Return To Dodgeball

DODGEBALL RULES

Sports Connection – General League Rules

Team Balances
A minimum of $100 is required with your TEAM registration form and the team’s full balance is due by your first game of the season.  Checks and credit cards are accepted at the field or you can pay your team’s balance online at our MySAM system.

Schedules and Standings
All schedules and standings are on our MySAM system (except Bowling, they are listed on our website, www.SportsConnectionNC.com).  The first week's schedule should be posted on our MySAM system no later than 5 days before the first game.  The remaining schedule for the season will be posted on our MySAM system after the first week of games are completed.

Game Times
All regular season games will start and end on time.  Some leagues will have a 5 minute warm-up/grace period time, but all games will end on time.

Rules
All captains and players are expected to read and understand the League Rules and policies for the league they are participating in.  Any questions or concerns regarding the rules or league policies should be brought to the attention of the league coordinator and/or the Sports Connection office by emailing us at office@SportsConnectionNC.com.  Additional rules and policies may be added or amended by the Sports Connection before or during the season.

Forfeits
If you know in advance your team is going to forfeit a game, we request you call our office in order to help us make arrangements to schedule a game for your opponent.   Excessive forfeits may result in elimination from end of season playoffs or removal from the league.

Playoffs
All eligible teams (teams that have not abused any rules or policies) will advance to either an end of season playoff or consolation game(s).  Playoffs are single elimination.  Only players that have signed a waiver and linked to the team roster by the 5th game will be eligible to play in the playoffs.

Seeding Tie Breakers

If one or more teams are tied in the standings at the end of the regular season, the following “tie breaker” rules will be followed to determine your playoff seeding.

  1. Any ejections, suspensions, penalty cards, excessive forfeits will be looked at first.
  2. The Head to Head match between the teams that are tied will be looked at second.
  3. The Point/Score Differential of all games each team played will be looked at third.
  4. The Total Points/Scores your team earned will be looked at fourth
  5. The Total Points/Scores your team allowed against you will be looked at fifth.
  6. We will flip and coin if all the above are still a tie!

League Prizes
The Sports Connection will award the winning team in each league the choice of: A Championship T-Shirt for each player or 15% off the team fee for the NEXT season.

Rosters & Waivers:
The Sports Connection requires a signed Liability Waiver and a valid Player's Card from each Participant before they will be allowed to Participate in any Sports Connection, LLC League or Other Activity.  The Participation Waiver can be filled out and submitted Online, By Mail or at your next League Game.

All player's names must be on the team roster form before they will be allowed to play.  It is the captain’s responsibility to make sure all player's names are on the team roster form before they play.  Players found playing in a game and not on the team’s roster, will cause the team to forfeit that game and all previous games he/she has played in.  If a team needs to "pick up" a player from the same division or a HIGHER division to field enough players to play, the Captain must 1st approve the pick up player with the Coordinator, who will then approve it with the other team's Captain.  The league coordinator will be spot-checking the rosters during the season.  New players can be added to the roster at anytime during the season, but only players on the team roster BY the 5th game will be eligible to play in the playoffs.  No "pick up players" will be allowed for any playoff games.  There is no limit to the number of players you can have on your team roster, but there is a limit to the number of league prizes that will be awarded if your team wins the league.

Player Eligibility:
An eligible player is one who is on the team roster and has a signed waiver on file with the Sports Connection, a valid Player's Card and is not on any other roster for another team in the same league and one who follows the rules of the league.  Exception: If a team does not have a full roster for a specific game, guest players are allowed, but are required to pay a $10 guest fee if they do not already have a valid Player’s Card.  Guest players without a valid Player’s card will also need to submit a Sports Connection waiver.  The guest fee is good for 1 day or night only. A Team found to be using guest players without a valid Player's Card will be required to forfeit the game in question.

  Also, any player under the age of 18 MUST have a youth participant form signed by both the minor & guardian, along with a current waiver/liability form. No One under age 16 is allowed to play in ADULT leagues. All players will follow the rules of their league. 

