QC COURT RATZ VOLLEYBALL LLC
SAND/HARDCOURT VOLLEYBALL RULES
**MUST BE READ CONTINUING**
LIABILITY
All participants in the league and any other Court Ratz sponsored event assume the risk of injury. The TBK Sports Complex, The Dish, QC Court Ratz Volleyball LLC, its employees, and volunteers shall not be liable for injury to person, loss, or damage to personal property arising from or in any way resulting from participation in the league. All players are required to sign a waiver before they may legally start league play. By continuing with the registration process you are acknowledging you have read this document and understand it.
TEAM ROSTERS
Each team must submit a roster and designate the Team Captain. Rosters must have signed waivers for every player or that player will be removed from play. QC Court Ratz has an open substitution policy, but we reserve the right to deny a team a substitute under circumstances that we deem are unfair or promote poor sportsmanship. (We will do our best to be understanding but please do not take advantage of the open substitution policy). Teams that chronically use other team’s players may be asked to produce a roster with enough active players to continue with league play. This will be done at the Directors’ discretion.
Minors are allowed to play with the Parent’s consent.
GENERAL RULES
1. ALL REGISTRANTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ENTERING THEMSELVES AND EVERYONE ON THEIR RIOSTER BEFORE THE SEASON BEGINS!
2. TBK volleyball is self-officiated. Players shall call their own faults. This helps us keep the costs low and the Directors sane. We will not always be there to help so we would like teams to be able handle issues themselves.
3. Team Captains are responsible for starting the matches on time, but we will do what we can to help. Captains or people appointed by their captain if they are gone are also responsible for making sure matches are moving forward efficiently with their scheduled match time AKA Nik/TBK is not responsible for watching the clock and making sure you start and get done in 45/60 minutes 😊
4. Disputes should be solved between the captains. When the dispute cannot be resolved within a 10 second time frame, replay the point. The Director shall have the power to make decisions on any matters or questions not specifically covered in the rules or when they feel it necessary.
5. Please make sure if you are having the last match of the night, you help get the balls and the clock in the bag. That way you can use them next week! 😊
6. Good sportsmanship is required of all participants. Team Captains assume full responsibility for the conduct of the team. Players may be suspended or disqualified from play for unsportsmanlike conduct.
TEAMS
7. A team consisting of 4 players, a team may start a game with a minimum of 2 players. A team consisting of 6 players must have the same number of either genders or more women than men and can be played with a minimum of 3 players. If exigent circumstances arise, this rule may be waived but it must be with the other team’s consent.
8. If a team does not have the minimum players required to start a game, they will lose by forfeit.
TIMING AND SCORING REGULATIONS
9. A match shall consist of a 3-game match and the points to be played to each night, and format shall be set before the start of that league’s first scheduled match.
10. All games are straight up (no win by two) during regular season play and win by 2 during tournament play. All three games must be played within the time allotted.
11. Teams must be ready to play at the mandated start time. Every 10 minutes after starting time, a team that is not ready to play will forfeit a game.
12. Rally Scoring shall be used (a point is scored with every serve).
SERVING REGULATIONS
13. Rock, Papers, scissors will be played before the first game. The winner has the choice of serving the first game or choosing which court to start on. Half-way between the 3rd game the teams switch sides if either team wishes to do so, but it is not mandatory. This must be decided before the match begins.
14. Service takes place anywhere beyond the back line. The server may not step on the service line when serving.
15. The server must announce the score out loud before serving the ball with the server’s team score announced first.
16. The players of the serving team must not screen the opponents from seeing the contact for service or the path of the ball. This includes a player waving arms, jumping up and down, or moving sideways at the time of the serve.
17. BLOCKING or attacking the serve is illegal. If the ball is contacted below the net (aka no body part is above the top of the tape) and it goes over on the 1st contact, it is a legal play (but kinda immoral).
18. Only one serve is allowed (There are no “re-serves,”)
19. A Let-Serve (a serve that hits the net and goes over) is legal if it lands in bounds.
20. On change of serve, all players shall rotate clockwise. The player in the front-line right position becomes the next server. Positions of players may be changed only after a completed game. In 4’s you only rotate the serve.
GAME PLAY
21. The ball must be cleanly hit and not held, lifted, carried, or thrown. The ball cannot roll or come to rest on any part of the body. Please note that these standards for making these calls in lower division 6’s are VERY low in compared to competitive level play. Lower division players should only make these calls in rare and extremely blatant circumstances. If there is any argument see rule #4.
22. When playing the ball, players may use any part of their bodies, including feet, as long as the ball is cleanly hit or “pops” off at contact.
23. When contacting the ball with one hand the ball should be struck or cleanly hit with the heel or palm of the hand (a roll shot), with straight, locked fingertips (a cobra), curled fingers (a camel toe) or with the back of the hand from the wrist to the knuckles. One-handed placement or redirection of the ball with the fingers (a dink or open-hand tip) is a fault in 4’s and 2’s and IS NOT ALLOWED.
