Sand Volleyball Rules – SJ

FORFEITS

• Please don’t forfeit. Your teammates and opponents count on you to have a full team and competitive game. Each team must have at least 2 (two) roster players to start a game.
• Teams receive a forfeit for Game 1 if they do not have enough players by 10 minutes after the scheduled start time
• Teams receive a forfeit for all 3 games if they do not have enough players by 20 minutes after the scheduled start time
• No one may play without signing the waiver. If it is found that you are playing with someone who has not signed a waiver, your team will receive a forfeit

COED RULES

• A team may never have more than 3 men on the court at one time

BEGINNING OF THE GAME

• The referee will have the two captains shoot odds/evens or rock/paper/scissors
• The winning captain will select to serve first or choose which side they prefer to play on, (not both)
• Teams will switch sides during the game when 11pts have been scored by a team.
• Each match will consist of three games (not best of three). Each game will count in the overall standings for regular season standings (if you win all 3 games in a match, your record is recorded as 3-0, not 1-0)
• All games are played to 21, rally scoring. Win by 2 points, cap at 23.
• One time-out per game is allowed

NUMBER OF PLAYERS / TEAM SIZE

• A team may rotate any number of players into the game in set order or choose to have player for player substitutions.
• Rosters are limited to 8 players, but extra players can be added for an additional fee. However, no additional players will be added to the roster after the 4th week. Waivers must be signed by all players and handed in before the start of the first game.
• PLAYERS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY GAME WITHOUT SIGNING THE WAIVER.

PICKING UP PLAYERS

Since occasionally, teams may be short players and ZogSports wants everyone to be able to play every game possible, we permit teams to pick up non-roster, ZogSports players for your game. If you only have 2 men you can pick up a 1 woman to sub within the guidelines. Here are the guidelines:

• Less than 2 players -> official forfeit, play scrimmage
• Team has 2 players -> can pick up 2 if the other team has 4, 1 if the other team has 3
• Team has 3 players -> can pick up 1 if the other team has 4, 0 if the other team has 3
• Team has 4 players -> cannot pick anyone up

All pickups must be identified at the start of the game. Teams can ONLY pick up registered waiver signed ZogSports players for that specific season. If it is found out that you did not inform the referee about picked up players prior to the start of the game or that you are playing with a non-registered player, your team will receive a forfeit. DURING THE PLAYOFFS, ONLY PLAYERS ON YOUR ROSTER ARE ALLOWED TO PLAY.

GAME TIMES

Teams will receive a schedule that will list when their team will play each week. Teams will be given 60 minutes to play 1 match (3 games). There is no designated “warm-up” time. “Warm-up” time is to be included in the allotted amount of time that teams will have for their match. Teams will decide if they wish to “warm-up” or not. The longer teams take/choose to “warm-up” the less time they may have to complete their match. If a game is stopped early due to time constraints the score at the time of stoppage will be final and reflected in the standings. Teams will have 10 minutes to field a team before they receive their first forfeit.

RULES OF PLAY

Serving

• Net serves are allowed, and the ball can be played off the net on a serve.
• The server may not step on, under, or over the end line until the ball has been contacted. The width of the service area is from sideline to sideline. The depth of the service area is infinite. If a player steps on, under, or over the line, a foot fault will be called and it will be a side out
• The serve receive may not be blocked or spiked or attacked with an overhand gesture towards the ball–setting IS legal.

Service Receive

Players can return the serve by:

• Bump pass
• Clasping their hands together
• A closed fist
• Open-hand receive– You are allowed to set the serve

Players cannot return the serve by:

• Attacking the ball on the first hit. Contact with the ball must be made below the height of the net if it is to be directed back into the opponent’s side of the court
• Blocking
• Hitting / Blocking
• There is no male/female hitting rule/order
• A defensive block does not count as one of the allowable contacts. A player may reach over the net to block a ball if:
• Any portion of the ball breaks the plane of the net
• After the offense has come in contact with the ball on the third attempt
• Contact of the ball when spiking is legal only if a portion of the ball is in contact with the plane of the net or on the hitter’s side of the net. Hitters may follow through over the net after legal contact as long as they do not make contact with the net. The ball must be cleanly hit when spiking with an open or closed hand. Guiding or carrying is illegal
• No part of the body may touch the net at anytime

