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MMDL Dart Rules

MINUTE MAN DART LEAGUE, INC.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

ALL RULES AND REGULATIONS, ADDITIONS, DELETIONS OR CHANGES THEREOF MAY BE MADE AT THE DISCRETION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE MMDL BY A MAJORITY VOTE.

ARTICLE I - EQUIPMENT

A) ALL LEAGUE COMPETITION, including tournaments and playoffs, shall be played on a standard English bristle board with a 20 point clock-face of the hand wired variety, that is, with the wires on the outside of the board separating the single, the double and the triple sections.

B) Dartboards shall be placed 5'8" from the floor to the center of the bulls-eye with the 20 bed at the top center. The front edge of the toe line (edge closest to the shooter) will be 7' 9 1/4" from the surface of the board. The diagonal measurement, from the center of the bulls-eye to the toe line shall be 9' 7 3/8". The toe line shall be no longer than 36" or 18" to either side of center.

C) The Pub owner or club will be responsible for supplying and maintaining the League play dartboard which must be acceptable to both the home and visiting teams.

D) The dartboard shall be firmly anchored and WELL ILLUMINATED.

E) The dartboard shall be positioned so that it is readily available to the players without distraction to the thrower.

F) A scoring surface must be provided and located in such a manner that it can be read by both players and spectators.

G) Any non-compliance of the above should be reported to your Area Director. The Home team may lose up to 5 points if improper conditions exist.

H) All darts must have a single one piece metal point. No "split-tip" darts are allowed.

ARTICLE II - DATES & TIMES OF MATCHES

A) All league competition is scheduled for Tuesday night except where noted exceptions appear on the Schedule of Play.

B) Any match rescheduled (except as noted above) through the mutual consent of the involved team Captains MUST be played prior to the Saturday before the next regularly scheduled match.

C) Starting time for the first match is 7:30 P.M. sharp. A match MUST be underway by 8:00 P.M. or be subject to a 2 point penalty at the discretion of the Board.

D) The MMDL Board of Directors reserves the right to reschedule any match or matches in order to maintain an equitable and efficient competition schedule.

ARTICLE III - MATCH PROFILE

A) Each match will consist of the following order of play:

1.   2 games of 601, 3 person teams, double start, double finish and each win will gain 1 match point.

2.   3 games of doubles, abbreviated Cricket, no points are required (although points are allowed) and the calling of the number being thrown at is not required. Super A Division teams will play a best 2 out of 3 in doubles (abbreviated Cricket) during the regular season and playoffs. Each completed match will gain 1 match point.

3.   6 individual matches, each to be 2 out of 3 games of 301, double start, double finish. If a third game is necessary, the loser of the second game calls the coin toss to have choice for cork. Closest to cork starts the third game. Each match won will gain 1 match point.

B) The visiting team starts the first 3 person team game and the home team starts the second. In each Cricket game, one person is chosen from each doubles team to throw for cork, the closest to the cork starts the game. If a tie occurs, both shooters throw for cork in reverse order. The visiting team throws first for cork in the first and third games and the home team throws first for cork in the second game. The visiting team starts the first 301 match, the home team starts the second and so on. In each of these 301 matches the visitor or home team (as stated above) starts the first game, the loser of the first game starts the second game. If a third game is necessary, the winner of a flip of a coin (called by the loser of the second game) will have a choice of throwing first or second at the cork, the closest to the cork starts the third game. If a tie occurs, throw over for cork in reverse order. A throw is valid if the dart remains anywhere in the dartboard. A single or double cork may be pulled when recognized by the second shooter. If the second darts knocks out the first dart from the board, both darts will be rethrown in reverse order. Both darts must remain in the dartboard. A SINGLE CORK DOES NOT BEAT A SINGLE CORK! Both must be rethrown in reverse order (second shooter going first). A DOUBLE CORK BEATS A SINGLE CORK!!!

C) The playing line-up must be completed by both team Captains before 7:30 P.M. and must be completed in the blind. The visiting Captain must submit a complete line-up to the home Captain after the home Captain has completed his/her side of the match report. All playing spots must be filled in with a registered player's name. If a posted player is not present for his/her turn to play, one of the team's registered players can play in the absent players place providing that the substitute is not being used in the same event. Once the substitution has been made, the origional player will be ineligible to play in that event. If no substitution has been made and the original player on the roster arrives to play, he/she may step in and play at their regular turn in the rotation without warm-ups.