24. Players may step under the net onto the opponent’s court without penalty unless the player interferes with the flow of game play IN ANY WAY. Safety is always our priority. If a player is observed abusing this or making dangerous contact repeatedly the staff may take action up to suspension if deemed necessary.
25. If two or more players of the same team contact the ball simultaneously, it is considered one hit. Either player involved may participate in the next hit without penalty.
26. The ball is out-of-bounds when it touches any surface, object, or ground outside the lines. A ball touching the lines is considered “in.” A ball may be played from out-of-bounds, but it must cross the net within the poles.
27. Girl rule is active for coed 6’s. The ball MUST be played by a girl if there are more than 2 touches. On the first touch a guy can hit the ball over without penalty.
FAULTS include…
28. Players touching any part of the net with any part of their bodies (2ND mention).
29. A team contacts the ball four times before returning it to the opponents.
30. Catching or throwing the ball. The ball must be tapped. In 4’s no open hand tips/dinks.
31. Serving out of turn. (this will also result in loss of points scored by ineligible server.)
32. A player contacts the ball twice in succession unless the first touch is a block, or the ball contacts various parts of the player’s body successively.
33. When two opposing players commit fouls simultaneously, the point is replayed.
BLOCKS
34. A ball touched by a player, playing close to the net, and attempting to block a shot by an opponent shall not be counted as one of the three touches permitted by his team.
35. In blocking, the blocker may place his/her hands and arms beyond the net provided the action does not interfere with the opponent’s play (roofing). The blocker is not permitted to touch the ball beyond the net until the opponent has made an attack hit.
36. If two or more players from opposing teams contact the ball simultaneously above the net, any of the players involved are eligible to participate in the next play, which shall be considered the first of three contacts allowed to the team.
SUBSTITUTIONS
Substitutions may be made anytime the ball is dead as long as the substitute is of the appropriate gender and occupies the position that player was in. There are no limit on substitutions.
PLAYOFFS
Teams will be seeded in the playoff according to the league record. If there is a tie, the team with the fewest losses head-to-head shall be ranked higher. If there are further complications we will have to implement a Beyond Thunderdome-style death match or flip a coin, whichever is deemed more appropriate…
RAINOUTS
Due to the limited number of days available to make up postponed games we will endeavor to play in mildly inclement weather. If unfavorable weather or field conditions appear likely, the team captains will be called by a member of the staff before the scheduled game to hear if the game is to be played (if the situation permits). If the game is postponed captains will inform their team. Note that rainouts will not be called even if it is raining unless conditions on the field are extremely poor.
*Captains please watch your email for cancellations, as texts and emails may be utilized
PROTESTS AND APPEALS
No one in the league is playing for a million dollars in prize money. If there is a disputed call that cannot be resolved, REPLAY THE POINT. Major rule or league infractions can be presented to Nik, but the decision is FINAL.
OTHER RESPONSIBILITES OF THE TEAMS-AREAS OF CONCERN
Children- This issue was brought to us by TBK staff so let me be clear. WE/THEY ARE NOT BABYSITTERS. Please be respectful of staff and other players. If there are repeated issues with the behavior of children, we may have ask you to figure out some sort of arrangement for childcare. We also ask that if you have kids who are using the sand toys, that you make sure you pick them up if your kids are the last to use them, and to PLEASE fill in any holes they create. We are parents and we understand kids will be kids, but we have to address issues as they arise.
Warmups before and breaks during matches- We have a limited number of minutes for each match, which unfortunately includes warmups and breaks. We will do our part to make sure the matches start on time, but captains will ultimately be responsible for keeping things moving. As previously stated, there will be nights when I will not be there. You are adults and we hope that you will treat each other with common courtesy and respect and keep starts and finishes on time. So be aware of the breaks in between games as it is so easy to lose track, spend 10-15 minutes of a 45-minute match getting drinks etc. Just to make sure there is no confusion, we will not let matches carry over (2nd mention). The final score at the end of the 45 minutes will determine the game winner. You may not like it if you are the 6:00 match but believe me the 9 o’clock match appreciates not being the 9:40 match.
Rescheduling- We understand that sometime teams will have to reschedule or cancel on certain nights because we have jobs, kids, and a ton of other things going on. We ask that you show each other respect and courtesy and contact each other when those issues arise. You have been given a list of the other captain’s phone numbers through a group text, so please use them. Captains will be responsible for contacting their teammates. If the captains can find an agreeable time to meet up to make up (or finish in the event of weather interruptions) the match that is fine, but if not, the team that had to cancel or didn’t show up will forfeit. Rescheduled matches must be reported to staff and if they are not both teams will forfeit. Repeat offenders for no call/no shows may be removed from the league.
Lastly…. HAVE FUN AND ENJOY PLAYING THE GAME YOU LOVE (or the game that at least gives you an excuse to drink)
