⚽Official Soccer Rules⚽
*Reminder Everplay is Recreational & Social League- Play Safe, Play your best, Have fun.
Sportsmanship Policy: Everplay Sport & Social Club is dedicated to providing a safe and fun sporting environment. All participants should keep this in mind when joining any Everplay League or Event. Because we encourage competitive play while maintaining good sportsmanship, any behavior deemed unacceptable by the Everplay staff may result in consequences such as ejection from the game or event, suspension from the current season, or potentially being banned entirely from Everplay as an organization. This includes actions and behavior toward umpires/referees/field managers, opposing players, and/or teammates. Some examples of unacceptable behaviors include shouting, cursing, physical altercations, and intimidation. Everplay reserves the right to determine actions as violations of the sportsmanship policy and to deal with each instance accordingly. Everplay appreciates it’s participants love for the game and has the ultimate goal of maintaining it’s motto: Play sports, Have fun, Stay social.
Team:
- Team roster shall include a minimum of 11 players, including at least 4 of each gender.
- The maximum number of players on the field is 7, including the goalie, and including at least 3 of each gender.
- A team may start with as few as 4 players on the field.
- When a team has fewer than the required numbers of a specified gender, they may not substitute members of another gender. For example, if a team has 7 total players available at game time but only 2 are female, the team must play short with 6 players.
- One team being short players for a full 7 on field does not obligate the opposing team to reduce their players on field.
- Players may be substituted for each other at any time between plays, provided the on-field gender requirement is met at all times.
- All players must be registered with the League to play with the team. Unregistered substitutes are not permitted. Any team found to be playing with an unregistered player will receive a 2 Goal Penalty and the unregistered player will be removed. Any team with multiple illegal players will forfeit the game. In the Playoffs, any team with illegal players will suffer a forfeit.
- Any team that has players not wearing the Everplay shirt can be called for a roster check at any time by the ref, field manager, or the opposing team. If players are found to not be on the roster that are playing it will result in an automatic forfeit.
- Late Registration: a team may add players to their roster through the 3rd Scheduled Game, provided the team captain approves, and the player has paid the pro-rated fee for the remainder of the season. All players must be formally registered with the League and paid in full prior to playing.
Officials:
- Each game shall be officiated by at least one League-assigned referee, who shall act as the head referee. A second League-assigned referee may also be used.
- Referees are responsible for:
- Keeping time.
- Enforcing all rules and penalties.
- Keeping and recording game score.
- The staff shall eject a player from the game if the player engages in any unsportsmanlike behavior. If a player is ejected from a game, they are suspended for a FULL week (if they participate in more then one league they are suspended ALL all those league games). If in Playoffs, they are suspended for the entirety of the Playoffs. If a 2nd Ejection occurs during the Season, that Player is suspended for the remainder of the season.
- An ejected player must leave the field and facility immediately; failure to do so may result in removal from the league and automatic forfeits for their team.
- Ejected players will receive emails from the leagues ownership team with ruling on suspension or potentially being banned entirely from Everplay Sport & Social Club. (Any players suspended for games or leagues must not show to participate or spectate or their team will automatically forfeit those games).
- We understand Soccer is a more competitive and physical sport but we need to keep in mind player safety and have good sportsmanship while playing, if we cant then this league may not be the right league for you.
Field:
- The soccer field shall measure approximately 60-70 yards long and 30-40 yards wide, or as close to those measurements as the game field will allow. Cones will mark out of bounds on each side of the field.
- Goals shall be on either end and shall extend into the field. The dimensions may vary depending on the equipment and size of the field.
Equipment:
- The league shall provide the following equipment:
- Official Soccer Ball
- Goals
- Goalie IDs
- Players must wear shoes.
- Shin guards are not required but encouraged.
Game Clock:
- Each game will consist of two 20-minute halves with a 5 minute or less halftime.
- Each Team will have only 1 30 Second Timeout Per Game.
- The game clock shall be a running clock except during team timeouts.
- There will be no regular season overtimes; ties are permitted.
Start of Game:
- The start of the game will be decided by a coin flip administered by the referee. The winning team will get to choose either to have the ball possession at the first or second half.
- The losing team will get to choose which goal they wish to defend first.
- The game will start with the ball being placed at midfield and the offense will take possession. The defense may not enter the Midfield area (as designated by the referee) until the ball has left said area.
- At halftime, teams will switch sides and the team that started on defense will now have first possession of the ball.
Rules of Play:
- You may not touch the ball with your hands or lower arms. Shoulders, chest, head, foot or any other part of the body is legal. Illegal touches shall result in a turnover and a direct kick.
- No slide tackles or aggressive contact is permitted. Players who engage in such may receive a warning (yellow card) or be ejected from the game (red card) depending on the severity of the action and the referee's discretion. 2 Yellow Cards = a Red Card and an ejection. Slide tackling will result in a turnover to a direct kick.
- A foul on an attacking player inside the goalie's box may result in a penalty kick (referee's judgment).
- Goalies may touch the ball with their hands except if it is kicked to them by a teammate. Then the goalie must use his or her feet. Goalies may not hold the ball for longer than a verbal referee 5-count before it results in a turnover.
- Out of bounds- Teams who last touched the ball as it goes out of bounds shall turnover possession. If the ball crosses the side line, it is a throw in. The throw in must be stationary and must be done with two hands over the head. If the ball crosses the goal line, one of two things occur. If it is the defending team's possession, it is a goal kick; if it is the attacking team's possession, it is a corner kick.
- There is no offsides.
- On-field substitutions may only be made during stoppage of play.
Mercy Rule:
1. When a team gets up by 7 Goals, the game is called.
Forfeits:
- Teams must be ready to play and meet game start requirements at the posted game time. Any team not ready to play, after a 5 Minute Grace Period, shall forfeit and the opposing team shall take a default win (7-0).
- If neither team is ready to play, both teams shall forfeit.
- Teams that forfeit (3) times during one season will be removed from the league schedule and forfeited out of the league.
Playoff Tie Breaker:
1. If both teams are tied at the end of Regulation in the Playoffs, both teams will engage in a Best of 3 Shootout. If the teams are tied after the Best of 3 Shootout, they will continue in a Sudden Death Shootout until a winner is declared. Teams may not repeat kickers until everyone on their team has attempted a kick during the shootout.
Cancellation Policy:
- Email is primarily used to inform participants of canceled games due to inclement weather and field conditions. These cancellation decisions typically don't occur before 3pm the day of the game. Participants should always assume their game is being played as scheduled unless they hear otherwise.
- Everplay Sport & Social Club will make all efforts to reschedule up 2 weeks of games per season due to weather related cancellations. Any cancellations after that, may not be made up due to time and scheduling constraints.