Sport & Social Rules

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Official Indoor 7 on 7 Soccer Rules

OVERVIEW
7 PLAYERS ON THE FIELD (4 MALES/3 FEMALES)
TWO 20-MINUTE HALVES - RUNNING CLOCK
TIES DURING REGULAR SEASON REMAIN A TIE
PLAYOFF TIES WILL BE DECIDED BY OVERTIME & SUDDEN DEATH SHOOTOUT
GAMES WILL BE REFEREED BY SPORT AND SOCIAL CLUB STAFF.

COIN FLIP/BEGINNING OF GAME
• The beginning of the game will start with the CSSC staff using an “odd/even,” or coin flip. The winning team will then have one of two options: kick-off or choose a goal to defend.

REFEREES
• Chicago Sport and Social Club will provide a paid referee for each soccer match. Referees will have final say in any judgment call or issue regarding rules. Referees have the power to remove any player(s) from a game and/or the league, if deemed necessary. Any rules clarification must be brought to the attention of CSSC staff member prior to the continuance of the game.

KICKOFF
• Consists of the ball being placed at midfield. The ball must complete 1 full forward rotation before touched by another player.

CO-ED RULES AND TEAM SIZE
• Each team shall field 7 players on the field at one time (no more than 4 males.) CSSC rules allow a team to play a legal game shorthanded with as few as 5 players, with at least 2 female. If a team has 2 females it may field a team of no more than 5 players, (3 males, 2 females). Teams may have as many players on their roster as they want. There is no maximum limit on the amount of females on the field at one time. All rosters must be finalized by the second week of the regular season. Players added after the second week that are not on the team roster/waiver will not be eligible for playoffs.

FORFEITS
• Teams will have until 10 minutes past the designated start time to field a legal team. Shorthanded teams may play a legal game with a minimum of 5 players, with at least 2 of them being females. Teams fielding less than 5 players or without at least 2 women will receive a forfeit. Exception: Teams may play a “legal game” with less than 5 players or less than 2 females with the opposing teams consent. Teams who agree to play under these conditions will lose the option of receiving a forfiet win. Teams may pick up non-roster players during the regular season in order to field a full team. Non-roster players will not be allowed during playoffs.

SUBSTITUTIONS
• Teams may substitute “on the fly.” There is no limit on the amount of substitutions per team/per game. *NOTE in order to substitute a player the original player must be off the court/field before the new player enters the field of play. Any violation of this rule will result in a two-minute penalty where they must play a man down. During the course of the regular season teams are allowed to “pick up” players that are not on their roster in order to field a full team. In playoffs no non-roster players will be allowed to play.

TIME
• Play will be divided into (2) 20 minute halves separated by a brief halftime. There will be a running clock maintained by the referee. The clock will stop only during officials time and/or injuries.

TIE GAMES/SCORING
• Regular season games ending in a tie score will be recorded as tie games. Sudden death will be used in the playoffs.

