WELSH PLAYERS ASSOCIATION (W.P.A.)  
(Affiliated to the W.C.G.B.A.)


RULES / FORMAT
The WPA was formed in 2008 to promote the game of bowls and provide high quality competition for all those players with ambition.
The Competition shall be known as the Welsh Players Association (Hereafter called W.P.A) but this may be altered to meet any condition of sponsorship.

1 The officials of the competition shall be President, Chairman, V/Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Tournament Officer, I.T & Planning Officer + 1 player representative from each of the 4 areas.

2 The competition will consist of 40 players playing on 4 different venues across the area, 20 players in a.m session commencing 10.00 hrs and 20 players in pm session commencing 1400 hrs.with 30 mins practice time allocated before play in each session.

3 Each player will be requested to forward to the Tournament Official, 2 x am & 2 x pm dates in which they would wish to participate. In the event of any special difficulties, players concerned can contact Geraint by e-mail, telephone or text (details below) whose decision shall be final. Scratch time 15 mins after start.

4 In each session players will draw at random a numbered bib, which will then allocate them to the specific group in which they will play. In a group of four, each player plays 2 games. The playing order shall be 1v2, 3v4, loser of 1/2v loser of 3/4, winner of 1v2v winner of 3/4. All games shall be 21 up. Ranking points shall be allocated as follows: - winner 10 points. 2nd 6 pts, 3rd 4pts, 4th 2 points. In event of players failing to turn up for any session without a 7 day prior notification, 2 points will be deducted from his running total.

5 Each player taking part in competition shall pay £25 affiliation fee or £15 if they are a qualifier from the previous year, which shall be paid by end of March in each year + £10 per 4 sessions.

6 Players will receive £10 for each game won in their group in each of the 4 sessions with the 1 st in the group receiving an extra £10.

7 At the end of the 4 sessions the 16 players with the highest aggregate points will compete in a finals day with the format  1 v 16, 2v 15, etc etc .The overall champion will receive the trophy together with a cash prize which shall be dependent on the amount of sponsorship that has been attracted, with each of the 15 remaining players receiving appropriate lesser amounts. The bowler that leads the averages at the end shall receive a trophy together with a monetary award  
That management will decide ALL prize money dependent on level of Sponsorship/Fund raising efforts'


8 The top 28 players in the final ranking table will be invited to participate in the ensuing years competition with the remaining 12 places being played for in an open qualifying competition which shall be held each year and played in the same format as the main competition. There will be a minimum cut off point of 24 players.

9 In event of a non turn up of one of the registered 40 players then a reserve will be asked to play this player shall be taking in strict rotation from the official list arrived at from the qualifying competition, this player could become a registered member if the registered player fails to turn up in the first week of the competition.

10 Dress code shall be as per BCGBA Code i.e. Collared Shirt & Grey or black trousers + Sponsorship Bib which must be worn.

11 The Management Committee reserves the right to take any disciplinary action that they feel appropriate if or when it is necessary.

Anything not covered in these rules, will be decided by the WPA Committee and their decision is deemed final.