1. THE TEAM

a.      Teams will be made up of 8-10 players, 2 must be women (no requirement in open tournaments).

b.     The game will be played with 6 players on each team, 2 must be women (no requirement in open tournaments.

c.     All players must be over the age of 18 and have signed a liability release form.

d.     Substitutes may enter the game only during time outs, on caught balls or in case of injury.
*Coed tournaments you may not substitute male for female
 

2. THE GAME

a.      The object of the game is to eliminate the opposing players by getting them out. This can be done 2 ways: 1. Hitting an opposing player with a LIVE thrown ball below the shoulders. 2. Catching a LIVE ball thrown by your opponent.

 Definition: LIVE: A ball that has been thrown and has not touched anything, the floor, wall, net, another ball, another player, official or any other item outside the playing field.

b.     A player may block a thrown ball with a ball being held, provided the held ball is not dropped as a result of the contact with the thrown ball.

   NOTE: A ball that is deflected off a held ball is no longer considered live.

   NOTE:  A player will be eliminated if he/she tries to block a thrown ball with another ball and drops that ball in hand.

c.     A player that steps out of bounds will be declared out of the game.

d.     A player hit in the head will result in a dead ball.  NO one will be out of the game.

e.       Teams are allowed to bring one player back into the game on EVERY caught live ball. The player that threw the ball is out of the game.

f.       Each team will be allowed one30 second timeout per game.
 

3. BEGINNING THE GAME

a.      Prior to the beginning a game 6 balls will be placed along the center line. 3 on each side of the hash mark.

b.     Players then take position behind their yellow attack line.

c.     Following a signal by the official, teams may approach the center line to retrieve the balls. Teams may only retrieve balls placed to the right of the red dot. A ball that is left on the center line after the opening rush can be retrieved by either team.

d.     Each ball that is retrieved at the opening rush must first be taken back beyond the yellow attack line before it may be legally thrown at an opponent.
 

4. DECLARING A WINNER

a.      The first team to legally eliminate all opposing players will be declared the winner.

b.     If neither team has been eliminated at the end of regulation, the team with the most players remaining on the field will be declared the winner.

c.     In case of the equal number of players remaining on both teams at the end of a regulation game, a 3 minute sudden death overtime period will be played. (the first player on either team that is knocked out, their team will lose)

d.     All overtime periods will begin with an equal number of balls in hand for each team.
 

5. SCORING

a.      A +/- score will be assigned to each game based on the number of team members left standing at the end of the game.

If team A eliminates team B and still has three players left standing, team A receives a game win and +3 rating and team B receives a game loss and –3 rating. Any team winning an overtime game receives a +1 rating. Losers of an OT game will receive a –1 rating.
 

6. TIE BREAKER SITUATIONS

In the case of teams finishing pool play with identical win loss match records, the following tie breaker procedures will be used.

a.      Head to head match record between tied teams

b.     Games win loss record between tied teams

c.     Total +- rating between tied teams

d.     One game playoff
 

7. GAME OFFICIALS

a.      All contests will be supervised by 3 to 4 officials.

b.     All rules will be enforced by the 3/4 officials. Officials will rule on everything regarding match play.

c.     Protests will be heard by all officials and a ruling will be made after hearing each argument.

d.     Decisions made by the officials will be final!