I. Team Formation

     1. A team will consist of at least four players and no more than 12 and one team captain.

     2. A member may only play for one team at a time. A "free agent" or alternate can play for multiple teams based on need. But one that person has played for a specific team THREE(3) times, then they are ineligible to play for any other team for that season. Special circumstances can be addressed with the commissioner and agreed upon with team captains. 

     3. All members must have dues paid, by their team captain, prior to the 3rd week of the season, $15 per person.  If dues are not paid prior to this benchmark, please contact the commissioner to arrange payment.  If no attempt is made to pay dues by the beginning of the third weekly match, the third match will be forfeited. The commissioner is open to any and all payment methods, or arranging to pay the dues at an agreed upon date, such as when your team plays the commissioner's team. 

     4. A member may be added at any time of the season as long as they haven’t played for any existing team for more than (3) three matches in that season.

     5. Exceptions can be made to above rules depending on circumstances. A "member" will be defined as someone who plays at least 3 weeks in a given season. (For example, a "free agent" who fails to pay may not disqualify an entire team who otherwise has paid.) 

6. Each team member is required to sign up for a free or premium account on our scoring application DartConnect website. **If you have a substitute player who throws with you and doesn’t have an account, you can use the “SUB” profiles in your player menu.

7. Each team captain is responsible for bring a tablet/smartphone, a tablet holder and (1) scoresheet to each match. Tablet holders can be requested by captains to the commissioner. Scoresheets can be printed from the website.

II. Match Play

     1. All matches will start at 7:00 pm.  If a team is not there by 7:30 pm then the team not there will forfeit the match, unless a time change has been agreed ahead of time by both team captains. If THREE people are there and one player is on the way, the teams may begin the match.  If however, the team member who is running late is not there by the time it is his/her turn to throw, that game will be forfeited. As always, there is a bit of leeway depending on the circumstances. 

     2. The match will consist of five sets of games.  3 singles 301, 3 singles cricket, 2 doubles 501, 2 doubles cricket, and 1 match of either Vulcan Cricket or Triples Cricket. Rules are explained for each game on the Weekly Matches page on this website. The scoresheet for the Match is on the Scoresheet page of the website. When it comes time to throw the last 3-player game, the team BEHIND in points chooses either 701 or Vulcan Cricket.

     3. Before each set starts, teams must fill out who is playing which game on the scorecard and play in that order.  No player can play twice in any given set of games, thus the maximum number of games by a single player will be five, one for each set. This is a laid back league, and we are open to captains "matching" players against each other if both agree. But typically each team fills out their players for each round and the other team will do the same without looking(the easiest way is to fold the scoresheet so each team is on a different side of the paper). Any player that shows up for a match can play as many or as little as the team captain decides. There is NO minimum number of games a player is required to play in a given match. If a player shows up and only throws one game by choice, then that is acceptable.

     4. To determine who throws first, two players will "cork". Each player throws a single dart and whoever's dart is closer to the center of the board according to the scorekeeper (below) will throw first.   In a doubles or triples game, only one player from each team will cork. 

    5. All games of each match will be played in full, even if the team ahead has reached the 9 point total. Playoff seeding ties will be broken with total points won during the season. If either team decides not to play the final match, then their opponent will be awarded the three(3) points. 

III. Scoring

     1a. As of the Fall 2019 season, all matches will be scored on tablets provided by the team running the DartConnect software. Please go to their website: https://league.dartconnect.com/ and log in to run software. EVERY WEEK, a member of each team will bring their tablet, tablet holder(provided by the league) and (1) scoresheet to the match. The scoresheet is available on the website page “Scoresheet”.

1b. In the event that a tablet is not available, each game will be scored “old school” on the chalk or dry eras board and ideally have a scorekeeper.  The home team will provide a scorekeeper for the first game and every other game thereafter.  The visiting team will provide a scorekeeper for the second game and every other game thereafter.

     2. The scorer shall not distract the shooter in any way. If no scorer is available, then the two players will score their own game. Calculators and dart scoring apps are permitted to do math, but the official score MUST be kept on the DartConnect app, visible to all. 

     3. PLEASE TYPE/DOCUMENT THE SCORE FIRST BEFORE REMOVING THE DARTS FROM THE BOARD! This will eliminate any & all questions about scoring, especially when alcohol is involved. 

     4. There will be one point awarded for singles games, two points for doubles games, and three points for triples games.  A total of 17 points will be awarded each week, so there will be no tie matches. On your scoresheet, please CIRCLE the final game you play; either Vulcan Cricket or 701. **VULCAN CRICKET cannot be scored on the tablets at the moment**

     5. Both teams must sign and submit their scorecards by no later than noon on the Thursday following their match.  A picture of the scorecard will be emailed to birminghamdarts@gmail.com.  Do not throw away your scorecard until you get a confirmatory email in response that the image was of enough quality.

     6. If a team does not submit their scorecard by noon on the Friday following their match, they will have a two point deduction for that week's match. 

7. Scoring Discrepancies: If there is a difference in what is tallied in DartConnect and what is on the scoresheet that is sent to the commissioner, the commissioner will use the info in DartConnect unless instructed otherwise. So please make sure you are marking the scoresheet correctly, especially when we are “having a good time”…

8. Team points are amassed during the season and used for various purposes, such as seeding for the year-end tournament and tiebreakers for division standings. SO PLAY EVERY MATCH!

