Once again, here is a recap of all the proposals made so far:
Rules suggestions for Millennium, NPPL and X-Ball
1. Continue to train PRO refs to get them up to the level they need to be.
2. Require a pre-tournament briefing for all refs to make sure everyone is totally consistent on enforcement of the rules. Give them a pop-quiz to gauge how well everyone knows the rules and go over the important rules most get wrong.
3. Carefully monitor the quality of judging at every tournament and encourage excellence and consistency. (Perhaps one or two video cameras could be set up to monitor quality, but not to change any decisions.)
4. Institute a 3-strikes-you're-out rule: if any player gets caught and penalized for the same violation (playing on, for example) 3 times, that player shall be pulled from the tournament and the team shall play with 1 player less.
5. If a player is pulled from 2 tournaments during a season then the player shall be automatically suspended from NPPL and Millennium for that season (alternative: the next 2 tournaments, if necessary carried over to the next season).
6. Keep statistics of penalized infractions and violators.
7. Put in and enforce very clear rules about threatening, abusing (physically or otherwise) or attempting to intimidate refs. Make suspensions for said offenses mandatory with no exceptions. Zero tolerance!
8. Make sure that NPPL/PSP and X-Ball tournaments have a mix of international refs to avoid the appearance and possible reality of bias because these events are now truly international.
9. Assign a head-judge to every field who is independent of any player/ref team and who has the authority to maintain quality and consistency and to assess penalties for infractions committed by judges (such penalty assessments shall be reported to the ultimate judge who shall then, after verification, apply the penalties).
10. The teams of the judges who are performing their duties for series points shall be subject to all the penalties related to infractions during the tournament in question, e.g. failure to wear goggles in the presence of un-bagged markers, etc. The required warnings and penalty assessments shall be spelled out in a list (I suggest 50 points for most infractions after one warning).
11. Judges who are professional or who are not performing their duties for series points shall be subject to the same applicable rules as the judges in point 10, except that any penalty point assessments shall result in a fine of €1.00 or $1.00, whichever is applicable, or the equivalent in local currency, for each penalty point assessed. For example a judge who fails to wear her/his goggles when and where required after one warning shall be assessed a penalty of €50 or $50 for each infraction. (These are tough fines but judges must set examples.)
12. Pay refs a minimum of €150/$150 per judging day plus supply them with lunch and drinks (even dinner if they are required to work past 6.00 PM). Pay head field-judges a minimum of €200/$200 per day.
13. Require a minimum of one judge for every two players, plus three judges, e.g.
for 5-player: 8 judges
for 7-player: 10 judges
for 10-player: 13 judges
14. Require that minimum safety requirements are enforced for any venue that has a league-sanctioned tournament. Any breeches of these requirements must be rectified before the start of the tournament at risk of losing any future sanctioning. The requirements should include, but not be limited to:
* a minimum netting standard vis-a-vis quality, height, etc.
* the presence of an ambulance and/or trained paramedics
* all fields must be free of undue safety hazards
* definite inspection of every high-pressure tank used
* strict enforcement of barrel-bag and goggle-on rules
15. Change chronographing rule to require exit chronographing which will be expedited by allowing convenient chronographing on the way to the elimination box. Chronographing of non-eliminated players can be expedited by use of hand chronos.
16. Get rid of the don't-look rule in NPPL. Of course players have a strong, natural desire to see the outcome of the game. They just have to shut up and not point. With more refs, enforcing the gag rule should not be a problem.
______________________
Feedback requested.
Steve
Rules suggestions for Millennium, NPPL and X-Ball
1. Continue to train PRO refs to get them up to the level they need to be.
2. Require a pre-tournament briefing for all refs to make sure everyone is totally consistent on enforcement of the rules. Give them a pop-quiz to gauge how well everyone knows the rules and go over the important rules most get wrong.
3. Carefully monitor the quality of judging at every tournament and encourage excellence and consistency. (Perhaps one or two video cameras could be set up to monitor quality, but not to change any decisions.)
4. Institute a 3-strikes-you're-out rule: if any player gets caught and penalized for the same violation (playing on, for example) 3 times, that player shall be pulled from the tournament and the team shall play with 1 player less.
5. If a player is pulled from 2 tournaments during a season then the player shall be automatically suspended from NPPL and Millennium for that season (alternative: the next 2 tournaments, if necessary carried over to the next season).
6. Keep statistics of penalized infractions and violators.
7. Put in and enforce very clear rules about threatening, abusing (physically or otherwise) or attempting to intimidate refs. Make suspensions for said offenses mandatory with no exceptions. Zero tolerance!
8. Make sure that NPPL/PSP and X-Ball tournaments have a mix of international refs to avoid the appearance and possible reality of bias because these events are now truly international.
9. Assign a head-judge to every field who is independent of any player/ref team and who has the authority to maintain quality and consistency and to assess penalties for infractions committed by judges (such penalty assessments shall be reported to the ultimate judge who shall then, after verification, apply the penalties).
10. The teams of the judges who are performing their duties for series points shall be subject to all the penalties related to infractions during the tournament in question, e.g. failure to wear goggles in the presence of un-bagged markers, etc. The required warnings and penalty assessments shall be spelled out in a list (I suggest 50 points for most infractions after one warning).
11. Judges who are professional or who are not performing their duties for series points shall be subject to the same applicable rules as the judges in point 10, except that any penalty point assessments shall result in a fine of €1.00 or $1.00, whichever is applicable, or the equivalent in local currency, for each penalty point assessed. For example a judge who fails to wear her/his goggles when and where required after one warning shall be assessed a penalty of €50 or $50 for each infraction. (These are tough fines but judges must set examples.)
12. Pay refs a minimum of €150/$150 per judging day plus supply them with lunch and drinks (even dinner if they are required to work past 6.00 PM). Pay head field-judges a minimum of €200/$200 per day.
13. Require a minimum of one judge for every two players, plus three judges, e.g.
for 5-player: 8 judges
for 7-player: 10 judges
for 10-player: 13 judges
14. Require that minimum safety requirements are enforced for any venue that has a league-sanctioned tournament. Any breeches of these requirements must be rectified before the start of the tournament at risk of losing any future sanctioning. The requirements should include, but not be limited to:
* a minimum netting standard vis-a-vis quality, height, etc.
* the presence of an ambulance and/or trained paramedics
* all fields must be free of undue safety hazards
* definite inspection of every high-pressure tank used
* strict enforcement of barrel-bag and goggle-on rules
15. Change chronographing rule to require exit chronographing which will be expedited by allowing convenient chronographing on the way to the elimination box. Chronographing of non-eliminated players can be expedited by use of hand chronos.
16. Get rid of the don't-look rule in NPPL. Of course players have a strong, natural desire to see the outcome of the game. They just have to shut up and not point. With more refs, enforcing the gag rule should not be a problem.
______________________
Feedback requested.
Steve
