California State Tournament Bylaws and Playing Rules (rev.1/08)
The Northern California Horseshoe Pitching Association (NCHPA) and the Southern California Horseshoe Pitching Association (SCHPA) shall work in harmony while sanctioning, sponsoring and staging the California State Tournament. Any changes to these bylaws and playing rules must pass by agreement of both charters. The method used to establish the vote will be as follows. On low impact and/or minor changes, the vote will be the majority vote of the charter officers present at the “state” meeting. On major or controversial changes, the vote will be the majority vote of the delegates at the charter’s annual business meeting. If both charters vote in favor of a proposed change, said change will go into effect on January 1st of the following year unless specified differently in the original motion.
2. To be eligible for the State Tournament a player must:
Be a member of the State and National Horseshoe Pitching Association.
Be a resident of the State for a minimum of 60 days.
Have pitched in three (3) California sanctioned tournaments in the one-year period between August 1st & July 31st.
(Note: Juniors need to have pitched in only one (1) California sanctioned tournament)
These bylaws and playing rules shall in no way conflict with NHPA bylaws and playing rules.
NHPA bylaws and rules govern all bylaws or rules not covered herein.
The State Tournament shall be held during the Labor Day weekend unless an alternate date has been agreed upon by both charters. A change must allow sufficient advance notice to let players plan their attendance well beforehand. It shall be the only sanctioned tournament scheduled during this time.
The NCHPA shall host the tournament in odd years and the SCHPA shall host the tournament in even years unless both charters approve a change. The host charter shall determine the tournament site.
Any State Tournament that is rained out or canceled for any reason, shall not be made-up except that a division champion should be determined for the Men, Women, Elders and Juniors. If the tournament is called while underway and over one-half of the scheduled games have been completed in the above divisions, the tournament shall be official.
The Tournament Director/s shall be from the host charter and shall supervise and manage the tournament.
The Tournament Committee shall consist of the two charter presidents and the Tournament Director/s who shall agree upon playing format and schedules prior to publication.
8. The interpretation of the Tournament Committee covering technical points and their ruling on matters not covered herein or
NHPA bylaws or rules, shall be final. Any protest shall be made in writing immediately, if the occasion arises, and presented
to the committee.
9. The State Tournament must offer the following divisions: Open Men, Open Women, Elders, Juniors, and Cadets 9 & under.
Senior Men and Senior Women may be offered at the discretion of the Tournament Director.
In each division, the highest percentage group shall be the Championship Class. Additional classes will be formed if
courts and time are available.
All classes below Men & Women’s Championship classes as well as all classes in any other division may be mixed.
When the Championship Classes are mixed in other divisions, the Champion will be the highest finished player, based on percentage in their respective division. Handicaps in classes having a 12% or greater spread may be used but a Division
Title must be determined by scratch play. Handicap % to be determined by host charter not to be less than 66 2/3 or
exceed 80%.
10. The Championship Classes shall have a minimum of six (6) pitchers. All other class sizes shall be determined by the total
number of entries and percentage spread. The host charter has the option of running qualifying rounds for any contestants.
In all classes below the Championship level that are eligible for money awards, the money should be distributed equally based on the number of entries in the group.
When formulating the pitching schedule, every effort shall be made to give all groups the opportunity to pitch two days.
In all Championship Classes the games shall be 40 points. Except Cadets who will play 40 points not to exceed 50 shoes per game.
Games won and lost shall determine final positions. All first place ties shall be broken by playoffs and governed by NHPA rules. All other ties shall be broken by percentage
Adult entry fees shall be $25.00 and must be paid by the entry deadline date. (Juniors do not pay) These fees shall be sent to the secretary/treasurer of the host charter.
There shall be a minimum of two (2) trophies (awards) per each pitching group. The host charter shall provide all awards for the tournament. Monetary awards shall be distributed from entry fees at the discretion of the host charter.
All junior pitchers shall be recognized with a State Tournament participation award.
Each charter shall be responsible for having the Juniors’ Perpetual Trophies present at the State Tournament.
“STATE TOURNAMENT BYLAWS & RULES…cont.
15. The first place trophies in the Championship Classes shall be larger and more significant than the first place trophies in open classes. Junior participation awards shall be smaller and less significant than second place awards in any other class.
Pitcher’s entering averages shall be determined by “NATSTATS” or each charter’s official statistician’s averages, whichever is most current. Averages on record as of August 1st should be used.
Each contestant shall pay the scorekeeper $1.00 per game.
All contestants shall be appropriately and completely attired at all times while on the courts. This is to include appropriate footwear. No open-toed shoes are allowed. All contestants must have their name printed on the back of their shirts in a professional manner. Names hand-written with a felt pen on written on a piece of cloth or paper and attached to shirts are not acceptable.
The host charter shall furnish nameplates for the scoring devices being used.
Host charters may elect to have a handicap tournament in conjunction with the State Tournament with a $5.00 entry fee. This is optional for the contestants.
A stand-by list of late entries may be used to fill in groups at an additional fee of $10.00, and must comply with original entry rules to be admitted.
Host charters must have State entry applications distributed by January 1st and information packages distributed to the guest charter by June 1st.
A meeting of State officers of both charters shall be conducted during the State Tournament at a time set by the host charter president.
Charter officers are to send, in writing, to the host charter president, by the entry deadline, any subject they would like discussed at the State officer’s meeting. (Snail mail or email is acceptable).
24. Opening ceremonies are to be conducted between shifts near mid-day Saturday. The ceremonies should, at a minimum, honor the Flag, deceased members, any special guests, charter officers and in general be a dignified presentation.
__________________________Date __________________________Date
President NCHPA President SCHPA