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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. Excessive forfeits, ejections, suspensions, penalty cards, 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(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.

Divisional Play

For leagues offering multiple divisions: In the interest of maintaining fair divisions, if a team finishes the regular season first two seasons in a row, or makes the championship game two seasons in a row, Sports Connection reserves the right to move the team up one division for the following season.

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.

 

 

Volleyball League Rules

 

Governing Rules

1. The rules of the leagues, tournament, and other activities will be governed by the rules of USA Volleyball. Listed below is a very basic guide to some of the rules of play and changes that are specific to our leagues. These rules of play are not all-inclusive and generally cover only the basic and/or exceptions to USA Volleyball rules. For further explanation or interpretations, refer to the USA Volleyball Official Rules or talk to the coordinator of the league.

2. Games will be self- refereed, unless there is an official designated by the coordinator. The coordinator will monitor each game and help settle disputes if needed. The coordinator may also choose to ref some or all games if he/she feels it is necessary.

3. Players are not permitted to touch the net. Incidental contact of the net by a player’s hair or insignificant contact with the net by a player not involved in the action is not considered a fault. A player may touch the posts, ropes, or other object outside the total length of the net, provided this does not interfere with play.

4. A player may not attack or block a serve until it has dropped below the top of the net

5. A back row player may contact the ball above the plane of the net only if he/she leaves the court entirely from behind the attack line.

6. Players must wear a shirt and rubber-soled shoes. No dark soled shoes. Jewelry is not permitted with the exception of a flat wedding band.

7. We require all children to be supervised by an adult while in the facility. Parents are responsible for any damage their children may cause within the facility and will be billed for damages.

8. 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. Matches will consist of three games, if time allows. Teams should be able to play three games each night. The match will end at the designated time. Game will not begin if there is less than 5 minutes left.

2. At five minutes after the scheduled game time, the teams that are not ready to play (not enough players or other reason) will forfeit the first game. The second game is forfeited ten minutes after the scheduled game time and the third is forfeited at fifteen minutes after. If a forfeit does occur the two teams scheduled to play will be allowed to use the court for the allotted time.

3. Matches should NEVER go beyond their scheduled time. When three minutes are left to play, the referee will alert the teams. No time outs, substitutions or other interruptions are allowed after this point. If the game is tied at the end of the allotted time, one rally (speed) point will be played with the first fault deciding the game. The third game will not be played if there is less than five minutes left in the allotted match time.

 

Scoring

1. Games are played to 25 points by rally scoring. Teams must win by two, with a 31-point cap. Rally scoring means there is a point for every serve. Each team is permitted two 30-second time outs per game.

 

In and Out’s

1. Court lines are considered “IN”.

2. A ball that contacts the ceiling, the lights or other overhead objects may be played only on the same side of the net and inside the “playing area”.

3. Once the ball crossed the plane of the net or crossed the “playing area” it is considered “OUT," when contacting the ceiling, lights or other overhead objects.

4. The “playing area” is defined as the area between the end lines, sidelines, and the free zone surround the court.

5. The free zone on each court ends at the wall or divider net and/or the sideline of the adjacent court(s).

6. Players are never permitted to play a ball, or follow through, off of the court.

7. The walls, court divider nets, referee stands, column and wall pads, net antennae and adjacent courts are all out of play.

8. Players can contact the side and back divider nets as long as they are not moving the net to keep the ball from contacting it.

9. A ball passing over or outside the antennae is out of play

 

Captains and Players

1. Team captains will report to the coordinator table following the previous match. The referee/coordinator will ask if either team has any questions on ground rules or other information relative to the match. The winner of a coin toss may choose either side or serve.

2. Teams are permitted to play with as few as two people. (Coed teams must have at least one female player). A new player always enters the game in the back row.

3. Coed Rules:

• A complete coed team includes two men and two women. The lineups must alternate men and women.
• Coed teams may have no more than 2 males on the court at one time. A team can play with more than two women on the court if desired.
• If a team has less than 4 players, they are not required to side out each time it is the “missing persons” turn to serve.
• When only one male player is on the front line in coed play, a second male player may come to the front row to block. This player may not attack the ball in front of the attack line.
• In a four-person league, no players are considered to be in the back row (i.e. all players may attack the ball in the front of the three meter line).
• In recreational divisions there are no male/female hitting rules. In intermediate and competitive divisions, if the ball is contacted more than once, than a female must contact the ball before it is sent back over the net.

 

Substitutions

1. Substitutions are unlimited as long as the same two people substitute for each other during the game

2. All divisions can choose to rotate a male for a male and/or female for a female at the service position instead of substituting one person for another.

3. If a team chooses to “rotate people” rather than “substitute people,” everyone must come in and out in order (i.e. no skipping a person).

 

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.