MJCT Rule Book

as at July 31, 2021, Downloadable PDF

1. MISSION STATEMENT

1.1 The Manitoba Junior Curling Tour (MJCT) exists to create and promote increased athletic opportunity for junior curlers in the province of Manitoba; with core values centered around sportsmanship, fair play, social gain and the pursuit of athletic excellence.

2. MANAGEMENT AND THE MJCT COMMITTEE

2.1 The MJCT committee is to be composed of the following:

• Chair (Executive) – Albert Bazinet
• Past Chair(Executive) – Lisa Smith
• Secretary (Executive) – Jody Lyburn
• Treasurer (Executive) - Karen Letham
• Bonspiel Coordinator (Executive) – Eric McGillivray
• Sponsorship Director (Executive) – Kevin Young
• Website Coordinator – Peer Allan
• Rules Committee Chair – Albert Bazinet
• Two (2) Male Junior Members – Jordan McDonald, Riel Dufault
• Two (2) Female Junior Members – Quinn Allan, TBD

Rules Committee (not part of MJCT executive) - Jordan McDonald, Jensen Letham, Ken Rutter, Aurele Courcelles, Elaine Stobbe

2.2 Executive members will be elected for a one-year term; however, incumbent members may stand for re-election following the completion of their term. Elections for executive positions will be held each year at the annual general meeting.

2.3 Junior members will be elected for a one-year term, but may stand for re-election each year until junior eligibility is complete. Elections will be held at the annual general meeting

2.4 The MJCT Committee will be responsible for overall management of the tour, with the intention of benefiting all those involved with the MJCT.

3. COMPETITORS

3.1 A competitor in the MJCT shall be eligible per the CurlManitoba rules for junior curlers and team composition in effect for the current season. The guidelines for upcoming seasons are as follows:

3.2 Membership is acknowledged by the purchase of a MJCT Membership ($20/team) and is valid until the conclusion of the season in which the Membership has been purchased. Memberships may be purchased prior to the start of the season. Deadline for purchase is September 30th. Memberships remain the property of the MJCT and may be revoked at the discretion of the MJCT Committee.

3.3 Coaches must be registered with the MJCT. Assistant coaches can also be registered with teams. Only one of either a coach or assistant coach can coach for a single game. In the event a coach or assistant coach will be unavailable at any point during an event, another coach can be named, but the name of that individual must be provided to the Event Convenor prior to the event starting.

3.4 All teams participating in the Tour Championship must declare a Coach that is Competition Coach Certified. CurlManitoba will be responsible for validating coaching credentials prior to the event.

3.5 Any team failing to meet their financial obligation will forfeit all MJCT points earned in the occurring season. Teams failing to meet the financial obligation will be prohibited from entering future MJCT events until such time as the outstanding fees are paid. FORFEITED MJCT POINTS ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR REINSTATEMENT.

3.6 Any curler, coach or assistant coach suspended by CurlManitoba or Curling Canada will also be considered suspended by the MJCT.

4. SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE MJCT

4.1 An event calendar will be established with events posted on the MJCT website as confirmed.

4.2 The MJCT will be responsible for promotion throughout Manitoba of all events, including, but not limited to, posters, press releases and maintenance of an official website.

4.3 The current MJCT rules that Events are expected to adhere to can be found on the MJCT website at the following link: https://www.mjct.ca/about-us/rule-book.html

4.4 The MJCT will keep a record of all competitors registered, all teams eligible for ranking privileges and the results of all events.

4.5 As required, the Bonspiel Coordinator or designate will assist the Event Convener with creating the event draw that adheres to the MJCT rules based on prescribed formats.

5. EVENT RESPONSIBILITIES

5.1 All events must adhere to the conditions listed in the MJCT Event Agreement.

5.2 Event Conveners are responsible for receiving entry forms and entry fees. Event Conveners are to post team rosters with the draw, as well as confirm players align with the rosters submitted, prior to the first draw.

