OVERVIEW
Tennis competitions will welcome a maximum of 1,200 players. Competitions will take place over six days.This tournament is open to both competitive and recreational tennis players, as well as to players with disabilities.

DATES
• Sunday, 30 July 2006
• Monday, 31 July 2006
• Tuesday, 1 August 2006
• Wednesday, 2 August 2006
• Thursday, 3 August 2006
• Friday, 4 August 2006

SANCTIONED BY
Competitions will be sanctioned by the Gay and Lesbian Tennis Alliance (GLTA) as well as Tennis Québec, member of Tennis Canada.

RULES
GLTA rules will be used, in accordance with the norms and rules of Tennis Canada.

For the Wheelchair competitions, International Tennis Federation (ITF) rules will be used.

AFFILIATION
There are no affiliation or membership requirements for this sport discipline.

ORGANISING COMMITTEE

• Ms. Sandra Bagaria, Sports Coordinator

• Ms. Nicole Nobert, Competition Director

• Mr. Frédéric Ledoux, Consultant, Tennis Québec

• Mr. Francois Giguère, Consultant Tennis Quebec and Results Supervisor

• Mr. Loic Dehoux, Officials Supervisor

• Ms. Cécile Graillet, Athlete Communication Coordinator

• Ms. Guylaine Marchand, Registration Coordinator

• Ms. Cati Morin, Volunteer Coordinator

• Ms. Kathleen Roch, GLTA Rules and Data Entry Coordinator

COMPETITION FORMAT
The tournament will use a knock-out format. Participants may register for a MAXIMUM OF TWO EVENTS – a Singles, a Doubles, a Mixed Doubles and/or a Wheelchair event. All events are open to women and men.

The following divisions will be offered, using the GLTA grading system
except for wheelchair events.

Participants’ ages will be determined by their age on the first day of competitions, 30 July 2006.

Matches will be best-of-three sets with a tie-breaker in each set.

Participants will select their own grade categories when registering, using the GLTA Division Standard system.

Tournament officials reserve the right to re-grade participants up or down as necessary, and to cancel or combine event categories if there is an insufficient number of registered participants.

Participants in Doubles events can provide their Doubles partner’s name when they register, or at a later date when their partner is confirmed.

Doubles partners must be confirmed before the close of the registration period in April 2006.

If participants cannot find a Doubles partner, they may still register and the Organising Committee will make every effort to locate a suitable partner in their chosen event.

THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE CANNOT, HOWEVER, GUARANTEE THAT EVERY INDIVIDUAL WILL BE PAIRED WITH A PARTNER. Participants without partners may not take part in the Doubles matches.

The chart below shows equivalencies between the GLTA Division Standards and other systems used:

COMPETITON SCHEDULE
Games will commence on 30 July at 9:00 and will take place on several competition sites. Games will be divided into three blocks:

Block 1: 9:00
Block 2: 11:00
Block 3: 13:00

Practice sessions are scheduled between 8:00 and 9:00 at each competition site. One court will be available on each venue all-day for practice and warm-up during the competition. Check in is 30 minutes prior to your scheduled match time at the venue where you have to play.

As it is impossible to predict how long each match will play, and as games are played in succession, players must be present and ready to play upon being called by the official.

It is the player’s it shall be solely the payer’s responsibility to ensure that they are at the correct venue for their match at the correct time and correct date.

In case of rain
Nun’s Island Indoor Tennis courts will be the venues in case of rain. If such a case arises, the competition schedule and the format will be modified as necessary and pertinent information will be transmitted to the players in a timely manner.

REFEREES AND OFFICIALS
Roving Umpires, members of Tennis Québec, will be on site to guarantee the smooth operation of the tournament. Please find below a summary of basic rules as found in the Guidelines for Unofficiated Matches.

SCORING
If, during the point, a player realizes that an error has been committed, for example, serving from the wrong side, the player must still continue to play. Corrective measures will be taken after the point.

MAKING CALLS
A player makes calls on his side of the net.
A player calls all shots landing on, or aimed at, his side of the net.

Opponent gets benefit of doubt.
When a match is played without officials, the players are responsible for making decisions, particularly for line calls. There is a subtle difference between player decisions and those of an on-court official. An official impartially resolves a problem involving a call, whereas a player is guided by the unwritten law that any doubt must be resolved in favour of his opponent. A player in attempting to be scrupulously honest on line calls frequently will find himself keeping a ball in play that might have been out or that he discovers too late was out. Even so, the game is much better played this way.

• A ball touching any part of line is good.
• A ball that cannot be called out is good.

