IFPA League and Tournament definitions

The IFPA is more clearly defining the differences between what we consider a sanctioned “IFPA Tournament” and a sanctioned “IFPA League”.

The IFPA will be managing two separate registration processes, one for “Tournaments” and one for “Leagues”. The IFPA Calendar will continue to only display “Tournaments”, while our IFPA Leagues page will show a list of all the active IFPA Leagues and the dates of their current season.

IFPA TOURNAMENTS (Registration Page Here / IFPA Tournament Calendar Here):

Basic Definition:

    • A tournament is a single competitive event. It can be held on a single day or over several days.

Sanctioning Requirements:

    • Tournaments must be open to anyone who wishes to attend, no special treatment of players. Only the following restrictions are allowed:
      • Age restrictions due to legal requirements.
      • Number of competitors due to tournament space,  length of tournament, etc.
      • Players who are disallowed due to conduct issues (per an event’s Code of Conduct).
      • Reserved spots for events with player caps must explicitly be cleared by the IFPA in advance.
    • Tournaments must be completed within 7 days of the starting date.
    • Tournaments must occur at one location. Any tournaments organized across multiple locations must submit each location as it’s own unique event.
    • All participants of an IFPA sanctioned tournament must have a chance to win the highest division available if they want to be included in the results submitted to IFPA. Any players that do not have an opportunity to win based on external factors of the format/groupings of that tournament should not have these players included in the results submitted to IFPA. Additionally, assigning divisional placement amongst a field of competitors by something other than total points earned across that entire field of competitors will not be allowed unless approved by the IFPA in advance.

Registering a Tournament:

    • Tournaments must be registered with the IFPA at least 30 days prior to the start of the event. If the tournament requires pre-registration, it must be submitted to the IFPA Calendar a minimum of 30 days before the starting pre-registration date.
    • When registering your tournament, you must include the date, start time, location, and format as well as a public-facing website.
    • In general, tournaments must have a publicly available address list on. However, 4 events per year per location can have their addresses hidden from public view on the IFPA Calendar and listed as “private.” In these cases, only events with 16 or more participants will be eligible for WPPR points. This rule is not in effect for women’s-only and youth tournaments and leagues.

Submitting Tournament Results:

    • Tournament submissions must include a clear overview of format and playoff structure as well as how TGP is calculated.
    • For tournaments that use Matchplay or similar, including the link in the results submission can speed up the approval process.

Good to Know:

    • The IFPA encourages tournament directors to implement whatever health and safety requirements they feel will make their event as safe as possible. As long as these guidelines are clearly stated upon announcement of the event, the IFPA supports their enforcement.
    • The IFPA encourages tournament directors to create and implement Codes of Conduct for participants. This is one of the simplest, most straightforward ways to foster a welcoming play environment, and the organization is here to assist on this with resources and advice. Please also see the IFPA’s Player Conduct Rules.

 

IFPA LEAGUES (Registration Page Here / Active Season Listing Page Here):

Basic Definition:

    • A league involves the concept of a “season” where multiple sessions are held and results are tallied. It can be private or require membership.

Sanctioning Requirements:

