PLAYER ELIGIBILITY TO PLAY

4.1: AGE TO PLAY SENIOR WOMEN’S RUGBY

4.1.1: The age to play Senior Womens Rugby is governed by New Zealand Rugby A ge Policies. Please refer to the relevant policy. In summary, a player needs to be 18 as at the 1st April in the year of the competition to be eligible to play senior womens rugby.

4.1.1.1: If a player is 16 or 17 and they wish to play any position (except the front row) in senior rugby, then a representative of the team management MUST complete an Exceptional Circumstances Assessment form and submit it to BOPRU Womens Rugby Manager BEFORE that player can take the field in any competition fixture.

4.1.1.1.1: An Exceptional Circumstances Assessment Form requires a number of different parties to complete and sign it including:

4.1.1.1.1.1: A parent or guardian, and

4.1.1.1.1.2: A Medical Practitioner, and

4.1.1.1.1.3: An independent coach, and

4.1.1.1.1.4: The school principal (if playing for a school team) or the club chairperson (if playing for a club team).

4.1.1.2: If a player aged 16 or 17 wishes to play in the front row of a senior womens game, then an additional Front Row Competency Assessment Form needs to be completed by a scrum factory tutor, or level 2 or 3 coach and submit it to BOPRU Womens Rugby Manager BEFORE that player can take the field in any competition fixture.

4.1.1.3: If a player aged 18 as at the 1st April wishes to play in the front row of a senior womens team, an exceptional circumstances assessment form is NOT REQUIRED. However, a representative of the team management MUST complete a Front Row Competency Assessment Form completed by a scrum factory tutor, or level 2 or 3 coach and submit it to BOPRU Womens Rugby Manager BEFORE that player can take the field in any competition fixture.

4.1.2: PLAYING CONTRACTED BLACK FERNS SEVENS AND/OR FIFTEENS PLAYERS

4.1.2.1: No Club can include more than two (2) contracted Black Ferns Sevens and/or Fifteens players in its playing 22 for a match in the club competition who, as at 5pm on the Friday before the first club match in the club competition were employed on a New Zealand Rugby Union Contract (“Contracted Players”)

4.1.2.2: The playing 22 in Rule 4.1.6 will be as submitted via the My Rugby App for any club competition match.

4.1.2.3: Rule 4.1.2 will apply in each succeeding year with the cut-off date for players being employed on a NZR Union Contract being 5pm on the Friday prior to the first club competition match in each year.

4.1.2.4: In the event that a club includes more than two (2) contracted players in its playing 22 for any match in the club competition in a year, that club will be liable to a fine of up to $1000 and/or loss of points for that match or each match in which this has occurred.

4.2: ELIGIBILITY TO PLAY SENIOR WOMENS QUARTER FINALS, SEMI-FINALS AND FINALS

4.2.1: All players shall need to have been listed on at least 25% of game team sheets for the current season in the MyRugby App to be eligible to play in a quarter final, semi-final or a final. The Pre-Season Competition is not considered competition games.

4.2.2: This rule does not apply to players who have been either injured, pregnant or high performance athletes who have been called to play for New Zealand at an international level and therefore have not been able to play the required games.

4.2.3: Clubs must provide details/evidence around each player. For injured players medical evidence must be submitted i.e. medical certificates, ACC documents.

4.3: AGE TO PLAY SENIOR MENS RUGBY

4.3.1: Senior rugby is classed as Under 19 and above. The age to play Senior Mens Rugby is governed by New Zealand Rugby A ge Policies. Please refer to the relevant policy. In summary the minimum age to play senior rugby is 18 as at 1st April of the year of the competition. 16 and 17 yr olds can play senior rugby under certain conditions as follows:

4.3.1.1: A 16 year old boy can play in any position except the front row, but MUST complete an Exceptional Circumstances Assessment Form.

