2011-2012 Girls’ Emerald City League High School Ultimate Guidelines
All games will be played in accordance with WIAA regulations except as noted below.
Season Dates
First day allowed - February 27, 2012. May 26, 2012 - last day allowed
League schedule finished: May 10, 2012
Tie-breaker date: May 14 or 15, 2012
Seattle Invite: May 12/13 at Skykomish River Centennial Park, Monroe, WA
Minimum Practice Days per Individual: 10
Regular Season Contest Limit: 16 + Jamboree + Invitational Tourney
State Tournament:
Quarterfinals: Friday May 18th, home of higher seed
Semi-Finals: Wednesday May 23 @ Interbay Stadium 6:45pm
Finals: Friday May 25 @ Interbay Stadium 6:45pm
Affiliation
All players in jv/varsity league, state, and Seattle Invite must be USA Ultimate members or have paid the event fee. There are membership options and different cost options. Each team must have a USA Ultimate chaperone at every game. A significant but not entire part of the reason for this is the Insurance Issue.
League Champion and League Standings
The top-ranked team at the end of the regular-season league schedule shall be declared League Champion. The league tie-breaker policy (compare head-to-head league record, if still tied compare league record vs. opponents from the top of the standings downward) will be used to break ties. If teams are tied for League Champion after utilizing the tie-breaker policy, co-champions will be declared. A tie-breaker game will be played if the tie-breaker policy cannot break a tie between teams vying for the last state tournament berth.
Reporting Scores
Coaches will report game and spirit (see below) scores after each league game to Britt Atack, the ECL Ultimate Coordinator, at britt.atack@northwestschool.org. Britt will send game scores to ECL Commissioner John Wiley who will update the ECL online league standings weekly at http://www.emeraldcityleague.org/.
Playoffs and State Tournament
The top 3 teams at the end of league play will qualify straight to the State Tournament. No more than 60% of league teams can qualify for the state tournament unless approved by a majority vote of the ECL AD’s.
Player Limitations
A player may only play in one game per day with the exception of a regional tournament, a jamboree, or an exceptional scheduling issue that requires a second game in a day. An exceptional scheduling issue must be approved by majority vote by the athletic directors in the Emerald City League. In regional tournaments that may require two games in a day, ideally the time between games will be equal to or greater than the length of a game.
Player Eligibility
Players are held to the same WIAA player eligibility rules as other ECL Sports including, but not limited to, playing for only one school team per season.
Rule Book
USA Ultimate 11th Edition, with safety exceptions as agreed upon by competing schools (see below under Safety and Coach Communication).
Self-Officiating
Players are responsible for their own foul and line calls. Players resolve their own disputes. If asked, coaches can help with clarification of rules, but may not make calls. If both schools agree, observers can be used.
Out of Season Play
Students may not participate in more than one season of ultimate per calendar school year, aside from the summer. ECL schools will not support boys' teams or boys' playing opportunities outside of the fall season, with the exception of summer. ECL schools will not support girls' team or girls' playing opportunities outside of the spring season, with the exception of summer. Schools that offer coed/mixed ultimate and single-gender ultimate in different seasons (with the exception of summer) may not allow their students to participate in both coed/mixed and single-gender seasons without violating this rule. Summer play is allowed after the final spring tournament concludes until July 31, as per WIAA rules. Spring Reign disclaimer: Spring Reign, the coed tournament held in the spring season, requires all participants on a team to attend one school, but it doesn’t require the team to be an official school team.
Out of Season Coaching
It is not considered out-of-season coaching for coaches who coach select or work at camps provided the participation guidelines are open to all interested players regardless of school affiliation. This is one main difference from WIAA rules. Quite simply the coaching pool is not big enough to find qualified coaches who don’t also work camps or coach club.
Pre/Post-season Coaches’ Meetings
Boys: League coaches will meet on Aug. 25th, 7pm at Bellevue Christian, and Nov. 7th, 6:30pm at Bellevue Christian, for pre- and post-season league meetings.