D) All nine registered members of a team can be used in any order in any spot on their team's line-up. No player can shoot in two of the same events; two301, two Crickets, or both 601 matches.

E) The submitted line-up will be the playing order of the match. The match will start with the 601 games played in 1-2 order; the second event will be the Cricket games in 1-2-3 playing order, and the final event of the match will be the 6-301 games. Each of the games in each event will be played by the players in the order that their names were submitted on the line-up. The playing order for all of the matches will follow the correct numerical sequence, e.g. player 1 plays player 1 for the first match and so on down the line-up.

F) The home team has the prerogative of choosing the board on which the match is to be played if there is more than one board in the pub and providing the board and set-up meet the requirements set forth in Article I of these rules.

G) No later than 30 minutes prior to the time competition is scheduled to begin, the game board shall be cleared of play by the management. The board will then be declared open and will be available for player warm-up. All warm-up activities must be completed by 7:30. IMPORTANT: After the warm-up session, each player is allowed only 4 rounds (12 darts) for practice before each match.

H) The Captains are responsible for the smooth running of each match.

I) Any disputes that arise during the course of play must be settled in private conference of the Captains only.

J) In 601 and 301, when a double is thrown that ends the game, the game is over regardless of subsequent throws.

ARTICLE IV - PLAYOFFS

A) ALL teams in the playoffs must call their Area Director to be certain you are playing the correct team. Week #14 match results are not always complete. If your week #14 is a zero, report your score to your Area Director.

B) ALL winning teams must call the results to their Area Director within twenty-four (24) hours of the completion of the playoff match. Failure to do so may result in expulsion from further playoff rounds.

C) Playoff matches must be played on Tuesday and Thursday nights (home and home) unless different nights are agreed to by both Captains and your Area Director.

D) All matches are scheduled to start at 7:30 P.M. If you are going to be late for whatever reason, call the other Captain and inform him/her of the situation.

ARTICLE V - TEAM PROFILE

A) A team shall consist of 9 players who will be registered with the MMDL. All 9 players must be twenty-one (21) years of age or the legal drinking age in Massachusetts.

B) A team roster will be made out with a minimum of 7 and a maximum of 9 players and submitted at the first Captain's meeting. Changes or deletions may be made during the season if a team has less than 7 players. Once a team has less than 7 players, the Captain may request from the Area Director the necessary additional players to bring the roster back to a total of 7 players. The new players cannot have played for another team in the current season and must be of a similar caliber as the other players in that division. The player/players removed from the roster cannot be used for the rest of the season.

C) A team Captain can request positive identification of any player on the opposing team and the request must be complied with.

D) No player may play in more than one area or on more than one team during any one season. A player may change areas from season to season, but may not play in two or more areas during one season.

ARTICLE VI - PENALTIES

A) A penalty will be declared for use of an unregistered player. It is a team's responsibility to accept the penalty of playing short handed if they can not field a team with only their registered players. The penalty for using an unregistered player will be the loss of all points in the events played by the unregistered player whether those events were won or lost. The penalties will be : Loss of one point for each game played by an unregistered player. Any game point won by an unregistered player will be awarded to the opposing team. The Captain of the offending team will be removed as Captain for the season.

B) Use of an unregistered player (or players) in the playoffs will result in the immediate expulsion of the offending team, regardless of the round. The illegal player and the whole team will be suspended for one year of play (two seasons) in the MMDL.

C) Should an unregistered player be discovered after the first (or subsequent) round of the playoffs and the team in question has won that round, the losing team will advance to the next round of the playoffs.

D) Should an illegal player not be discovered until after the MMDL State finals, the runner-up shall be declared the MMDL State Champion.

E) A match can be played with two or more players, but not with less than two. A match can start without a full team in attendance. When a match comes up and the scheduled player is not there to play the match, that particular game point will be awarded to the opposition in attendance. If schedule players are absent from both teams, no points for that game will awarded to either team.

F) A team having the minimum number of players but unable to field a full team will loose the respective number of points for each game not played and for team events will miss one turn for each missing player in each round of play, e.g. a team playing against a team with fewer players would play turn for turn per number of players against the opposition - a 2 person team playing a 3 person team would have only two turns for every three turns the opponents have. The doubles matches would have the light team throw once to the full team's twice.

