Untitled Document

Tewksbury Indoor Soccer Rules

FSSG
Indoor Soccer Laws of the Game for Tewksbury facility
Revised 10/08

NUMBER OF PLAYERS – The total number of players on the field at once include: 5 field players and a goalkeeper. 2 of the players must be female. The minimum number of rostered players required to start a game is 5 (4 field players and a goalie of which 1 player is a female). A game is terminated once it has started if a team has fewer than 3 players due to injury or penalties. If you have only 1 female show up you must play short. A male cannot take the place of the missing female to field 6 players.

ROSTERS - Team rosters are due 3 weeks after the start of each session. Players may be added to the team’s roster until the third week of the session . After the third game, rosters will then be frozen for the remainder of the session. A PLAYER CAN ONLY BE ON ONE ROSTER IN A SEASON. If a team does not have their roster turned in to the office after the third week, they forfeit the rest of their games until they turn in a roster to the office and will be ineligible for playoffs if no roster is turned in.

GUEST PLAYERS – Guest players will be allowed under the following conditions: 1) You have the minimum number of your team to play (5 players), 2) the guest players are rostered with a team in the league that your game is being played in and 3) the maximum number of players that you can field using guest players is 8 . Once the game has started with guest players, as team members arrive guest players must leave if there are more than 8 people playing for that team. If the minimum number of rostered players are not present then the team will forfeit the game. There will be no guest players for the play offs. Only rostered team members are eligible to play in playoffs.

EQUIPMENT
MANDATORY – shin guards fully covered by socks, uniform shirt, shorts, footwear.
EXCLUDED – hats, outdoor cleats, hard cast (even if padded), braces of any kind that are deemed dangerous by the referee and any other equipment that the referee deems dangerous. THE FINAL DECISION AS TO WHETHER SOMETHING IS DANGEROUS OR NOT LIES STRICTLY WITH THE REFEREE.

NO OUTDOOR CLEATS allowed on the indoor turf fields. Wear turf shoes or sneakers.

DURATION OF THE GAME:
GAMES ON THE HOUR:
During the regular season games will consist of two (2) 25-minute “RUNNING TIME” periods. The clock will stop only if, in the opinion of the referee, moving an injured player while waiting for medical attention would be hazardous to the injured player. Get the injured player off the field as quickly and safely as possible, as the clock is ticking.

GRACE PERIOD- The grace period for the start of the game is 10 minutes. After five minutes from the scheduled game time the clock will start. At the 10-minute mark, if a team does not have the minimum number of players to start, that team will forfeit the game. If the game is to be played, the clock will continue to run for the balance of the 25 minutes. The second half will be the normal 25 minutes.

PLAYOFFS – Tie Breakers – 1) 5 minute golden goal period. 2) Penalty Kicks will be a round of 5 players with at least 2 females shooting. If there is still a tie after the 5 kicks, there will be a one on one situation until the tie is broken. Any player on the team can take the kicks. They do not have to be on the court at the end of the game. Each team member must shoot once before a player can shoot again

START OF PLAY – The kick off is a direct free kick and may be played in any direction.

BALL OUT OF PLAY – The ball is out of play when: It leaves the field of play or touches the ceiling. The restart will be an indirect free kick from the spot where the ball leaves the field of play. If the ball went out by crossing the sidelines, an indirect free kick will be taken from the spot where the ball crossed the sideline. If the ball crosses the end line it will be placed either 1) goal kick or 2) corner kick. When the ball hits the ceiling or any obstacle above the playing area an indirect free kick will be taken from the spot where the ball was kicked. Exception, if the ball is kicked from within the penalty area and hits the ceiling or an obstacle above the penalty area , the ball will be placed along the front penalty line.
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FOULS AND MISCONDUCT
A) DIRECT FREE KICKS – governed by FIFA Laws of the Game with the following additions:
1. Sliding of any kind from players or goal keepers outside the penalty area is not allowed.. Goalkeepers may slide tackle as long as they are doing so within their penalty area and not in a dangerous manner. Players may not: 1) Slide , 2) Tackle from behind, 3) Check an opponent against the boards, 4) Slide to play the ball in the penalty area whether or not offensively or defensively. If defensively, a penalty kick will be awarded.

B) INDIRECT FREE KICKS – governed by FIFA Laws of the Game.
Any indirect kick taken by the attacking team for a foul inside the penalty area, the ball will be placed at the top of the penalty area in the center. No playing the ball while on the ground.

