CURLING RULES

1. General Curling Governance
   1. Each year the Board of Management shall appoint a Curling Committee consisting of the League Chairperson for each league.
   2. The Curling Committee shall make necessary adjustments and assignments as needed to ensure that all members are given sufficient opportunity to curl in scheduled competition and that those teams are fairly constructed.
   3. The current USCA rules shall apply to all curling unless the Board of Management has approved a specific exception. Specific rules may be applied to individual leagues within the boundaries of these rules.
   4. The Event Chairperson, League Chairperson or any member may recommend specific rules for Board approval. These should be submitted to the Board in writing in the specific wording you are proposing for the rule change.
   5. In the event that a dispute or protest should arise, the following procedure will be followed:
      1. League games
         1. A protest in a league game must be announced by the Skip to the opposing Skip before the start of the game or at the time of the infraction.
         2. The protest must be submitted in writing to the League Chairperson and to the Board of Management within Seven (7) days.
         3. The League Chairperson shall determine decisions first on disputes.
         4. Appeals of decisions by the League Chairperson shall be elevated to the Curling Committee.
         5. Appeals of decisions by the Curling Committee must be made in writing to the Board of Management. Decisions of the Board of Management are final.
      2. Bonspiels
         1. The Event Chairperson will handle protests at Bonspiels as quickly as possible. The Event Chairpersons' decisions are final.
   6. The Event or League Chairperson shall post the schedule, any specific rules for that particular Event or League and the substitution lists for that league or event before the league or event begins and monitor the curling program throughout the season or event. Only the League Chairperson may add additional substitutions to the list.
2. Game Timelines, Rescheduling, Tardiness and Cancellation
   1. All contests must be played on the date and time scheduled unless the teams have made arrangements prior to the schedule game in accordance with these rules. If neither team appears for a scheduled game it shall count as a loss for both rinks.
   2. If two members of a rink are out of town representing SCC in a curling event on the date of a schedule game, the Skip of the rink involved must be granted a rescheduled match.
   3. The skips involved and the League Chairperson must agree on the date of the rescheduled game prior to the original date of the match.
   4. Rescheduled games may be played prior to their original scheduled date.
   5. Rescheduled games must be played before regular season play for that league ends. This means, in Leagues with a first and second half the game must be played before the end of the half in which the game was originally scheduled.
   6. If the rescheduled game is not played the team that was unavailable on the last scheduled date will be penalized with a loss.
   7. If either team in a rescheduled game fails to appear the absent team will be penalized with a loss.
   8. Any rink failing to appear or be ready to play at the scheduled time shall be penalized as follows:
      1. One point and one end at 5 minutes of tardiness, and if needed; one point and one end for the next 10 minutes of tardiness, and finally, if needed; one point and one end for the final 10 minutes of tardiness. At 30 minutes, the team with a legal rink shall be declared the winner, with a score of 4-0 through 4 ends. The tardy team shall forfeit the "hammer" in the first end played. The team with a legal rink need not wait the half-hour on the ice, but does need to appear at the scheduled sheet to invoke the rule, and must be present and ready to play if the opponent is able to field a legal rink.
      2. If both teams are equally tardy then a blank end is scored after 5 minutes and after each of the next two 10-minute periods. After 30 minutes of tardiness, both teams shall register a loss.
   9. Six end games must be completed in 95 minutes. Eight end games must be completed in 125 minutes. Ten end games must be completed in 160 minutes (See section III for tie game resolutions.). All game time limits are from the SCHEDULED START TIME (e.g. 6:20 PM, 6:30 PM, 8:30 PM, etc. Not when the teams are ready to play or throw the first stone).
   10. If time expires on the ice shed count down clock and the allotted number of ends has not been completed, the end in play shall be the last end of the match and shall be completed (Subject to the tie rules, below.) as follows: If both teams have thrown the same number of rocks at the end of regulation time (A running stone is allowed to come to rest, with or without appropriate sweeping.), the end shall be scored on the basis of stones delivered. This could be 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, or 14 stones. If one team has delivered one more stone than their opponent, then the opponent (the team with the hammer and the player who has only thrown one stone) shall throw one more stone to make up the deficit and the end shall be scored at that point.
   11. If the last end results in a tie, then the Tie Game rules below, shall apply.
   12. Should unusual circumstances occur (i.e. bad weather, power failure, etc) the official start time of a match may be delayed at the discretion of the Chairperson of the league or event. If there is any doubt on the part of the League or Event Chairperson they are strongly encouraged to contact the President of the Club, the Vice-President, the Secretary or the Treasurer in that order.
   13. If competition is canceled due to inclement weather, the League or Event chairperson is responsible for notifying the Skips and the bartenders. Skips are responsible for notifying team members.
3. Tie Game Resolution
   1. If, after the final end, the game is tied and the time limit on games has not expired, an extra end or ends may be played, time permitting, to determine the winner. If both skips agree and time has not expired, they may instead opt to break the tie by a single stone thrown by each of the skips or designated players with the winner decided by the stone closest to the button as detailed below.
