Evening Men Rules

OAKVILLE CURLING CLUB – EVENING MEN’S LEAGUE RULEBOOK

 

SECTION 1 — REGULAR SEASON RULES

1. GENERAL RULE

The Evening Men’s League follows the Oakville Curling Club (OCC) Policy Rules for Play and the Ontario Curling Association (OCA) regulations unless otherwise stated in this document. These rules apply to all teams, players, and games throughout the regular season.

• All players must uphold OCC standards of sportsmanship, safety, and respectful conduct.
  • Skips are responsible for managing their team’s behaviour and resolving disputes calmly.
  • Rule interpretation issues should be discussed between skips before involving the Convenor.
• A team must have a minimum of three eligible players to begin a game.
  • If a team cannot ice three players by the 30‑minute lateness threshold, the game is forfeited (refer to lateness section).
  • A team may finish with fewer than three players only in the case of injury, and only if both skips agree.
• Spares must meet substitution rules.
  • Teams are responsible for confirming spare eligibility before the game.
  • Using an ineligible spare will result in an automatic Loss.
• All players must be OCC members in good standing.
  • Membership fees must be paid in full.
  • Suspended or delinquent members are not eligible.

 

2. TEAMS

Teams enter the Evening Men’s League through the club’s standard registration process.

• Each team must register four to six players, list all names and intended positions.
  • Positions may change during the season, but the registered roster determines playoff eligibility.
• If total entries exceed league capacity, precedence is determined by date of entry. However, the league convenor has the discretion to adjust team entries to ensure the proper competitive balance of the league.
• Returning teams are encouraged to register early.
• New teams are accepted after returning teams are placed.
• A player may not be registered on more than one Men’s League team.
• Teams must maintain communication with the league.
  • Skips must ensure their team receives schedule updates and rule changes.
  • Roster changes must be reported promptly.

 

3. TEAM SEEDING – START OF SEASON

Teams are placed into divisions (A–E) based on a structured seeding process designed to maintain competitive balance.

• Seeding is based primarily on the previous season’s final standings, prior to playoffs.
• Returning teams are prioritized based on roster continuity:
  • Four returning players = highest priority
  • Three returning players = secondary priority
• New teams are seeded by the Convenor based on:
  • Known skill level
  • Past performance
  • Division balance
• Teams switching nights (Tuesday ↔ Thursday) are placed in the lowest position of the division they finished in the previous year.
• Returning teams retain priority if at least one member registers before the early‑payment deadline.

 

4. LATENESS

The club clock is the official timekeeper. If a team does not commence play at the designated time and has not notified the opposing team, the following will apply:

• 5 minutes late: Opponent receives hammer.
• 10 minutes late: Opponent receives 1 point + hammer; first end considered played.
• 20 minutes late: Opponent receives another point (total 2) + hammer; two ends considered played.
• 30 minutes late: Game is forfeited.

• Additional notes:

o   Teams may begin with three players.

o   A late player may join at the start of the next end.

o   Lateness penalties are not negotiable.

 

5. RESCHEDULING – REGULAR SEASON

• Games must be played before the final scheduled game of the series to count.
• The team requesting the reschedule must propose reasonable alternatives.
• If teams cannot agree on a time:

o   The cancelling team records a Loss.

o   A tie may be recorded only if both teams agree and the Convenor approves. However, marking a tie for an un-played game is strongly discouraged.

• Unless played to a tie, the final round‑robin game of each series must have a winner.
• The Convenor will arbitrate disputes; the decision is final.

 

6. ENDS – REGULAR SEASON

• All regular season games are a maximum of eight ends.
• A new end is deemed to have started once last rock of the team with hammer is in motion.

7. TIES – REGULAR SEASON

• Ties are permitted.
• No extra ends are played.
• Each team receives the points associated with a tie.

 

8. FREE GUARD ZONE – REGULAR SEASON

• The 5 Rock Rule applies.
• No opponent stone in the FGZ may be removed until the sixth stone of the end.
• Violations result in:
  • Removal of the delivered stone
  • Replacement of all affected stones

 

9. NO TICK RULE – REGULAR SEASON

• Applies only to Division A.
• A stone touching the center line in the FGZ may not be moved off the centre line until the sixth stone.
• If a stone is moved off the centre line, the non-offending team has 2 options.
  • They can have the centre guard placed in its original spot, OR
  • They can choose to leave the stones where they rest.

 

10. ELIGIBILITY – REGULAR SEASON

Eligible players include:

• Full Members
• Intermediate Members
• Full‑Time Student Male Members
• All must be in good standing

Players must be registered with the OCC for the current season.
A player may only be registered on one Men’s League team.

Using an ineligible player results in an automatic Loss.

