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Wildcards & Exemptions

A route onto a Team Ireland selection process for athletes who don't otherwise meet the standard criteria.

Policy source: National Ranking Tour Rules & Regulations and Selection Criteria, 2025/26 season (see Ranking Tour Rules)

This is standing policy, not an open call. The criteria below are the general Wildcard and Exemption rules from the current National Ranking Tour document. They do not by themselves mean applications are open right now — each Group Sub-Committee announces its own application window ahead of a specific event's selection month. See the historical example near the bottom of this page, and check with your Sub-Committee for the current window.

Wildcards

To apply for a Wildcard, an athlete must send comprehensive rationale for how they meet one of the reasons below to their applicable Group Sub-Committee, prior to the month of Selection for the event they wish to be considered for.

Examples of reasons for which a Wildcard application will be accepted include:

  1. An athlete returning from injury who has displayed their quality in tournaments/leagues since their return. At the commencement of an injury the athlete must inform the applicable Sub-Committee of their injury.
  2. An athlete who competes in overseas tournament(s), preventing their participation in their relevant National Tour events due to any unavoidable date clashes.
  3. An athlete living/working overseas — however, the athlete would have to display their qualities in tournaments/leagues in the area where they currently reside.
  4. An athlete who competes in an age category for the first time and demonstrates that their ability would be beneficial to the team.

A Wildcard will be given an opportunity to participate in Roll-Offs, or to join the ratified Squad if not already included, to potentially make the final team. A Wildcard does not automatically earn a place on the selection squad.

Exemptions

To apply for an Exemption, an athlete must send rationale for how they meet the reason below to their applicable Group Sub-Committee, prior to the month of Selection for the event they wish to be considered for.

Exemptions can be applied for:

  1. An athlete who competes professionally on the National PBA/PWBA Tour.

An exempt athlete will earn an automatic spot on the team that is to travel to the event.

How to apply

Applications go to the applicable Group Sub-Committee, in writing, before the month of Selection for the event concerned:

Wildcard and Exemption applications are assessed against the same Selection Criteria used for standard Team Ireland selection — see Ranking Tour Rules & Selection Criteria.

Historical example: 2025 Adult Triple Crown (closed)

The following is reproduced verbatim from a June 2025 news post as an example of how a Wildcard/Exemption call is announced for a specific event. Its deadline has passed — it is not a live call for applications.

Wildcard / Exemptions for 2024-2025:

Examples of reasons for which a Wildcard/Exemption can be applied for include:

  • An athlete returning from injury and has displayed their quality in tournaments/leagues since their return.
  • An athlete who competes in overseas tournaments, which limits their participation in domestic tournaments.
  • An athlete living/working overseas, however an athlete would have to display their qualities in tournaments/leagues in the area where they currently reside.

"If you meet the wildcard/exemption criteria please send your application to [email protected] by Midnight on Wednesday 2nd July 2025."

Note: this was a call specifically for the 2025 Adult Triple Crown and its application window (closing 2 July 2025) has long since closed. For the current wildcard/ exemption window, contact your applicable Group Sub-Committee directly.