TC- Meeting - World minigolf sport federation

WMF is a
member of:
Minutes of the WMF Technical Committee (TC) meeting
of 21st – 22nd February 2015
Location:
Hotel Dolce Villa
Nebušická 93, CZ-16400 Praha 6, Czech Republic
www.dolcevilla.cz
Duration:
from 21st February 2015 9.00
till 22nd February 2015 11.35
Present:
Pasi Aho – chairman
Jan Strandberg
Yuki Sakamaki (née Koshimura)
Jon Stanwyck
Ermes Franchini
Martin Tománek
1
(PA)
(JaS)
(YS)
(JoS)
(EF)
(MT)
Greetings, establishment of the quorum, voting rights
PA welcomes the participants of the meeting, thanks MT for organizing the
accommodation, meeting room and airport shuttles.
The quorum is established – the meeting has six participants, one vote each, in case of
voting any proposal needs a simple majority of votes to be approved.
2
Writer of the minutes, writer of the newsflash for WMF homepage,
approval of the agenda
MT is elected as the meeting secretary, PA will prepare the newsflash for
minigolfsportnews.com he will also take care of the WMF Facebook profile announcement.
The meeting agenda is approved with the following alterations:
Topic 7 (Final approval of official invitations for international championships 2015) is
cancelled – all 2015 invitations were checked and approved by TC members (EMF TC,
where applicable) before the meeting by e-mail communication, in order to publish them as
early as possible.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Headquarters:
World Minigolf Sport Federation, office manager Bengt Svensson, P.O. Box 13141, SE-402 52 Gothenburg, Sweden
Legal seat:
registered with seat in Sweden, registration number 802469-2041
Bank account:
SEB, SE-106 40 Stockholm, Sweden
IBAN SE80 5000 0000 0593 0828 6683; BIC ESSESESS
Website:
www.minigolfsport.com / office@minigolfsport.com
World Minigolf Sport Federation
page 2
Topic 14.1.7 is added – motion to change the maximum number of strokes per lane from 7
to 5. This is a motion from the Czech federation received after distribution of the agenda
draft.
Topic 14.1.8 is added – motions from the Swedish federation concerning penalties for
playing in a wrong order, feltgolf rules and drawings and other rules clarification, received
after distribution of the agenda draft
Topic 14.8 is added – starting fees for the WAGM
Topic 16.2 is added – change of the mode of the seniors world ranking list
3
Open topics from and approval of the minutes of the 2014 meeting
TC 2014 topic 6.1 – New ECup scheme to attract more organizer candidates: EF informs
that after the 2014 EMF Delegates Conference, the new ECup scheme is not relevant any
more.
TC 2014 topic 6.3 – PDF registration forms for entries of championships: the idea was
abandoned due to the ongoing problems with saving the filled form on devices using certain
operating systems.
All other open topics from 2014 were spread among other topic of the meeting agenda. The
2014 TC meeting minutes are finally approved.
4
Feedback intl. championships 2014
4.1
Feedback and remarks to the organization of the championships
TC members reported about the 2014 tournaments within their area of responsibility:
YWC Lahti, Finland: MT reports. Good competition overall with no serious problems, but
there was not enough staff for some stages of the tournament. For the mobile scoreboards in
the final rounds of team / strokeplay / matchplay competitions, volunteers had to be recruited
from the players who have already finished, because there was not enough organizers
available for this procedure. MT discussed the problems with the organizers at the end of the
tournament, they are aware that for successful organization of the 2015 WC general class,
more personnel will be needed. MT also sent an e-mail reviewing his experiences and
observations to PA to help him prepare himself for the 2015 WC general class organization.
EC Neutraubling, Germany: EF reports, no complaints whatsoever
SEC Murnau, Germany – no report given (EMF Senior Players Officer Wil van Disseldorp
was in charge)
ECup Schriesheim – PA, EF report. No problems with the competition itself, but some
participating teams have expressed their disappointment about the quantity of the food
received at the opening ceremony. Also, the start of the closing ceremony was severely
delayed.
Asian Championships, Kish Island, Iran – the tournament was cancelled by the AMF
decision two months before it should have started, due to the fact that too few participants
registered for the tournament to the date. Some of these players already had their flight
tickets booked by the date the AsC was cancelled and the question of compensations was
raised, YS however informs that there are no further complaints about it now.
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World Adventure Golf Masters Gothenburg, Sweden – PA reports. Good organization,
first ever participation of two teams from Spain is worth mentioning.
4.2
Feedback and remarks to the mode
No feedback or suggestions to alter the championships mode was received. MT reiterates
that the usual Youth Nations Cup mode was altered for the 2015 YNC in Ostrava, Czech
Republic to reflect the fact the venue has one course only.
There were no serious issue with time (delays) during the 2014 competitions.
4.3
Initiative to help young and small nations during practice – situation 2015
If there are any request for a support in 2015, the responsible tournament director will try to
organize it with the big nations.
4.4
Signatures WADA and media rights
Data from all forms collected through 2014 competitions were added to the database.
