1. ELIGIBILITY: A contestant must be at least 16 years of age at the time of the competition. 

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2. TEAMS: Each team shall consist of a maximum of 12 players. At least 2 women must be on the court at all times unless an injury occurs. A libero may switch with any member of the back court as long as they still have 2 females on the court, this will not count as a substitution. 

 

3. SUBSTITUTIONS: There may be only 6 substitutions during a game. Players may reenter a game only once, and they must reenter to their original position of rotation. If an injury substitution is made (not one of the 6 allowed substitutions), the injured player may not reenter to the game. Substitutions may only be made during dead ball periods, and an injury causes a dead ball.

 

4. MATCH PLAY: The tournament will be a weekly round robin with the last two weeks of the season consisting of the Semi and grand finals. Teams will accumulate points each week based of a win, draw or loss. This will determine the ladder for playoffs. Semi's will consist of teams 1 v 4 and 2 v 3, with the finals being the winners from both games. Both the Semi and grand finals will be played as a full set of five with no time limit. 

 

5. BYES: Byes are used in the preliminary rounds of competition, when uneven numbers of teams occur in a column of a tournament bracket. The bye fills in the place of the missing team, and the team automatically paired with the bye wins and advances to the next bracket. A team must never be advanced to the final playoffs via a bye. The byes will be placed in selected positions of the tournament brackets, except the finals, before the pairings are done by drawing lots. The byes will be placed so that no team can receive more than one bye in the tournament. 

 

 

6. FORFEIT: A team will forfeit the game if they are not on the field and ready to play when the court referee calls for their game to start. A team will forfeit if they have less than 5 players present for the game upon commencement. A forfeit may also occur when one team concedes to the other.

 

7. CONDUCT OF PLAY: Unsportsmanlike conduct shall not be allowed. Unsportsmanlike conduct shall include but not be limited to stamping feet and shouting when an opponent is in the act of serving or playing the ball. The referee has the power to warn, declare side out, award a point or disqualify from the game any player or coach who commits, in the opinion of the referee, a gross violation of sportsmanlike conduct.

 

8. COURT LAYOUT: The court area will be selected based upon available space, safety, comfort and convenience. The playing field will be 30 feet by 60 feet, divided into two 30 feet by 30 feet sides, by a net 7 foot 6 inches high. Boundaries and the centre line below the net must be clearly marked; sport chalk is ideal. A 6 foot playing area around the boundary of the court will be kept clear of objects and spectators as a safety precaution. If possible the court should be laid out so as to not give either side a disadvantage from the sun. If possible, an elevated platform should be provided at the net, for the referee for better viewing of both playing areas.

 

9. REFEREE: The referee is the head official who shall be responsible for making decisions, starting games, net fouls, determining the number of hits, ball in play, dead ball, points and serving order. The referee is responsible for overall rules and conduct of play.

 

10. OFFICIAL SCORER: Keeps track of the scoring during the game and records scores and game results.

 

11. TIME OUTS: Each team is allowed 2 time outs of 30 seconds duration per game. They are to be called by the captain during dead ball periods.

 

12. CHOICE OF SERVE OR SIDE: The choice of serve or side will be determined by the toss of a coin.

 

13. SWITCHING OF SIDES: Teams will switch sides after the completion of each set. 

 

14. LENGTH OF GAME: Each game will consist of 3 sets in which the third set must be played for 8 or more points to count. Each game will have a time limit of 55 minutes. Semi's and grand finals will consist of full 5 set games also with the fifth set played to 8 or more points to count. There is no time limit on semi or grand final games. All sets must be won by 2 points, the set will continue until this happens.

 

15. SERVICE RULES: The server shall serve from behind the boundary line, between his right corner and 10 feet in from this corner. The server may serve from the centre or the left court, and there is no limit on how far back a server may stand. The servers foot may not come down on the boundary line or inside the boundary until after the ball has been served. However, the servers foot or body may be in the air over or past the boundary line when the ball is served. A served ball is dead if it does not clear the net without assistance, hits the net or other obstructions, is served by the wrong person or is served before the referee starts play. Under the last circumstance only, the team has one more chance to serve, per game.

 

16. PLAYERS: a) Front line players may hit the ball from any position above or below the top of the net. b) Back line players may spike the ball only when they take off from behind the 10 foot line (10 feet back from the net). Back line players may not block the ball. c) One player shall not play the ball twice in succession. A block does not count as a hit. d) A team is allowed a maximum of 3 hits before the ball crosses the net. e) When a spike is blocked, it is considered to have crossed the net.

 

17. NET PLAY: a) Players may not touch the net in any manner during play. b) Reaching over the net is permitted only: 1) During the follow through of a legal hit. 2) Blocking a return that will cross the net. c) Service may not be blocked or attacked. Attacked is defined as receiving the ball with the hand(s) behind the head forcing the ball over the net. d) Recovering a ball hit into the net is permitted. e) During play, a ball touching the net within the boundaries shall remain in play. f) A ball is considered across the net if any portion of the ball crosses the net or when a spiked ball is blocked and returned. g) Successive contact of the ball by a player whose first contact was the result of a block shall be counted as one hit. A blocker may make the next play; basically, a block does not count as a hit. h) When the ball is simultaneously played by opponents, the player on the opposite side of the net from which the ball lands is considered the last person to touch the ball. i) The centre line under the net may be stepped on, but not crossed. j) Players may not touch a ball traveling parallel to the net after the opponents first or second hits.

 

18. HITS. A legal hit is contact with the ball by a players body above and including the waist, which does not allow the ball to visibly come to rest, even for a moment. Legal hits include: a) Serve.....contact with the ball to initiate play b) Bump or Set.....a play in which the ball is hit into the air so another player can hit the ball or so the ball goes over the net c) Spike or Attack.....a play in which the ball is hit forcibly into the opponents court d) Block.....a play at the net where player

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19. Prizes. There will be prizes for the winning team and each teams player of the season. The person that wins player of the season will have the highest accumulative total of votes from each game. Each team will choose a player of the match from the opposite team after each game.