Match Time Limits:

Kids: 3 minutes
Youths: 4 minutes
Adults: 5 minutes

Format:

Our tournaments are round robin format, with the opportunity to get up to 5 matches each in gi and no-gi (not including the absolute divisions!). In divisions with over 7 competitors, the division will be split into 2 pools, where the best grapplers from each pool will compete in a single-elimination play-off format to decide first, second and third.

In the case of divisions with only 2 competitors, the bracket will be held as a 'best of three'. Absolute divisions are single elimination format. We will merge divisions if we have to in order for all competitors to have matches (you will be notified by email), providing we deem it safe to do so.

Match points:

Winning a match by submission will award 5 points. Wins by decision, disqualification or walkover will only award 1 point, making them count for very little in a round robin division. The competitor with the most submissions wins will win the division.

If there are multiple athletes with the same number of submission wins, Smoothcomp will determine the placings by the following tiebreaker criteria, in this order:

Result if the competitors went head to head > fastest submission

Decision criteria:

If there is no submission at the end of the match, the referee will choose the winner by decision based on who was more dominant, with priority given to submission attempts and near finishes.

Please do not harass our referees over their decisions, they are only human and will make the decision based on their subjective view of the match and how it plays into the above criteria. The onus is on you to go out and submit your opponent to take winning or losing out of the referee's hands.

Competing against teammates:

Because of the round robin format, teammates might end up being matched against one another. We've configured Smoothcomp to avoid this when possible, but depending on the number of competitors or teammates in a division, there might be no way to prevent it. 

Fleeing the mat:

If an athlete is caught in a submission and purposely pulls their opponent or rolls off of the mat in an attempt to free themselves from the submission, they will be considered submitted and will lose the match.

If an opponent is countering a submission and they happen to roll off of the mat (i.e. defending a heel hook or an armbar), the referee will reset the position in the center of the mat, as it was just before they rolled off the mat. The referee will give the competitor caught in the submission the option to tap out before the match is restarted. If the competitor refuses the tap out, the match will be restarted with the submission in place. If they once again roll off the mat, the match will be restarted from standing in the middle.