However, as the five-year validity period of these forms expired by the end of 2014, the
database is now obsolete and new forms must be filled in and collected from all
championships participants in 2015. PA informs that the new WADA code valid from 2015
does already exist and has been published, unlike the new forms for the period from 2015 on,
which are not prepared yet. WMF President G. Zimmermann is communicating the details of
new forms with WADA, PA will remind him that the forms will be needed soon for the Nations
Cups in Ostrava and Askim, they should be ready till the end of March therefore.
The procedure of building up the new database were discussed. Transferring the duty to the
national federations, as proposed by EF, was discussed but eventually rejected. MT suggests
to exploit the database of players created by the championships organizers as a result of the
tournament participants’ accreditation – as this list of players must be 100 % identical and it is
normally produced as an MS Excel file, it could save us lot of typing. Moreover, the names
are checked by teams for correct spelling during the accreditation procedure, which might
help to prevent incorrect and double entries in the database. This idea is accepted; the
tournament directors (PA, MT, EF and Wil van Disseldorp) should be then responsible for
adding the records from the forms collected for “their” tournaments in 2015.
4.5
Challenge trophies + organizer gifts etc. management
MT explains the situation with the female youth matchplay challenge trophy, which was partly
damaged on the way from Austria to the YWC in Lahti and terminally destroyed on the way to
Germany after the YWC. MT will contact the current holders of the other trophies and ask to
send him a good picture of their trophy, then he will try to obtain a new trophy as similar to
the old ones as possible (all four challenge trophies are supposed to look the same).
MT and PA will co-operate to obtain the organizer gifts for 2015 WMF events as necessary.
EMF have their own source of gifts and will act independently.
4.6
Best practices 2014
The result board for displaying live results in the final rounds of individual competitions,
operated during the EC in Neutraubling, was highly acclaimed by the present TC members
and also appreciated by many spectators during the competition.
Not really a best practice, but the procedure of “self-service” starting as used in Lahti (the
pairing receives scorecards from the speaker, there are no starters, every player in the
pairing has one practice shot, then all players in the groups mandatorily shake their hands to
show everyone that the round starts now, then the first player starts), although employed as
an emergency solution due to lack of staff, proved to work really well, there were no
World Minigolf Sport Federation
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confusion, the procedure ran very smoothly. It could be used in the future again to relieve the
organizer, who then needs two people less for the tournament.
MT proposes to create a subfolder with unrestricted access in the WMF Dropbox, to collect
photos, PDFs and other files documenting the best practices here. The link to the subfolder
then can be provided to the championships organizers as a source of inspiration (the
Championships Checklist can also contain a reference to this subfolder). The idea was
accepted by the TC. The subfolder “TC Best Practices” was created during the meeting and
will be updated with new files as necessary, EF agrees to be the administrator of the
subfolder.
4.7
Presence of head referee in the venue of championships (YC 2015 motion c)
MT explains the motion of the WMF Youth Committee to change the WMF Standing Orders
(Rulebook 3.1), paragraph 5.1.3: the regulation currently defines the presence of the referees
at the venue as “number of competition days plus two” (which means they are arriving one
day before the tournament starts and leaving the day after the tournament ends). This does
not reflect the fact that the head referee should be actually present at the coach meeting,
which takes place two days before the first tournament day in the ordinary championships
schedule. In fact, the head referee has been present two days before the competition in the
recent past, which was “legalized” by granting an exemption. Instead, YC proposes to grant
the head referee number of competition days plus three (plus four if needed due to bad flight
connection or similar important reasons). MT points out that the aim is to harmonize the
regulation with what has been the common practice for years anyway.
TC agrees that the change of Standing Orders is needed and supports the YC motion
unanimously. The proposal will be presented to the WMF Board for final approval.
4.8
Organizer manual of championships
TC reviews the first draft of the Tournament Director’s Guideline, as presented by MT. The
Guideline should be TC’s internal aid used by all tournament directors, describing the
preparation and run of the tournaments from the viewpoint of representative of an
international federation (unlike the Championships Checklist, which is more organizercentric). The aim is to provide the prospective tournament directors with a “to-do” list, as
exhaustive as possible, which may be also very helpful for any new (unexperienced)
tournament director in the future.
MT stresses that he expects a “peer review” from the other TC members, as the draft is
based on his experiences as a tournament director of youth events and some procedures
may work differently at general class and seniors championships. Discussion on splitting the
task between the tournament director and the organizers is also possible. The document
should be constantly updated as it is used, based on new experiences and “lessons learned”.
The document will be used by PA and MT during the 2015 WMF tournaments in Lahti and
Ostrava. Both tournament directors will follow the guideline as they work and try to confront
the guideline with the “real life situations”, as the preparations and the tournaments develop,
and suggest modifications, improvements and additions as necessary.
5.
Current situation of awarded international championships 2015 ff.
