Revision: 1/09/2005 GUIDELINES: SPRING 2005 Tournament Darts International prides itself on being a friendly but competitive arena for ALL players. There are varying degrees and types of experience, and a corresponding variety of values. All players are reminded that within TDI, sportsmanship, friendliness, honesty and integrity are always appreciated and encouraged; captains are expected to lead their teams by example. Conflicts, should they arise, are to be dealt with by the captains. Players should remember that they represent, not just themselves but, by association, their sponsor pub, the League and the sport. Any player who feels these ideals conflict with his or her personal interest is strongly encouraged to go elsewhere. ENJOY! SHOOTING AND SPONSOR FEES: Captains are responsible for getting their fees in by the third week of the season. Captains are responsible for presenting the invoice in their Captain’s Packet to the Team Sponsor and making sure that it is paid! One invoice is issued per sponsor, usually to the senior team. Any team that has NOT PAID their league dues in full PRIOR TO WEEK 4 of a given season IS LIABLE TO FORFEIT all matches until fees are paid. FEES FOR SPRING 2005 TEAM FEES: $80.00 SPONSOR FEES: $60.00 Make checks payable to TDI or Tournament Darts International FORMAT SUMMER: Matches will follow a four-person format and consist of nine games, all of which except the final "team" game are played best-of-three legs: Four games of singles 301 (DIDO--double-in/double-out); Two games of doubles Cricket (with points, slop counts); Two games of doubles Cork Calls (DIDO 301, FIDO 401, or Cricket; closer dart to cork calls game for each leg); One "team" game of SINGLE LEG 4-on-4 501 (FIDO - free in/double out). Four (or more) players per side. FORMAT SPRING and FALL: Matches will follow a six-person format and consist of eleven games, all of which except the final "team" games are played best-of-three legs: Six games of singles 301 (DIDO - double-in/double-out); Three games of doubles Cricket (with points, slop counts); Two "team" games of SINGLE-LEG triples 701 (FIDO - free in/double out). Three (or more) players per side. STARTING TIMES: Matches should start at 7:30 pm, and except in extraordinary circumstances no later than 8:00 pm. This allows a match to begin before all team members arrive. Additional time may be requested by one captain or another, but there is NO OBLIGATION to grant such a request. If a team cannot field two players by 8:00 pm, and the opposing squad has a full roster of shooters present, the full team may claim a forfeit victory. Full team should submit the names present at that time (8:30, latest) to be noted for playoff qualification. SUBSTITUTES: A TEAM MUST FIELD AT LEAST TWO PLAYERS IN ORDER TO BE CONSIDERED LEGAL. If a team is short-handed, the acquisition of substitute players is STRONGLY encouraged. Opposing captains must agree on any player chosen as a substitute. Any player who substitutes for a team more than once is considered to be on that team's roster. Captains should record the full name of any substitute on the score sheet. PLAYING SHORT-HANDED SIX-PERSON FORMAT: Playing short-handed is always discouraged by the league. If short-handed, captains should make every effort to acquire a substitute (or more) for the night's match. Substitute players must be approved by the opposing captain. To promote play, however, teams MAY play short. In 301 singles, if a team is short, the captain may elect to use a substitute (encouraged), or may, by agreement of the opposing captain, blind-draw a player from his or her existing player base. The same guidelines apply for Cricket although a player drawn for 301 may not be drawn for Cricket. Should a team be short 2 players, there may be 2 names drawn for 301 but a Cricket must be forfeited or 2 draws may be made for Cricket and two 301s must be forfeited. In the Team Game, NO NAMES MAY BE DRAWN, and the team that is "shooting short" must play one game of that event shorthanded. In a 2 vs. 3 game, for example, the short-handed team loses the turn that their third player would have had. In other words, the order for Team A vs. Team B (short), with Team A winning the toss would be: A,B,A,B,A A,B,A,B,A etc... If Team B wins the toss, the order would be: B,A,B,A,A B,A,B,A,A etc... If both teams are short, captains may want to shoot one team game of two vs. two, and one of three vs. three, although this is not mandatory. If a team uses a blind draw for two events, they MUST shoot short for the team event. If a team member arrives in time to participate in Cricket, that player MAY be used in the team games. The use of a substitute or a blind draw is allowed only in regular season play, and not in playoff competition. FOUR-PERSON FORMAT: The same basic rule applies regardless of the format followed in the match. ONLY ONE NAME MAY BE DRAWN PER EVENT, and only players on the team roster should be included in the names to be drawn, unless both captains agree to allow the names of any substitutes to be included. (In extreme cases, if there are more events than available shooters, the short-handed captain my choose the events for which to draw names.) In 301 singles, if a team is short, the captain may elect to use a substitute, or may draw a player from his or her existing player base. In 301, if there are 3 players present, for example, use a "blind draw" to determine which ONE player will shoot twice. That player CANNOT be drawn to shoot twice in subsequent events. In Cricket, the short-handed team may draw from the remaining two names to determine which ONE player will shoot twice, and the player not drawn will shoot twice in Cork Calls. In 701, NO NAMES MAY BE DRAWN, and the team that is "shooting short" must play that event with three shooters vs. four. In the 3 vs. 4 game, the short-handed team loses the turn that their fourth player would have had. In other words, the order for Team A vs. Team B (short), with Team A winning the toss would be: A,B,A,B,A,B,A A,B,A,B,A,B,A etc. If a team shoots uses a blind draw for three events, they MUST shoot short for the final event. If a fourth team member arrives in time to participate in Cricket or Cork Calls, that player MAY be used in the team game. In other words, if a team shoots uses a blind draw for three events, they MUST shoot short for the fourth event. The use of a substitute or blind draw is allowed only in regular season play, and not in playoff competition. FORFEITS: In the event of a forfeit in a six-person match, the forfeiting team scores 0-11. The team claiming the forfeit victory