Regulations for Tournaments

Introduction

Croquet in Scotland is governed by the Scottish Croquet Association (SCA), which is an autonomous and full member of the World Croquet Federation (WCF). The following tournament regulations are for events organised by the SCA. They may also apply to “notified” events – that is, events organised by SCA-affiliated clubs if the SCA has agreed to this.

For Association croquet, matches must be conducted in accordance with the current edition of Laws of Association Croquet in conjunction with current Official Rulings. The 7th Edition of the Laws of Association Croquet was adopted by the SCA with effect from 1 March 2021. The Official Rulings document is continuously updated and is available on the WCF website.

The Laws, Rules, Official Rulings and commentaries for Association croquet are available from the Croquet Association (CA), and you can read or download them at www.croquet.org.uk.

For Golf croquet, matches must be conducted in accordance with the 6th edition of the WCF Rules of Golf Croquet, in conjunction with current Official Rulings.  However, the SCA retains its own version of the handicap system, in which changes take effect at the end of each day, rather than at the end of a tournament, as in the English Croquet Association system. Handicaps in the SCA range from -6 to 20.

A list of all the SCA policies, which must be followed at all times, is on the SCA website.

Any exceptions to these regulations for a specific event must be approved by the Match Secretary and be published with any material advertising or announcing it.

Entry to tournaments

To enter SCA tournaments, complete the form provided with this yearbook and return it to the Match Secretary with the relevant fee(s). The Match Secretary may, at his or her discretion, accept an entry in some other form, such as entries by email and electronic payments. If you have not paid the whole fee by the start of the tournament, the Manager may exclude you from the tournament.

Entry fees for SCA events are based on the number of games a competitor would normally expect to play – the fee is based on £10 per day. In addition to the stated fee, players who are not SCA Associates must pay a tribute of 50% on top of the event entry fee, unless it is their very first SCA event. (However, residents outside Scotland who are full tournament members of another national association are treated as SCA members under the World Croquet Federation's reciprocal rights policy and are exempt from the tribute.) If the player joins the SCA as an Associate later in the same season the tribute will be deducted from the SCA membership fee. Note that the exemption from tribute applies to Associates only, and not to Affiliates.

Entries to tournaments organised by member clubs of the SCA shall be made in a form and subject to the conditions laid down by that club.

Member clubs of the SCA can set their own conditions for entry to club tournaments.

Conditions of play

Hours of play You must make yourself available for a 9.30am start and be prepared to play until dusk unless the manager tells you otherwise.

Reporting You must report to the manager on arrival and before departure on each day.

Clothing You must wear flat-soled footwear on the courts and you should normally wear predominantly white clothing or team colours; rainwear need not be white.

Practice You may practise on the courts under the following conditions:

  • for five minutes before your first game of the day, on the court on which that game is to be played, provided you have not arrived late for that game;
  • without restriction on any area set aside specifically for practice;
  • on any unoccupied court with the manager’s express permission.

Anti-doping Doping is forbidden, in order to protect the rights and health of players and to protect the values of fair play in sport. Full details of the policy are on the SCA website.

Responsibility for keeping time When there is a time limit on a game, you should ensure you and your opponent are aware of the limit, and arrange for an independent person or, failing that, one of yourselves to be responsible for announcing audibly that the time limit has been reached.

Handicaps

When applying for entry and at the start of an event, you must inform the manager of your handicap. You should ensure your opponent knows your handicap, and complete your handicap card after each game. You must also, at any time during the event, present your handicap card to the manager on request.

If you reach an index trigger point after all play has been completed on any day, for the purposes of SCA members and for the purposes of that tournament, the new handicap applies from the following day, except for any adjourned game which began before the change took effect.

Regardless of any club handicap you may have, the maximum handicap for an Association croquet event is deemed to be 24, and for Golf croquet events it is deemed to be 20.

Refer to the Yearbook for further details about handicaps, including those for people whose handicaps are awarded by organisations other than the SCA or CA.

Unfinished games

If you begin a game but cannot complete it because your opponent withdraws, you are deemed to have won the game by scoring the points you had yet to make, and that result counts for handicap and ranking. The tournament manager may refer such cases to the SCA Executive, which may impose a penalty it considers appropriate on any player who has withdrawn from a game without good reason.

Games otherwise left unfinished, for example because the court becomes unplayable or by agreement between the players, do not count for handicap or ranking.

Trophies

If you win an SCA trophy you may hold it for 15 months or until it is next competed for, whichever is shorter. You must return the trophy to the manager of the tournament for which the trophy is next to be awarded or failing that an officer of the SCA. You are responsible for safekeeping any trophies in your custody and for any engraving, repairs or the cost of replacement, unless otherwise notified by the SCA Executive. Whenever possible you should bring or send trophies to the SCA AGM.

Further details

For full details of the regulations for Association and Golf croquet see the Croquet Association website. Any regulations that are specific to the SCA override the CA regulations.