The BowlsChat Scramble 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons were interrupted by Covid-19 and all the player qualifications and Ranking Points have been carried over to a new combined 2019-22 season that ends on 30th September 2022.
All Grand Finals will be held at the end of the season, see the new BowlsChat Sport Website for full details and an up to date list of qualifiers.
There is a full Outdoor, Indoor and Short Mat schedule of 3 week Leagues and 1 day Events planned for the year ahead and all information, including draws, results and tables, will be available throughout the season on the BowlsChat/BowlsChat Sport websites, mobile apps (free download on the App Store and Google Play) and social media.
All leagues and events are open to anyone who pays the entry fee and agrees to abide by the rules with any combination of entry allowed (All Male, All Female or Mixed) and players in the same team may be from one or more clubs.
The details tab in the Registration area for each Scramble League or Event contains all relevant information and links.
All players and subs must register their Covid-19 Contact Details if they wish to play in any Scramble Event during the season.
The Jim Baker Stadium has extensive Covid-19 precautions in place for their Indoor Leagues, including temperature checks on arrival and one way systems and additional measures are in force for Scramble Indoor/Short Mat events to ensure as safe an environment as possible for all players.
A Live Stream of part or all of each league or event will be available on the BowlsChat/BowlsChat Sport websites, apps and social media and selected matches will be recorded for the BowlsChat YouTube Channel.
Prizes
The number and value of prizes in all BowlsChat Scramble Leagues and Events will depend on the level of entries and additional sponsorship received for the Prize Pool.
Leagues
All leagues will have ten Pairs in each Section and run for three weeks at the Jim Baker Stadium, repeating until the end of the season with three games each week.
A maximum of 40 pairs in 4 sections will be allowed in each 3 week league (see poster below with information about the venue, entry fees, registration, payment, practice, fixtures, mat allocations, scorecards and Champions League Final). A sub may be used by a pair if a player is not available and the sub must play lead in all games.
Any player with/without a partner may join the Standby List and will be used as cover for any players/pairs than cannot play each week and do not have a sub, if no other option is available. There should be at least 2 players on the standby list for each active section.
There are 4 prizes in each 3 week League:
1 section - Top 4 places
2 sections - Top 2 places in each section
3 sections - Winners of each section and the best runner up of all sections
4 sections - Winner of each section
Champions League Qualification
1. Each 3 week Scramble League is a unique event and any combination of pair and subs may enter and compete for prizes in the League.
2. However qualification in the 3 week Scramble Leagues for each Champions League Final (a separate event) must be a unique pair with names confirmed to BowlsChat before the start of the next 3 week league (we will announce the qualifying teams and ask for two names to be confirmed).
3. Any pair in a 3 week league that includes, for any of their league games, a player or sub who have already qualified for the Champions League Final and been confirmed to BowlsChat, will NOT be considered for a qualifying place in the next Champions League Final for that league (the pair and subs may compete in the 3 week league for prizes, see rule 1 above).
4. Subs are allowed in the final and if confirmed to us in advance, the name of the team will be changed to reflect the surnames of the players (subs may not have been used by another pair that has qualified for the finals)
Champions League Finals
All Champions League Finals will have a Group and Knockout Stage, with 3 games in each Group and the Group Winners going through to the Semi Final Knockout.
The position in each Group Table will be decided by Points, Shot Difference, Shots For and Games Won, in that order and if any teams are tied, the single end tie-break rule will be used to decide the place for each team.
If scores are level in a Knockout match, the extra end tie break rule will be used to decide which team goes through.
There are prizes for the Winner, Runner-Up and 2 losing semi-finalists in he Champions League Final.
Events
All Outdoor, Indoor and Short Mat one day events will be either Singles, Pairs, Triples, Fours, Top 5 or Top 10 and have a round-robin Group Stage followed by a Knockout Stage (Cup and Plate) at their venue.
The entry fee for all one day events is £10 per player (see poster above).
Groups - All players/teams will be drawn in Groups of 4 at the start of a tournament and play round-robin matches (3 points for a win, 1 point each for a draw) to decide the final places in the Group Table, based on (in order) Points, Shot Difference and Shots For. A two bowl playoff will decide any placings that are still equal (see rules).
Knockout Draw - There is no open draw for the Knockout Stage, the top two in each group go through to the cup, bottom two go through to the plate and there is an automatic process for fixtures/mats/rinks (for example, Winner of Group 1 v Runner Up in Group 8, Winner of Group 2 v Runner Up in Group 7, 3rd Place in Group 1 v 4th Place in Group 8 etc for 8 Groups).
Continuous Play - A match may start as soon as the mat/rink is available, there is no need to wait as all mats/rinks are allocated for matches through to the final in advance of a tournament and all players will be aware of where their next match is to be played.
Matches - All matches will be a number of ends with shots used to decide the winner and the number of ends at each stage will depend on the type of tournament and event.
