Kent Qualifier Rules

Rules

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  1. All players must hold a current PE membership card issued by the Kent Pétanque Association and show it to the organiser at their first qualifier. This must be a full licence. Each team to nominate a captain. At the first qualifier or the first qualifier for that captain, each captain will be asked to complete basic contact details with names, mobile numbers and email addresses on a sheet to be held at the registration point, to improve communication with the Playing Committee. Any team member failing to provide a valid membership card when required will be levied a fine of £5.
  2. Based on the accumulated total of points, the top 8 teams will qualify to represent Kent at the Inter Regional Championships in September. Teams who finish in 9-12th places will qualify to represent Kent at the Inter Regional Championships in the Challenge Trophy. The KPA Playing Committee (PC) will decide the playing order of squads. In planning the strongest squad to represent Kent, teams may be invited to consider playing in the Challenge. Junior Teams will be selected from juniors who have competed throughout the regional qualifying series. Juniors will be selected by the PC, after consultation with the KPA Youth Development Officer and any relevant coach. Players who qualify to represent Kent at the Inter Regional Championships are expected to be available to play all day Saturday and Sunday. The Playing Committee reserves the right to add a 4th player to a team of 3. It is expected that the top 12 qualifying teams will be a squad of 4 to cover any unforeseen emergency situation. Any of the top 12 qualifying teams who decline a 4th player may find the playing order reconsidered by the Playing Committee.
  3. All players in a team should wear matching tops although fleeces/sweatshirts do not have to be the same colour as the t shirt. Waterproofs do not need to match. Any KPA kit must not be worn.
  4. Teams of 3 or 4 may enter and participate in triples events with a player only swapping into a triple between the ends of a game having first notified the Umpire or Organiser.
  5. Each team’s best 3 results from a maximum of 4 qualifiers will count towards their total points. Whilst the Playing Committee are planning for 4 qualifiers, it may only be possible to run fewer qualifiers. In these circumstances, the ranking table will be used as it stands.
  6. Teams with 1 or more players from a team of 3 or 2 or more players from a team of 4, who are unable to take part in 3 regional qualifiers because of a conflicting commitment arising from representing England or Kent elsewhere, may apply to be awarded the average number of points gained over the other Qualifiers for the missing Qualifier, on payment of the required entry fee.
  7. Registration will be by pre – entry. Only teams who have properly pre registered by the close of the pre entry period, and paid their entry fee, will be permitted to play. Play will start at 9.30am. Three players from a team of four players must attend registration. Three players must be ready to play at the start time. A 4th member must be registered and paid for during registration and must report to the Organiser on arrival and may then participate from the start of the team’s next game.
  8. Play will commence as soon as possible after completion of the draw using a software programme. At least 1 team member must be present when the draw is announced. This is the responsibility of the team captain. The Organiser will time 5 minutes from when the draw starts to be announced. The absent team will be penalised, and their opponents awarded 1 point for every further 2 minutes of absence. The competition Organiser’s decision is final.
  9. Entry fee is £10 per adult player. Juniors can enter for free.
  10. The format of play will be the Swiss system with sufficient rounds ( probably 5) to reach the point where just 1 team has won all their games. If there are an odd number of teams then a bye will be entered into the draw. A team drawn against the bye will be allocated a 13-7 win. From the second qualifier onwards the top 8 teams will be seeded in the draw so that they will not play another top 8 team in the first round of subsequent Qualifiers. Seeding will be based on average points scored during previous round(s). Play will be on designated terrains. The Organiser will assign lanes for the 1st round. After the first round the software will assign pistes for each round. Start times will be at the time designated by the Organiser. Using Swiss as a format without the perfect entry of 16, 32 or 64 teams, may lead to ‘crossover games’ where teams with different number of wins have to play each other. This is taken into account and calculated by the draw software. Each team captain is responsible for signing to confirm the result of a game is correct. Once a result has been confirmed by both captains it will be entered into the software programme and cannot be changed. Software decisions are final.
  11. The KPA have decided that circles will be compulsory for all Regional Qualifiers as this will be the case at the Inter Regional competition.
  12. After playing for one team in the series, individuals cannot play for another team. However, members of teams that have disbanded during the series, could join existing teams as a 4th member or form completely new teams to take part in the remainder of the series, but only on condition that the original team consented to the arrangement and agreed to forfeit any points it had accumulated.
  13. Any reserve for the Kent team at the Inter Regional Championships must have played in at least one qualifier for any team.
  14. Any matters not covered by these rules will be played according to PE competition rules. Any disputes arising at a Qualifier will be dealt with by the PC or a Jury convened for that purpose. The decision of the jury will be final.
  15. All players who take part in at least 3 Qualifiers but do not qualify for selection to the Kent squad, as defined in article 2, will be eligible to take part in the Chairman’s Cup. Players who have not played in at least 3 Kent qualifiers will be required to pay the entry fee to play in the Chairman’s Cup. So play in one qualifier entry fee is £20; play in two qualifiers entry fee is £10; play in three qualifiers no entry fee. Any player who finishes in the Kent qualifying series top 12 team positions will not be eligible to play in the KPA Chairman’s Cup.
  16. Guests, who are not part of the KPA squad, who stay in accommodation provided by the KPA at the Inter Regional Championships will be required to make a financial contribution as determined by the KPA Management Committee.
  17. Points will be awarded according to the position achieved at each Qualifier (16 points for 1st down to 1 point for 16th) plus a 2-point bonus for each game won.
  18. The final positions at the end of each Qualifier will be determined by the use of Bucholz Numbers (BHN). As the BHN tends to be a coarse measurement the inclusion of the fBHN gives a finer scoring position when calculating the BHN of your opponents on the day at each Qualifier.
  19. Any player owing money to the KPA will not be able to register and enter KPA events until all outstanding monies owed to the KPA are paid in full. Players are expected to complete payments in full for the Inter Regional Competition at least 2 weeks before the event, preferably by bank transfer. Failure to do puts a team’s place in jeopardy and the Management Committee reserves the right to replace the team owing money to the KPA with another team from the qualifiers. In this event the Playing Committee will be consulted for advice.
  20. Updated and reviewed by the Playing Committee and Management Committee February 2024