RULE 1 PLAYERS, FIELD & EQUIPMENT
Section 1: TEAM
Art. 1 Teams will be made up of 6-10 players. A minimum of 6 players will compete on a side; others will be available as substitutes.
Art. 2 Substitutes may enter the game only during time-outs, or in the case of injury.
Co-Rec may not substitute male for female.
Art. 1 Game played outdoors
Art. 2 The playing field will be rectangular sand surface 60 ft long and 30 ft wide.
Art. 3 The playing field will be marked with sidelines, end lines, attack lines and a center hash mark.
Art. 4 A restraining line will be located 6-8 ft outside and parallel to each end line. Only active players (those not “out”) will be allowed to pass through the area between the end line and restraining line.
Art. 1 During play, all players must remain within boundary lines.
Art. 2 Players may pass through their end line only to retrieve stray balls. A stray ball is one that has not been picked up and is lying on the ground.
Art. 3 When retrieving a ball, the player must also immediately re-enter the playing field only through their end line.
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NOTE: A player not immediately re-entering the playing area may be declared out.
Art. 4 A player may be handed a ball, provided the player receiving the ball remains completely within their team’s field boundaries. Players may not be handed a ball while standing out of bounds.
Art. 5 A player shall not:
a. Have any part of their body contact the playing surface on or over a sideline.
b. Exit or re-enter the field through their sideline.
c. Leave the playing field (side-line or end-line) to avoid being hit by, or attempt to catch, a ball.
d. Have any part of their body cross over the centerline and contact the ground on their opponents’ side of the court. **
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NOTE: A player may, without penalty, step on the centerline. **
PENALTY (a-d): Player will be declared OUT.
** Exception to 1,3,5.d: During the “opening rush,” many players will cross the center-line. Officials should refrain from calling players OUT at this time unless a definite advantage is gained by the action.
Section 4 EQUIPMENT
Art. 1 The official ball used in tournament and league play will be an 6-1/8-inch rubber-coated foam ball.
Art. 2 The standard number of alls for 12-player game (6 on a side) is six (6).
Art. 3 Participants must wear shirt and shorts/pants.
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NOTE: No metal cleats will be allowed.
Art. 4 Participants must wear shirt and shorts/pants.
RULE 2 GAME PLAY
Section 1 THE GAME
Matches will begin with a coin flip.
Art. 1 The team winning the “Rocks-Paper-Scissors” will have choice of sides to being the match.
Art. 2 Teams will alternate sides following each game.
Art.3 The object of the game is to eliminate all opposing players by getting them OUT.
An OUT is scored by:
a. Hitting an opposing player with a LIVE thrown ball below the shoulders.
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NOTE: If a player ducks, and this clearly is the cause for the player being hit above the shoulders, the player is out and the throw is considered legal.
b. Catching a LIVE ball thrown by your opponent.
c. Causing an opponent to drop a held ball as a result of contact by a thrown LIVE ball. (usually occurs when a ball is being used to block a thrown ball)
d. An opposing player stepping out of bounds.
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NOTE: A ball deflecting off a held ball and striking the holder is no longer a LIVE ball.
Section 2 TIMING, TIME-OUTS & SUBSTITUTIONS
Art. 1 A 7-minute time limit has been established for each game.
Art. 2 Each team will be allowed on (1) 60 –second time-out per game.
Art. 3 Only the Court Monitor’s signal starts & stops the clock.
Art. 4 All players are in jeopardy until the Court Monitor recognizes AND signals, the beginning of a time-out or end of regulation time. *
* Exception: ALL LIVE balls in flight at time of an official’s signal (to end regulation time or begin a time-out) remain LIVE, and may eliminate an opponent, until they become dead.
Art. 5 During time-outs, teams may substitute players. Substitutes may be players who did not start the game or players who wish to re-enter after having been declared out.
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NOTE: C0-Rec may not substitute male for female.
Section 3 BEGINNING THE GAME
Art.1 Prior to beginning a game, an equal number of dodgeballs are placed along the center-line on each side of the center hash mark. A standard game consists of 6 balls, 3 on each side of the hash mark.
Art. 2 Players then take a position behind their end line.
Art. 3 Following a signal by the official, teams may approach the centerline to retrieve the balls. Tams may only retrieve balls placed to the RIGHT (as they face the center-line) OF THE HASH MARK. If balls remain on the centerline after a team has retrieved and moved their balls beyond the attack line, those balls may be retrieved by either team.
Section 4 OPENING RUSH RULE
Art. 1 Each/every ball retrieved at the opening rush must first be taken beyond the attach line and into the team’s backcourt before it may be legally thrown at an opponent.
Example: Following the opening whistle, a player rushes and is the first to secure a ball from the center-line. That player must then carry or pass the ball into their backcourt before it may be legally thrown at an opponent.
Section 5 DECLARING A WINNER
Art. 1 The first team to legally eliminate all opposing players will be declared the winner.
Art. 2 If neither team has been eliminated at the end of regulation, the team with the greater number of remaining players will be declared the winner.
Art. 3 In all overtime periods, the first team to legally eliminate any one opponent will be declared the winner.