Girls: League coaches will meet on February 13th, 7:30pm at Bellevue Christian, and May 14th, 7:00pm at Bellevue Christian, for pre- and post-season league meetings.
Facility/Field Policies
Seattle Parks does not allow dogs on the fields. Seattle Parks is very serious about this and they expect leagues and schools to follow this rule at all times if they want access to the fields. Please communicate this to parents and enforce it at games.
Seattle Parks also does not allow food or sports drinks on FieldTurf fields.
Safety and Coach Communication
Coaches should carry guidelines and greet each other before the game and make sure the field is safe and playing conditions are safe.
For games on adjacent fields, keep the common sideline space clear of coaches/players/spectators to avoid possible blind-side collisions.
No goals, bicycles, or other dangerous obstacles should be within 10 feet of the field. Remind players and spectators to stay back from sidelines and to keep gear well back from sidelines so players can throw without worry of hitting sideline players/spectators/gear and to provide safety for on-field players near sidelines.
If soccer goals are not movable use cones to shorten up the end zone to make it safe.
If there is lightning, get to safe shelter and don’t restart the game until 30 minutes after last lightning sighting.
Err on the side of safety when in doubt.
Coaches should bring pinnies in case both teams have the same color jerseys.
Coaches should carry a copy of the field permits to ensure field access.
Game Length
A game is played until one team first reaches or exceeds 13 goals with a margin of at least two goals, or until a cap is reached. There will be a hard cap at 80 minutes. Games will be over at 90 minutes. Coaches will coordinate to establish an official timepiece before the game that will signal 80- and 90-minute marks.
For regular-season league games, if the score is tied at the 90-minute mark the game will continue until either a) each team has turned the disc over once, or b) one team has scored. In the case of each team turning the disc over once, the game will end in a tie.
Game and warm-up time frames are 120 minute blocks. 30 minutes should be used for warm-ups and 90 minutes for the games.
Each team has three timeouts per game (Note: All three may be used in the same half).
Time between goals should be kept to 70 seconds for the receiving team to signal readiness and 90 seconds for the pulling team to release the pull, as per Official Rules of Ultimate 11th Edition.
*** The home team will provide a timekeeper to track and communicate time to the teams on the line (e.g., “10 seconds to signal readiness” and “10 seconds to pull”).
Halftime (no more than 5 minutes) can be taken if coaches agree. Teams with smaller numbers should be given the choice about halftime.
Spirit of the Game (as quoted from the Official Rules of Ultimate 11th Edition)
Ultimate relies upon a spirit of sportsmanship that places the responsibility for fair play on the player. Highly competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of mutual respect among competitors, adherence to the agreed upon rules, or the basic joy of play. Protection of these vital elements serves to eliminate unsportsmanlike conduct from the Ultimate field. Such actions as taunting opposing players, dangerous aggression, belligerent intimidation, intentional infractions, or other “win-at-all-costs” behavior are contrary to the spirit of the game and must be avoided by all players.
Blowout Policy
Though shut-outs and lopsided scores occur with some frequency in the game of ultimate, teams with large leads should take respectful measures, such as using non-starters in place of starters, when managing such leads. After games with lopsided scores coaches should check in with each other and school AD’s should communicate if there are any issues.
Spirit Score
Each team starts with a rating of 5.
Add 1 for:
• All players demonstrated excellent sportsmanship – they played with integrity and respect
• Opponents knew and followed the 11th edition rules
• No disputes occurred or were kept to a minimum when calls were made
• Coaches/captains were helpful in promoting a spirited game or were helpful when disputes arose
Subtract 1 for:
• One of more players were unsportsmanlike
• Opponents did not know the rules and didn’t care to learn them
• Calls were seriously disputed or unjustified calls were repeatedly made
• Coaches/captains were not helpful in promoting a spirited game or were not helpful when disputes occurred
When reporting spirit scores, coaches will cite the criteria above in substantiating a score. Opponents will be able to see how other teams perceive their spirit, both in what they are doing well and in what needs improvement. Britt will send reported spirit scores to the participating schools after each game.