G) A point (or points) will be deducted from both teams if the match report is not filled out correctly and completely.

H) A point will be deducted from the home team for a match report that is received late.

ARTICLE VII - SCORING

A) The Captain of each team is responsible for providing a scorer for each match. The option of scoring by the players themselves during the match can be exercised.

B) The home team is responsible for providing a "score recorder" who will attend to the match's entries on the Match Report sheet. The visiting team is responsible for having someone check the Match Report entries as they are made to see that information and names are correct. Entries must be made as they occur. A signed Match Report that is received by the MMDL will remain as received for record purposes.

C) The scorekeeper must verify the player's score for each turn prior to the player taking his/her thrown darts from the dartboard. For a dart to score it must remain in the board until the score has been called and verified. A player must not touch or move his/her darts while they are in the board until their score is verified.

D) A player must have both feet behind the toe line for each throw. If he/she has one or both feet over the toe line, the violating player should be warned upon completion of his/her turn by the opposing Captain. Repeated violations will result in his/her throw being invalid.

E) Any changes made to correct mistakes in scoring or calling must be made before the next turn of the player or team whose score is incorrect. Should a mistake not be noticed and corrected, the number that is thrown for is the number that counts (obvious mistakes such as deducting 50 from 601 and having a total of 351 left can be corrected at any time during the match as these are inadvertent mistakes which sometimes go unobserved for many turns).

F) If a player throws out of turn the opposing team has the option of having the round rethrown or allowing the round to stand as thrown.

G) The scorekeeper can only tell a player how much is left or what has been scored with the darts he/she has thrown. The scorekeeper cannot tell the shooter what to throw at. If the scorekeeper tells the player by mistake to throw a certain number for a finish and it proves to be a wrong number, the throw stands as thrown. The player is responsible for throwing at the right number.

H) COACHING IS ALLOWED!!!!!

I) All scoring in the 301 and 601 games should show the score for each turn and the remaining score. The use of Electronic Scoreboards is not recommended unless a written score is kept by the Captains at the same time the games are being played.

J) A scorekeeper shall face the scoreboard, remaining still as not to disturb the shooter in any way, until all three darts are thrown.

K) Any player or players who deem a scorekeeper incompetent may request another scorekeeper.

ARTICLE VIII - PROTESTS

The Captain of any team may file a protest for any irregularity of a match. The opposing team must be notified at the time of the protest that the game/match from that point on is being played under protest. Whenever possible, the protested match should continue until its conclusion. The protest must be filed with the MMDL in writing within 24 hours of the conclusion of the match in question. The protest must be on a separate standard size sheet of paper. Protests should be mailed to the Area Director, not sent in with the match report.

ARTICLE IX - PERSONAL CONDUCT

A) Heckling or other harassment is strictly forbidden. It is the home team's responsibility to maintain the best of order during League play.

B) The repeated use of foul or insulting language and/or resorting to physical violence shall be considered just cause for the penalizing of the offender and his/her team by the Board.

C) Talking by the members of the opposing team, within earshot of the shooter, about the current game or match and for the express purpose of distracting the shooter is not only impolite but poor sportsmanship and could result in a penalty.

D) Penalties of up to 3 points will be assessed to the offending team and suspensions will be levied at the Board's discretion.

ARTICLE X - DISPUTES

A) If the franchised Pub or Club owner does not want to field a team any longer, the team may move its' rostered players to another Pub or Club to finish the season.

B) The Board of Directors reserves the right to settle any disputes in accordance with the facts presented in the individual cases in question.

ARTICLE XI - FORFEITS

A) A team that does not show for a scheduled match will be removed from play for a period of one year (two seasons).

B) Points won and lost by this team during the current playing season will be adjusted within the division to maintain a fair and equitable playoff schedule.

Approved - July 19, 1978

Revised - July 1980

Revised - Sept 1982

Revised - Dec 1983

Revised - Sept 1986

Revised - Jan 1990

Revised - Sept 1994

PAST PRESIDENTS

1974-75 Paul Hong

1976-77 William Batty

1977-79 Harvey Sankey

1979-81 Don Skane

1981-83 Dick Brolin

1983-85 Mark Ingoldsby

1985-89 Dick Brolin

1989-91 John Bullock

1991- Gerry Cullen

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