UKVARL Competition Rules & Constitution

These rules govern all competition run on the UK Virtual Air Rifle League (UKVARL) platform: the Virtual League, individual competitions, the Knockout Cup, team challenges, internal matches and paper competitions.

They are derived from the Wolverhampton Air Rifle League (WARL) constitution of September 2023 and restate it for a national, virtual league. Where these rules differ from the original WARL text, these rules apply. The original document is kept for reference on the archive page.

• UKVARL is a virtual league: shooters compete from their own club or approved range and submit scores to this platform, rather than travelling to a fixture.
• Sections of the original constitution covering league finance and delegates meetings are not reproduced, as they governed a local physical league and have no effect here.
• By registering, every member agrees to shoot and submit scores in accordance with these rules and the terms & conditions.

UKVARL is administered by a league committee.

• The committee comprises the league administrators appointed on this platform, including a chair, a competition secretary and a results/records officer.
• Committee members serve for one season and may be re-appointed. Vacancies may be filled by the committee at any time.
• The committee's decisions on eligibility, scoring, sanctions and disputes are final, subject to the appeal route in the Disputes section.
• Regional or affiliated leagues may operate their own divisions within UKVARL under a league administrator, who acts within these rules.

• Members must be current members of a recognised air rifle or airgun club, or shoot at a range where bell target shooting is conducted lawfully and safely.
• One person may hold only one account. Accounts must be registered in the shooter's own name.
• Shooters under 18 must have the consent of a parent or guardian and shoot under club supervision.

• A shooter is registered once their account is approved by a team admin or league administrator and linked to a club.
• Registration for a season closes as published in the season settings. A shooter registered after a season has begun may be admitted at the committee's discretion, with earlier rounds either forfeited or averaged as set out in the Scoring section.
• A shooter may be registered to only one club for league purposes in any one season. A club transfer mid-season requires committee approval and does not carry scores across.

• Shooter — enters and submits their own cards.
• Probationary — a newly registered shooter whose scores are recorded and published but who may be excluded from certain honours or divisions until the committee confirms full status.
• Team admin (captain) — manages a club's members, teams, club profile, lineups and fixtures. A team admin may manage more than one club where appointed.
• League admin — runs seasons, divisions, fixtures and competitions for their league.
• Admin — full platform administration, including these rules.

• A club is entered into UKVARL by a team admin and must appear in the club directory with a contact, a venue and its shooting disciplines.
• A club may enter more than one team where it has sufficient registered shooters. Teams must be named clearly (for example "A" and "B") and a shooter may represent only one team of their club in a season, other than as an approved reserve.
• Team admins are responsible for the accuracy of their club's registered members, lineups and submitted cards.
• A club must not enter a shooter who is not a member of that club, other than a declared guest in a friendly or internal match, whose score does not count towards league standings.

• A club or shooter may withdraw from a season by notifying the committee. Cards already submitted stand; remaining rounds are recorded as not shot.
• Where a club withdraws part way through a season, the committee decides whether its completed results remain in the standings or are expunged, in the interest of fairness to remaining clubs.
• A shooter who submits no card for a full round may be marked inactive. Inactive shooters remain registered and may resume at any time within the season.
• Subscription lapse suspends access to entry and submission, but does not remove scores already recorded.

Members are expected to compete honestly and to treat other members, officials and clubs with respect.

Grounds for sanction include:

• Submitting a score that was not shot as recorded, or submitting another person's card as your own.
• Interfering with, editing or manufacturing target images or scan data.
• Shooting at a target, distance or with equipment that does not comply with these rules.
• Abusive, discriminatory or threatening behaviour towards members, officials or clubs.
• Non-adherence to these rules, or bringing the sport into disrepute.

Available sanctions, at the committee's discretion and in proportion to the breach:

• A warning or a required correction before further scores are accepted.
• Voiding of an individual card, a round, or a whole season's entry.
• Suspension of a shooter, a team or a club for a stated period.
• Expulsion from the league and closure of the account.

A member subject to sanction will be told the reason and may appeal under the Disputes section.

• A season is defined by its start and end dates, the number of rounds, and the number of cards per round, as published in the season settings.
• Round windows are published in advance. Cards must be shot and submitted within the round window; a card shot outside its window does not count towards that round.
• League fixtures and cup ties are drawn by the platform or by the league administrator. Both clubs are notified of the window.
• Because UKVARL is virtual, fixtures are not postponed for travel, weather or venue clashes. Where a club genuinely cannot shoot within a window — for example a range closure — the team admin should request an extension from the committee before the window closes.
• Where a fixture is not completed within its window and no extension has been granted, the committee may award the fixture to the opponent, or score the missing shooters at the league's published missing-shooter score.