5.3 A midday ice scrape must occur on Saturday, preferably in between the middle draws.

5.4 All games must be scheduled to last a minimum of 8 ends.

5.5 The recommended format for each event will be round robin. All entry fees, draws and prize money must be approved by the MJCT Bonspiel Coordinator or an appointed designate, and a member of the Rules Committee.

5.6 The event shall separate junior men and junior women teams into two separate draws.

5.7 Events must report line scores and results to the MJCT at the conclusion of each draw. This includes on-line scoring on Curling Zone.

5.8 MJCT event entries will close at 4:30pm on the Friday prior to the scheduled start of the event. Team withdrawals will be allowed until such time as the event entries close. Payment for the event must be received no later than one business day prior to event start with preference being payment with entry, unless arrangements have been made with the Event Convener. Any team withdrawing after this date, without just cause, will forfeit their entry fee. The Event Convener has to be informed of the reason for withdrawal. The reason must then be forwarded to the MJCT Bonspiel Coordinator who will discuss it with the Rules Committee. Teams judged to not have valid reasons for withdrawal will then be subject to the penalties stated in the rules.

5.9 The Event Convener is to inform the MJCT Bonspiel Coordinator of teams withdrawing without payment of entry fee. The Bonspiel Coordinator will then inform future Event Conveners of teams ineligible to compete until any outstanding fee is paid.

5.10 A Skills Based Ranking (SBR) Competition will be used to determine qualifiers in tie breaker situations. The SBR Competition will be as follows:

• Before the teams go to the ice for every round robin game, the teams have a coin flip for color of rock or choice of practice.
• When the bell rings, each member of the team with the first practice (maximum 4 players) will throw one rock up the sheet using a counter-clockwise rotation. Each member of the team will then throw one rock from the away end to the home end using a clockwise rotation. The rocks thrown by the last two members of the team back to the home end will be those counted for the SBR Competition. Sweepers are allowed on all shots.
• The opposition is not allowed on the ice or at either end of the sheet during practice and the SBR Competition, other than one designated member who can assist in measuring the final two rocks. That member is to stay off the ice at the home end unless assisting in the measurement of the rock distance to the pin.
• In the event the rock does not hit the house, a second rock is not thrown. A measurement of 183 centimeters is to be recorded for that rock.
• A tape measure will be supplied by the club and can be used to measure the rock in centimeters with assistance of a player from the opposition team. This distance is to be written on the front of the scoring card by the name of the throwing team.
• A second bell will ring to signal the end of the first practice session five minutes after the initial bell. Any rocks being thrown must have reached the t-line of the throwing end to count towards the SBR Competition and the draw for hammer in the current game.
• The second team completes the same process outlined above, but using a clockwise rotation on their throws up the sheet and counter-clockwise rotation when throwing rocks from the away end to the home end.
• The team with the closest combined measurements to the button for their two rocks gets last rock for the first end.
• In the event both teams are tied after the draw to the button, a coin toss will be used to determine last rock in the first end.

The combined SBR measurements for all round robin games will be used for the SBR rankings used for any tie-breakers at the end of the round robin. The worst of all of the draws to the button will be excluded (i.e. in an event with 6 total draws to the button, only the top 5 will count toward the overall SBR rankings). The top spot will go to the team with the lowest cumulative measurements; the second spot will go to the second lowest cumulative measurements and so on.

SBR Competition results will only be used to determine the finishing order when head to head results from Round Robin Play cannot clearly determine the finishing order in a pool. Only one tie breaking round will be held per event even when SBR will be used to determine the order of tie breaker ranking. A team (or teams) may be eliminated based on SBR Competition results after round robin play leading into the playoff round.

To allow for the additional practice time, the game bell will be at 1:55 from the original bell. A two bell system will be used with a second bell going at 20 minutes after the 1:55 bell (2:15). When the second bell occurs, the game will be over at the conclusion of that end.

5.11 Event Convener is to complete SBR Competition results for Round Robin Events as soon as possible after the completion of the round robin.