5.1
WC 2015 Lahti / FIN
PA: Lahti Open 2015 is organized on the Nations Cup weekend in May, instead of the
Nations Cup, just like in 2014 before the YWC. The date of PA’s inspection trip to Lahti is
not determined yet. Fairly high number of participants may be expected at the WC in
August due to some new nations.
World Minigolf Sport Federation
5.2
page 5
YNC / YEC 2015 Ostrava / CZE
MT is in permanent contact with the organizers, all preparations are running well. MT points
out that due to the fact the draft championships contract had been reviewed and edited by
various EMF/WMF bodies throughout 2014, he received the final version of contract for
Ostrava in mid-January and it was not signed by the Czech parties yet.
MT’s official inspection in Ostrava will take place in mid-March.
5.3
SNC / SEC 2015 Askim / SWE
Nothing to report.
5.4
ECup 2015 Appelscha / NED
Organization secured according to EF.
5.5
WAGM 2015 Hastings / GBR
PA is in permanent contact with the organizers. Contract to be signed very soon.
5.6
NC / EC 2016 Vizela / POR
Nothing to report.
5.7
YNC / YWC 2016 Bischofshofen / AUT
MT: WMF Board demanded a reassurance from the organizer that there will be enough
inexpensive accommodation available in the Bischofshofen area for the championships
period. This reassurance was given by Andreas Lackner to MT during the 2014 EC in
Neutraubling; MT was told the peak season for accommodation in Bischofshofen is only the
winter time and in summer, there is plenty of accommodation available.
5.8
SEC 2016 Lahti / FIN
Nothing to report.
5.9
ECup 2016 Neutraubling / GER
PA reports: An internal contract between the local organizer and the German federation is
being prepared, otherwise everything OK. It is planned to split the categories to both
courses. It is still to be decided which category will play which course.
5.10
AsC 2016 Yokohama / JPN
YS reports: for the tournament, a permanent miniaturegolf course will be used, there is also
some chance a felt course could be built next to it (in a car park) for the tournament. There
is no final decision about the date yet, it will preferably be one of the October’s weekends.
5.11
YNC / YWC 2017 Askim / SWE
Nothing to report.
5.12
ECup 2017 Algund / ITA
EF reports: There is an ongoing discussion with the club, but most likely, both courses
(miniature and felt) will be used for the tournament; if not, then the felt course it will be.
EF proposes to create a structure of subfolders corresponding with the WMF/EMF
tournaments; all documents related to the tournaments should be concentrated here as
World Minigolf Sport Federation
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they are created, so that all documents related to a tournament can be easily found in one
subfolder. TC agrees with the idea, EF will prepare an outline of the subfolders structure.
6.
Invitations of international championships in general
6.1
Improvement of the championship modes
TC discusses the motion from YC WMF, proposing to change the provisions for individual
matchplay championships, chapter “Mode and ranking”, stipulating that losers of the same
round are finally ranked at the same shared rank (e.g. all four losers of the quarterfinals are
ranked 5th) – currently, ranked according to their total results of qualification rounds. TC
decides to dismiss the motion and employ ranking as in tennis instead. EF will prepare a
specific proposal to be added to the championships regulations as part of the review
package and then approved by the WMF Board. Currently the ranking system is just
included in the invitations
6.2
Opening the YNC to U23 players
MT explains that the Board approved the general idea on its last meeting and asked the YC
to prepare a final, specific proposal which rules/regulations of the Rulebook should be
changed. This proposal was processed by the YC, approved at the YC meeting in
November 2014 and will be submitted to the Board in the due time. No action from the TC
is needed therefore.
7.
Final approval of official invitations for international championships 2015
Topic cancelled as obsolete, see topic 2.
8.
Future championships development
8.1
8.2
WC
2017
ff.
by
WMF
(supported
by
Multisport games (Urban Games 2016, Beach Games 2017)
Sport
Accord)
PA explains: Last year, the WMF Board meeting decided not to decide on existing
applications for the 2017 WC general class, because there was the idea to organize them
by WMF with support of SportAccord (SA), albeit as a single-sport event. In the same time,
WMF Board strives to take minigolf to the SA’s multiple sport games (Beach Games, Urban
Games). Up to PA’s knowledge, there is currently no official candidate for the 2017
championships organized by WMF (there are contacts and ongoing discussions though)
and sooner or later, the decision must be taken that we go back to the normal scheme and
look for an organizer, if no agreement with one of the contacts can be reached. The
decision on the final schedule in this matter must be taken at the WMF Board meeting or
shortly after the SA convention in Sochi.
Urban Games 2016 and Beach Games 2017 have no announced organizer yet, but the
bidding process is going on, so some progress is happening. SA prepared a material for
interested candidates, minigolf is definitely included in both of these “books”, as one of the
20+ sports expected to participate, and SA hopes to announce the organizer(s) Urban
Games in their convention, taking place in April 2015 in Sochi, Russia. PA however does
not have any precise or particular information on how is the bidding process organized or in
what stage it currently is. For both UG and BG, there will be a limited number of participants
per each sport; for minigolf, about 75 players plus up to 50 coaches, officials and organizers
World Minigolf Sport Federation
page 7
are expected to participate according to the current plans. All participation costs should be
covered by the organizer.
