Dodgeball Rules

SPORTS LEAGUE OFFICALS ASSOCIATION

Official Dodgeball Rules

Copyright 2016

OVERVIEW

Teams will consist of 8 players (4 men/4 women) on the court at one time. Teams may play with a minimum of 6 players, as long as at least two are women.

There will be eight (8) balls, four per team – 2 Men’s and 2 Women’s, placed at the middle of the court at the start of the game – each team’s balls will be on their right hand side.

The object is to eliminate all of the other team’s players to win the round.

Teams will play one match of nine rounds each match. Each round will count in the overall standings.

Teams will play 9 rounds that will be no more than 7 minutes long.

The team with the most players left at the end of the round will win that round.

If teams have an equal number of players at the end of the 7-minute round, there will be a 1-minute playoff.

Substitutions will only be allowed in-between rounds.

BEGINNING OF THE GAME AND PLAY FORMAT

• The game will begin with the referee placing eight (8) balls (four per team – 2 men’s blue balls and 2 women’s, smaller, red balls) along the middle line of the court with each team’s balls placed on the right hand of the center of the court for their team. There will be a designated Attack Line on the court. Players must be behind the Attack Line when throwing the ball at opposing players. Players will never be allowed to cross the center of the court for any reason including attacking or retrieving balls.

• Men’s and Women’s Balls. There will be four (4) Men’s Balls on the court. They will be 8.5- inch rubber, blue playground balls. Anyone, male or female, may use these balls to throw at any opponent or to block a ball thrown at them. There will be four (4) Women’s Balls on the court. The Women’s Balls, 6-inch rubber, red playground balls, may only be thrown by women. Anyone may use them to block a ball thrown at them however only women will be allowed to throw the Women’s Balls at an opponent. They may throw them at anyone.

• If a male throws a women’s ball at an opponent he will be immediately removed from the round and may be expelled from the remainder of the match at the referee’s discretion.

• Teams will stand behind the back end line and await the referee to blow the whistle to start each round. Teams may not leave until the whistle is blown and may only take their designated balls in the beginning. Once the balls are retrieved, the players cannot “attack” the other team until they have taken the ball behind the designated Attack Line.

• Teams will play nine, seven-minute rounds. The referee will keep track of the time and update teams as time is expiring. If both teams have the same number of players remaining at the end of regulation, an additional one-minute, sudden death overtime will be instituted. The first team to eliminate any of the other team’s players will win the round.

TEAM SIZE

• Teams will consist of 8 players per side (4 men/4 women). Teams may have as many players as they would like on their team, but can only substitute new players after a round has been completed. Teams may play with a minimum of six players, as long as at least two are women. Teams cannot

play with more than four males without consent from the opposing team. All substitutes must remain in a designated, out of bounds area.

REFEREES

• Each week there will be a social club referee/monitor on hand to get the games started and determine the outcome on all rules disputes. The referee will also determine who has been eliminated from each round and who is allowed to re-enter the game. The referee/monitor will also rely on people using the honor system when they have been eliminated because with so many balls flying around it is difficult to see everything. Any player that argues with the ref or shows poor sportsmanship may be removed from the match or the league.

FORFEITS

• Teams will forfeit 1 round for every 7 minutes past the designated start time that they do not have the legal minimum amount of players. If no players are present from a team by 20 minutes after the designated start time the entire match will be forfeited and the team that is present will receive a win all rounds in the match. Exception: Teams with less than the legal number of players may still play a “legal” game but only with the opposing teams consent. All teams consenting to play a legal game with less than the allowed minimum waive their right to a forfeit win. Teams may pick up players during the regular season in order to field a full team. Substitutes will not be allowed during playoffs.

GAME TIMES

• Teams will receive a schedule that will list when their team will play each week. Teams will be given an allotted amount of time to play 1 match, which will be 1 hour (nine, seven-minute rounds). “Warm-up” time is to be included in the allotted amount of time that teams will have for their match. Teams will have 7 minutes to field a team before they receive their first round forfeit.

ELIMINATION OF PLAYERS

• Any player hit by the opposing teams’ ball, on the fly, will be eliminated. Eliminated players must stand out of bounds, in a designated area, in the order that they were eliminated. They may throw out of bounds balls back to their teammates, but not at the opposing team.