5.12 Event Convener to supply volunteers to update Curling Zone for all draws, round robin, tie breakers and playoffs.

5.13 ONCE POSTED, ALL DRAWS ARE FINAL.

6. EVENT ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

6.1 Events are chosen prior to the beginning of the season by the MJCT. Once anevent has been selected to be a member of the MJCT season, the Event Convener must sign an Event Agreement every year that the event remains in existence. The Bonspiel Coordinator or designate is to provide the Event Agreement to the Event Convenor in a timely manner.

6.2 Event eligibility will be reviewed by the MJCT Committee.

6.3 An event with mixed teams is not eligible to be a member of the MJCT. The MJCT may run U15 events as mixed.

6.4 The MJCT will attempt to establish a competition schedule with events located throughout Manitoba, other Provinces and States based on interest.

7. BONSPIEL FORMAT

7.1 Formats to be set up as 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, or 20 teams with first come first serve entry. Waiting lists will be done until the next threshold is met. A 4 sheet rink can only handle max 16 and max 12 of either gender. A bonspiel will not be designated as an MJCT event with points awarded where less than 4 teams are registered at the entry closing date.

7.1a For MJCT bonspiels with a provincial berth, the prescribed format and bonspiel timing may be adjusted by the Event Convener to align with Curl Manitoba’s direction of not limiting the number of participating teams. For this acceptable situation where a prescribed format is not followed, the MJCT must still sign-off on the event seeding, format and points allocation.

7.2 Playoff qualifiers will be as follows based on the number of participating teams of each gender:

1. 4 team – 2 qualifiers – one pool of 4. Guaranteed three games.
2. 5 team – 3 qualifiers – one pool of 5. Guaranteed four games.
3. 6 team – 3 qualifiers – two pools of three, top team from each pool and the next best record qualify. Guaranteed three games.
4. 8 team – 4 qualifiers – two pools of four, top two teams qualify from each pool. Guaranteed three games.
5. 10 team – 4 qualifiers – two pools of five, top two teams qualify from each pool. Guaranteed four games.
6. 12 team – 6 qualifiers – three pools of four, top two teams qualify from each pool. Teams with best and second best overall records get bye to semi-final. Teams ranked 3,4,5,6 based first on record than SBR. If ties in a pool, rank based on head to head then SBR. Guaranteed three games.
7. 15 team – 6 qualifiers – three pools of five, top two teams qualify from each pool. Guaranteed four games.
8. 16 team – 8 qualifiers – four pools of four, top two teams qualify from each pool. Guaranteed three games.
9. 20 team – 8 qualifiers – four pools of five, top two teams qualify from each pool. Guaranteed four games.

7.3 For all playoff games, the highest ranked team by record, then by SBR, has the choice of color or last rock for each game.

7.4 Since tiebreakers are considered round robin games, SBR will not be used to determine the highest ranking team. The procedure outlined in 5.10 above will be used to determine the team that has last rock.

7.5 A 1:55 bell will be used for all round robin and playoff games. A second bell will ring at 2:15 at which point the current end is the last end.

8. POINT SYSTEM, RANKING PRIVILEGES AND SEEDING

8.1 The point system shall be under the jurisdiction of the MJCT and will be developed in order to best reflect the performance of competing teams within a given season. All points will be awarded from sanctioned MJCT events only.

8.2 For a team to be eligible for ranking privileges, they must be registered as a team with the MJCT.. A minimum of four (4) players are to be registered with a team; at maximum, a team may register five (5) players, a coach and an assistant coach.

8.3 Team rosters are considered final as 11:59 PM CST on October 15. Any changes to team rosters prior to 11:59 PM CST on October 15 will affect the team’s accumulated points for the season as follows:

• If 3 players on the original team remain, all points are carried forward.
• If 2 players or less on the original team remain, all points are lost.
• If a fifth player is added, without restriction, all points are carried forward.

Any changes to team rosters after 12:00 AM CST on October 16 will affect the team’s accumulated points for the season as follows:

• If 3 players on the original team remain, 50% of the points are carried forward.
• If 2 players or less on the original team remain, all points are lost.