Rotation

• Teams must rotate after every side out
• Teams may rotate in one of the following manners which must remain consistent for the entire game (teams may change rotation method from game to game within a match)
• Player for Player – A player who is out may substitute for a player who is on the court. These two players may only substitute for each other during the course of the game. Once you substitute in for someone, you may not substitute for anyone else. These two people may substitute an unlimited number of times
• Rotating In – All of your substitutes may rotate into one position on the court. You may not skip anyone unless it is to adhere to male/female ratio which limits it to no more than 4 men on the court at a time but as many females as you want. You cannot have a separate male and female rotation. Players usually rotate into the service position. Rotation must do so in the same order throughout the course of the game

Game Time

• Matches will be played within the allotted time (60 Minutes)
• All games are played to 21–must win by 2 points, cap at 23 points
• Speed/Rally score will be used for all games
• One time-out (1 minute in length) per game is allowed
• Players will switch sides at 11pts.
• Players will rock paper scissors for choice of serve/side before the first game.

Rules

Referees will have a copy of the rules with them at each location. If there is a question or discrepancy, please ask the referee to check the rules if necessary. We also urge all teams to bring their own copy of the rules with them just in case.

STANDINGS

The updated standings will be posted weekly. The standings will display each team’s rank within its skill level. Rank is based on winning percentage.

PLAYOFFS

• Playoffs begin immediately following the end of the regular season
• Typically last between 1 and 2 weeks
• Possible for teams to have more than one match in a given night
• No players will be allowed to be picked up during playoffs
• All players must have signed the waiver by the first week of the season and be on your roster in order to be eligible for playoffs
• Teams that have violated the forfeit policy during the course of regular season (2 forfeits) will not be eligible for playoffs
• Playoffs are single elimination and games are a best 2 out of 3. Games will be played to 21 with rally scoring

SEEDING / TIE BREAKERS

Teams are seeded according to winning percentage. The tie breaker procedure is as follows:

1. Total number of points
2. Head-to-head competition
3. If team forfeited, loses tie breaker if other tiebreaker rules don’t resolve seeding
4. Record against other teams in or tied for playoffs (winning percentage – i.e., 0-1 is same as 0-2, but 1-3 is better than 0-1)
5. Number of wins
6. Record against next best common opponent

7. Coin toss
Any questions regarding rules, policies, or eligibility of players must be addressed before the start of the game. Any team that would like to challenge the eligibility of an opposing player must do so before the start of the game. No protests will be considered valid after a game has started.WAIVERS

In order to participate in the league, each participant must sign the team waiver. Waivers are provided and must be completed and handed in no later than the first night of play. Players not present the first week of play will still be required to sign a waiver with our staff before participating. Players must sign the waiver in order to be eligible for playoffs.

GAME CANCELLATION

Games may be cancelled due to dangerous weather conditions, facility constraints or other unforeseeable reasons. ZogSports will not cancel games unless absolutely necessary so you should always assume games are on unless you receive an email. ZogSports will email all of the captains to let them know. It is then the captain’s responsibility to inform all teammates of the cancellation.

SPORTSMANSHIP

In ZogSports leagues you are playing for your cause (a charity) and for fun. This is a social league and our goal is to have a good time. We hope that everyone keeps this in mind when playing. We know that some games will become very intense, but you can still be competitive and be a good sport. Thus, any behavior deemed unacceptable by us may result in suspension and/or ejection from a game or the league. Abuse of staff and/or referees will not be tolerated. ZogSports reserves the right to remove a player from a game or a league if we think that they are bringing down the quality of the league. No fighting will be tolerated. Fighting will result in an automatic ejection from any game and in most cases ejection from the league for the rest of the season.

FORFEIT PENALTIES AND NOTIFICATION

• First Offense: Loss of match (all 3 games) and warning issued
• Second Offense: Loss of game and removal from the playoffs
• Third Offense: Loss of match and possible removal from the rest of the schedule

1. Primary – The online schedule will be updated to list games as postponed2. Secondary – Weather Alert Hotline at (332) 213-9023 (https://play.zogsports.com/weather-alert-hotline)

We will post rainout information as soon as possible, but will not call a game too early to make sure weather doesn’t change.

FORFEIT NOTIFICATION

To forfeit, please fill out this form.

Forfeits ruin the experience for everyone. ZogSports exists to give you an opportunity to play and build community and forfeiting is a huge bummer. If your team absolutely needs to forfeit, you must let us know in advance so we can contact your opponent so that they don’t unnecessarily travel to the gym/field.

If you do not inform us of a forfeit your team could face penalties in your league’s standings. Once ZogSports is notified of your forfeit, it is final (you cannot change your mind) and the other team will be notified.

CODE OF CONDUCT: The Participant’s Code of Conduct applies to all ZogSports participants. You can access the ZogSports Participant’s Code of Conduct HERE.