   2. If the game is tied at the end of regulation time, then a single stone shall be thrown by each Skip or designated team member and the closest to the center of the house shall be declared the winner. The single stone may be swept at the discretion of the shooting team Skip.
   3. The team that would normally shoot first, if a full end was being played, shall shoot first (i.e. the team that scored the last point during regular play).
   4. For the opposing team, regular sweeping rules apply (i.e. the shooting rock may be swept after it crosses the T-Line).
   5. After the first stone has come to a rest and it is in the house its distance from the center is measured. The measuring device is inserted in the center of the house and the indicator is set to a point where it is noticeably moved on the point of the rock closest to the center and the reading is noted. This rock is then removed. The indicator setting is not changed. The opposing team then shoots their rock. If there is some question as to whom was closer to the center, after the opposing teams' stone has come to rest, then the measuring device is re-inserted in the center of the house and is rotated over the current stone in the house. If the indicator moves more than the previously noted reading then this team is the winner.
   6. If neither team has a stone in lay then both the same people shoot a single stone again. If the result is the same the game shall be decided by a coin toss called by the skips where the skip of the team to shoot first calls the coin (i.e. heads/tails). The winner of the coin toss is the winner of the match.
4. League and Play Governance
   1. The winner of a league or event shall be determined solely on the basis of wins and losses.
   2. In the event of a tie for a significant position, the teams involved shall play a playoff game.
   3. The four stone free guard zone rule shall always apply.
   4. In cases of excessive absences by a curler the Skip of that player's team may apply to the Curling Committee for a permanent replacement.
5. Selection of Skips and Teams
   1. Skips ending the season at the top or bottom of a competition may be considered for movement to a more appropriate league by the curling committee.
   2. The number of rinks to compete in a medal competition depends on the number of persons signed up for the competition. The Event or League Chairperson shall vary the number of teams in accordance with the interest of the participants.
   3. The manner and method of team selection will vary with the competition.
   4. The following methods will be used to select team makeup:
      1. The team members for league teams shall be selected by draw (with the exception of those leagues listed below) and the new Skips are given the first pick. The selection sequence will then follow in numerical order. Specifically, the Skips will draw numbers to determine the order of selection of their team members with the lowest number(s) being reserved for the new Skip(s). Selection will proceed in order from lowest to highest number and the in reverse for the next round.
      2. In the Griffin, All-American, Bradshaw and Dr. Ack, team selection order will be chosen by lot. Specifically, all the Skips, without exception, will draw numbers to determine the order of selection of their team members. In the Bradshaw the uprink pair will choose the downrink pair.
      3. In the Graham and Lydgate, Skips will arrange for their own Vice-Skip. The remainder of the team will be selected by draw with the new skips picking first and remaining skips picking in the reverse order of finish from the prior years competition.
      4. In the Blackhall and Van de Carr leagues the Skips will arrange for their own team composition.
   5. In the O'Malley and Dr. Ack, skips from the Blackhall, Van de Carr, Lydgate and Graham may play in the Vice-Skip position. If the regular Skip is absent and the team has skip from the listed leagues playing as the Vice-Skip, the regular Two or Lead on that team will Skip. The Van de Carr, Lydgate and Blackhall will be Skips' choice.
6. Results of Play
   1. The Skip or his or her designee is responsible for posting the results of each game on the master schedule sheet for the league. In addition the skip or his/her designee is responsible for filling out and submitting the match result cards for that game.
   2. The League Chairperson or the Event Chairperson shall be responsible for posting any regular or playoff schedule.
7. Substitution and Line-Up Rules
   1. Two regular team members of a four-man team must play in order to avoid a forfeit. A rink is deemed ready to play when three eligible curlers are present. A three-member team may have one regular team member and be considered a legal rink.
   2. All substitutions will be drawn from the substitution list posted for that specific league. The League Chairperson and the opposing skip must approve any substitutions that are not on this list prior to the match being played.
   3. All substitutes must play in the Lead position except in cases outlined in Section VII, Rule D below. If two substitutes are playing on the same team they must play Lead and Two.
   4. In cases where a team has a first or second year curler in n the Lead position and the first or second year curler declines moving up to Second the first substitute may play in the Second position, but no higher. If there are two substitutions on the same team then conditions revert to Section VII, Rule C.
   5. Substitutions in mixed curling must be of the appropriate sex to the original makeup of the team in order to substitute. The League or Event Chairperson must approve deviations from this rule prior to the match being played.
   6. All line-ups for any single game are subject to Skip's choice. For any single game the line-up may not be changed once the match has begun.

BYLAWS OF THE SCHENECTADY CURLING CLUB ARE AVAILABLE ON THE CLUB COMPUTER. THEY ARE ALSO POSTED ON THE BULLETIN BOARD.