    • Leagues must have a minimum of 6 sessions per season, of which at least 4 sessions must count toward a player’s standing. The finals session is NOT included in this count. For leagues with more than 6 sessions per season, at least 50% of the total league sessions must count toward the final qualifying standings.
    • League members must compete in at least 50% of the total meetings/sessions that were held in a season to be included in the results submitted to IFPA. Please note that players ranked in the top 250 at the time of the league season final should be included in the results submitted into IFPA even if they did not meet at least 50% of all qualifying requirements. Any level of participation will count as participating in the event.
    • League sessions cannot be held more than once per week.
    • League sessions must be independent of one another with respect to contributing to the season standings. Using the league sessions as one giant best game qualifying period is not allowed.
    • Except for League playoffs/finals, a session cannot be an ‘elimination’ format. All players need to play the same number of games. 
    • All participants of an IFPA sanctioned league must have a chance to win the highest division available if they want to be included in the results submitted to IFPA. Any players that do not have an opportunity to win based on external factors of the format/groupings of that league should not have these players included in the results submitted to IFPA. Additionally, assigning divisional placement amongst a field of competitors by something other than total points earned across that entire field of competitors will not be allowed unless approved by the IFPA in advance.
    • Ladder leagues that assign divisions based on groupings rather than total points must use an initial seeding process that is based on some kind of open play process or through random seeding. Ladder leagues cannot use any external or past data to seed players due to the handicapped nature of the format.
    • Leagues of 50 or more members must contain direct-play formats for the regular season and finals (if finals are held). Leagues with 50 or more members are not allowed to submit the highest 49 finishers in the league to circumvent this rule. 
    • Any League of 50 or more members that allows sessions to be played concurrently in at different times, whether that be in multiple locations or the same location, can no longer submit IFPA results as one giant League. This flexible scheduling will still be allowed, however the reporting of these Leagues will be separated into Parent/Sub League submissions.
      • The Parent League will be allowed to keep an overall standings page that can be used for the League Circuit Final qualifications. 
      • The Sub Leagues will be reported individually based on either location name or day of the week when matches are scheduled.
      • Each Sub League is treated as their own league for reporting and WPPR purposes. These Sub Leagues must report results following the league criteria above with respect to player participation and format rules.
      • The Parent League can submit the League Circuit Final based on the players that participate in that League Circuit Final only. 
      • Sub Leagues are allowed to run their own final in addition to having players included in the Parent League final.

Registering a League:

    • League seasons must be registered with the IFPA at least 30 days prior to the start of the season.
    • When registering your League season, you must submit using the date range function from the Start Date through the End Date. All individual session dates should be listed in the submission comments section.
    • The IFPA will not sanction League seasons that start and end in December unless that submission is approved 30 days prior to the start of the season.

Submitting League Results:

    • For a League sessions/meetings without direct play, season results must be based on finals which must consist of a direct play format.
    • For a League sessions/meetings with direct play, season results can be based on the final standings OR the standings after any finals/playoff, but not both. 
    • Leagues can no longer submit results after each session as this defeats the purpose of a “league season.” Any League interested in doing that is welcome to submit these sessions as TOURNAMENTS on the tournament calendar, in which case the events must be open for anyone to participate (see Tournament rules below).

Good to Know:

    • Leagues cannot hold separate private tournaments just for their members.
    • The IFPA encourages league directors to implement whatever health and safety requirements they feel will make their event as safe as possible. As long as these guidelines are clearly stated upon announcement of the event, the IFPA supports their enforcement.
    • The IFPA encourages league directors to create and implement Codes of Conduct for participants. This is one of the simplest, most straightforward ways to foster a welcoming play environment, and the organization is here to assist on this with resources and advice. Please also see the IFPA’s Player Conduct Rules.

 

IFPA SANCTIONED CIRCUIT/SERIES FINALS:

Any Circuit/Series with a final tournament that consists of a predetermined closed group of players must be approved by the IFPA. This includes events like the State Championship Series, Stern Pro Circuit, IFPA World Pinball Championship, etc. The IFPA evaluates eligibility based on the following criteria:

    • At least 2 different organizers or organizations must be involved in the circuit/series.
    • The number of events held at a single location must be proportional to the total number of events in the circuit/series, i.e.: if you run 10 events in a single location, you need 10 other events in all other locations which participate in the circuit/series. (Exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis in developing areas.)
    • The IFPA will only sanction circuit/series finals on an annual basis. Eligible IFPA Leagues will be allowed to submit a Circuit/Series Final for sanctioning once per season.

When submitting a circuit/series to the calendar, submit each individual event and tag each event with the circuit/series name. The circuit/series final calendar submission must include details about the format of the finals along with a website showing where to find the current circuit/series standings.