9.
Discussion on existing applications for international championships and update
of the WMF Championships Calendar
9.1
WAGM 2016 – application from Prishtina / KOS
The application was discussed and approved. It will be submitted to the WMF Board for the
final approval.
9.2
SEC 2017 – applications from Portel / POR and Cheb / CZE
EF informs that the EMF Board has decided to award the 2017 SEC to Cheb / CZE. Some
official reasoning is now being prepared but the decision is already taken.
9.3
YWC 2018 – application from Cheb / CZE
TC is informed that an application for 2018 YEC from Cheb has been received in the same
time as the application for 2017 SEC. As there are no time constraints in this case and
there may be more applications coming in the meantime, the application will undergo the
standard procedure, i.e. it will be discussed at the next YC WMF meeting in autumn 2015,
then possibly referred to the TC WMF.
9.4
Update of the WMF Championships Calendar
Will be processed by PA.
10.
Topics from Youth Committee meeting 2014
Were spread to various topics of this agenda.
11.
International referees
11.1
Check of the international referees’ list
Done.
11.2
Referee nominations 2015
Nominations discussed. For the EC 2015 in Lahti, 3 referees are planned at the moment,
but there is still some chance they could be 4, if the finances will allow that (PA is currently
examining the possibilities).
Final referees nominations for 2015:
Lahti, FIN: WC – Ari Ahrenberg (head), Tuula Mörck, Wil van Disseldorp
Ostrava, CZE: YNC – Dieter Helmke (head), Peter Helm; YEC – Dieter Helmke (head),
Peter Helm, Christian Somnitz
Askim, SWE: SNC and SEC – Wil van Disseldorp (head), Staffan Lundblad, Peter Burri
Appelscha, NED: ECup - Günter Schwarz (head), Magnus Lundin, Aku Lehtimäki
World Minigolf Sport Federation
11.3
page 8
International referees’ guidelines
MT, who has been in charge of working on the guidelines, present and explains his
changing views on how this issue should be tackled. The basic points of his ideas:
1) As organizing international referee education is hardly possible for cost and other
practical reasons, we should at least introduce some kind of regular tests. These tests
could be organized on-line, they can be quite easily prepared and set up using readyto-use internet solutions like testmoz.com, which is free in the basic version and costs $
20 / year for more enhanced version. This test could be organized once a year, in the
winter time. The referees should be given some recommended time to complete the
test, TestMoz then records how much time each person needed and if the time is too
long for some person, it may indicate that either the person’s knowledge is not very
good, or his English is problematical.
The meaning of this testing procedure should be to make the referees take the
Rulebook to their hands and brush up their knowledge when preparing for the test,
rather than making any ultimate conclusions based on the test results. The results of
the tests will be however available to the TC and they can be taken into account when
deciding about the nominations.
2) WMF should resume distributing printouts of the Rulebook (the chapters related to
the rules and tournaments will suffice) to the referees. Then they can browse their
paper copy while traveling to the tournament venue (which, in our experiences, is very
important for refreshing one’s knowledge), which does not work quite well when only
electronic copies are distributed or available for download.
3) The summary of changes to the rules, issued every time after the rules are changed by
the DC, should help to improve the referees’ performance too.
TC discusses and accepts the presented proposals. PA suggests that the referees could be
involved in the process of creating list of questions for the annual testing, which would be
yet another opportunity to make them work with the Rulebook. MT agrees to be an
administrator of the on-line tests for the initial period, he will also try to find a person who
would administer the tests in the future. PA will address the referees by e-mail, explaining
the idea and asking them for their submissions for the pool of test questions.
The previous idea of creating guidelines for international referees for the championships is
still not buried. Didl Helmke has agreed to help on this issue based on the existing drafts. A
meeting with him should be organized in Ostrava.
11.4
New rules’ summary for referees
After the 2015 DC, PA will take care of the summary.
12.
Update of checklist and maintenance of equipment for international championships
12.1
Update of the checklist
MT has prepared a reorganized version of the Championships checklist, which was
distributed to the TC members before the meeting. In this draft, tasks from the original
checklist were re-sorted, the primary criterion being the timeline of the tournament
preparation. Within the individual timeline-based chapters, logical groups of the tasks, given
by their nature, were formed wherever it was possible.
After some discussion, TC decided to further discuss the remaining open questions in the
draft by e-mail (TC members should send their comments and improvement proposals to
MT by March 15th), the aim is to prepare the final proposal before the WMF Board’s April
meeting (MT will be responsible for that).
World Minigolf Sport Federation
12.2
page 9
Equipment purchase
MT reports about the results of his inventory check of the WMF youth toolbox, done in
December 2014 after the box was delivered to Ostrava. As turned out in summer 2014 in
Lahti already, some of the equipment was lost after the 2013 YEC in Portel. In particular, 7
transparent windshields of 1 m length and four flags (1x Portugal, 1x The Netherlands, 1x
Croatia and 1x Israel) are missing. The flags might have disappeared before Portel (the last
inventory check of the toolbox was done in the spring of 2012 in Bad Münder), but the
transparent windshields were used in Portel, as apparent from the photos.
