Quoted from Whysnow:"A person who hasn't competed yet could still walk in the door and compete but player #999 who just played in B div can not. Does this not cause an conundrum?"
Is there really a difference in how a person is treated? I do not know the rules for switching at PAPA.
Ex 1: person arrives on Saturday at 2pm and they are allowed to sign up and play in A?
Ex 2: person played in C or B on Thursday/Friday and then on Saturday at 2pm they want to sign up for A and are denied?
The person who picked B or C early in the tournament are given plenty of time to change their mind before the cut off. PAPA's rules are published well in advanced.
If that is the case, then I would say that per the letter of the IFPA that is a restricted event and should not award IFPA points. My understanding is that you have to treat all players identically regardless of previous experience.
This "issue" is getting really, really nit-picky, but given that the rules are known well in advance, the issue is only caused by the player that didn't follow the rules and take the opportunity that was given to them.
If the rules stated that you must declare prior to the tournament and you are stuck with that decision, I might agree somewhat, but that isn't the case here.
They should probably just make it a noon cutoff for all divisions and all people in order to be both fair and even across all divisions. Just state that you must play you first game in any division by noon on Saturday for any entries to count.
And what does this accomplish, besides turning people away from competitive pinball?