C) BLUE, YELLOW & RED CARDS – All cards are a time served penalty. The time served begins when the players exit the field and the ball is put back into play, NOT when the penalty was called. Get off the field quickly, the game clock is still ticking (exception: the ref stops the game clock for red cards)
BLUE CARD = 2-MINUTE PENALTY – The player receiving this card will serve a 2-minute penalty. If the goalkeeper receives a 2-minute penalty another player may serve the penalty. The player penalized is released in the following manner: 1) the 2 minutes have been served or 2) the non-penalized team scores a goal before the 2 minutes have expired. (Similar to hockey). MANDATORY 2-MINUTE PENALTIES – Any foul initiated from behind the fouled player deemed dangerous by the referee.
YELLOW CARD = 5-MINUTE PENALTY – If a player receives a yellow card then that player MUST serve the full 5 minutes no matter how many goals are scored by the non-penalized team. If the goalkeeper receives a yellow card then he must serve the 5 minutes and a replacement keeper will enter the playing area and a field player will be removed.
RED CARD AND 5-MINUTE PENALTY – Ref stops the game clock, the player who was issued the red card has 2 minutes to leave the building (not just leave the field) before the game is restarted. If the player refuses to leave, the game is declared a forfeit for the penalized team. The player penalized may not participate in the next scheduled game. A member of the penalized team will serve the 5-minute time penalty in their place once the game clock is restarted.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS – A team may not have less than 4 players on the playing area while penalties are being served. If a team has more than 2 players serving penalties only the first 2 penalties are running. As one penalty is over, then the 3rd begins and then the 4th begins, etc.

OTHER PROVISIONS
DISTANCE FROM KICKS – All defending players must be at least 3 yards from the ball.

DOUBLE TOUCH- The player taking the free kick cannot be the first person to touch the ball after the ball has been kicked. Another player must touch the ball before the player can kick the ball again.

SUBSTITUTIONS – Substitutions may be made at anytime while the game is in process provided that the player being substituted is within 3 yards of the team door before the substitute enters the playing area. If this distance is not met, the referee may issue a 2-minute bench penalty for too many players on the court. Goal keepers may be substituted either by 1) on the fly as above 2) after a goal is scored before the kick off 3) at a stoppage in play when the keeper’s team is in position of the ball and 4) when play is stopped for an injury. In all cases, the goalie must notify the referee when substituting with another player.

GOAL KICKS/KEEPER THROWS – May be taken from anywhere within the penalty area. The ball may not travel beyond the half way line in the air. The penalty is an indirect free kick from the half way line for the attacking team.

PENALTY KICKS – Penalty kicks are to be taken from the top of the penalty area in the center. All players, other than the one taking the kick, must remain behind the mid line until the kick is taken.

GOALKEEPER RESTRICTIONS – Once keeper is in possession of the ball, the keeper may throw the ball back into play. Keeper’s may not punt or drop kick the ball into play. Penalty for kicking the ball will be an indirect free kick from the top of the penalty area. The keeper may release the ball on the ground and play it as a field player with the same restrictions as a field player. The keeper may not go outside the penalty area and dribble the ball back into to the penalty area and pick the ball up. Keepers will be restricted to the pass back rule and must release the ball within 6 seconds.

PLAYER LINE RESTRICTIONS – There are no line restrictions except those for goalkeepers as mentioned.

NO OFFSIDES

INTENTIONAL DELAY OF GAME- The referee will warn a team for the first intentional delay of game. After the first warning, any reoccurrence will result in a 2-minute penalty.

INCLEMENT WEATHER- In the event of inclement weather every team must show up unless notified by
FSSG or a forfeit will be awarded.

PLAYOFFS- Players must play in at least three (3) games during the session in order to play in the playoffs. If teams are tied in the standings heading into playoffs, tiebreakers are as follows:
* the team with NO FORFEITS is ranked higher
* if neither had a forfeit, then head to head record
* if neither had forfeits and they tied each other or they didn't play each other, the team that let in the least amount of goals is ranked higher
*if both had forfeits, the team that had less forfeits is ranked higher. If both had the same amount of forfeits, the team that let in the least amount of goals is ranked higher

FORFEITS- It is the captain’s duty to know if their team will have enough male/female players to field a team. If you know in advance that you have to forfeit, alert Kathy Mahoney at fssg@hotmail.com or call 617-953-9488 the day before the game so she can alert the other team of the forfeit. If your team forfeits on the day of your game, your team will forfeit two points in the standings AND you owe the ref the whole $30 (the team that came ready to play is not paying the ref for a forfeit, you are). You must pay the $30 forfeit fee before your next game or you forfeit the next game as well. If your team forfeits two times in a season, you will be dropped from the league. It is in your best interest to ask for subs to help your team, before deciding to forfeit.

Any questions, email Kathy Mahoney at fssg@hotmail.com or call 617-953-9488.
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