• Entry Open Date:  Friday, April 25th

• Entry Closing Date:  Friday, May 16th

• Teams must be available to play from 8.30 am on Wednesday, June 25th.

• The finals will be held on Sunday, June 29th. The last round of the draw will likely start at approximately 3.30 pm, and the prize-giving will follow.

• Teams are advised NOT to book any flights until the draw is confirmed. 

• Teams must pay for their entry before the tournament commences; otherwise, they may be unable to take the ice.

• All entrants must be affiliated with a Club. Please contact the NZCA Secretary for more details. This does not apply to Secondary School Students.

• Player eligibility and playing conditions are set down in the New Zealand Curling Association Tournaments Procedures and the WCF Rules of Curling.

• Teams must start with four players unless in special circumstances with prior approval from the Chief Umpire and NZCA Head of Tournaments; otherwise, they will default each game until they can start with four.

• The tournament draw will be confirmed a week after entries close or as advised.

• Team Uniforms: NZCA encourages teams to wear match tops/and or uniforms in tournaments so team members are easily identifiable.

• To allow time for ice preparation, no team is allowed to practice on the ice later than 3 hours before the commencement of an NZCA National Curling Championship or as advised in the tournament rules accompanying the draw.

• No competitors can use MAP sponsorship ice a week leading up to the NZMD Qualifier.

• Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or queries. 

Fees:

• The team entry fee is $400.

• The skip (or a nominated team member) is responsible for promptly paying NZCA.

• Teams can pay online with entry or directly to NZCA:  03-1733-0116697-00.   Please reference your team’s name and 'NZ Men or NZ Women'.

• Invoices are available on request. 

• To enter, Click here

Tournament Communications: 

For all tournament queries, please email NZCA Administration Officer Lauren Becker at nzca.secretary@curling.org.nz and cc Tournaments Chair, Sean Becker at tournaments@curling.org.nz. 

The information below is from 2024.  2025 information will be updated once the draw is completed.

Game Information and Timing

• A team meeting will be held at 8 am for the teams in the first round.  With a subsequent team meeting for those teams in the second round at 11.30 am on Wednesday 26^th June.   A final team meeting will be held at 3.00 pm on Wednesday 26^th June.
• It is preferable to have all team members present; however, if this is not possible, at least one member of the team is to be present.
• Ten men’s teams are entered, split into two pools of five, along with seven women’s teams.
• All games will be played under WCF rules, including the no-tick rule.
• Teams are to consist of five members maximum (four team members and one alternate).
• Teams are to start the Championship with four players as per WCF rules.
• First practice will commence at the scheduled start time stated on the draw.
• The teams listed first, have first practice and play with dark handles (red).
• Over the round-robin, each women’s team will have three first practices and second practices, while the men have two of each.  
• Each team will have a six-minute pregame practice, followed by Last Stone Draws (LSDs)
• Time clocks will be used to keep the flow of the games with the timer counting down.
• Teams are unable to commence another end once the time clock has reached zero.
• All games have eight ends, with a minimum of six ends to be played.
• A four-minute break will be held after the fourth end.
• Extra ends will be played if scores are tied after the eighth end.
• Electronic devices such as phones, smartwatches, and AirPods/headphones are not permitted in the field of play.

Last Stone Draws (LSD) and Draw Shot Challenge (DSC)

• Each team is to deliver draw shots, the first clockwise and the second counter-clockwise.   
• The draw shots are to be shared among all the players.
• The LSD’s will determine which team has hammer on the first end and will assist with team rankings.
• Teams who deliver the draw shots incorrectly e.g., the wrong handle will receive 199.6 for that particular draw.

Pre-Tournament Practice Ice

• In the week of an NZCA Tournament, no NZ Representative will have sponsored ice hire from Maniototo Adventure Park (MAP) during business hours.
• Pre-tournament practice is to be booked and paid for directly with MAP.  The entry fee does not cover practice ice.

• No ice bookings can be made after 5pm on Tuesday 25^th June to allow for ice preparation. With the exception of the ice-maker requesting a player to throw stones to assist with ice preparation.

• No team is allowed to practice with the NZCA Competition Stones prior to a tournament as per NZCA Competition Stone Guidelines.  

Team Ranking Procedure

• After the round-robin(s) teams will be ranked for the semi-finals with the WCF ranking procedure (C9) used to separate teams on the same win-loss record.
  1. The following criteria (in order) will be used to rank the teams at the completion of the round-robin (one group):
     1. Teams will be ranked according to their win/loss record.
     2. If two teams are tied, the team that won their round-robin game will be ranked higher.
     3. Where three or more teams are tied, the record of the games between the tied teams shall provide the ranking (should this procedure provide a ranking for some teams but not all, then the record of the games between the remaining teams that are still tied shall determine the ranking).
     4. For all remaining teams, whose ranking cannot be determined by I, ii, or iii, ranking is determined using the Draw Shot Challenge (DSC). The DSC is the average distance of all the individual Last Stone Draw stones, which were delivered by a team during the round-robin.