Extra Ends (Tie Breaks)
A tied match will be decided by an Extra End
Toss a coin to start and the winner of the toss has choice of taking the jack
The closest bowl to the jack wins the Extra End
Touchers are not marked and any bowl entering the ditch area will be removed
No dead ends allowed, a Player/Team causing a dead end will automatically lose the Extra End
Registration
There are a number of different ways to enter an event with you name, club and a contact number or email address:
1.Text or call BowlsChat in the Scramble WhatsApp Group
2. Send a message on the BowlsChat Facebook Page
3. Send an email to [email protected]
4. Register Online at https://www.bowlschat.com/events and select Offline Payment*
5. Click on the Sign Up Button on our Facebook Page and follow Step 4
Online Entry for an event is through the Individual Player or Group (Multiple Players) Registration process on the website. A Group Registration allows one person to enter any number of players (the person making the registration does not need to enter the event unless they wish to do so).
Waiting Lists
If the maximum number of entries has been reached, any additional entries will be automatically placed on a Waiting List until a vacancy is available (no payment is required to join a Waiting List).
Ranking Points
Ranking Points will be awarded for places in the Cup and Plate for one day events and positions in the table for 3 week leagues*, with prizes awarded to the top 3 players at the end of the 2019/22 season (value depends on the number of leagues and tournaments as well as any sponsorship received).
The Ranking Points Table is updated at the end of each month.
*The 3 week leagues use the nearest Cup column below the total number of entries in each section for Ranking Points (for example a 10 pair section would allocate 10 points to the winner and 5 points to the runner-up and the Champions League Finals use the 16 entries column).
All the one day event Grand Finals use the 32 entries column for Ranking Points.
Prize Draw and Store Discounts
A free draw will be held during each 3 week league and one day event with prizes for the players.
Special offers in the BowlsChat Store will be available for Scramble players during selected leagues and events in the 2019/22 season.
Shuffle Events
The Shuffle is a Knockout Competition with a multi-purpose variation that gives all players, win or lose, a game in each round as well as Ranking Points at the end of the event.
Winners play Winners and Losers play Losers in each round.
It is NOT a league, a round-robin, a group/KO or any other type of league with a WDL format.
The variation allows for any number of entries, rounds, KO competitions at the same time (Cup/Plate/Shield/Trophy etc), points and format to fit in with the time available without changing the core structure of the Shuffle.
BowlsChat Scramble Shuffle
The BowlsChat Scramble Shuffle is a 4 game x 8 ends variation that can be played any morning, afternoon or evening in about two and a half hours.
All Shuffle Events will be available on the BowlsChat Sport website and apps at https://www.bowlschatsport.com
There are no markers or umpires in the BowlsChat Scramble Shuffle.
Singles Matches Only
The players start the game and each end at opposite ends of the rink with one player placing the jack and marking touchers etc while the other player delivers his/her bowl.
The players swop ends after each delivery and repeat the process until the end is completed.
Either of the players will measure shots if required and may ask a non-player on the next mat to decide which bow(s) are shot(s) only if it is impossible for the two players to agree.
The process repeats until the end of the game.
Note: If both players agree before a match, they may use a different process for each end during the game instead of the default option above.
Draw
All players draw a Mat number for their first game at Registration/Payment on arrival.
The large Registration Screen will show all mat numbers for players at each stage as well as the Mat Grid for the event with Mat numbers for Winners and Losers after each game.
Matches
All matches are 8 ends and must have a Winner or Loser. If scores are level after 8 ends, a tie-end is played (same format as a normal end).
Next Match
Players move to their next available mat after each game until the end of the event.
Scorecards
Scorecards for all matches on a mat will be placed in an envelope at the end of the mat (one scorecard for each game).
Scorecards will show the next mat for the Winner on the top left of the card and Loser on the top right of the card (details also available on the front of the envelope and the large screen beside registration).
The winner returns the scorecard to the registration desk.
Extra scorecards are available if 2 are required for a match.
Format
There are 4 games in the BowlsChat Scramble Shuffle.
Winners play Winners and Losers play Losers in the next game and the process repeats until the end of the event.
Points and Prizes
The Winner of a match receives 3 points.
Win the first 3 games to reach the final with up to 3 finals possible depending on entries (one final per 16 entries).
1st Prize - Win 4 in a row (also receive 2 bonus points)
2nd Prize - Win the first 3 games (also receive 1 bonus point)
3rd Prize – Best player/team that wins any 3 games apart from the first 3 (decided by Shot Difference, Shots For, Head to Head and Earliest Win in that order)
4th Prize – Best Player/team that wins any 2 games (decided by Shot Difference, Shots For, Head to Head and Earliest Win in that order)
If there is more than one best player/team for 3rd/4th place, the prize is shared (Note: Head to Head is only used if they played each other during the event).
The Prize Pool and number/value of prizes always depends on the number of entries.
Ranking Points
The points for each player/team at the end of a Shuffle Event will be shown in a Ranking Table and added to any relevant Ranking Table for one or more seasons.
Ranking Places/Table and Events
Ranking Tables will be used for qualification for special events in future seasons as well as the 2019/22 season (for example a top 16 singles event in 2022).
Sponsorship
We will be sponsoring a number of Outdoor, Indoor and Short Mat events over the next year, details to follow on the BowlsChat/BowlsChat Sport websites, apps and social media.
Associate Events
Any external event may send a request to [email protected] to be included as an Associate Event of the Scramble and will have one of more of the following:
Associate Tournament with Associate Prizes and Scramble Ranking Points
Scramble Coupons in Prizes for any of the Scramble Tournaments/Leagues
Scramble Coupons in Prize Draws for any of the Scramble Tournaments/Leagues