4.3.1.2: A 17 year old boy can play in any position but must complete an Exceptional Circumstances Assessment Form. If a 17 year old wishes to play in the front row, he can only do so up to and including under 21. If he wishes to do so, he must also complete a Front Row Competency Assessment Form. A 17 year old cannot play in the front row of any other grade of senior match. For the Bay of Plenty region, that includes, development, senior reserves, senior B, senior A and Premier men.

4.3.5: PLAYING CONTRACTED STEAMERS

This rule refers to Contracted Steamers Players only.

4.3.5.1: Definitions: “Provincial Union Contract” means a Provincial Union Contract as set out in Appendix 10 of the 2013 Collective Employment Agreement and as set out in any replacement to that Collective Employment Agreement.

4.3.5.2: No Club can include more than four (4) contracted Steamers in its playing 22 for a match in the club competition who, as at 5pm on the Friday before the first club match in the club competition were employed on a Provincial Union Contract by the BOPRU (“Contracted Players”)

4.3.5.3: The playing 22 in Rule 4.3.5 will be as submitted via the My Rugby Manager App for any Club Competition match.

4.3.5.4: Rule 4.3.5 will apply in each succeeding year with the cut-off date for players being employed on a Provincial Union Contract being 5pm on the Friday prior to the first Club Competition match in each year.

4.3.5.5: Teams can, by mutual agreement between the two, play more than four (4) contracted players in its playing 22 for any match.

4.3.5.6: In the event that a club includes more than four (4) contracted players in its playing 22 for any match in the club competition in a year, where there was no agreement, that club will be liable to a fine of up to $1000 and/or loss of points for that match or each match in which this has occurred.

4.3.6: AGE/ELIGIBILITY TO PLAY COLTS/U85KGS

Players participating in this competition can be:

4.3.7.1: Aged 20 on the 1st April of the competition year or

4.3.7.2: Weigh UNDER 85 kgs at a date and time as determined by the competitions committee.

4.4: ELIGIBILITY TO PLAY SENIOR MENS SEMI-FINALS AND FINALS

Due to the nature of the competitions, players may be required to play in more than one competition. The following rules will apply in semi-finals and finals;

4.4.1: Premier Mens

All players shall need to have been listed on the team sheet in the My Rugby App in four (4) competition games of that grade, prior to the Semi-final and Final. This rule does not apply to players who have been:

4.4.1.1: Injured or

4.4.1.2: Have been called in to play for a New Zealand representative team (U20’s, Maori All Blacks, All Blacks, All Blacks Sevens) and/or a New Zealand Super Rugby Club and therefore have not been able to play the required games.

4.4.1.3: Clubs must provide details/evidence around each player. For injured players medical evidence must be submitted i.e. medical certificates, ACC documents.

4.4.2: Colts/U85 kgs

4.4.2.1: All players shall need to have been listed on any of the team sheet in the My Rugby Manager App for a minimum of two (2) games prior to the semi-finals and finals to be eligible to play in the semi-finals and final.

4.4.2.2: Players can play in a higher grade than what they have played in during the season at semi-finals and finals time. Players cannot play down a grade for semi-finals and finals unless they meet eligibility criteria.

4.4.2.3: Clubs must provide details/evidence around each player. For injured players medical evidence must be submitted i.e. medical certificates, ACC documents.

4.5: AGE TO PLAY SECONDARY SCHOOL RUGBY

4.5.1: To participate in rugby in the Bay of Plenty Secondary Schools competition, all players must be enrolled as a bona fide (Year 9 or above) student at the school of representation and studying at least 80% of a programme that is part of the timetable provided by the school for at least four weeks immediately prior to the commencement of the season.

4.5.2: All players must be under 18 years of age at the first of April in the year of the competition. This means that, on the 1^st of April of the year of competition, players eligible to play secondary school rugby are to be aged 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17. For players aged 12 on the 1^st April, see section 4.5.6. For players aged 18, see section 4.5.7.