TC decides that the material must be replaced. MT will ask the organizers of 2015 YEC in
Ostrava if they can produce some new windshields (the 2 m length, which is more useful,
would be preferred), due to budget constrains the costs would be reimbursed from the 2016
budget, if approved by WMF Board. An offer for 4 windshields of 2 m length with hinges will
be requested. PA will look at the possible sources for the new flags.
12.3 Update of the sponsor walls
Upon request of the WMF President, the issue was discussed once again within the
committee, even though some conclusions have been drawn by the WMF Board in the
meantime. TC discussed various solutions, taking the overall control over the production
process, quality of the printing, durability, purchase costs and shipping costs into account.
The conclusion of the debate is that the printouts for the walls should be produced centrally,
even when it means additional delivery costs, in order to maximize the control over the
timeline of the process and over the quality of final product (which should not be
compromised under any circumstances) as much as possible. The dimensions of the
sponsor wall structures for 2015 championships will be discussed by the respective
tournament directors of all events during their inspection trips to the tournament venues.
13.
Current situation BA and BAMS
13.1
Status / New things BA + BAMS
No new discovered problems were reported since the last meeting.
13.2
Use at 2015 championships
Lahti – Finnish MRS
Askim – BA + BAMS
Ostrava – BA
Appelscha – BA
Hastings – BA + possibly BAMS
13.3
User guide Bangolf Arena for championships
No progress, MT still collects experiences and comments to be submitted to the author of
the software. Topic is postponed till the next meeting.
World Minigolf Sport Federation
14.
page 10
Rules
14.1
Rulebook 2.3 – international sport rules
14.1.1 Separate penalty system for coaches (TC 2014 14.1.2)
The motion from the YC, already submitted in 2013, was discussed and accepted with
some amendments being made to the proposal. PA will prepare the final motion to the 2015
DC.
It was also discussed that a general definition for “coach” and “official” is needed in the
rules or regulations.
14.1.2 Cancellation of the playing-in time at the beginning of the round (TC 2014 14.1.4)
The change proposed by YC was discussed and accepted. JoS however points out that the
term “playing-in time” is incomprehensible and proposes to use “warm-up time” instead,
which is accepted. As this change is affecting 3.6 Regulations for the World and Continental
Championships and also 3.5.1, 3.5.2 and 3.5.3 Rulebook chapters, it is a regulation change
and needs no approval of the DC 2015. It should be handled as part of the general review
of the championships regulations. Also, the term “playing-in time” must be replaced by
“warm-up time” wherever it occurs, especially in Rulebook chapter 3.3.
14.1.3 Playing position to continue from after a substitution (TC 2014 14.1.5)
Possibilities were discussed based on the discussion in previous year’s meeting about
where to continue the play after a substitution in team competition. Currently the player
coming in begins at tee-off, as playing individual competition similarly allows no other option
at international championships (ECup theoretically excluded).
The accepted solution is that TC will propose to make any substitution possible only after
the lane is completed by the player; if the player is unable to complete the lane for any
reason, the maximum amount of strokes (currently 7) is registered for the team result for
the given lane. PA will prepare the final motion to the 2015 DC.
Change in sport rules chapter 2.3.15.3. New second sentence:
A substitution is possible only after a completed lane.
14.1.4 Authority of a referee to split a pairing (YC motion)
The proposed amendment was discussed and accepted, with some subtle changes made
to the text suggested by the YC. PA will prepare the final motion to the 2015 DC.
New wording of chapter 2.3.11.6. in sport rules:
11.6. If a pairing is lagging behind the preceding pairings by several lanes for any
reason during a round, a referee may order the first and second player in the pairing
to start on the next lane, even if the last player of the pairing did not finish the
current lane yet. This can be ordered by a referee repeatedly at his/her discretion,
until the pairing concerned closes the gap or finishes the round.
14.1.5 Clarification of the text dealing with correcting incorrect results (YC motion)
The proposal was discussed and accepted, some changes have been made to the text
suggested by the YC. PA will prepare the final motion to the 2015 DC.
World Minigolf Sport Federation
page 11
New wording of chapters 2.3.10.7-8 in sport rules
10.7 A correction of an incorrect lane result on the scorecard can no longer be
made, if the score for the round has been initialled by the player and the scorekeeper.
10.8 At the end of a round each player is obliged to work out or check both his/her
own score for the round and those of his/her partner(s). The total score of each
round must be initialled by the player and the scorekeeper. This should be done
having already left the last lane free for the next pairing of players. The organizers
should offer a green house area for this task. If the sum of the lane results (total
score for the round) was miscalculated, correction can be done without penalty
(unless miscalculation was done deliberately).
(The meeting was interrupted on Saturday 18.40 and resumed on Sunday 8.40.)
