Terms & Conditions
2024 European Pickleball Championships

General

• The tournament will be held in accordance with the USAPA Official Tournament Rulebook. A copy of the Rulebook will be available at the tournament.
• The 2024 EPC Team Championships are open to EPF Members' preselected teams.
  
• To be eligible for Country Selection a Player is either born in member country OR currently has continuous residency of 12 months in the member country and has not represented another country at Pickleball in the past 12 months.
  
• All players are asked to abide by EPC tournament etiquette Click Here
• We will have first aiders at the tournament but all teams and players enter at their OWN risk.
  By participating in the EPC all teams and players agree and accept a waiver of liability:

  "I release and discharge, for myself, my heirs, executors, and administrators, the organizers, the facility, its members, employees, and sponsors and all persons associated with the tournament from all claims, damages, rights of action present or future which may arise in connection with my participation in the tournament. I understand that filming and photographs will be taken at this event and I give permission to the European Pickleball Federation to use the creative content to advertise, promote or showcase the event. I understand that it is my responsibility to make it known that I do not wish to have my picture taken or my games filmed. Persons aged under 18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult."

• The Competition Draw is published on our Tournament Software (TS). There will be screens at the venue detailing the upcoming matches on all courts. All teams will be sent a pdf of their schedule via email and a link to TS to enable them to browse their schedules and their standing as the tournament progresses.
• The 24 participating Countries have been divided into 4 groups. The competition format will be round robin group stages where every win and point will count towards where a team ends in the group. Not every team goes forward to the knockout stages. See further information under Competition Format Click Here
• We have a photographer and video crew attending the tournament. It is assumed that every player has given permission for us to take their picture/film them, unless we are advised otherwise.
• 2 T-Shirts will be provide for each player in all teams. All teaams must wear the issued T-shirt for the opening Ceremony and for all games.
• Shorts / Skirts / Skorts to be supplied by the participating team. Each team to decide on a colour out of (Black, White, Cream, Navy Blue, Grey) and all team members are required to have the same colour chosen.
• Team Sponsorships: A total of two (2) commercial identifications of a Nation’s Team Sponsor, neither of which exceeds 26sq cm (4 square inches) shall be permitted on the shorts/skirts/skorts. These must be the same for all players within the whole team. The sponsor may not be a direct competitor of DUPR rating, Diadem Net, Franklin Ball, ProXR paddle or The Pickleball Store. (If any doubts, please check beforehand with EPC2024 Committee).
  No individual sponsor’s logo is allowed for any player.

Competition Format

• The 24 participating Countries are divided into 4 groups of 6 teams.Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D.
• Each event will comprise round robin group games followed by a knock out competition.
• Round robin games will be played consecutively on allocated courts except for OPEN and singles events.
• On completion of the these matches, teams will be ranked on results in the following sequence:
  
  • Number of Wins
  • Points Difference
  • Points For
  • Head to Head
• The top 2 teams in each Group will go through to the Knockout Stage.
• Please remember that if the team is through to the semi finals and it loses, there is still the bronze medal match to play.
• The first named team is responsible for picking up the score sheet, from the court monitor, at least 10 minutes before the game starts.
• The score sheet provided to teams will define whether the game is played to 11 or 15 and win by 1 or 2 and whether it is 1 game or best of 3
• The winning team is responsible for entering the score on the score sheet correctly.
• Score sheets should be returned immediately to the designated 'court monitor' by one of the players in the winning team. The winning player has to verify that the score has been entered correctly before the court monitor submits the score to TS [Tournament Software]
• Results uploaded into TS are available for players to view online via your mobile phone. The link will be available via https://www.epfpb.org.
• In the round robin matches there will be no time outs allowed. In the knock out rounds, each team is allowed a 1 minute time out per game. In the event of a medical time out, a max of 15 minutes is allowed before the team calling the time out forfeits
• Court times include a maximum of 2 minutes of knock up is allowed before a game starts if required and the schedule is not running late.
• Any team not arriving on court within 10 minutes of their game's start time may forfeit the match
• In the event of a team withdrawing from the competition, all of the team's games will be taken out of the table results
• Late arrivals – any matches forfeited due to late arrival will be scored as 11-0 but the team can continue in the competition if they arrive in time for their second match.
• Medal matches will be refereed if a referee is available.
• Gold, Silver & Bronze medals will be awarded.
• There will be a Medal Ceremony at the end of each day which will include a photo opportunity for medal winners.

EPC tournament etiquette

We want everyone to enjoy the 2024 EPC tournament, here are a few tips to keep things fair and enjoyable:

• Players need not register on arrival.
• Games will start promptly at 8.30am every day. Please check your schedule to see what time your first game is and arrive at least 30 minutes before your first game is due to be played.
• All teams will be sent a personal match schedule via email before the tournament. The schedule will also be available online (see menu at side of this page).
• Paddle tap and thank your opponents for the game.
• Give your opponent time to get into position before you serve.
• The server should clearly announce the score before they serve.
• If the opponent claims there was a major distraction while hitting a shot (e.g. ball bouncing onto the court), don't hesitate to replay the point.
• Please do not walk behind a court whilst a rally is in progress.
• Please only call a ball out if it clearly is, if in doubt the ball is in!
• Please refrain from swearing whilst on court.
• Please do not throw your paddle.
• Be kind and respectful to each other.
• We will not tolerate bullying, verbal abuse or shouting.
• In the event of any dispute within a game, the game should be halted and the Tournament Director found to address the dispute.
• The decision of the Tournament Director is final. Any player not accepting the decision will be withdrawn from the event. No discussion will be entered into following the decision.