Rules / League Structure
General League Information
Last Updated: 2022-09-14
General
  • Reciprocal Drinks (buying a drink for opposing team) are not enforced or required in this league.
  • League prize fee is $25 per official player (this includes rostered 5th players). All prizes fees and sponsorship go back to the players for series wins, playoff positions, and overall rankings.
  • Please submit all game scores electronically, via text message or email, to the league convener. Convener contact information can be found on the Home Page or Dundas Valley G&CC Website.
Teams

Team rosters posted on the website will be considered the official team and all spare rules will apply based on the listed (registered) players. Any team changes requested after the season starts will require approval from the convenor.

An optional 5th player may be registered for each team. 5th players are exempt from standard sparing rules, can play any position at any time, and count towards the "two registered players" minimums. Except in rare, pre-approved circumstances, teams may not have more than 5 registered players (6th players are not listed on the website).

  • A player can only be a registered member of a single team; this includes 5th players.
  • A player who often spares for a particular team but is not on the team roster is NOT considered a registered player and will be subject to normal sparing rules.
Season Seeding

Teams will be seeded into the league based roughly on previous year results (regular season and playoffs). In order to be as fair as possible, all new teams will be seeded into C flight regardless of skill level.

A new team is defined as:

  • A team made of players completely new to the league.
  • A team made of players who have previously played in the Open League but from different teams.
  • Returning teams with 2 or fewer players returning from the previous season. 5th players count as returning players.
Note: Varsity / Academy Teams are exempt from "new team" re-seeding rules and are considered "returning" teams regardless of roster changes.
Rules of Curling

All rules not mentioned on this page are based on the standard Curling Canada Rules for General Play.

  • Delivery Aids (sticks) are permitted.
  • All synthetic broomheads (and associated "directional sweeping" techniques) are allowed in this league.
  • As of the 2018-19 season, hair brooms are banned from Dundas Valley as both a sweeping tool and delivery aid.
Rules - Regular Season
Last Updated: 2022-05-04
Scheduling and Re-Scheduling

Regularly scheduled game times are:

  • Wednesday @ 6:30PM (C & D Flight)
  • Wednesday @ 8:45PM (C & D Flight)
  • Thursday @ 6:30PM (A & B Flight)
  • Thursday @ 8:45PM (A & B Flight)

All C & D Flight games take place on Wednesday, and all A & B Flight games take place on Thursdays. Scheduled games will alternate between early and late draws and be balanced across all available sheets as best as possible. Schedule balance is built around Flights, meaning that being promoted or demoted to a different flight will likely cause your individual experience to be slightly unbalanced.

Games can be rescheduled if both teams agree. Games can be played during any available ice time during the week, however they must be played PRIOR to the last game of the current series. Any rescheduled games must be communicated to the convener and curling manager to confirm ice availability. Games unable to be played will result in a forfeit to the offending team.

Note: In the interest of maintaining a balanced and consistent schedule, scheduling requests made to the convener cannot be accommodated.

Whenever possible, games that are cancelled due to weather will be made up during regular game times, potentially resulting in playing two games in one week. There may be occurances where games are required to play on a day other than Wednesday/Thursday but they will be communicated ahead of time.

Time Clocks and Game Times

Timeclocks are used and strictly enforced for both 6:30PM and 8:45PM draws. The clock is set for 1h55min and will start as closely to the scheduled draw times as possible. If the ice is ready prior to draw times, you may start your game early to bank additional time. It is the responsibility of both teams to monitor the timeclock (using the guidelines to the right) and keep the game at a reasonable pace.

When time runs out, teams may finish the current end in play but may not start another end.

  • An end is considered complete if the final skip rock of an end is in motion (the skip in the act of delivering the rock) before time runs out. Some discretion is expected for the enforcement of this rule.

It is recommended that all teams should be on the ice 5 minutes ahead of gametime for practice slides and handshakes so that the game can start exactly at the scheduled time.

You should be starting each end with roughly the listed amount of time remaining on the clock.
End # Time Remaining
1 1:55
2 1:40
3 1:25
4 1:10
5 0:55
6 0:40
7 0:25
8 0:10
Spares

Teams MUST have at least TWO registered members present for each regular season game. A maximum of two spares may play in a regular season game; The first spare may play any position while the second spare must play front end. Failure to do so will result in a forfeit of that game.

  • Spares may only play up to the position they have been asked to fill in for (eg. A spare asked to play vice can play lead, second or vice, but cannot skip the team).
  • Spares may be from any flight in the Open League or from any other member leagues, including junior players, run at Dundas Valley.
Winning and Losing

All games are 8 ends, unless shortened by timeclocks, with points distributed based on Wins and Losses. (See Regular Season Structure below for more information)

Ties after regulation will be broken by skips rocks. You may only sweep your own teams rocks during skips rocks. Should skips rocks not determine the winner, the game will be determined by Vice rocks (and so on).

Rules - Playoffs
Last Updated: 2023-03-14
General

Playoffs will follow the standard regular season rules with the exceptions of the items listed below.