• Competition is shot on standard bell targets, or on approved printed paper targets for paper competitions.
• The target face must be the correct pattern and size for the discipline and must be undamaged, correctly mounted and clearly marked.
• Targets must be mounted with the centre of the disc five feet from the floor.
• Each card is shot on a fresh target face or diagram. A face may not be re-used across cards, and shots from separate sessions may not be combined onto one card.
• For paper competitions, the target set (its ring diameters and any inner-10 centre spot) must match the set published for the competition. Where the target has a centre spot inside the 10 ring, that spot carries no separate numerical value and counts only as an inner 10 for tie-break purposes.

Cards may be shot at 6 yards (18 feet) or 7 yards (21 feet).

• Measure from the front of the target plate straight down to the floor, then along the floor to the firing line.
• The firing line must be clearly and permanently marked, for example with tape on the floor.
• Clubs should use their normal range distance and keep to the same distance for the whole season.
• No part of the shooter or the rifle may cross the firing line at the moment of firing.

• Shooting is free standing, unsupported. Resting on or against tables, walls, door frames, chairs or any other object is not allowed, except under the Adapted shooting section below.
• Slings, bipods, monopods, rests, hooks and shooting jackets designed to provide artificial support are not permitted.
• The rifle must be held and fired by the shooter, who must control both aim and trigger.
• Clothing must not be used to create artificial support. Normal club clothing is expected.
• Only iron sights, dioptre sights or telescopic sights permitted by the competition's discipline settings may be used. Where a competition specifies a sighting or rifle class (for example springer or compressed gas), shooters must enter the class they actually shoot.

Any shooter with a permanent physical disability may use an adapted shooting position and/or equipment to enable them to compete safely and fairly in the league.

Approved adaptations may include, but are not limited to:

• Use of an ISSF/IPC-style spring-mounted rifle support stand (SH2-type).
• Shooting from a seated position, in a chair or wheelchair.
• One-handed shooting where two-handed shooting is not possible due to disability.

The adaptation must not provide a mechanical advantage beyond enabling the shooter to safely hold and aim the rifle. In particular:

• The stand may support the weight of the rifle only.
• No part of the shooter's body may gain additional support from the table, chair, stand or any other artificial support beyond what is permitted under IPC/DSGB SH2 rules.
• The stand may be fixed to the table or mounted on a tripod, but must not be rigidly braced to the floor or other structures.

For the purposes of this league, an "ISSF stand" means a spring-mounted rifle support as used in IPC/DSGB SH2 competition, which supports the weight of the rifle while the shooter maintains control of aim and trigger operation.

As this is a virtual league operating UK-wide, no separate written permission from the league committee is required for an adapted position or equipment that complies with this section. Shooters are expected to self-certify that their setup complies with these rules and to use a position and equipment consistent with their disability.

The league committee reserves the right to review any adapted position or equipment if concerns are raised regarding safety or fairness. If an adaptation is found to provide an unfair advantage or to be unsafe, the committee may require changes before further scores are accepted.

• Rifles must comply with UK law and with the power limit applicable at the shooter's range. It is the shooter's responsibility to ensure their rifle is legal and safely maintained.
• Any calibre and pellet permitted by the host club may be used, unless a competition states otherwise. The shooter should record the pellet head size used where the platform asks for it, as this affects outward marking on paper targets.
• Electronic aids that assist aim, trigger release or hold — including laser aiming devices, electronic levels and recoil-cancelling supports beyond an approved SH2 stand — are not permitted.
• Rifles must not be modified in any way that breaches the free-standing rule, for example by adding rests or braces.

Bell target scoring follows the traditional WARL values.

• A shot is scored by the ring in which the pellet lies: 5.1 (bell / centre), then 5, 4, 3, 2 and 0 for a miss.
• A shot touching the line of a higher-scoring ring counts as the higher score, judged by the outer edge of the pellet hole. The gauge used is the shooter's pellet head diameter.
• A card is 8 shots, of which the best 7 count ("7 from 8").
• Ties are separated first by the greater number of 5.1s, then by the greater number of 5s, and in paper competitions by the greater number of inner 10s where the target set has a centre spot.
• Team match scores are the aggregate of the counting shooters' cards. Where a nominated shooter is missing, the league's published missing-shooter score or team average is applied in their place, as configured for the league.
• Where a league operates handicaps, the handicap is applied to the card total as configured; raw and adjusted totals are both recorded.
• Divisions and standings are calculated automatically from confirmed cards. A fuller worked explanation is on the scoring page.

• Cards must be entered on the platform and submitted within 48 hours of being shot, and in any event before the round window closes.
• Shots must be entered in the order fired. A card must be completed in one sitting; a part-entered card left open may be auto-closed by the platform at the end of the window.
• Once a card is submitted and countersigned it is final. Corrections after submission require a league administrator, who will record the change in the audit trail.
• No score may be added to a fixture after both sides have signed the match report.
• Where the platform is unavailable, shooters should record the card on paper, keep the target, and submit as soon as service is restored; reasonable extensions will be granted for platform outages.

