Tournament Refund Policy

SMRA Refund Policy — Tournament Fees

1. Purpose & Scope

This policy governs refunds of tournament entry/team-fees for all tournaments hosted by or sanctioned through St.Marys Ringette Association (SMRA). It applies to all teams registered to participate in a SMRA tournament.

2. Refund Eligibility & Conditions

• If a team is not accepted into the tournament (e.g. due to space/slots limitations), the full tournament fee will be refunded.
• If a team withdraws before acceptance (before SMRA confirms entry), a full refund will be issued minus a processing fee.
• If a team withdraws after acceptance but before the tournament schedule is released, they will receive a 50% refund, minus the processing fee. 
• If a team withdraws after the schedule has been released, no refund will be provided.

3. Fees & Processing

• A fixed processing fee of $50 will be deducted when refunding a team that withdraws prior to acceptance.
• Refunds will be processed back to the original payer or via cheque / e-transfer as per the team’s payment method.
• The responsible body (local association or governing province) may require up to 30 calendar days to process approved refunds.

4. Tournament Cancellation by Organizer

• If the tournament is cancelled by the organizer (e.g. due to external factors such as provincial health orders), SMRA will refund team fees less a fixed amount (e.g. to cover merchandise or costs already incurred). For example: in the case of a cancellation under health orders, SMRA returns team fees minus $100 to cover purchased merchandise.
• In such a case, SMRA will communicate with team managers to arrange pickup or shipment of any purchased tournament-related merchandise.

5. Request Procedure

• All refund or cancellation requests must be submitted in writing (via email) to the designated tournament administrator (e.g. the SMRA info email) indicating: team name, division, association, and reason for withdrawal or cancellation.
• Requests should be submitted as soon as possible — ideally before acceptance or schedule release depending on the refund eligibility window.

6. Non-Transferability & Deadline Enforcement

• The refund eligibility is strictly tied to the team’s status (not accepted, accepted but before schedule, after schedule, etc.). Once the schedule is released, no refund will be issued for withdrawals. 
• Tournament fee refunds are non-transferable to other events or seasons unless explicitly permitted by SMRA.

7. Transparency & Communication

• All registrants must be made aware—at the time of registration—of this refund policy, including deadlines, processing fees, and conditions under which refunds are granted or denied.
• The policy should be published clearly (e.g. on the tournament registration page or in the “information/FAQ” section) so that teams understand the financial commitment before registering.
• Associations must maintain records of all refund requests, approvals/denials, and issued refunds, for at least one fiscal year.