Article 2 - Tournament Procedures

2.1 Tournament Format

a) Qualifying Round

i) If 6 or less teams are entered, a double round robin format will be used; or if a single round robin format is used, the starting date will be Wednesday.

ii) If 11 or less teams are entered, a single round robin will be played
involving all teams.

iii) If 12 or more teams are entered, then teams will play a modified round
robin of ten (10) games per team.

b) Championship Round

In championships with 7, 8 or 9 teams, 6 teams will play in the championship round. The top 4 teams will have 2 “lives” and the next 2 teams will have a single “life”. In championships with 10 or more teams, 8 teams will play in the championship round. The top 4 teams will have 2 “lives” and the next 4 teams will have a single “life”.

c) Ranking in the Qualifying Round

Final standings in the qualifying round shall be established using the following criteria:

i) Won/Lost records. If still tied, then:
ii) Winners of games between tied teams NOTE: In order to use this criteria, all subject tied teams must have played each other and one team must have defeated all the teams they are tied with to be ranked higher. The remaining teams then go to next criteria with no reverting back:
iii) Difference PLUS or MINUS of total runs scored, with a limit of 15 PLUS or MINUS per game allowed.

NOTE: When using criteria iii) full team records of the entire team records of the entire qualifying round, and only 4,5,6 etc. FULL innings in 4½, 5½, 6½ etc. inning games are to be used.

a) If teams are still tied within iii), then the total runs scored in all games will be used. If still tied, then:

b) The least (fewest) amount of runs scored against in all games will be used. If still tied, then:

c) Positions will be settled by a coin toss.

d) Tie Breaking

The above criteria ranking establishes the standing in the qualifying round. However, if a tie exists for the last playoff position or where it represents the difference between 1 or 2 “lives”, tiebreaker game(s) will be played.

2.2 Model Draws

2.3 Scheduling

a) In the qualifying round, the host and provincial team shall be allowed a daily prime time game.

b) One and a half hours will be scheduled between game starts.

c) The Softball Canada tournament supervisor is responsible for rescheduling games if necessary.

d) No protests may be made on the rescheduling of games.

2.4 Unfinished Championships

If for any reason, any Canadian Championship cannot be finished, the following formula shall be applied to determine final standings and medal awards:

NOTE: the team that is awarded the gold medal will be eligible to compete next year as the Defending Champion providing all criteria of a defending champion is met.

a) If the qualifying round cannot be completed, medals will be awarded on the basis of the standings at that time.

b) If the qualifying round is completed and no games played in the double life section of the championship round, the qualifying round standings shall be used to award medals.

c) If games 1 and 2 of the championship round have been played, the “A” side finalists shall receive the gold and silver medals, with the gold going to the team finishing higher in the qualifying round. The bronze medal shall go to whichever of the remaining “B” side teams finished highest in the qualifying round.

d) If after game 7 (game 5 in six team playoff), the “A” side final, and before game 9 (game 7 in six team playoff), the winner of game 7 (game 5 in six team playoff) shall receive the gold medal and the loser the silver medal. The bronze medal shall go to whichever of the remaining “B” side teams finished higher in the qualifying round.

e) If after game 9 (game 7 in six team playoff), the gold medal will go to the winner of game 7 (game 5 in six team playoff), the silver medal to the winner of game 9 (game 7 in six team playoff), and the bronze medal to the loser of game 9 (game 7 in six team playoff).

2.5 Awards

a) A team trophy will be awarded to the winning team of any Canadian Championship tournament.

b) A team trophy will be awarded to the runner–up in all Canadian Championships.

c) When medals are awarded (for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners), no more than 22 will be provided.

d) Except for the “Top Player of the Championship Round”, all individual awards are based on the qualifying round(s).

i) Recipients of these awards can be announced prior to the start of the championship round.

ii) These awards should be presented between games C1 and C2 of the Championship Round as time permits.

e) In order for players to qualify for the final standings at bat or on the mound, the following will apply:

At bat: A player must have gone to bat at least 2.5 times the number of games the team has played, rounded to the highest whole number (with any activity at bat counting for a “time at bat”).

On the mound: A pitcher must have pitched in more than 8 innings (8 1/3 innings is sufficient to qualify).

