International Professional Terraceball League

The International Professional Terraceball League is the regulatory body which oversees matters relating to the sport of terraceball. The League has strong connections to various state and local governments, various RadNet broadcasters and print media (including The Guild Gazette) and the Navigator's Guild itself.

Structure

The IPTL Rules Council is a bicameral institution. The Upper Council is a self-selecting group comprised of sport historians, who are mostly Vale Verdial but also include a number of Rostrans knowledgeable about the early international spread of the sport. The inclusion of Rostrans is a nod to the fact that famed explorer Eqai Voiranoi, a rostran, was among the first non-verdials to play the sport. The Upper Council is responsible for setting, standardizing, and adjudicating the rules of the sport, paying close attention to traditions and historical precedent while also adapting rules as required to fit new conditions. The Upper Council is also responsible for commisioning official translators for the rules, allowing them to be disseminated in every known reach of the Manifold Sky. The Lower Council is comprised of the coaches, team captains, and (if applicable) owners of each team within the League. The Lower Council's primary duties involve the induction of new teams into the League, adjudicating rules disputes in individual instances, sending rules appeals to the Upper Council, and commissioning referrees.

Culture

Like many such organizations, the culture of the IPTL is equal parts reverent of tradition and vulnerable to favoratism. The Navigator's Guild has an inordinate amount of pull in the Lower Council because they have the ability to prevent members from travelling to the council chambers in Petalcap Vale, but they also have deep enough pockets to bribe even the most conservative of Upper Council members. There are persistent rumors of Verdant Order members weaseling their way into the Upper Council at various times in the organization's history through a combination of graft, nepotism, and veiled threats, but these largely remain unproven as of 10,000 AR. It is known that, for certain incentives, the IPTL can be made to look the other way on non-obvious infractions; the doping scandal of '97 is the most famous of such indiscretions. While the IPTL may be said to be fallible, it cannot be said to be partisan in the political sense of the term. The Leauge's official stance on the ongoing War of Reunification, for example, is that teams should be considered non-state actors for the purpose of international games and that, while the war itself is unfortunate, the League will not take sides. Similarly, while Petalcap Vale has a vested interest in using the IPTL as a vehicle for pro-verdial sentiment on the international stage, the League encourages players of all species, nationalities, and creeds to play terraceball in the spirit of sportsmanship before other considerations.

Assets

The IPTL gathers funds in the form of membership dues, sponsorships, and public donations to establish fields and training facilities for terraceball leagues in cooperation with local civil governments. This has caused the fortunes of the IPTL to rise in proportion to those of various RadNet broadcasters and trade organizations willing to carry their teams, merchandise, and official broadcasts.

Demography and Population

While terraceball has expanded greatly in prominence beyond the borders of its native Petalcap Vale, a majority of ranking IPTL officials are still Vale Verdial.