14.1.6 Change of age group Seniors 2 in Denmark
Information about the unilateral change of age limit to category seniors 2 employed by the
Danish federation given by PA. Discussed but no conclusions were made.
14.1.7 Change of the maximum amount of strokes per lane (motion by Czech federation)
The motion and possible consequences were thoroughly discussed by the TC. Eventually,
the motion was accepted to be submitted to the 2015 DC for the final decision. TC is of the
opinion that it would be unfair to say directly yes or no to this motion before a wider
discussion has taken place. It would also be undemocratic in such a big issue, if six
persons turn down a motion of an active member. TC definitely finds the motion interesting
and worth discussing. We can see lots of positive aspects, but certainly there are negative
aspects too.
TC agrees that if this proposal is accepted by the 2015 DC, some longer period for
implementation would be needed. The motion to the 2015 DC will be formulated
accordingly.
14.1.8. Motions submitted by the Swedish federation
TC then deal with a set of motions received from the Swedish federation shortly before the
meeting.
The first motion suggests that if a lane is played in the wrong order, the players should get
a 7 on the lane not played (amendment of the 2.3 Worldwide international sport rules,
chapter 11.8.) This motion is dismissed because it seems to be a misunderstanding – 11.8
actually deals with the order of players within the pairing and has nothing to do with the
situation of skipping a lane inadvertently and possible consequences. PA will check if there
are sufficient measures in the Rulebook dealing with the situation of skipping a lane.
The fourth motion asks to stipulate that the starting order in a sudden death playoff should
be decided by casting lots, because there is currently no mentioning of who plays first. This
motion is accepted, but the term “casting lots” will be replaced by term “coin flip” to make it
easier to understand for a non-native English speaker. PA will prepare the final version of
the motion.
The rest of the motions (2, 3, 5, 6) from Swedish federation is decided to be discussed later
within the agenda topic 14.6, dealing with the feltgolf rules, for practical reasons.
World Minigolf Sport Federation
14.2
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Check of the rule interpretation catalogue
There are currently no suggestions for amendments or new topics for the catalogue.
14.3
Update of the fair play guide
No changes necessary.
14.4
System-specific rules concrete (WMF Rulebook 2.4)
No changes necessary.
14.5
System-specific rules miniaturegolf (WMF Rulebook 2.5)
14.5.1 Planned rules revision (TC 2014 14.5)
The planned bigger review was decided to be postponed for priority reasons.
14.5.2 Question concerning the measures for plateau (German federation)
PA informs that this motion was retracted by the German federation before the TC meeting.
TC also discussed other motions received from the German federation shortly before the
meeting.
First motion concerns helping lines on lane 1 around last pyramid – TC concludes that
these helping lines, perpendicular to the frame in the points marked with “A” and arrows in
the drawing, should be indeed included in the drawing too, even though they are mentioned
in the text of rules for this lane. This is not considered as rule change and will therefore be
added to the rules without motion to DC.
Second suggestion concerns the lane 28 (straight lane with target hill) – there should be
full-circle repositioning line around the “foot of the hill” in the target of this lane, just like on
lane 8 concrete, which is very similar. TC accepts the proposal, also here no motion is
necessary for correcting the drawing.
14.6. System-specific rules feltgolf (WMF Rulebook 2.6)
14.6.1 Proposals Sweden / Mail Hans Bergström 18.01.15
This motion is a rather large complex of suggestions for feltgolf rules changes, concerning
especially the lane drawings and some dimensions given in these drawings, which would
result in a major update of the feltgolf rules. Swedish federation is of the opinion that better
and more detailed drawings of the lanes are needed by the course builders to build a good
feltgolf course.
The proposals were discussed and accepted in general, however TC members conclude it
is beyond their time capabilities to prepare such complex change before the 2015 DC. PA
offers himself to contact the Swedish federation and ask them to supply a ready proposal in
English by some reasonable deadline before the 2015 DC.
TC agrees that few obvious mistakes in the compatibility of the rules and drawings must
definitely be corrected. TC is however not willing to waive the principle followed in the last
review 2009, in which the goal was to open doors wider than before for more courses to be
approved officially as feltgolf within WMF sphere. It is not our task to offer instructions for
building courses. Our task is to set acceptable limits and we perfectly rely on the
competence of our sponsor companies in building professional courses.
The rest of the Swedish motions received shortly before the meeting was also discussed:
World Minigolf Sport Federation
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Motion 2, suggesting that the repositioning line in front of the hill on the Middle hill (lane 12)
should be placed 50 cm away from the hill, not 20 cm as it is today. The suggestion is
accepted, TC also concludes that the same change should be applied to the German ledge
(lane 4) too. PA will prepare the motion to the 2015 DC.
Motion 3 - A chart for the minimum and maximum heights of the slopes compared to the
length of the lane should be included among the charts for feltgolf. TC accepts that opinion,
for practical reasons and time constraints, this change will be included in the planned “big
package” of the feltgolf rules changes. PA will ask the Swedish federation for co-operation
again.