 

11. PLAYER REPLACEMENT – REGULAR SEASON

Permanent replacements may be approved if:

• A player resigns or transfers
• A player misses three consecutive games without notice
• A player suffers illness/injury causing three or more absences

Additional rules:

• If a team cannot find a replacement within three weeks, the league may assign one.
• Replacements must be approved before the end of the regular season.
• Playoff rosters are locked at the end of the regular season.

 

 

12. CLUB BELL RULE – REGULAR SEASON

Early Games (6:40 p.m.)

• Bell at 1:35 after start → finish current end + play one more.

Late Games (9:00 p.m.)

• Same rule as early games.

Safety Clarification

• A new end is deemed to have started once last rock of the team with hammer is in motion. i.e. the 7^th end is deemed to have started once the last rock of the 6^th end is in motion.

Deliberately delaying a game is not an acceptable practice and is not in keeping with proper curling etiquette.

 

13. SUBSTITUTIONS – GENERAL

Spares may come from any league within the club, provided the individual is registered as either a league member or a spare member. Practice Members are not eligible to spare in any league.

• It is the responsibility of both the Skip and the spare to ensure that all membership and eligibility requirements are met. Using an ineligible spare will result in an automatic Loss for the offending team and a Win for the non‑offending team.
• Sparing rules are considered self‑policed. Teams are expected to address and resolve any sparing concerns before the game begins. In most cases, placing a spare at lead will resolve eligibility issues.
• If a team believes that a rule has been breached—or may have been breached—the matter should be brought to the League Convenor, who will review the situation and take any action deemed appropriate.
• In‑game substitutions are not permitted. If a player must leave or cannot continue, the team may finish the game with fewer players, provided they are not already in a forfeit situation.
• A late player may join at the start of the next end.

When a team plays with three players,

• The Lead and Second each throw three stones, and the Skip throws two stones.
• If both teams are playing with three players, the Skips may mutually agree to play six‑rock ends.

Teams must follow both the letter and spirit of the rules.

 

14. SUBSTITUTIONS – REGULAR SEASON

Minimum and Maximum Players

• Must have minimum 3 players
• Must have one roster member present.
• Up to two spares may be used.

Spare Position Restrictions

• A spare must play the open position or lower.
• Only 1 spare can come from two or more divisions higher as they must play lead only.

Division Spare Matrix

Sparing in >	A	B	C	D	E
I am in A	Open or lower	Open or lower	Lead	Lead	Lead
I am in B	Open or lower	Open or lower	Open or lower	Lead	Lead
I am in C	Open or lower	Open or lower	Open or lower	Open or lower	Lead
I am in D	Open or lower	Open or lower	Open or lower	Open or lower	Open or lower
I am in E	Open or lower	Open or lower	Open or lower	Open or lower	Open or lower

Spare Eligibility

• Must be a registered OCC member.

 

15. TEAM LADDER POINT ALLOCATION

Points per game:

Flight	Win	Loss	Tie
A	12 pts	7 pts	9.5 pts
B	11 pts	6 pts	8.5 pts
C	10 pts	5 pts	7.5 pts
D	9 pts	4 pts	6.5 pts
E	8 pts	3 pts	5.5 pts

 

 

16. TEAM SEEDING – REGULAR SEASON (SERIES MOVEMENT)

Upon completion of each series teams will be ranked within their division based on the total cumulative number of points over the season.

• After ranking, the two top teams will move up a division (except in division A), and the bottom two teams will move down a division (except in division E). 
• A team cannot move more than one division at the end of a series. These points will then be used to order the teams within each new division.
• This ordering is most relevant at the end of series three going into the playoffs, when within each division the first playoff round will consist of team 1 playing team 8, team 2 playing team 7, etc.

Ties in team points at the conclusion of a series will be broken as follows:

1. 2-way tie: head-to-head record of the current series, the winner is ranked higher
2. 3-way tie: head-to-head record amongst the three teams in the current series is used first. If all three teams have beaten each other refer to step 4. 
3. 4-way tie: head-to-head record amongst the 4 team is used first. If one team is clear cut winner, remove them and proceed with 3-way tiebreaking. 
4. If still tied, absolute number of wins in the current series, where the team with more wins is ranked higher
5. If still tied, the higher ranked team at the beginning of this series is ranked higher at the end of this series.
6. A team moving up from the division below will be ranked lower, while a team moving down from a division above will be ranked higher.

If need be, the Men’s Convenor will determine any disputes in the ladder standings.

 

SECTION 2 — PLAYOFF RULES

17. TEAM SEEDING – PLAYOFFS

After the third series, teams will be reseeded based on total points accumulated throughout the regular season.  Teams will participate in a double-elimination knockout to determine which teams advance to the crossover playoffs.