Section 6 OVERTIME
Art. 1 If an equal number of players remain after regulation play, a 3-minute sudden death overtime period will be played.
Art. 2 To reduce time required to finish an overtime game, team captains may choose to add an equal number of players prior to the start of the first overtime – sudden death still applies. Both captains must agree to the number of players added – id not, overtime will begin with the number of players left standing at the end of regulation.
Art. 3 All overtime periods will begin with an equal number of “balls in hand” behind a team’s end line. The first team to eliminate any ONE opposing player will be declared the winner.
Art. 4 No time-outs allowed during overtime.
Art. 5 Substitutions and/or additions may be made prior to the start of any overtime period. (See Art. 2 above)
Art. 6 At the end of each overtime period, if no players have been eliminated, an additional player from each team – max. of 6 – will be placed back into play.
Art. 7 The sudden death format continues through all extra periods.
Section 7 STALLING & 5 SECOND VIOLATION
The following procedure will be used to prevent “stalling.”
Art. 1 A team trailing during regulation game must be given the opportunity to eliminate an opposing player. This requires a ball to be at the disposal of the trailing team.
Art. 2 It is illegal for the leading team to control all the balls for more than five (5) seconds. If the leading team controls all the balls – i.e. all balls are located on their side of the center-line – they must make a legitimate effort to get at least one ball across the attack line and into the opponent’s backcourt. If this is not done within 5 seconds, a “5 second violation” will be called. A team may avoid a 5-second violation by throwing or rolling a ball into the opponent’s backcourt. This does not include throwing a ball over and through an opponents end-line.
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NOTE: Only a court monitor or official may call a 5-second violation.
PENALTY for 5-Second Violation(s):
First Violation: Stoppage of play and balls will be divided evenly between the teams. Play will continue with “balls in hand.”
Second Violation: FREE THROW for opposing team – a penalty in which one player is allowed an unobstructed throw at their opponent(s) without risk of elimination. This is possible because a caught “free throw” does not result in an “out” for the thrower.
Third Violation: Ejection of one (1) player from offending team.
NOTE: The stalling procedure does not apply to overtime periods.
RULE 3 OFFICIALS & THEIR DUTIES
Section 1 Court Monitors & Officials
Art. 1 All contests will be supervised by a Court Monitor.
Art. 2 Rules will be enforced primarily by the “honor system.” * Players will be expected to rule whether or not a hit was legal or whether they were legally eliminated.
*Exception: During tournament play, all Semi-Final and Final Round matches will be officiated by no less than three (3) Court Monitors. These officials will rule in all situations.
Art. 3 The Court Monitor’s responsibility will be to rule on any situation in which teams cannot agree. A team may appeal to the Court Monitor if they feel a player has violated any rule. THE COURT MONITOR’S DECISION IS FINAL.
Art. 4 Court Monitors may warn players and call technical fouls on those who display unsportsmanlike conduct. Any player receiving two (2) technical fouls in a game will be ejected and suspended a minimum of one game. Suspensions will begin with their team’s scheduled game. Severe infractions or multiple technicals may result in suspensions from matches or tournaments.
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NOTE: A Court Monitor is NOT required to warn a player before calling a technical foul.
Section 2 UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT
Unsportsmanlike conduct may include, but is not limited to:
1. Foul language
2. Hits above the shoulders
3. Unnecessary roughness
4. Arguing with officials, volunteers, Court Monitors, staff, participants of fans
5. Abuse of the “honor system”
Section 3 PROTESTS
Protests only will be accepted in cased involving use of an ineligible player. Protests of judgment calls will not be accepted.
RULE 4 TOURNAMENT FORMAT & TIE-BREAKERS
Section 1 MATCH PLAY
Art. 1 Matches will be decided using a “best-of-three” format in which the first team to win two (2) games will be declared winner of the match.
Art. 2 During pool play, or round-robin play, all three (3) games will be played, regardless of the results of the first tow games.
Art. 3 The format used to determine a champion in a particular division will be decided by tournament officials, based on the number of teams registered.
Section 2 SCORING
Art.1 A +/- scoring will be assigned to each game based on the number of team members left standing at the end of the game.
Example: If Team “A” eliminates Team “B” and still has three players left standing, Team “A” receives a game “win” and a (+3) rating and Team “B” receives a game “loss” and a (-3) rating. Any team winning an OT game receives a (+1) rating. Losers of an OT game receive a (-1) rating.
Section 3 TIE-BREAKER SITUATIONS
In the case of teams finishing pool play with identical win/loss match records, the following tie0breaker procedure will be used:
Step 1. Head-to-head match record between tied teams
Step 2. Games win/loss record between tied teams
Step 3. Total +/- rating between tied teams
Step 4. One game playoff.
CODE OF CONDUCT
Understand, appreciate and abide by the rules of the game and the honor system.
Respect the integrity and judgment of game officials and staff.
Respect your opponent and congratulate them in a courteous manner following each match, whether in victory or defeat.
Be responsible for your actions and maintain self-control.
Do not taunt or bait opponents. Refrain from using foul or abusive language.