CURLING

An athlete must meet at least one of the following guidelines:

• Athletes must be a resident of MA, ME, VT, NH, CT, RI, NY
• Open to all clubs
• All team members must be 13 years old as of March 1, 2025
• Unlimited teams from each club may register

• 4 players per team
• 3 game minimum
• Teams will be put into a bracket and play down to the A, B, C and D event finals.
• 16 team maximum

The competition will be hosted by Blackstone Valley Curling Club. 

Saturday, March 29: 8:00am - 9:00pm 

Sunday, March 30: 8:00am - 1:00pm

Dinner: 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. 

Location TBD

Registered athletes will receive a complimentary dinner. Dinner & soft drinks will be provided. Alcoholic beverages are available for purchase at the bar. 

Raffle: 5:00 p.m.

*subject to change

• The Bay State Games Bonspiel is Open format. Teams can throw any order they prefer and can change their order between draws.
• All draws are a maximum of 8 ends. Teams are asked to concede the draw once the game is mathematically out of reach.
• All draws, including the finals, are played under the clock. The clock is set for 105 minutes (1hr & 45mins). When time runs out you complete the end you are currently in. An end is considered started once the first stone of the end is released.
• Vice Skips will determine the score for each end and measure stones as needed. An impartial judge can be asked for if the Vice Skips cannot agree on a measurement.
• We will be following the five-rock free guard zone rule.  We are not following the Centre Line no-tick rule as we do not have centre lines on our sheets.

Tardiness penalty

• If the start of a draw is delayed because a team cannot field at least 3 players, they will be penalized one stone and one end for each 15 minutes past the start time of the draw.
• After 45 minutes the late team will forfeit the draw.
• A team must have 3 players present to start a draw. If the fourth player arrives after the draw has started, they may jump into the draw as soon as they are ready. However, if their team has thrown any stones in that end, the late player can only sweep. They can begin throwing stones in the next end.

Substitutes

• The Bay State Games Bonspiel committee will arrange all substitutes.
• Teams may opt to ask for a substitute or play a draw with only 3 players.
• Substitutes can come from eliminated teams, teams currently in a lower bracket, or players not in the Bonspiel. *Players not in the Bonspiel must check in with a tournament director & sign a BSG/BVCC waiver prior to stepping on the ice.
• Subs MUST play either lead or second.

Tiebreaker Rules

• If a game ends in a tie, a tie breaker will be played to decide a winner. The tie breaker will be determined by a single stone draw to the button by each team. Sweeping is allowed. The team whose rock is closest to the button will be deemed the winner. The tie breaker should be done as follows:

1. The team that scored in the final end throws first.
2. Each team will choose one person to throw the rock.
3. The first team throws their rock. Sweeping is allowed. Both Vice Skips should agree on where the rock stopped. The rock is then removed from play allowing the second team to throw to an empty house.
4. The second team throws their rock. Sweeping is allowed. Both Vice Skips should agree on where the second team's rock stopped. If possible, a winner will be determined.
5.  If no rocks land in the house, the teams will repeat until a winner can be determined. The same shooting order should be maintained throughout the shootout.

• Dinner will be provided for all athletes between 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. on Saturday 
• All athletes will receive a Winter Games winter athlete gift
• Gold, silver, and bronze medals will be awarded to the top three teams in each division

Dinner

Dinner will be served on Saturday night between 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Location TBD.