4.5.2.1: Where a player wishes to play rugby for a school who fits the age criteria as set out in rule 4.5.2, but does not meet any of the enrolment criteria of rule 4.5.1, that player can play for a school subject to the following conditions:

4.5.2.1.1: If a student is enrolled at a school that does NOT provide a rugby programme that meets the needs of the student, the student can play for another school. In order for this to occur, the team the player wishes to play for needs to obtain two letters, one from the principal of the school the student is enrolled in and one from the principal of the school that the student wishes to represent, giving permission for that student permission to play. No dispensation application is required.

4.5.2.1.2: If the person is NOT an enrolled student at any school, but is aged 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17 on 1^st January of the year of competition, that person may play for the school that they last enrolled at in the previous year, so long as written proof of previous enrolment is provided, EG KAMAR details. In this instance, the principal of the school the student wishes to represent, needs to provide written permission for that student to play for their school. Again, no dispensation application is required. Unenrolled former secondary school students who are 18 on the 1st January of the year of competition are NOT eligible to play for their former school, or any school.

4.5.3: New Zealand Rugby provides the framework that govern the age bands that our players should play their rugby in. The two relevant policies are:

4.5.3.1: Age Bands for Age Grade Rugby Policy

4.5.3.2: Dispensations Policy

4.5.4: In summary, these policies set out the three cases (Best Case-same year) (Acceptable Case- 2 years above) and (Exceptional Circumstance Case-3 years above) that our players should be playing rugby in.

4.5.5: Should a player wish to play in an Exceptional Circumstance Case, there’s a stringent process that needs to be adhered to. See the above policies and the Age Band Exceptional Circumstances Case Assessment Form for further information.

4.5.6: Enrolled secondary school students who are 12 on the 1^st April of the year of competition can choose to play junior rugby for their club or play secondary school rugby for their school. Neither the junior club, nor the secondary school has preference over each other.

4.5.7: Enrolled secondary school students who are 18 on the 1^st April of the year of competition can play rugby for their school but teams can only have a maximum of two (2) 18 year olds on the 1^st January in their team squad.

4.5.8: Where a team has non-enrolled students in its team, as defined in rule 4.5.2.1, the maximum number of non-enrolled students permitted in any single team squad is four (4).

4.5.9: Where a team has enrolled 18-year old players in its squad as defined in rule 4.5.7, the maximum number of non-enrolled students permitted in any single team squad is reduced accordingly.

4.6 ELIGIBILITY TO PLAY SECONDARY SCHOOL SEMI-FINALS AND FINALS

To be eligible for finals, all players must have been included on the team sheet in the My Rugby App for a minimum of three (3) games for that team, including pre-season matches.

4.7 AGE TO PLAY JUNIOR RUGBY

4.7.1: On the 1^st of April of the year of competition, players eligible to play junior rugby are to be aged 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12.

4.7.2: The Western Bay Junior Rugby competition play an age and weight restricted competition. A copy of their age and weight restriction policy and grading is enclosed as Appendix “8”.

4.7.3: The Central Bay and Eastern Bay Junior rugby competitions do NOT have a weight restricted competition format.

4.7.4: Players wishing to play junior rugby can do so and play in mixed (boys and girls) teams until they reach the age of 13 on the 1st April. For those children enrolled in year 9, they are not permitted to play under 13 junior rugby. For those players NOT enrolled at secondary school that are 13 on the 1st April, each case will have to be treated as a dispensation application.

4.8 PLAYER TRANSFERS

4.8.1: Players can transfer from one club or school to another club or school during the same competition window.

4.8.2: During the competition window, player transfers are completed by clubs AND schools via the online registration system Sporty. The new club or school simply registers the player for their club or school, which will trigger a transfer authorisation message to be sent by the online registration system to the club or school administrator of the former club or school. Until the registration is activated by the previous club or school, the transfer is NOT completed.

4.8.3: It is the responsibility of both the player and the club or school administrator of the new club or school to ensure that the player registration details are as per rule 3.4.2 are full and correct.

4.8.4: Once a transfer has been accepted, a player cannot play for their new club or school for a period of seven (7) days from the date of the last game they played for their previous club or school. For clarity, if a player has played on a Saturday of one week, they cannot play for another team until the following Sunday.