Protest Procedures
A formal protest can be made at any time by letting the referee/umpire and the league coordinator aware of the situation.  After the protest is filed, the game will continue as scheduled.  If the protest is not filed until the conclusion of the game, the final score of that game will be official and will not change.  Player eligibility protests can be filed at any time.  The Sports Connection will review the protest and make a ruling before the next week’s game.

Sportsmanship
The primary focus of any of the sports sponsored by Sports Connection is fun. Please keep this in mind even when competition becomes intense. Any unacceptable behavior may result in suspension and/or ejection from a game or the league.  Fighting of any kind will result in immediate ejection from the game and premises and subject to suspension for the entire season and all Sports Connection leagues and events.

Staff
The Sports Connection will provide a league coordinator for all leagues.  The league coordinator is available to help the league run smoothly and to answer any questions you may have.  Please feel free to ask for their assistance or email us at office@SportsConnectionNC.com.

Rain Out Information

For Rainout information go to www.SportsConnectionNC.com or check the voice mail message at 704-749-7530. We will attempt to make-up the first two rainouts when possible and credit teams for any games less than 7 that we're unable to make-up. Other factors sometimes affect our ability to make-up games, as our contracts vary week-to-week, teams have certain requests, double-headers, the overall length of the season, etc. We take many factors into consideration with rainouts, as they obviously prolong the season and then force teams already registered for the next season to wait.

 

Every team in our leagues plays at least 7 regular season games and at least 1 playoff game. Teams on average play 9-10 games/season. We took an average of 9 games/season to figure our pro-rated amount for credits.  Thus, for any rainouts not made up, you can divide your team fee by 9 and that is the amount you'll be credited. Teams must play in the NEXT season to receive that credit. At the conclusion of a season, we will review the number games not made up for each team, then issue the relevant credit to the captains whose teams are registered in the next season. As a reminder, we will post all rainout information on our website and rainout hotline (704-749-7530) within 2 hours of the first scheduled game time. Outside organizations such as Parks & Recreation make the initial decision to close parks based on field conditions. Their numbers are also posted on our rainout section. We will only cancel games for unsafe field conditions or thunder/lightning, not simply for the threat of weather. If games have begun and conditions change, the coordinators and staff will make the call following the same protocol as above.

 

 

Sports Connection – DODGEBALL League Rules

 

I.         Governing Rules
NDL Rules & Regulations of Play, with Sports Connection amendments

II.        Court & Equipment

            The Court

            ~ The court is divided into two 40' X 40' areas, with an Attack Line located parallel and 5' from the Center Line.
~ Total court length is 80' from endline to endline, and a total width of 40' from sideline to sideline.

            Equipment

            ~ 6 regulation size balls (3 stingers, 3 blockers), lined up on the center line.

            ~ Jersey color assignments in the event of a “same color” conflict, home team will wear a “dark” color and the visitors will wear a “light color." Teams should bring two jerseys to each game to avoid a conflict.

III.        Players/Substitutions

            ~ Coed teams consist of six players competing at a time, comprised of 4 men and 2 women. A team can compete with a minimum of 4 players (3 men, 1 woman).
~ All players must be wearing shirts of the same color.
~ Substitutions must be made prior to the start of the game. No substitutions can be made during a game, except in cases of injury.

            Retrievers

            ~ Retrievers are individuals designated to retrieve balls that go out of play. Teams are responsible for providing retrievers. Any players on the roster not competing in that match are eligible retrievers.
~ Retrievers may not enter the court at any time.
~ Retrievers are only allowed to field balls from their side of the court and must roll them back into play on their side.

IV.        Matches

            ~ A regulation match consists of a Best-of-10-Game contest of “La Riche”-style games.
~ In the “La Riche” style format, a player exits to the sideline when they are out. They can return back in however, when the player who hit them gets hit. A “La Riche” style game is played until all opponents on one side have been eliminated. The first team to eliminate all its opponents is declared the winner.
~ Each game will also be timed 5 minutes in length. If all players have not been eliminated at the end of 5 minutes, the team with the most players remaining in play will be declared the winner.
~ All 10 games will be played, even if a team has already won the “Match.” Season long game differential (example: 6-4 match win, 8-2 match win, etc.), will serve as a tiebreaker (after head-to-head) in the event of ties in the standings.
~ In the event of a 5-5 tie in games, we will play a one-game tie-breaker.