8.4 The seeding for each event will be based on the MJCT’s ranking on that event’s entry closing date. For the spring events the seeding will be done by the participating teams. Exclusively for the 2021 fall season, the seeding will also be done by the participating teams for the first three MJCT events.

8.5 To receive points at the conclusion of an event, the team must have competed in all games and with no more than 1 spare that was listed prior to the event and is of the age that allows the team to still be eligible as a junior team under the team composition eligibility rules.

8.6 All games are to be played unless there are extenuating circumstances. Extenuating circumstances are defined as follows:

• Sickness – where a team cannot field enough players
• Injury – where a team cannot field enough players
• Weather Related – where a team cannot field enough players
• Any other reason for a default will be vetted through the MJCT rules committee before any points are awarded

For games that are defaulted under the circumstances listed above the winning team will be awarded full points as if the game had been played. The team that defaults will be awarded points as if they lost the game.

For games that are defaulted without a valid reason, the winning team due to the default will be awarded full points as if the game had been played. The team that defaults will only be awarded the points up to the last game officially played and will not be awarded points for the loss due to the default. For example, if a team defaults the final then the defaulting team will only be given the semi-final points and no points for reaching the final.

A game must be 4 ends prior to a team being able to concede.

8.7 Full points will be allocated as 5 points per team entered in the event. These points will be available in the playoff round only with allocation based on the number of qualifiers. For example 16 teams would have an allocation of 80 points total. There will be 1 point per win (excluding tie breaker games) during the qualifying games and these points will follow a team even if they qualify for the playoffs.

Example of points breakdown (40 points total) where 8 teams have entered and there are 4 qualifiers:

• 1st = 18
• 2nd = 12
• 3/4th = 5

9. TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

9.1 The tour championship shall be held following the conclusion of all scheduled events in a given season, at a location and date to be determined by the MJCT.

9.2 The 10 top-ranked junior men’s and 10 top-ranked junior women’s teams will be invited to participate in the Tour Championship. The number of teams invited will be adjusted down to a maximum of approximately 2/3 per gender, if the number of registered teams is below 14. So for example the junior women only have 12 teams registered, the number of teams invited to the Tour Championship would be 8. Each Tour Championship will be run with a Round Robin format consisting of 2 pools of 5 teams with no exceptions other than pool size.

The Point System will be used to rank teams for the Tour Championship.

Pool 1 will consist of Teams 1, 4, 6, 8 & 10.

Pool 2 will consist of Teams 2, 3, 5, 7 & 9.

The procedure outlined in 5.10 above will be used to determine the team that has last rock in each game and the overall SBR Competition, After the completion of the Round Robin, the top 2 teams of each pool will advance to a Page Playoff Championship. An entry fee may be applicable, based on ice availability.

9.3 Teams must maintain rule 8.5 for the Tour Championship.

9.4 The points allocation is double for the Tour Championships (i.e 10 points per team for a pool of 100 available during the playoff round). The provincial berth spot will be awarded to the highest ranked team based on the standings and the points earned during the Tour Championships. The team must meet all eligibility requirements.

9.5 In order to be eligible for the provincial berth spot (if available), teams are not allowed to use a spare but can register a 5th player prior to the Tour Championship.

9.6 When two or more teams are tied for the last available position for the Tour Championship, the following tie breaker process will be followed:

1. Head to Head.
2. If no clear winner, prior to the Tour Championship, a game will be played involving the two teams. If there are an uneven number of teams tied, a playoff game(s) will be carried out to determine the team(s) getting the bye.

10. EXCEPTIONS

10.1 The Rules Committee of the MJCT reserves the right to make all decisions judged necessary to cover any exceptional circumstances not provided in this document.

10.2 Events are governed by the CurlManitoba rulebook and the CCA rulebook if rule is not in the CurlManitoba rulebook.

10.3 Curl Manitoba Rule Book in effect except where otherwise stipulated in the MJCT Rule Book.

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