Every competition card requires a scorer in addition to the shooter. There is no separate checker — the scorer checks and locks the card.

• The scorer must be present for the whole card, must call each shot as it is entered, and must not be the shooter themselves.
• Acceptable scorers are a club official, a range conducting officer, a team admin, or another registered member of the club present at the time.
• When all 8 shots are in, the scorer shall call the total, check it with the shooter, then lock the card. Locking a card is a statement that the shots were fired and scored as recorded.
• The scorer may correct any shot until the card is locked. Once locked, only the site admin can reopen it.
• In a group shoot, a team admin, league admin or site admin hosting the group may score and lock their own card, provided another person present scores it physically on the range.
• Knowingly locking an inaccurate card is a breach of these rules by both the shooter and the scorer.
• Where the platform's admin test mode is enabled for training or demonstration, cards created under it are marked as such and do not count towards competition.

• Shooters must retain the physical target or card for at least 28 days after submission, or until the season's results are published, whichever is later.
• The committee may request a photograph or scan of any target at any time. Failure to produce it may result in the card being voided.
• Photographs must show the whole target face, unaltered, in reasonable light and square to the camera.
• Editing, retouching, cloning or otherwise manipulating a target image is a serious breach and will normally result in expulsion.
• Uploaded target images may be reviewed by league administrators and, with the shooter's consent, used to improve the platform's scoring tools.

The platform's target scanner is an aid to scoring, not a substitute for the scorer.

• The scanner detects shot positions and applies the ring rules, including outward marking against the pellet's outer edge.
• The shooter and scorer remain responsible for the final card. Where the scanner mis-detects a shot, the shot may be moved or its ring corrected manually before submission, and the correction is recorded.
• Calibration must reflect the actual target set and the actual pellet head size. Deliberately mis-calibrating a scan to gain score is treated as score manipulation.
• Scanned paper competition cards are subject to administrator review, which may adjust or void a card. Every adjustment is logged with the before and after totals.

• Safety is the responsibility of the shooter and the host club at all times. All shooting must follow NSRA (or the relevant governing body) safety rules and the local rules of the range.
• UKVARL does not organise, supervise or attend physical shooting sessions and accepts no liability for injury, damage or legal issues arising at member clubs.
• Members are responsible for compliance with all applicable firearms and airgun law, including transport, storage, power limits and age restrictions.
• Any unsafe practice reported to the committee may result in immediate suspension pending investigation.

A virtual league depends on trust. The following apply without exception:

• One account per person; no shooting or submitting on behalf of another member.
• A card may not be re-shot to improve a score. The first card completed in a round stands.
• Sighting shots must be fired on a separate face and must not be included on a competition card.
• No editing of target images or scan data, and no submission of a target shot at a shorter distance or a larger face than the competition specifies.
• The committee may audit any shooter's cards, images, scan data and submission history, and may require a card to be re-shot under supervision.
• Where a pattern of scores is inconsistent with a shooter's audited performance, the committee may require supervised verification before further scores are accepted.

• A dispute about a score, a fixture or a sanction must be raised with the committee within 7 days of the result being published, through the platform's support channel.
• The committee will consider the card, its audit trail, any target evidence and any statements from the shooter, the scorer and the opposing team admin.
• The committee may uphold the result, adjust it, void the card, or order the card to be re-shot.
• A shooter or club may appeal a committee decision once, in writing, within 7 days. The appeal is heard by committee members who did not take the original decision. Their decision is final.
• No dispute is entertained after a season's honours have been awarded, except in the case of proven score manipulation.

• Results are published automatically as cards are confirmed. Standings, averages and division placings update as the season progresses.
• Each fixture produces a match report recording both teams' cards, the scorers and the confirmed totals. Both team admins are responsible for checking it.
• Season honours, cup winners, 5.1 Club entries and other awards are calculated from confirmed results at the end of the season and published in the Roll of Honour.
• The committee may withhold or withdraw an honour where a result is later found to breach these rules.

• Registering to compete means your shooter name, club, cards, totals, averages, standings and honours are published on the platform, including to visitors who are not signed in.
• Contact details, date of birth and other personal data are not published; see the privacy notice for how they are handled.
• Target images and scan data are held for administration, verification and dispute resolution.
• A member may request deletion of their personal data. Where a season is in progress, results already recorded may be retained in anonymised form to preserve the integrity of the competition.

• These rules may be amended by the league committee. Material changes are announced to members through the platform and, where appropriate, by email.
• An amendment takes effect from the date published and does not retrospectively alter results already confirmed, unless the amendment corrects an obvious error.
• The current edition of these rules is the version shown on this page.