IV. Playoffs

     1.  The first round of the playoffs will typically be held in the home bar of the highest seed. Later rounds will be determined based on number of teams and available bars. Because the Semi-Finals and Finals are usually held on the same night, we will always try to schedule them at locations that are close together to keep travel time to a minimum. Those decisions will be made my the Commissioner and are always available to suggestions from team captains.

     2. The first team to Nine points will be the winner of that match. There is no need to continue the match after a team has won nine points.

     3a. In seasons where there is only one division, teams will be seeded by number of match wins first, then by Division wins. In the case of a tie by the previous two criteria, the third tiebreaker is by number of points scored throughout the season. If they are still tied, the winner of their head-to-head match up gets the higher seed. Anything after that, which would also be insane, would be a Coin Flip.

    3b. In seasons when the league is divided into groups or divisions, the seeding will be based on 1)Division wins, 2)Division points, 3)Season wins, 4)Season points, and then 5)Head to Head. In that rare case that the seeds of two teams are still not determined, we will do a coin toss. If the coin lands on it's edge, we will have an arm wrestling match between two random people in a random setting. 

      4. Depending on the number of teams, some teams may receive a bye. Seeding will not always be determined by “typical” seeding standards. At times, the teams will be seeded to make each match more competitive so as to not waste anyone’s time. Again, we are a fun league and we do not want a competitive mismatch.                                                                                                                      

     5. When teams are put into "divisions" for a season, the playoff format may change. The league commissioner and the team captains will agree on the playoff format. 

    6. The commissioner has the option of not having a playoff.  

V. Awards & Prizes

     1. A plaque will be given to: 1) Each division winner's home bar with the darts' team name engraved and stating they were 1st place finishers. 2) The end of season Tournament Champion. 3) The Vulcan Points champion(the team who scored the most points throughout the season) This will be proudly displayed by the home bar, likely around the dartboards. A team who wins more than (1) of the previous will have all awards put onto a single plaque.

    2. At various times during the season, we will try to have Blind Draw tournaments. Cash prizes and swag will be given out during those times. 

VI. Forfeits

     1. If a team does not show, then the team that showed earns 10 points due to the other teams' forfeiture. The other team receives Zero.

     2. If a team does not have but three players, then that team must forfeit one game in each of the double sets except for the triples game because no player can play twice in a given set.

     3. If a team does not have but two players, then that team must forfeit one game in each of the singles sets, one game in each of the doubles sets, and must play two vs three in the triples set, with the advantage being given to the team with three players.  I.e. in a given turn the three player team gets three throws compared to the two player team's two throws.

     4. If two teams wish to reschedule a match, they may do so and avoid a forfeiture, but that game has to be completed before the end of the regular season or during the designated “Match Makeup” week on the schedule. A team can only carry over 91) make up match per season. We encourage every team to make the highest effort to reschedule, and we respect scheduling issues that arise. But when no effort is put towards rescheduling by one team, the other team shouldn't & won't  be penalized. Teams can reschedule matches in agreement as long as they are made up in a timely fashion. The Commissioner will ultimately decide who is awarded points based on evidence provided by both teams. Forfeit decisions are final.

VII. Miscellaneous

      1. Unsportsmanlike conduct will not be tolerated.  This includes but is not limited to fighting, throwing darts in anger, verbal threats, attempts to "psyche out" a player, or any other behavior that The Birmingham Dart League deems unsportsmanlike.  If this occurs, The Birmingham Dart League has the right to immediately suspend or expel an member from the league. 

     2. In the spirit of good sportsmanship and fun, agreements between team captains can take precedence over the above rules.

     3. Any player with a question, suggestion or complaint can email the Commissioner directly: birminghamdarts@gmail.com. 

     4. If a dart bounces out of the dartboard, then it will not score but does count as a throw.  A dart must remain in the dartboard until all three darts have been thrown and the scorer can approach the dartboard to score the darts. Enter/write the score first then remove the darts.

     5. The wires of the dartboard indicate whether it is a valid point, not necessarily the bristles or the colored areas of the dartboard. 

     6. The Birmingham Dart League does not pay any rental fees to any of the bars where we have matches. It is each Captain’s responsibility to communicate with your home bar about schedules. In the case that the bar has an event scheduled that night and it impedes on or does not allow for the match to be played at that location, CHECK THE AVAILABLE BARS LISTING at the bottom of the schedule. The two team captains will agree on an available location that night or decide to reschedule the match to another date. Please be courteous to all bar staff and management in the event of a scheduling conflict. 

    7. The team captain is responsible for keeping his/her bar's dart area up to par. If there are ever any issues with boards, lighting, etc... it is the recommendation of the league that the captain first discusses any upgrades or updates with bar management, to see what they are willing to do. The league can then work with the bar to get things up to our standards. The league will sometimes furnish new boards or lighting per request from a captain or bar management person.

    8. The League encourages every player to be responsible and asks that you do not drink & drive. Carpool, taxi, ride-share, bicycle, hitchhiking or any other option are preferred to driving after having consumed alcohol. The BDL is not responsible or liable for any incidents that may occur in this situation. Please make the appropriate arrangements!

    9. This is a PLAYERS' league. Your dues will always be put back into the league! Dues are used to fund this website, the DartConnect scoring, buying plaques, new dart boards, tablet holders, mats, chalk, markers, etc... when necessary. At various times during the seasons, there will be "Blind Draw" tourneys where cash prizes will be given. Anyone wanting to see any financial statements of the league, you can contact the league commissioner: 

birminghamdarts@gmail.com.