scores 8-3. In a four-person match, the forfeiting team scores 0-9. The team claiming the forfeit victory scores 7-2. In either case, to aid in qualifying payers for the playoffs, the team calling the forfeit may enter the names on a scoresheet of those present and scheduled to play at the time the forfeit is called (8:30 latest). ROSTERS: The HOME team captain completes his or her side of the score sheet FIRST, folds the sheet so as not to reveal his or her line-up, and presents it to the visiting captain. The visiting captain then records his or her line-up WITHOUT LOOKING at the home team's line-up. This is done prior to each segment; captains should fill out their rosters only for the event that is about to be played. Captains should not enter the name of any player on the score sheet until that player has arrived at the premises where the match is being played. Where one or both teams do not have full rosters present at the start, this may require filling in the pairings for the first event in stages. In no case should the name of a player who does NOT actually shoot in an event be entered or remain on the score sheet. STARTING: To determine shooting order in each game one representative from each team throws one dart at cork. The team whose dart is closer to cork shoots first. To determine who shoots first at cork, one competing HOME team player will perform a coin toss. A competing representative of the VISITING team must call the toss while the coin is in the air. The winner of the toss has the OPTION of throwing cork first or second. Should both players hit SINGLE CORK, it is a tie. If the first player's attempt at cork yields a DOUBLE CORK, the second player may remove the first player's dart from the board in an attempt to tie. If both players' darts are the same distance from the center, they shoot again, in reverse order, until a winner has been decided. Darts must not be touched or moved when determining closeness. As with all darts, darts used to determine shooting order MUST STICK in the board to be counted. Unlike other darts however, players may make as many successive throws as they need to achieve this. The second leg of each event is "Mugs Away. If a third leg is necessary, shooting order is again determined by throwing one dart at cork, with the LOSER OF THE ORIGINAL COIN TOSS having the option to throw cork first or second. In Cork Calls, each team shoots at cork BEFORE EACH LEG, with the order of shooting at cork before the first leg determined by a coin toss, as above. After the first leg, the teams alternate shooting first at cork. In all three legs, the team throwing closer to cork chooses the game BUT the second leg is "mugs away" (loser of the first leg begins). SCORING: In match play, only darts that are still sticking in the board at the end of a turn may be counted toward a player's turn. Darts that bounce out, are knocked out by another dart, or stick in the back of a previous dart (Robin Hood) DO NOT COUNT. To avoid controversy, players should SCORE each turn on the tote board BEFORE REMOVING THEIR DARTS from the dartboard. If mistakes in scoring are noticed later, they may be corrected only with the consent of both captains. SCORE SHEETS: The HOME team is responsible for providing, maintaining, and mailing the match score sheet. Captains are reminded to WRITE LEGIBLY and PROVIDE FULL PLAYER names; the TDI Office may not know everyone on a given roster, and the league wants to give credit where credit is due. Both captains should sign the score sheet at the end of the match. If a 3-part sheet is used, the WHITE copy should be mailed to TDI office, while the YELLOW copy goes to the HOME captain and the PINK copy to the VISITING captain. If a single sheet is used, the original should be mailed. TO EXPEDITE THE PREPARATION OF TDI WEEKLY STANDINGS, PLEASE MAIL THE SCORESHEET AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AFTER THE MATCH. In the event that one captain cannot be present at the end of a match, in order to avoid controversy, he or she should not "pre-sign," but should instead appoint a team representative to provide a signature. BOTH TEAMS MUST COMPLETE THE ON-LINE SCORESHEET ACCESSIBLE ON THE LEAGUE’S WEB SITE. BONUS POINTS: In matches involving inter-divisional play, any teams defeating another from a higher Division will receive an extra point per Division in its win column. (For example, if a C Division team defeats an A Division team 6-5, the C team’s win would be recorded as 8-5, while the A team’s record would be unaffected, remaining 5-6.) Bonus points will not be awarded in the event of a forfeit. DIVISIONAL STANDINGS AND POST-SEASON TOURNAMENT: Because of forfeits, bye weeks, or bonus points, teams in the same Division may not play the same number of matches or record the same number of game points. For this reason, standings will be determined by winning percentage rather than the "pure" number of wins. If teams have the same winning percentage, standings will be determined by their records in play against each other (1st by games, then by legs). If those records are identical, the team captains will be requested to schedule a tiebreaker match, or to agree upon another mutually acceptable way to break the deadlock. If the captains cannot agree, the Executive Director will make the final decision on how to proceed. The use of substitutes is not permitted in Playoff competition. With the consent of the opposing captain, a team may play short in these matches, but may NOT draw to fill the roster for any event. To be eligible for post season competition, a player must have shot at least one full game in a minimum of 50% of his or her team’s matches. For purposes of this rule, forfeits may be counted, and a fraction of a game will be rounded up; for example, 50% of eleven matches will be considered to be six. MATTERS NOT COVERED IN THESE GUIDELINES: The above controls are intended to resolve any disputes that players (Captains) cannot resolve themselves, and are intended to provide guidelines for traditional TDI play. If opposing captains come to terms regarding issues of substitution, number of players, starting times, or reducing the number of legs in a game to adjust the length of a match which substantially affect ONLY their own match, this sheet need not be consulted. Any such agreement between captains should be clearly noted on the score sheet. Captains (only) are directed to speak for their teams should questions or disagreements occur. In the event of an intractable dispute not addressed by this sheet, captains are encouraged to contact the League Executive Director.