Motion 5 suggests that there should be no target greens on lanes Gentleman (8) and
Cradle (14); as a consequence, if a ball comes to rest on the top of the arch on a
Gentleman without green, this shot should be counted as having reached the target. The
motion reasons that it is very difficult to control where the ball ends up on a green on these
types of courses so it is a more fair game without a target green. This rule has been in
effect in Sweden for some years now. TC discusses the motion and decides to dismiss it –
the greens on these lanes should be kept for the sake of diversity of the game.
14.6.2 Special lane rule for lane 23 Ace box (YC motion e)
YC asks TC WMF to create special lane rules for Ace box (23) dealing with the situation of
a ball coming to the rest at the entrance to the target. This proposal is based on a real-life
situation that occurred during the 2014 YWC in Lahti. Various similar cases are known
where the obstacle construction allows this situation to happen. The tournament referees
consequently found out that the situation is probably not expected by the current rules.
TC discusses and supports the motion. The text of the lane rules is prepared by PA and the
motion will be submitted to the 2015 DC.
The new definition of the target 2.6, lane 23:
Target: The ace box behind the obstacle is the target. If the ball does not reach and
stay in the box for any reason (e. g. gets stuck in the obstacle), the stroke is not
successful and the ball is returned to the tee-off for next stroke.
14.6.3 Intended path “Möllberg” (TC 201 14.6.2)
TC comes back to a discussion started a year ago and re-opens it: the Swedish federation
asked to add the description of the “intended path” for Möllberg cradle (26) to make clear
that a ball rebounding from the rear barrier back to the target did not reach the target by the
intended path. The topic is re-discussed and the final conclusion is that that the intended
path does not need to be regulated – TC would prefer to leave the options open for the
sake of variety here. If the rebound is unwanted, it can be easily prevented by changing the
angle of the rear barrier in each particular case. The motion is therefore dismissed.
14.7
System-specific rules MOS (WMF Rulebook 2.7)
No changes needed or demanded.
14.8
Participation fees for WAGM (WMF Rulebook 2.2)
PA explains there is need to define the starting fee of WAGM officially in the fee catalogue
which is the case for all other championships too. TC decides to propose 70 EUR, same
level as the other international championships. TC supports both proposal, PA will prepare
a motion to the 2015 DC.
World Minigolf Sport Federation
15.
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Regulations
15.1
Sports clothing – change of 3.3.15 (YC motion f)
YC asks to make very clear in the 3.3 Worldwide international sport regulations that the
female team may wear different team sport clothing than the male team of the same nation,
and that the coaches may be also dressed differently. YC also points out stipulations for
uniform team sport clothing are also given in 2.3 Worldwide international sport rules,
paragraph 5 and ask the TC to consider whether such duplicity is intentional and desirable.
The motion is accepted. TC also concludes that the duplicity of sports clothing provisions is
unnecessary and they should be removed.
15.2 ECup on separate courses for men and women in one venue (EMF motion 1) –
change of 3.7.1.2
EMF ask to allow playing the Continental Cups on two different courses (in the same dates,
same venue and under the same organization responsibility) for men and women teams.
The proposal, according to EMF, aims to reach the following benefits: 1. better distribution
of the playing time between two courses, 2. avoiding round cuts in case of a big number of
team participants, 3. allowing players to remain less hours on the course, with regards to
the frequent bad weather conditions that happen at the beginning of October
TC discusses and supports the proposal. The change will be part of the general review of
chapters 3.5-3.7.
15.3
Allowing kids in general class competitions (EMF motion 2)
EMF asks to allow kids to take part in the general class Championships without the need to
ask for an exception. The aim of this proposal, as per reasoning by EMF, is:
1. to increase the chance for small nations and clubs to take part with a team,
2. to eliminate the yearly process of exceptions management from European (and World)
TC/Board,
3. to increase the opportunity of new nations that have less players than big traditional
countries to take part in general class championships
4. to homogenize the rules for all championships because of a lack of rules related to
Nations Cup.
EMF suggest the following limitations:
a) ECup (and other Continental Cups, if any): no limitations of number of kids and age
limit
b) NC/ContC/WC:
i. Age limit: Kids are allowed if they are in their last or second last year in Kids’
category by age,
ii. Number limit: maximum 1 kid in a women’s team and 2 kids in a men’s/mixed
team are allowed.
TC thoroughly discusses the motion. On one hand, EMF has some valid points, on the
other hand, protection of kids is still needed for many reasons. JaS points out that there
might be legal obstacles beyond the committee members’ knowledge, arising for example
from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Despite the long discussion, TC cannot come to a common opinion. The final conclusion is
made by voting: 3 members (PA, EF, YS) are voting in favour of the motion, 2 members
(JaS, JoS) are voting against the motion, one member (MT) abstains from voting. The
motion is therefore accepted, with the pre-condition that there are no legal problems with its
implementation and with the reservation that it won’t apply to the Nation Cups, which was
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agreed unanimously by all TC members, acknowledging that allowing kids on the general
class Nations Cups could contribute to declining participation on the Youth Nations Cups.