• The two-up and two-down rule does not apply for Division Playoffs.
• However, a team cannot move up or down more than one (1) division.

 

18. HAMMER RULE – PLAYOFFS

Division Playoffs (Double‑Elimination)

• Higher seed → choice of hammer or colour.

Crossover Playoffs (Single‑Elimination)

Hammer determined only by LSD.

• Flip a coin for 1st Practice and Clockwise rotation LSD/or 2nd Practice and Counterclockwise rotation 
• The team with 1st Practice gets choice of colour.
• Each team gets two practice stones and then the third stone countsas final LSD (Sweeping can be used).
• If both teams put the rock on the button, another member must throw the next draw with no practice and no sweeping. 
• To expedite the timing of this process, each team should alternate throws.

 

19. EXTRA ENDS – PLAYOFFS

• Playoff games cannot end in a tie.
• A full extra end is played.
• Additional extra ends played if needed.

 

20. RESCHEDULING – PLAYOFFS

• Postponed games are not permitted.
• Games may be played early with Convenor approval.
• If a team cannot field a lineup based on the playoff substitution requirements → Forfeit.

 

21. BELL RULE – PLAYOFFS

Division Playoffs

• Bell at 1:35 → finish current end + one more.

Crossover Playoffs

• No bell applies.
• All games are played to completion.

 

22. TIES – PLAYOFFS

• No ties permitted.
• Extra ends are played towards the home end until a winner is determined.

 

23. FREE GUARD ZONE – PLAYOFFS

• 5 Rock Rule applies.
• Violations → removal and replacement.

 

24. NO TICK RULE – PLAYOFFS

• Applies only to Division A.
• If a stone is moved off the centre line, the non-offending team has 2 options.
  • They can have the centre guard placed in its original spot, OR
  • They can choose to leave the stones where they rest.

 

25. SUBSTITUTIONS – PLAYOFFS

To promote fairness, playoff spare rules are modified from the regular season spare rules. Failure to comply with the spare rules will result in a forfeiture.

Minimum Team Composition

• Minimum 3 players and must have two roster members present.
• Maximum two spares are allowed per game.

Spare Eligibility

• Teams should declare before the game that they are using a spare.
• You are allowed a maximum of one/two spares per game.
• Juniors are not eligible to spare.
• Playoff spares MUST be a member of the men’s league, spare list only players are not eligible to spare for the playoffs.
• Playoff spares can play in the open position or lower. 
• Playoff spares, who are part of a regular Tuesday or Thursday evening men's team, can only spare for teams in the same division or higher. For example, a player who plays in Division B can only spare for teams in A or B and cannot spare for teams in C or below. 
• An exception for this rule is for Division E. Because there are no lower divisions; Division E teams can source a spare from a team in Division D. 
• Crossover game spares can only use a player who has not competed in the Crossover Playoffs

Replacement exemption for travelling or injured team members

We understand that some flexibility is required for team members who are injured or are travelling during the playoffs. If a team member is unable to play in the playoffs, they can be replaced with certain conditions:

• The player being replaced cannot play another game in the playoffs
• The replacement player can be from the spare list; however, a team must ensure that the skill/experience level spare list player is consistent with the skill level of their division. The convenor will make the final assessment.
• Replacement players must be requested and approved by the men’s league convenor in writing (via email).

26. OCC SWEEPING RULES

• No corn brooms or hair brooms can be used for sweeping, but they can be used for delivery
• Hardline plastic inserts must be removed.
• Only WCF‑approved foam heads permitted.
• WCF sleeves encouraged.
• Equipment may be inspected at any time.

 

27. RUNBACK BREWING CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP SELECTION

The Oakville Curling Club men's team representative for the Runback Brewing Curling Club Championship will be selected each fall from qualified teams that participated in the preceding season's Evening Men's League A division playoffs. The teams will be evaluated in the following order, until a qualified team is available to play:

Priority order:

1. A‑Division Champion
2. A‑Division Finalist
3. Looking at the remaining two teams in the semi-finals, if they are both from the same evening (either Tuesday or Thursday), then the highest ranked team at the start of the crossover playoffs shall be selected. If they are from different evenings, then a one game playoff between the two teams shall be arranged and the winner of that game shall be selected.
4. Looking at the remaining four teams of the quarterfinals, if they are all from the same evening (either Tuesday or Thursday), then the highest ranked team at the start of the crossover playoffs shall be selected. If they are from different evenings, then a one game playoff between the two top-ranked teams at the start of the crossover playoffs shall be arranged and the winner of that game shall be selected.

If none of the 8 teams that participated in the A division quarterfinals is available to play, Oakville will forfeit its entry in that year.

Teams must meet all Curling Ontario eligibility requirements.