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Section 1 - The Executive Council may authorize or conduct, at its discretion, special tournaments, matches, exhibitions, open, invitational or celebrity pitching events anywhere that it deems suitable.

Section 2 - Any special tournament or event, including the World Tournament, will be conducted in accord with these Bylaws and the NHPA Official Playing Rules, except that the Executive Council may approve a waiver if it will aid in the promotion of the sport and/or success of the event.

The Executive Council may authorize a limit to the number of entries to any Special Tournament or Event if it feels time, court or any other restraint make it impossible to reasonably schedule an unlimited number. In such cases, limits may be set by any manner deemed suitable.

Section 3 - In World, National, Regional and State Championships, all ties for first place must be broken by play-off, percentage or who beat whom.

Section 1 - All NHPA Tournaments shall be sanctioned in accord with the published guidelines and/or directives for NHPA Regional Directors.

Section 2 - Entry is restricted to players holding a current NHPA membership and meeting any imposed eligibility requirements, unless otherwise allowed by the Executive Council.

Section 3 - All pitchers averages shall be based on the three highest NHPA sanctioned tournaments pitched in the preceding 12 months or the last ten tournaments during the same period, whichever occurs first.

a - Any member without an average will pitch a minimum of 100 consecutive shoes to establish their tournament seeding percentage. This qualifying must be scored in writing and witnessed by two NHPA members no more than 30 days prior to entering a tournament. Alternately, an NHPA sanctioned club or league average may be used if it covers 400 or more shoes.

b - Members with less than 3 tournaments shall use the combined average of the one or two they have pitched.

Section 4 - Tournament fees: All registration (entry) and any other fees shall be determined by the Tournament Director or Committee.

Tournament entry: Division and age restrictions are recognized where applicable for entry to NHPA sanctioned tournament play.

a - Open Men - no restrictions.

b - Senior Men - at least 60 years old prior to the day the tournament starts with no maximum age.

c - Elders - Must be at least 70 years of age before the end of the year they wish to declare themselves a short distance pitcher. Once a member declares himself a short distance pitcher, (See Article XII, Section 3, a.) they must remain a short distance pitcher for that membership year. This division includes any male pitcher with a verified physical handicap that prevents them from pitching the full distance, provided an NHPA Medical Exemption form has been completed and approved by the State Charter.

d - Open Women - no restrictions.

e - Senior Women - at least 60 years old prior to the day the tournament starts with no maximum age.

f - Junior Boys and Girls - any who will be 18 years old, or less, for the entire calendar year in which the tournament is played.

g - Handicapped - no restrictions.

Section 5 - All NHPA Tournaments shall be conducted at the discretion of the Tournament Director or Committee providing these Bylaws and Official Playing Rules are not violated. (see ART.XI, Section 2 for exception)

Section 6 - The Count-All System of scoring is to be optional throughout any pitching activity. The exception to this shall be the World and State Championship Tournaments where only the preliminary qualifying rounds may use the count-all method of total points to determine the championship classes.

Section 7 - All tournament playoffs in all classes are to be included in the totals of Sanctioned Tournament statistics.

Section 8 - Junior pitchers may compete in an adult division of a mixed tournament without harm to their junior standing provided no separate junior division is offered in the same tournament. When a junior division is offered in a non-handicapped tournament, a junior may pitch with the adults without harm to their junior standing, only when their average is at least 10% higher than the next junior.

Section 9 - Junior pitchers who request admittance and are accepted to an adult class outside the conditions set forth in Section 8 above will forever forfeit their junior eligibility. A junior boy who forfeits his junior status must pitch 40'.

Section 10 - All junior play, mixed class or otherwise, will be conducted on an amateur basis. Awards presented to a junior should have no immediate monetary value. Trophies, medals, ribbons or such are recommended. Any award with monetary value including trust funds from the World Tournament or the Junior Scholar Pitcher Awards Program shall not be issued before the successful completion of high school.

Section 11 - It shall be the responsibility of juniors to make sure that their amateur standing is not jeopardized by violation of any of the above.

Section 12 - Forfeits: In tournament competition, the wins and losses and all statistics accumulated shall remain in the books for a pitcher who has to forfeit one or more games for any reason. A pitcher may miss any number of games due to illness or other legitimate reason approved by the Tournament Director or Committee and still be permitted to return to competition. If a pitcher forfeits for an unapproved reason, the pitcher will not be allowed to return to the competition and will forfeit all prize money and/or awards. Any person who forfeits games shall finish wherever his record puts him in the standings unless he forfeits for unapproved reasons; then he finishes last.

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