Fermilab Volleyball Winter League Rules

Administrative

• Gym Membership is required:
  To qualify to play in the Fermilab Winter Volleyball League, all team members on the roster must have a current Fermilab gym membership.
• Schedule:
  Round 1 starts before Christmas (October or November, generally). There are generally 3 rounds (round == each team plays every other team once). There will be a one day playoff the week after the end of the last round to determine the season champion.
• Fees:
  League fees cover referee and incidental costs, about $1.50 per player per match. Fees must be paid in cash directly to Elizabeth Gallas or send a check to Elizabeth Gallas at MS 352. League fees are due the first day of each round. The amount will be announced before the due date.
• Rosters:
  Initial rosters are due the week before the first round starts. Rosters must be submitted by email to Elizabeth Gallas AND Jean Guyer (click here). New players must be added to the roster in an email message BEFORE that player is allowed to participate in any league game.
  
• Co-ed rule during the regular season:
  This is a co-ed league. There may be no more than four players of the same sex on the court at the same time. At least one female and one male player must be on the court at all times.
• Playoff Format: Match winner is first to win 2 games to 11 points with a cap at 13 points.
  The first 2 games of a match will use sideout scoring.
  If a 3rd game of the match is necessary, it will use rally (speed) scoring with no cap.
• Player eligibility during the playoffs:
  Players are eligible for the playoffs ONLY if they have officially participated in at least 4 league games with that team during the regular season. This is a co-ed league which will be more strict in the playoffs: If only one women is on the court, only 3 men may play. Likewise, if only one man is on the court, only 3 women may play (total of 4 players).
• Net setup by the first game !
  The team listed with a '*' on the schedule for the first game must arrive early to set up the net and move the referee stand into position before the first game.

Game play

• A match consists of 3 games to 11 points (with sideout scoring - points scored only by the serving team) with at least a 2 point differential with a cap at 13. Optimally, each match is allowed one hour to complete. In order to keep the total time of each match within an hour, if the second game of the match starts after 20 minutes before the end of the hour, rally (speed) scoring is imposed for the second and third games of the match. If the third game of the match starts after 10 minutes before the end of the hour, rally scoring is imposed.
• Shoes and appropriate clothing including shirts must be worn at all times.
• On serve receive, a bump or sand dig is allowed. Only PERFECT hand sets of the serve will be allowed, called at the discretion of the referee.
• Unlike the new international rule: Let serves (serves that hit the net and land in the court) are NOT good serves in the Fermilab league.
• A serve cannot be blocked or attacked while the ball is above the height of the net.
• A ball striking the ceiling or walls is out and the play is over.
• Players are not allowed to touch the net during play for any reason.
• Power tips will be called at the discretion of the referee.
• You can hit the ball with ANY part of your body but all hits must be judged by the referee to be a single instantaneous contact. Exceptions to this rule are better explained in http://www.volleyball.org/rsv_faq.html which is a summary on frequently asked questions in recreational leagues using USVBA rules.
• USVBA rulebooks are available online at http://www.volleyball.org/rules/.
• Kicking the ball is dangerous to other players, and the offender may be ejected from the game.

Only pancake foot contact of the ball is allowed -- the foot must be stationary on contact so that only the ball is in motion.
• The server is allowed to serve the ball from any location behind the serving line between the sidelines.

The server is limited to 2 tosses, but must let the unstruck toss hit the ground unobstructed before the second toss is thrown.
• Striking the ball after the play is over may result in a warning or the offender may be ejected from the game.

Penalties

• A five point PENALTY is imposed if the '*' team for the first game does not set up the net by game time. The poles are behind the curtain, the net is on the wall. The referee/league_rep is generally at the gym at least 10 minutes before the first game (earlier if requested) to get the antennas out of the cabinet. Please ask for help if you don't know how to set up the net before the last minute.
• A 10 minutes warm up is allowed before each match starts. A team is ready when all players are on the court in their serving/receiving positions.

PENALTY: For every minute a team is not ready after the allowed warm up time, one point will be awarded to the opposing team. If both teams are not ready, both teams will accumulate points up to 11-11, with the tie broken in a win by 2 point game.

Assuming the previous games have ended on time, the same penalties apply for the later games.

• If games are running late, a minimum of a 5 minute warm up period is allowed between matches.
• Complaints about oposing player behavior should be directed through the referee.
• Questions about the referee's calls should be made to the referee in a gentlemanly fashion. When in doubt, the referee decision overrides the judgement of all others and play should proceed without delay. Behavior inconsistant with this is considered bad sportsmanship, as is kicking or hitting the ball after the referee whistle, and may result in awarding a yellow or red card (warning or point penalty or game/match ejection).