KING CURLING CLUB SPARES POLICY - Revised December 2022
General
Curling is a team sport and as such the team suffers when a member of the team is unable show up to play.
When other commitments may interfere with a player’s ability to play, spares are used in order to ensure teams have a full complement of players and everyone enjoys the sport on a level playing ground.
This policy sets out some high-level guidelines for the use of spares. The existence of a sparing policy recognizes that appropriate use of spares is critical to the smooth functioning of all leagues in any curling club and if not handled in a fair and consistent manner will quickly become an irritant to all club members.
The sparing guidelines below have been created by your Executive and League’s Committee in the belief that guidelines may be more effective than detailed rules, as they allow for common sense to be applied in the spirit of good sportsmanship, fair play and in the interest of promoting an overall positive experience for KCC members.
Guidelines
When arranging for spares, KCC strongly recommends the following process:
- For leagues that have teams with a bye week, first approach the bye team skip or team member to ask if a team member is available
- Second is to ask a spare from the club league member spare list (available on the website or ask your convener).
- If no league spare members are available, then a club member outside the league spare list could be used as a spare.
- Non-club members may be used when it is not possible to arrange a spare from within the club or special circumstances exist. This can be an effective way to introduce new non-members to King. However, we ask that Non-club spares be limited to no more than 3 appearances in any given league.
- For competitive leagues with a registered 5th player the 5th player can be their first choice and for any additional spares the above recommendations still apply.
Please recognize that timing of need does not always allow for this exact process.
KCC members spare at no charge. Non-members pay a $10.00 fee. We ask skips to collect spare fees on behalf of the league convener. Fees can be put in an envelope clearly marked with spares name, date, and league spared in. Place envelope in mailbox outside Club Office
5TH PLAYER POLICY FOR COMPETETIVE LEAGUES
A – A fifth team member is a player selected by the team to act as their designated spare in the event one of the registered team members is not available for any game. There will be no cost associated to naming a 5th team member.
B – In order to qualify as a 5TH team member, they must be a current registered and paid member from any KCC league, this may include being a member of the league in which they will be a 5th team member.
C – A fifth team member will be considered a team member and not as a spare and as such will be allowed to play any position on the team. This also allows a team to play with one regular player, their 5th player and 2 additional spares and they will not default their game.
D – It will be left to each individual team to decide if they would like to name a 5TH member and if they choose to do so it will be that team’s responsibility to find and sign on the additional member.
E – If a team selects a 5th team member and in order to qualify as such it will be the skips responsibility to provide the name of the 5th player to their league convener. This must be done during the registration period and the 5th team member must be confirmed and registered before the teams first game of the season.
F – If the 5th team member is part of the mixed team entry league rules below regarding gender will still apply.
G -If a team has a designated 5th team member and that 5th team member is not available to play in a game when called upon then that team can use up to 2 regular spares as per the rules below.
H – A team may only use one 5th team member per curling season.
MEN / WOMEN TEAM ENTRY LEAGUES
1 -- A maximum of two spares on any team for a scheduled game and there must be at least two original team players on the team or offending team will forfeit.
2 -- An original team member must throw rocks in the positions of third and skip for seasonal and playoff games.
3 – A spare can call the game, but an original team player must throw skip rocks. The spare must play lead or second.
MIXED TEAM ENTRY LEAGUES
4 -- Mixed entry teams shall have no more than two female and two male members per team playing in a game. Positions for throwing must alternate gender, example male (lead),
female (second), male (third), female (skip).
Example -- If two members are missing from a team, one of each gender, the male and female spares would be required to throw lead and second, in no particular order as long as the alternating positions rule (4) is adhered to. Either spare could call the game.
5 -- Mixed entry teams having a situation where two members of one gender are absent would be permitted to deviate from item (4) in that one of the spares could Vice, however Skip rocks must be thrown by an original team member.
Example – Two males missing in a mixed entry team would permit one spare male calling the game, but that person must throw lead or third and the other male spare would throw either lead or third.
DAY AND SOCIAL LEAGUES
At the discretion of the league convener, however it is suggested the Team Entry League format be maintained whenever possible. Playoffs in ALL leagues would abide by Team Entry Sparing guidelines.
TUESDAY AND THURSDAY MIXED RECREATIONAL LEAGUES
Due to the nature of these leagues, i.e., teams are assigned on a weekly basis, spares are not required. Members of other leagues will be allowed to participate a maximum of three times during the season at no charge as an introduction to the format.
After a three game “trial”, registration and payment are required.
The $10.00 fee will apply to non-members who wish to try these leagues.
Long Term Replacement Players: If a team requires a replacement player for any reason and the expected duration is 10 weeks or more. A new player will be selected or assigned to the Team. This player will be of equal to, or as close to caliber of the player being replaced and may assume a position equal to or lower than the player being replaced. (ex. A Skip may be replaced by a Skip). The replacement player must be approved by the League Convener and Respective Leagues Director. This player will be deemed a Regular Team member and is not considered a “spare” for the purposes of the spare policy.
Replacement for Players with extended injury or Illness: In the unfortunate circumstance that a team player is unable to play for an extended period (4 weeks or more) due to an illness or injury a “Medical Spare” will be assigned to the team. As to not penalize the rest of the team in respects to player minimums, the following guidelines will be followed
- The Medical Spare must be requested and approved by the League Convenor and respective Leagues Director, and once assigned will be considered a temporary “Team Member”
- As a temporary “Team Member” they will not be counted as a spare in regards to the minimum number of Team players (2) required. It is expected that the Medical Spare will play all games, however if they are unable to play a game, then the player replacing the Medical Spare will be considered as a spare and quota will apply, and regular spare policy applies.
- The Medical Spare should be equal to, or as close to, the skill level of the player being replaced. If the player being replaced regularly plays in a Vice or Skip position, the Medical Spare could throw as high as Vice stones, but not Skip stones. Otherwise, they will throw Lead or Second stones.
- If the Medical spare is currently a member of KCC no additional spare fees would apply. If the Medical Spare is not currently a member of KCC then a prorated fee would be charged as determined by Membership Director.
- This rule applies to all Leagues that have regular team assignments (Social and Team Entry)
- This rule does not apply for absence due to vacations.
