RULES

The most recent edition of the rules was published by the World Gateball Union in 2019. A Q & A Guide is also available for these rules. This second document is  a supplement to the official rules. It is presented in a question and answer format and covers issues that could occur in a game but cannot be fully covered by the Rules.

There are many summaries of the rules. See these: from the WGU you can obtain a copy in landscape or portrait view. This  summary of the rules has been produced by the European Gateball League. 

If you have queries about the rules, there is a Q&A forum where you can ask questions or answer those from other people. Click here for the Q&A forum

Rules available from the WGU do not cover all aspects of officiating in Australia. The Gateball Australia Referee Committee (GARC) makes decisions on these matters which are communicated by state coordinators. Relevant documents endorsed by the  GARC are available through links at the bottom of this page. Referees and players should be aware of and implement these processes.

BECOMING A REFEREE AND MAINTAINING ACCREDITATION

Gateball Australia’s document that specifies its procedure for referee accreditation and reaccreditation and is available for download.  The document parallels the  ACA’s processes for referee accreditation and reaccreditation for all codes and forms an appendix to that document. In turn, this process is compliant with requirements of the Australian Sports Commission/Sports Australia. All referees should be aware of its contents and other documents on this page.

ACA Gateball Referees can attain accreditation to three levels:

International	Accredited by the World Gateball Union – allows the referee to examine candidates for Level 1 accreditation
Level 1	Senior level – allows the referee to examine candidates for Level 2 accreditation
Level 2	Basic accreditation

A summary of the steps to become a referee or being accredited at a higher level are available here

Players who wish to become a Gateball Referee are expected to undertake courses:

1 Community Officiatiing General Principles. A requirement of the ACA and Sports Australia is to complete the online Community Officiating General Principles online course.

2 Training Courses. More specific courses about the rules and practical refereeing are sometimes available through State Coordinators. Contact your State Coordinator and ask.

Online materials also available for those who cannot attend courses or where numbers and the location of gateballers do not allow this to happen. Anthony Dask, a Victorian Gateballer, has produced many hours of videos which are available through Youtube. These take players through the different sections of the rule book and also refer to sections of the Q&A book.. A series  of videos produced by the Taiwan Gateball Association are also useful. This link in particular describes the relationship between Referee A and B. Which is one of the important items that a beginning referee needs to get their head aroun. These links take you directly to topics that correspond with the rule book:

Intro to GB     The Court     Equipment     Team, Managers and Players

Preparing for the Game      How to Play the Game  Winning and Losing

Play and Rights as a Stroker      Effective Plays and Ineffective Plays

Movement of the Ball   Stroking     Passing the Gate    Finishing (Agari)

Touch    Spark     In-Ball and Out_Ball    Ball Touch Foul     Play Interference

Referee Time     Exchange of Equipment     Interruption of the Game

Referees

A series  of videos produced by the Taiwan Gateball Association are also useful. This link in particular describes the relationship between Referee A and B. Which is one of the important items that a beginning referee needs to get their head around. Be aware that these videos have not been updated for the 2019 rules – viewers should remember that the referee now keeps their hands by their side when calling “Play Ball.”

Those who would like to have a copy of a workbook can access one here. If you wish to obtain a word copy so you can type into it,  email info@gateball.com.au to ask for one.

Referees also need to be aware of the Guide for Referees which is published with the Rules and describes other topics of importance when carrying out the role of an official. It describes hand signals, the role and positioning for referees and other officials.  Two more of Anthony’s videos are useful here: Referee Calls and Referee Positioning. Two Korean videos usefully outline hand signals and  procedures  that officials are expected to follow at the beginning and end of a game

ACA Officials Code of Behaviour. Referees are also asked to acknowledge their understanding and acceptance of the ACA Officials’ Code of Behaviour. The source of this document is the ACA Member Protection Policy and is available through the ACA website

Annual Reaccreditation Cards. All qualified referees are expected to complete an annual reaccreditation card. Click here for a current annual reaccreditation card.     Print the pages back to back to obtain 2 cards. Existing referees need to complete these every year to maintain their currency. When they have been completed, they should be passed to state coordinators of refereeing.