The change will be part of the general review of 3.5-3.7.
15.4
Update of Championships regulations 3.5-3.7 (TC 2014 16.1)
PA explains that all regulations for championships need a complete check and major
update – harmonisation of provisions for different kinds of international championships is
necessary. TC discusses the issue and PA kindly requests that EMF would take over this
task field. EF agrees to check with the EMF President Victor Condeco and organize a
working group inside EMF to take care of this issue.
15.5 Players on loan – right to play for the same team in another league if relegated
(motion from the Slovak federation)
Slovakia has requested a change in the regulations to make the following clear: In case a
team who has taken a player on loan will be relegated to other league level for the following
season, the player can automatically represent the same team in this new league /
championship.
TC discusses and supports the proposal. PA will prepare the motion to the WMF Board.
15.6 Players on loan – more rights to play competitions for the home club in home
country?
The topic is cancelled because there was actually no official motion received till the TC
meeting.
15.7
Administration fee for international transfers
PA explains his idea of employing an administration fee for international transfers. It should
not be high, but at least some kind of fee to cover the administrational costs and work
would be appropriate. This is usual procedure in most sports.
TC supports the idea and proposes 25 EUR as the amount for the international transfer
administration fee, to be paid by the federation receiving a player. The sum of international
transfer fees due for the current period should be added to the annual invoice for each
particular national federation. This change would affect WMF Rulebook 2.2 Finance order
and fee catalogue, which needs a consent from the DC – PA will prepare the motion for the
2015 DC.
16.
World ranking lists
16.1
Status check
Done.
16.2
Change of the mode of the seniors world ranking list
TC receives yearly some comments about senior players not receiving points from general
class championships and continental cups for the Seniors World Ranking List. For historical
reasons this option has been excluded, but now with the new ranking list manager it is time
to harmonize the modes.
TC supports this proposal. Seniors world ranking list should now include points received for
the general class championships as ‘other competition” (paragraph 2.5 of the ranking list
mode). This way, the seniors ranking list mode would correspond with the mode of the
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youth world ranking list. The plan is to implement the change for the first time in the WRL
2/2015.
17.
Media / social media / internet
The topic was not debated due to time constraints.
18.
List of motions for the next meeting of WMF Board
a) TC 2015 4.7
Presence of head referee in the venue of championships – change of
WMF Rulebook 3.1 Standing Orders, paragraph 5.1.3, and also adding of the travelling
rules of officials to WAGM
b) TC 2015 9.1
WAGM 2016 – application from Prishtina / KOS, final approval
c) TC 2015 12.1
update of WMF Rulebook 3.8 Checklist for international
championships
d) TC 2015 12.3
update of the sponsors wall
e) TC 2015 15.1
uniform sport clothing – change of 2.3 Worldwide international sport
rules paragraph 5 and cancellation of duplicate stipulations in 3.3 Worldwide
international sport regulations paragraph 15
f) TC 2015 15.4
General review of the championship regulations – WMF Rulebook
3.5, 3.6 and 3.7
g) TC 2015 15.5
Players on loan – right to play for the same team in another league if
relegated – change of 3.3 Worldwide international sport regulations paragraph 2.9
h) TC 2015 14.1.2 Cancellation of the warm-up time at the beginning of the round –
change of WMF Rulebook 3.3
19.
List of motions to be prepared for DC 2015
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
TC 2014 14.1.1 Rules change regarding toilet leaves
TC 2015 14.1.1 Separate penalty system for coaches
TC 2015 14.1.3 Substitution only after the lane is completed by the player
TC 2015 14.1.4 Authority of a referee to split a pairing
TC 2015 14.1.5 Clarification of the text dealing with correcting incorrect results
TC 2015 14.1.7 Change of the maximum amount of strokes per lane
TC 2015 14.1.8 Starting order in a sudden death playoff decided by coin flip
TC 2015 14.6.1 “Motioned Swedish package of changes” – feltgolf
TC 2015 14.6.1 Repositioning line in front of the hill on the Middle hill – 50 cm instead
of 20 cm
j) TC 2015 14.6.1 Chart for the minimum and maximum heights of the slopes compared
to the length of the lane (part of h))
k) TC 2015 14.6.2 Special lane rule for lane 23 Ace box
l) TC 2015 14.8
Change of participation fees for WAGM
m) TC 2015 15.7
Administration fees for international transfers
20.
Date and location for the next TC meeting
To be decided later this year by e-mail.
World Minigolf Sport Federation
21.
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Expenses
21.1
Decision about daily allowance of TC members
3.5 days for JoS and YS, 0.5 day for MT, 2.5 days for the others.
21.2 Approval of TC expenses documents by WMF Sport Director before delivery of
forms to Finance Manager
Will be done by PA after he receives the expense forms from the meeting participants.
The meeting has ended at 11.35 on Sunday.
15.05.2015
Pasi Aho
WMF Sport Director
Meeting chairman
Martin Tománek
WMF Youth Officer
Meeting secretary