V.        Beginning of Play

            ~ Play begins with all players positioned on their team's baseline, against the boards.

            The Rush

            ~ The Rush occurs at the beginning of each game or reset.
~ Upon the official's signal, both teams rush to center court and attempt to retrieve as many balls as possible.
~ A team may rush with as many or as few players as it wants, but at least one person from each team must Rush.
~ There is no limit to how many balls an individual player may retrieve.
~ Crossing over the Center Line will result in an "out."
~ Players may not physically grab and pull another player across the Center Line or prevent them from returning to their side of the court.

VI.        Putting a Ball in Play

            ~ The player and the ball must go completely behind the Attack Line.
~ During the Rush, any ball retrieved from the Center Line must be returned behind the Attack Line before it may be thrown at an opponent. A ball that hasn't crossed the Attack Line is considered a dead ball and any hits or catches are voided plays.
~ There are several ways to put a ball into play following a Rush:
        A player carries the ball across the Attack Line.
        A player passes the ball to a teammate who is behind the line or who carries it across the Attack Line.
        A player rebounds the ball off the back wall of a closed court.
~ There are no team time outs.
~ After the initial rush, a FEMALE player can advance all the way to the center line to make a throw. Males must still make throws behind the Attack Line.

VII.       Outs, Blocks, Headshots & Kamikazes

            A player shall be deemed "out" when:

            ~ a live ball hits any part of the player's body or clothing.
~ a player is hit by a live ball rebounding off another player, wall or netting.
~ a defending player catches a live ball the opposition has thrown, including off the walls or netting before it hits the ground.
~ a defending player catches a live ball the opposition has thrown, that has bounced off a teammate before it hits the ground.
~ if any part of the player's body crosses the endlines or Center Line, the player shall be deemed "out.” In these instances, it must be determined WHO caused the player to cross out-of-bounds. A player on the opposition who made a throw in the direction of the out-of-bounds player, or the opposing player who was closest, will be identified as the person who got them "out."
~ Momentum may carry a player out of bounds while making a catch. Providing control of the ball was established prior going out of bounds.

            Blocking:  

            ~ Players can defend themselves by blocking the ball in flight with another ball but must retain control over the ball they are blocking with. A player dropping or losing possession of the blocking ball is deemed "out."
~ Any blocked ball rebounding off another ball is considered live. Any player hit by the rebounding ball is deemed "out." Subsequently, a blocked ball that is caught by another teammate results in the thrower being out.

            Headshots

            ~ A headshot occurs when a player is hit directly in the head by a high thrown ball. The player will NOT be out.
~ Any thrower intentionally committing a headshot will be deemed "out."

            Kamikaze

            ~ An airborne attack, where an attacking player may legally cross the Center Line to hit an opponent. The attacker must jump from their side behind the Attack Line and the ball must leave the attacker's hand before any part of the attacker's body touches the opponent's territory. If successful, the player hit is out and the attacking player remains in.

VIII.      Stalling

            The act of intentionally delaying the game.

            ~ If a referee determines that a player or team is stalling, the referee will warn player or team. If the stalling continues, at the referee’s discretion, player or team will lose possession of all balls on their side.
 ~ If both teams are stalling a reset should occur.

IX.       Un-Sportsman-like Conduct

            ~ Un-sportsman-like conduct will not be tolerated! Players, managers/coaches, and other team-affiliated persons must not attack or make physical contact of any aggressive nature with any other players, managers, coaches, or officials. 
~ Anyone ejected from the game for physical contact will receive a one (1) year suspension from play, from the verified date of infraction.

 

The Sports Connection coordinator and referee have the right to spot check rosters at any time. 
Players must have a valid Sports Connection Player's Card and a signed waiver before stepping on the field of play.

 

Additional rules and policies may be added or amended by Sports Connection before or during the season.