and at least 75% of fees must go to the named registered charity, which must not be croquet-related. Such events are open to all. The CA levy is waived for such events.
Inclusion in the Fixtures Calendar - Amendments to C1(a)(1) so that the inclusion of any event in the Calendar carries a condition of adherence with all CA Policies, including (but not limited to) Safeguarding and Equality. For most events this is merely reinforcing the Policies that already apply to all member clubs, but this change ensures that these Policies apply to all events from non-member organisations such as charities (see above), academies and organisations outside the CA's domain.
Reporting Results - Amendments to Regulation M1(h) emphasise the requirement to report tournament results in the correct way, with a specific focus on the order of games and layout.
Priority Places for Under-25 Members - The previous priority given by Regulation C3(a)(2)(A) to "two Under 21 players (under 21 years of age on the first day of the tournament and either a Premium or Young Person Member)" has been changed to "two Under-25 Members" for simplicity and to align with CA membership categories.
Standard and Premium Members - Regulation C3(a)(2)(B) has been modified so that all individual members of the CA now enjoy the same priority when entering tournaments. Previously, Standard Members were placed in a lower priority group. Premium Members continue to receive a £5/day discount on tournament entry fees compared to Standard Members.
Ranking Adjustments - the adjustment to grades of players who have played too few games in previous years for allocation and seeding purposes (Regulations C3(a)(3) and F1(a)(3)(A)) has been modified to simplify implementation. The adjustment now applies only if a player has played sufficient games in neither the last 12 months nor in the previous calendar year. The inclusion of this latter point makes the number of consecutive years easy to look up. A maximum reduction of 400 points has also been added.
Lawn Speeds - Regulation O4(b)(4) now refers to new Lawn Speed thresholds and existing hoop-setting requirements.

Many other changes have been made for clarity or to remove typographic or formatting errors, but without any change of intent. Full details of these, and notice of future changes under consideration, can be found within the published 2021 Tournament Regulations.