2.6 Official Softball

a) The official softball to be used at all Canadian Championships shall be determined by the Directors of Softball Canada.

b) The official and exclusive softball for the Men’s, Master Men’s 40+ and Co– Ed Canadian Championships will be the Hot Dot SBC12HDSY (COR .52).

c) The official and exclusive softball for the Women’s Canadian Championship will be the Rawlings Super Green Dot YSX11RSC3 (COR 44).

2.7 Dress and Equipment

a) Uniforms

i) All players participating in a Canadian Championship must play in identical uniforms. The Softball Canada representative, in consultation with the tournament Umpire–in–Chief, shall judge the acceptability of uniforms. Players unacceptably uniformed will be dealt with as follows:

a) If possible, a player will be warned before a game appearance.

b) A player participating in a game will be instructed to immediately correct the uniform deficiency.

c) A player failing to correct the deficiency will be ejected from the game.

ii) Coaches appearing on the field must wear either uniforms identical to the players or sweat suits or slacks as near to the team colours as possible. If, in the judgement of the Softball Canada official representative, the coach or manager’s uniform is not to the representative’s satisfaction, this coach or manager shall not be permitted to coach.

iii) All players appearing on a game sheet must wear a uniform number on the back of their uniform shirt/sweater. NO number may be repeated.

iv) At all Senior Slo-Pitch Canadian Championships, each team must have at least two sets of uniform tops (one dark coloured and one light coloured). The home team will wear their dark coloured uniform. The away team will wear their light coloured uniform. If a team fails to wear the proper uniform colour, they will lose the game.

v) In Women’s, Co–Ed and Masters Slo–Pitch categories, players may mix long and short pants in their uniforms provided that they are the team colour.

b) Double Base
The Double Base (Safe–base TM system) will be used at first base for all Canadian Championships.

c) Bats

NOTE – the following applies only if bats are not supplied by Softball Canada:

i) In addition to meeting the criteria as set out in SP-Rule 3 Equipment, section 1, all bats shall be subject to inspection and approval prior to their use in the Canadian Championship tournament.

a) Any bat entering the field of play area, which includes the dugout/ bench areas, any warm up areas inside and outside the field, shall be subject to inspection and approval. If a bat is within the above identified area and has not been submitted for inspection, the Coach of the team will be ejected for that game.

b) If a bat initially passes the compression test prior to the start of the championship then fails later during the championship, the bat’s user/owner will be asked to allow it to be sent to the manufacturer for further testing. The player may either agree to the testing or refuse to submit the selected bat. If he/she refuses to allow the bat to be submitted for further testing or does not present the bat for testing, he/she is immediately suspended for two (2) years of play with Softball Canada and provincial/territorial play. If the bat is found to be tampered with, that player is immediately suspended for two (2) years of play with Softball Canada and provincial/ territorial play. If the bat is not tampered with but just became too broken in, every effort will be made to have the manufacturer replace the confiscated bat with the current model available.

ii) Inspection and approval procedures, as well as the means that will be used to identify bats that have passed inspection, to be used at a Canadian Championship tournament will be at the discretion of the Softball Canada representative and the tournament Umpire-in Chief.

iii) Inspection methods may include any visual inspection and/or inspection by any mechanical means that would not risk damage to the bat.

iv) Inspection and approval procedures, if they are to be used at a Canadian Championship, will be made known to all coaches of participating teams no later than 72 hours prior to the commencement of the tournament.

v) Any bat failing inspection will be confiscated by the Softball Canada representative, without prejudice, for the duration of the tournament and will be returned to the owner team after the owner team’s final game.

vi) Any bat not presented for inspection/approval will be considered to be illegal equipment for the purposes of the Canadian Championship tournament.

vii) Any player using a bat that was not inspected or has failed inspection and/or approval, shall have the bat confiscated and will be ejected for the remainder of the tournament.

viii) Teams shall have the right to have one (1) team representative present at the time of inspection of the bats submitted for inspection/approval.

ix) There will be no appeal available for any bat that has failed inspection.

x) Teams will be allowed to have up to 34 bats tested free of charge. Any additional bat beyond 34 will have a charge of $5 per bat levied on the team. All other rules pertaining to illegal equipment shall apply.