Call disagreement between Partners.

If a player and his partner disagree about whether their opponents’ ball was out, they shall call it good. It is more important to give your opponents the benefit of the doubt than to avoid possibly hurting your partner’s feeling by not overruling. The tactful way to achieve the desired result is to tell your partner quietly that he has made a mistake and then let him overrule himself. If a call is changed from out to good, the point is replayed only if the out ball was put back in play.

Audible or visible calls.
No matter how obvious it is to a player that his opponent’s ball is out, the opponent is entitled to a prompt audible or visible out call.

Spectators are never to make calls.

Prompt calls eliminate two-chance option.

Lets called when balls roll on the court.When a ball from an adjacent court enters the playing area, a player shall call a let as soon as he becomes aware of the ball. The player loses the right to call a let if he unreasonably delays in making the call.

SERVING
Service call in doubles.
In doubles the receiver’s partner should call the service line, and the receiver should call the sideline and the center service line. Nonetheless, either partner may call a ball that he clearly sees.

Service calls by serving team.
Neither the server nor his partner shall make a fault call on the first service even if they think it is out because the receiver may be giving the server the benefit of the doubt. But the server and his partner shall call out any second serve that either of them clearly sees out.

Service let calls.
Any player may call a service let. The call shall be made before the return of serve goes out of play or is hit by the server or his partner. If the serve is an apparent or near ace, any let shall be called promptly.

Server announces score.
The server shall announce the game score before the first point of the game and the point score before each subsequent point of the game.

WHEN TO CONTACT AN OFFICIAL
Withdrawing from a match or tournament. A player shall not enter a tournament and then withdraw when he discovers that tough opponents have also entered. A player may withdraw from a match or tournament only because of injury, illness, personal emergency, or another bona fide reason. If a player cannot play a match, he shall notify the referee at once so that his opponent may be saved a trip. A player who withdraws from a tournament is not entitled to the return of his entry fee unless he withdrew before the draw as made.

Stalling.
The following actions constitute stalling:

• warming up for more than the allotted time;
• playing at about one-third a player’s normal pace;
• taking more than the allotted 90 seconds on the odd-game changeover;
• taking more than the authorized ten minutes during an authorized rest period between sets;
• starting a discussion or argument in order for a player to catch his breath;
• clearing a missed first service that doesn’t need to be cleared; and
  
• bouncing the ball ten times before each serve.

ANTI-DOPING POLICY
The 1st World Outgames endorses a healthy and fair approach to sports training and competition. Sport events in the 1st World Outgames are sanctioned by provincial, national, and in some cases, international sports governing bodies. In order to adhere to the rules of these sporting federations and to guarantee that the Outgames are run in a fair and just manner, GLISA and the Outgames have adopted the policy as set by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES), and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Consequently, all athletes competing in the 1st World Outgames must adhere to GLISA’s position on drugs in sport and may be required to undergo drug-testing. We encourage all participants to become familiar with this policy.
 
POLICY ON TRANSITIONED AND TRANSGENDER ATHLETES
The objective of the 1st World Outgames in this regard is to provide an experience where all athletes are able to compete in a safe and welcoming environment, without discrimination of any kind. Our priority is to find the appropriate balance to ensure that no person, regardless of their birth gender, is disadvantaged in athletic competition and at the same time that no person participating in the Outgames experiences discrimination.

GLISA and the 1st World Outgames have collaborated so as to develop a policy that reflects this balance. We encourage all participants, especially those who have identified themselves as ‘transgender’ in the registration process, to become familiar with this policy.

ACCREDITATION
During the accreditation, participants from Canada will be required to show government-issued identification with a photo. For athletes from all other countries, a passport will be the preferred form of identification. Furthermore, every participant will be required to provide his or her participant number.

Main Accreditation Centre (Salle 220C Hall Viger)
Volunteers
20 to 23 July	08:00 to 18:00	Palais des congrès de Montréal
Participants - Conference
24 to 28 July	08:00 to 20:00	Palais des congrès de Montréal
Participants - Sport and Culture
27 and 28 July	08:00 to 20:00	Palais des congrès de Montréal
29 July	08:00 to 18:00	Palais des congrès de Montréal
30 July	08:00 to 12:00	Palais des congrès de Montréal

Late Accreditation (Limited Services)
30 July to 5 août	08:00 to 18:00	Olympic Stadium (rotonde)
30 July to 3 août	08:00 to 18:00	Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard
4 August	08:00 to 14:00	Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard
30 July	12:00 to 18:00