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Outdoor Soccer League 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 a valid Player's Card, have signed a waiver and are 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, g
uest 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(s) 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.

 

 

Outdoor Soccer League Rules

 

Equipment & Uniforms

1. All game and training balls are to be provided. No other balls are allowed at the facility

2. Shin guards are OPTIONAL.

3. Molded cleats or tennis shoes are the only allowable footwear. NO METAL CLEATS ARE ALLOWED. Shoes must be worn at all times.

4. By the second match, all players on a team should have a numbered shirt of the same color, with the goalkeeper wearing a jersey contrasting that of his or her team and the opposing team.

5. 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.

 

Game Duration

1. Adult teams will play two 25 minute halves with a two minute half time.

2. There will be a coin toss at the start of every game. The team that wins the coin toss at the start will have first choice to kickoff or choose a goal to defend.

3. The referee will start each game time as scheduled. If the players are not ready, the clock will still start as scheduled. Play will begin as soon as the minimum of 5 players (3 male, 2 female in coed leagues) are on the field.

4. Time will run continuously, except for serious injuries.

5. Teams will be given five minutes after the scheduled start time of the match to present the minimum of 5 players, required for a match.

6. If a team fails to present the minimum of 5 players (at least 1 female in coed leagues) after the five minutes have past, they will be issued a forfeit.

7. There will be no overtime periods, or shootouts in the regular season, only during playoffs.

8. Playoffs:

  • If the score is tied at the end of regulation, each team will remove two field players (4v4 + GK), and there will be a sudden death overtime period of three minutes.
  • If still tied, we move to sudden death “PK’s”
  • Note: For Coed Leagues, teams will remove 1 male and 1 female player for the sudden death overtime. Which means there must be at least two females and three males maximum on the field.
  • Note: For Coed Leagues, a female will take the first PK, followed by a male, female, male, etc.  

 

Eligibility, Coaches, and Players

1. All players must fill out a league waiver and have a valid Player's Card to be eligible to play.

2. There must a maximum of 7 players on the field. Coed leagues must field 5 men (max) and 2 women.

3. Sports Connection rules allow a team to play 5 people (minimum 1 female). Anything less is considered a forfeit. There is no maximum limit to the amount of females which must be on the field.

 

Offense

1. Kickoffs: Consists of the ball being placed at midfield. The ball must complete 1 forward rotation before being touched by another player.

2. All kicks are direct. There are no Indirect kicks in either indoor or outdoor leagues.

 

The Sports Connection coordinator and umpire 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.