• If a thrown ball is caught by an opposing player the player throwing the ball will be eliminated. Additionally, the team that caught the ball will be allowed to bring back a player in the order they were eliminated (starting with the first person removed). This also includes catching a deflected or ricocheted ball off of one of your teammates. Balls caught off of the wall, backboards, etc. will not result in any elimination.

• Throws at someone’s head (whether intentional or not) are not allowed. Anyone that strikes another player in the head will be eliminated and need to sit out until the next round at the referee’s discretion, unless the player ducks in to a thrown ball.

• Catching the ball out of bounds does not count. Anything caught or thrown out of bounds does not count. If one team is continuously out of the bounds, that team will lose a player at the referee’s discretion.

• Players may block the opposing player’s throw with their ball. If the ball is knocked out of their hands while blocking it, that player will be eliminated. A ball deflecting off a held ball and striking the holder is no longer a live ball. If the ball that is being held is dropped, then the person holding the ball is out. If someone else catches the ball that is deflected off of a ball that is in someone else’s possession and is not dropped, then the player throwing the ball is out.

• Teams are not allowed to stall with the ball. All balls need to be thrown across the mid-court line within 10 seconds. If a team or player consistently ignores this rule, the player that is stalling will be removed. NOTE: Please understand that this will be a difficult rule to enforce at all times. This

will primarily be enforced at the end of the round and the referee will do their best to monitor all balls.

• Teams may give their retrieved ball to another player to be thrown.

• Once all of the players are eliminated the team with players remaining has won the game. Players may now substitute and the referee will set up the start of another round.

ALL DODGE BALL RULES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY POINT DURING THE SEASON. RULES WILL BE ADDED OR CHANGED IN ORDER TO KEEP THE GAME AS FUN AND FAIR AS POSSIBLE DURING THE ALLOTTED TIME. IF YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS OR THERE IS A NEED FOR ADDITIONAL CLARIFICATION, PLEASE CONTACT OUR OFFICE.

LEAGUE POLICIES

GAMES:

Matches will be played within the allotted time, (warm up time included).

REFS:

ALL GAMES WILL BE SELF-REFFED. There will be a CSSC staff member on-site to help interpret rules or if there are any discrepancies between the two teams that need to be addressed.

FORFEITS:

If your team forfeits a match during the season, the following rules apply:

First Offense: Loss of game.

Second Offense: Loss of game and staff reserves the right to remove team from playoffs.

Third Offense: Removal from the league.

Any team that forfeits more than once also forfeits any guarantee or right to a certain number of guaranteed games.

If you know in advance that your team is going to forfeit a game, we encourage you to call our office, at 312.850.8196, so as to help us schedule your opponent a game however this does not mean that your team will not receive the loss as a forfeit.

During the regular season teams will forfeit 1 game for every 7 minutes past the designated start time that they do not have the legal amount of players. If no one is present from a team by 20 minutes after the designated start time the entire match will be forfeited and the team that is present will receive all nine wins of the match. Teams without enough players may still play a “legal” game but only with the opposing teams’ consent. All teams consenting to play a legal game with less than the allowed minimum waive their right to a forfeit win. Teams may pick up players during the regular season in order to field a full team. During playoffs teams will receive one forfeit every 7 minutes that they are unable to field a “legal” team. After they forfeit their second game the winning team will advance to the next round of playoffs. Substitutes will not be allowed during playoffs.

STANDINGS:

The updated standings will be posted weekly online. The standings will display each teams rank within its skill level. Rank is based on points/winning percentage.

PLAYOFFS:

Playoffs will begin immediately following the end of the regular season and will typically last between 2 and 3 weeks. After teams have been seeded according to their records all captains will receive an email with the 1st week of playoff game times roughly 3 days before their league. Teams will not receive an email for any other weeks of playoffs! It is ALL TEAMS’ responsibility to check the playoff brackets at the league or online to find out what time they will be playing the following week if they win. In playoffs it is not uncommon, (and in some cases will be necessary), for teams to have more than one match in a given night. No substitues will be allowed during playoffs. All players must have signed the waiver by the second week of the season in order to be eligible for

playoffs. All eligible teams will make the playoffs. Playoff eligible teams will be determined on a league by league basis. Teams that have violated the forfeit policy during the course of regular season will not be eligible for playoffs. In certain situations teams at or near the bottom of the standings may not advance to the playoffs. Check with CSSC league coordinator to see if this applies to your league. Playoffs are single elimination and matches are a best of nine. During playoffs teams will receive one forfeit every 7 minutes that they are unable to field a “legal” team. After they forfeit their second game the winning team will advance to the next round of playoffs. Substitutes will not be allowed during playoffs.