Scheduling and Re-Scheduling

Playoff game times are:

  • Wednesday @ 6:30PM
  • Wednesday @ 8:45PM
  • Thursday @ 6:30PM
  • Thursday @ 8:45PM

QF / Round Robin Games will follow standard scheduling practices (C & D on Wednesdays, A & B on Thursdays). Semi-Final and Finals Games can and will occur during any of the above listed draw times. Regardless of playoff format, teams will have to play multiple games in one week during the playoffs (typically Semi-Finals and Finals).

For Single Elimination Bracket Playoffs: Due to the time-sensitive nature of the playoffs, rescheduling games is not permitted unless pre-approved by the convenor. Semi-Finals and Finals games are NOT permitted to be rescheduled.

For Round-Robin/Pool Based Playoffs: You are ONLY able to reschedule your Pool games. Any rescheduled games must be played within the Round Robin schedule and may not extend into the Semi Final / Finals Week. Semi Finals and Finals games are NOT permitted to be rescheduled.

If your team is aware that you will be unable to legally field a team during any game of the playoffs, you are required to inform the convener who will then decide the appropriate action to take.

Time Clocks and Game Times

The timeclock is not enforced for playoff games (although, hopefully, it will be running as a guideline for teams). This does mean that playoff games tend to run longer, however, it is preferred over losing a game on a technicality (and the convener needing to deal with the fallout).

Spares

Only ONE spare may play in a playoff game and must play front end (if 3 registered team members present) or lead (2 registered team members present).

Winning and Losing

In the event of a tie, a full extra end will be played towards the glass. Should a winner still not be determined, the game will be decided by skips rocks.

Structure - Regular Season
Last Updated: 2022-03-23
Points and Overall Standings

The regular season will consist of three (3), seven (7)-week series of round robin games between teams in each flight.

Points are awarded for each win and loss with higher, more difficult, flights receiving more points per win.

At the end of each series, the team with the most series points in each flight will receive a bonus of two (2) points. Teams in a three-way tie for the series that cannot be broken by head-to-head results win will receive one (1) point each.

The team with the most points after the completion of the regular season is crowned the Regular Season Champion.

Point Distribution Per Flight
Flight Pts/Win Pts/Loss
A 10 1
B 8 1
C 6 1
D 5 1
Understanding Flights

Each series, teams are grouped into similar skill levels called flights. The league runs with four (4) flights: A, B, C, and D.

At the end of the each series, teams will be re-seeded into flights as determined by series Win/Loss records. Teams finishing with the most and least wins in each flight will be promoted and demoted to higher and lower flights.

Ties for positions within the flights that will result in a team being promoted or demoted will be broken in the following order:

  1. Current Series Head-to-Head Results
  2. Current Season Head-to-Head Results
  3. Accumulated overall league points
  4. Convener Discretion
Team Distribution Post-Series
Flight Post Series Re-Seeding
A To B: 6th-8th
B To A: 1st-3rd
To C: 6th-8th
C To B: 1st-3rd
To D: 6th-8th
D To C: 1st-3rd
Structure - Playoffs
Last Updated: 2023-02-21
Seeding

All teams at the end of the regular season qualify for playoffs. All seeding will be done based on Overall Points at the end of the season.

Ties for post-season seeding will be broken in the following order:

  1. Season Head to Head result
  2. Season Total Wins
  3. # of Games Spent at Highest Acheived Flight
  4. Total Wins from Series 3 and 4
  5. Convener Discretion
Playoff Formats

Due to the nature of recreational curling, the playoff structure can vary for a variety of reasons, including: The number of participating teams, season length, and any previous weeks lost due to weather / unforeseen issues.

Playoff formats will be one of the two following options:

(Preferred) Round-Robin / Pool Play

For longer post-seasons (4 Weeks) / (3-5 Games):

  • Teams will be seeded into flights of eight (8) and then further divided into two pools of four (4) teams using Snake Seeding
  • Each pool plays a 3 game round robin, playing each team one time.
  • The top two (2) teams from each pool play a crossover semi final game (Pool A 1st vs Pool B 2nd, Pool B 1st vs Pool A 2nd).
    • Ties in the Round Robin will be broken by Head to Head results, and then Seeding (Higher seed moves on)
  • Winners advance to the finals.
Pool A
Pool B
Round-Robin
3 Weeks
1
4
5
8
2
3
6
7
Semi-Finals
0.5 Weeks
A-1 v B-2
B-1 v A-2
Finals
0.5 Weeks
SF1 v SF2
Single Elimination Bracket

For shorter post-seasons (2-3 Weeks) / (1-3 Games):

  • Teams will be seeded into flights of 6-8 teams and play a bracket-style, single elimination, playoff.
  • Teams play 1v8, 2v7, 3v6 and 4v5 in the first round. In the event of fewer than 8 teams in a bracket, first round BYE's will be given to the highest ranking teams.
Declaring Champions

The winner of the A Flight Playoff Series will be considered to be the Club Champion.

The winner of the B - E Flight Playoff Series will be considered to be the B - E Champions.