CURRENT REFEREES

The following lists of referees are provided to Gateball Australia by State Coordinators or State Coordinators of Refereeing. If there are any errors please contact your relevant state personnel.

Referees become “inactive ” if they have not completed reaccreditation processes. Contact your relevant state personnel if you wish to become active again.

National Coordinator of Refereeing, Gateball : Bruce McAlister

QLD – State Director of Gateball Refereeing, Margaret Barnard

International:  Bruce McAlister, Keith McLeod, Glenda Windust

Level 1: Ros Crowe, Keith Chur-Hansen, Barbara Northcott, Jim Northcott, Margaret Barnard

Level 2: Fran Buckle, Lyn Christiansen, Warren Douse, Lynne Farry, Jill Gwynne, Kathleen Hayes, Margaret Dickenson, Kathie Grant, Mary Jones, Cheryl Kele, Chris Kele,  Emma  Mauceri, Brian Mullins, Sandra Reynolds, Christine Roose, Robert Roose, Nancy Scamp, Max Stringer, Dianne Sweet, Peter Sweet, Julia Tai, Mary-Ann Waters, Tony Waters, Frances Wregg and Julia Vickers.

Inactive: John Angus, Greg Fetherstone, Philip Rowland, John Turner, Beryl Turner.

VIC – State Coordinator, Philip Brown.

International: Gilon Smith

Level 1: Philip Brown, Anthony Dask.

Level 2: Tim Stagg,

Inactive: Catherine Doherty, Chris Langford, Sue Leitinger, 

NSW & ACT- State Coordinator, Judy Tier

International: 

Level 1:  Manuel Gutierrez, John Park, Glen Whitehead

Level 2: Helen Chalmers, Andrew Davies, Marion Davies,  Adrienne Fazekas, Alan Gray, Peter Freer, Glenda Gutierrez, Robyn Hayes, Robyn Irwin, Penny Park, Petula Shun, Judy Squelch

South Australia   

Level 1: Geoff Crook

Western Australia & Tasmania

No qualified referees.

GATEBALL AUSTRALIA REFEREE COMMITTEE & NCRGB: ADVICE, CLARIFICATIONS AND USEFUL INFORMATION

Rules for Singles, Doubles and Triples

Gateball Australia has agreed the following rules for playing with less than five members on each team.

• Rules for singles matches played in Australia.
• Rules for gateball doubles matches played in Australia.
• Rules for triples matches played in Australia.

Pointing with a stick and disagreeing with a referee

Gateball Australia has clarified these two issues after some discussion in late 2020. See Gateball Information Pamphlets: Indicating where to stroke or spark a ball  and Disagreeing with a referee decision.

Forfeiting Games

If a team forfeits a game, then Gateball Australia accepts the following process. Tournament referees and managers may adopt an alternative provided participants are advised of this before a tournament begins.

Record Sheet for recording the progress of games can be found here

Tournament Referee A description of the role of a Tournament referee is available from this link

Setting courts accurately Court dimensions are to be found in the rules, but great care needs to be taken when setting courts for competitions. The two links below assist with accurate court setting.

Gatesetter. Instructions on how to make and use a gatesetter and a plan with the required dimensions is available here.

Jamberoo’s system for accurately painting court lines was posted as a news item on this website and is available here

Deciding the winner when the points are tied A handy information pamphlet is also available for download: Deciding the winner when points are tied

Referee Workshops 2021/22 Australian Gateball Championships

At the 21/22 AGC a number of referee workshops were held. Resources clarifying roles are available as follows: Basic Interaction between Referees A and B, Duties of the Assistant Referee, Duties of a Linesperson, Duties of a Recorder, Referee Role A&B and the Scoreboard Keeper.

Other clarifications were presented as follows: Example Record Sheet, Rotational Doubles Record Sheet , Monitoring Player sequence for Doubles and Referee Hand Indications