Seeding: Teams are seeded according to points/winning percentage and strength of schedule.

Teams may be dropped from their regular season level based on the above criteria. Teams may be moved to a higher division during the playoffs only if permission is granted by the CSSC full time staff. Skill levels may be divided into separate divisions based upon size of level. Teams may play more than one game per day, and/or play games on days/nights other than your regularly scheduled league day/night if necessary.

CSSC reserves the right to schedule playoff games on days other than teams regularly scheduled league night. Any questions regarding rules, policies, or eligibility of players must be addressed before the start of the game. Any team that would like to challenge the eligibility of an opposing player must do so before the start of the playoff game. No protests will be considered valid after a game has started.

WAIVERS:

In order to participate in the league, each participant must sign the team waiver. Waivers are provided and must be completed and handed in no later than the first night of play. Players not present the first week of play will still be required to sign a waiver with our staff before participating. Players must sign the waiver in order to be eligible for playoffs.

PLAYER ELIGIBILITY:

Players who have been placed on the roster and signed the waiver are eligible for playoffs. A formal protest may be filed before a playoff game if an opposing player’s eligibility is in question. The player in question will be required to provide his/her player information (name, address, phone #, signature) in writing to a CSSC staff member prior to the start of the game. This qualifies as an official protest. Any protest made during a game or after a game will NOT be considered a formal protest. The game will then be played in its entirety as scheduled. Teams will be notified of all rulings on the identified eligibility discrepancy by the following business day – decisions will not be made on site. If the protest is proven to be legitimate, it will result in the forfeiture of the game in question. Games subsequent to the protested game may be rescheduled. The above procedure will also apply for any other “logged” protests. All rulings by CSSC staff are considered final.

SPORTSMANSHIP:

The idea of CSSC is to have fun. We hope that all participants keep that in mind when becoming involved. Although the games may become intense, you still can be competitive while maintaining good sportsmanship. With this said, any behavior deemed unacceptable by staff may result in suspension and/or ejection from a game or the league. Abuse of staff will not be tolerated. CSSC reserves the right to remove a player from a game or a league if they are considered to be bringing down the quality of

the league. CSSC will not tolerate fighting! Fighting will be an automatic ejection from any game and in most cases ejection from the league for the remainder of the season.

STAFF:

To coordinate and run the league, the refs and/or staff will be available at all times to help the league run as smoothly as possible. If you have questions regarding schedules, policies, rule interpretations, directions to the bar, etc. please ask.

LEAGUE CANCELLATION/RAINOUT:

Please call our weather hotline for the most up to date information on any cancellations (312.773.7100)

Leagues may be cancelled due to existing weather conditions, dangerous or unplayable field conditions, facility constraints, etc. CSSC staff makes every effort to play all scheduled games, thus we will not cancel games until absolutely necessary. Therefore, if you are calling concerning a decision on a cancellation, remember we will not have an answer until close to the start of the league.

If the league is cancelled, CSSC staff will change the voicemail immediately. CSSC will then call all of the captains to let them know. It is then the captains responsibility to inform all teammates of the cancelation. If a league is cancelled on site, CSSC staff will attempt to contact those teams still scheduled to play the remainder of the league day/night. Depending on the time of cancellation, some teams will have to be notified on site. If we do cancel, follow next week’s schedule (ex. If April 13 is cancelled teams should follow the April 20 schedule for their next game). The games that are cancelled will be made up towards the end of the season if time allows. In extreme circumstances, CSSC reserves the right to run a shortened season without a refund. CSSC reserves the right to move games or weeks to an alternative location when deemed necessary without compensation. CSSC also reserves the right to schedule games on days other than your regularly scheduled league day/night if necessary.

PRIZES/ JERSEYS: Each team will receive a pre-bundled set of colored jerseys with various sizes at the first night of the league. Additional shirts and sizes can be purchased from the CSSC for an additional charge. The top teams in each division will receive a prize of great emotional, spiritual, and most importantly, social value.

These policies are designed to make the league run as smoothly and safely as possible, and provide continuity for its participants. Each player in the league is responsible for this information: please advise your team of these rules and thanks for playing.