Regulations for Tournaments 2024

[<<] [>>] by Samir Patel
27th January (AC)

The Regulations for Tournament 2024 were approved by the Croquet England Executive on 25 January 2024, and are effective from 1 February 2024.

The changes of substance made since the 2023 edition are as follows:

C1(b)(3). Cord boundaries are not to be used for Golf Croquet Championships
C1(b)(7). Tournament Levy updated from £6 per day to £7 per fixture
Conversion of text and definitions from Croquet Association to Croquet England terminology. As part of this, C2(b) now defines British and English (and variants) as reserved words in the titles of events.
C3. New preamble text to better define how doubles pairs are treated when dealing with entries.
C3(a)(2)(A). Modified so that the two reserved Under-25 Places are allocated to the best two Under-25 players who would not otherwise be allocated a place.
C3(a)(3). The reductions in Dynamic Grade for allocation purposes in GC events has been redefined.
F2(g). New regulation for determining placings in complete or incomplete Advantage GC Blocks.
L1(a)(3). The AC Tournament Committee is conducting a trial, applicable to the 2024 season, which permits Alternate Stroke Doubles to be played by only one side of a game or match.
P1(c). The provision for players to compete under an Assumed Name has been removed.
P2(a). New clause to reference the Croquet England Code of Conduct, and expectation that players behave in a manner that is not contrary to the integrity or reputation of the sport, and to participate in a spirit of friendship and fair play.
P2(c)(2). Removal of the reference to "a significant amount" in the prohibition on Tournament Officials making or placing bets on an event.
P3(j). New clause to be explicit about the acceptance of spectators at tournaments, and that this may involve photography or video. Old clause P3(j) moved to P3(l).
P4(f). New regulation to require the use of scoring clips in GC.
R(e). New regulation to cover situations appeals against a decision by a Tournament Referee who was acting as a referee on request when no Deputy Tournament Referee has been appointed.
T3(a). Minimum time limits for GC, unless advertised in advance, are now 50 minutes for a 13-point game and 70 minutes for a 19-point game.
T3(a). Reducing time limits for GC matches has been removed. Where time limits are required for matches, each game should use the same time limit. Unused time from any game in a match is carried forward to the next.

Many other changes have been made for clarity or to remove typographic or formatting errors, but without any change of intent. These include:

C1(b)(4). Modified to make clear that balls used in Championships should have Championship Approval from the Equipment Committee. Text about ball roundness moved from Appendix 1 to this clause.
P2(b)(3). Reformatted to be clearer about the exceptions made for substance or procedures prescribed for medical reasons.
F3(d). A new clause (5) to indicate that (2)-(4) are intended to be used iteratively. This achieves better alignment with F2(b)(2).
References to 'ranking grade' have been replaced with the more specific 'Dynamic Grade'.
Changes consequential to the updated complaints procedure, replacing references to the Honorary Secretary with a reference to the Complaints Administrator.

Notice of proposed changes for the 2025 season

The Executive has noted a wide variety of variations to regulation C3 (Procedures for Dealing with Entries) are included in special conditions for many tournaments. This is currently in accordance with Regulation I(c)(3), but is confusing for players and officials especially where special conditions contradict other regulations. This will be reviewed and may be restricted for the 2025 season.
A review will be undertaken prior to the 2025 season of the titles for events. This will consider both the new 'reserved words' and also whether long standing definitions are consistently used and that there is documentation of the necessary approvals.

The full regulations are published on this website.