RULES
• GOALKEEPERS - Teams will be allowed to have a designated goalkeeper.
• THE GOAL BOX - A goal box will be marked off in front of each goal. All goal kicks will be taken from the goal box.
• THE PENALTY ARCH - A penalty ARCH will be marked off in front of each goal. This is the designated area where the goalkeeper will be allowed to play the ball with his/her hands.
• DIRECT KICKS - A direct kick will occur for any penalty unless the penalty has been specified as an indirect kick by the referee. The ball is to be placed at the point of the infraction. The ball will be put in play by any player on the affected team. No opposing player is allowed to be within 10 paces/yards of ball prior to kick. Goals may be scored on direct kicks. A direct kick is to follow these infractions: (1) Charging (2) Roughness (3) Handball (4) Dangerous play/kick (5) Slide-tackle. Penalties incurred inside the goal box by the defense will result in a penalty kick 15 paces/yards out. Penalties incurred outside but within close proximity to the goal box will be kicked from the point of infraction. The defense must stand 5 paces/yards away from the point of infraction (where the ball is being kicked from).
• FREE KICK - A team receives a Free Kick after stoppages other than when a Dropped Ball or Goalkeeper Throw-In is required. Before the team takes the Free Kick, the ball must be stationary. All opposing players are at least 15 feet from the spot of the Free Kick (or, if within 15 feet of the
opponent's Goal, along the Goal Line). The spot of the Free Kick is that provided above, except:
(a) Within Own Penalty Arch: from any spot therein.
(b) Within Opponent's Penalty Arch: at the Free Kick Mark ("Top of the Arch").
(c) Delayed Penalty: (i) according to the ensuing stoppage, as normally administered,
or (ii) in case the defending team obtains possession of the ball during play, at the spot of
the original offense.
(d) Kick-In: from the point on the Touch Line nearest where the ball crossed over the
Perimeter Wall.
(e) Three-Line Violation: from the offending team's Restart Mark.
(f) Superstructure Violation: from the nearer Restart Mark.
• INDIRECT KICKS - Indirect kicks will occur when: 1.) the goalkeeper touches the ball with his/her hands after it has been deliberately kicked to him/her by a teammate. 
• SLIDE TACKLING – Slide tackleing will not be allowed. Intentional slide tackles will result in a direct kick being awarded to the opposing team at the point of the infraction. Multiple violations will result in yellow card to the offending player and possible ejection from the game (red card.)
• OFFSIDES - A Three-Line Violation occurs when a player propels the ball in the air across the two Red Lines and the Halfway Line toward the opponent's Goal without touching the Perimeter Wall, Another player, or a Referee on the field of play.
• OUT OF BOUNDS - Anytime the ball goes over the glass or touches the netting/superstructure above the field of play, the ball is considered out-of-bounds. This is considered a turnover and the new offensive team will put the ball back into play from the spot where the ball hit the netting/superstructure. 
• FIGHTING – Fighting is not allowed and will NOT be tolerated. All parties involved in fighting will be subject to ejection from the game at the referees discretion and subject to ejection from the league at CSSC staff discretion.

STANDINGS
• Standings will be posted out at the league and online.

PLAYOFFS
• Playoffs will follow the last week of regular season and will be single elimination.
• SEEDING – Teams will be seeded based upon a points system. Teams will be awarded 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. In most cases all teams will advance to playoffs as long as they are not in violation of the forfeit policy. *Note: In some situations the last ranked team in the league may not be eligible for playoffs. This will be decided on a league by league basis.
• PLAYOFF GAMES – Playoff games will follow the same format as the regular season. If teams are tied at the end of regulation time in the playoffs, sudden death will be used. A sudden death overtime will involve 4 men and 2 women from each team for a five-minute period. If neither team scores during the sudden death overtime period, there will be a penalty shootout.

SHOOTOUT SPECIFICS:
1. Each team selects 5 players (3 males, 2 females) - any player can be selected even if they are not playing at the end of regulation. A coin toss will decide which team shoots first. The referee will decide which goal to shoot. Shots will be placed and not dribbled.

2. Teams will take alternating direct penalty shots from 15 paces off the goal line. (No guy/ girl shooting order is necessary)

3. If tied after the 1st round, the 2nd round will be SUDDEN DEATH i.e. 1st player from Team A scores & 1st player from Team B misses - Team A wins. Players who shot in the 1st shootout are not eligible to shoot again until all remaining players present have shot. If and when 1 team begins to utilize players for the second time, the other team may “recycle” players as well.

LEAGUE POLICIES

GAMES:
During the regular season one game will be played within time allotted. Games will be divided into (2) 20-minute halves with a brief half-time break. During the regular season, no overtime will be used. The clock runs continuously during the game. Each team is awarded 1 time-out per game.

FORFEITS:
If your team forfeits a match during the season, the following rules apply:
First Offense: Loss of game and warning issued.
Second Offense: Loss of game and staff reserves the right to remove team from playoffs.
Third Offense: Removal from the league

If you know in advance that your team is going to forfeit a game, we encourage you to call our office so as to help us schedule your opponent a game. This does not mean that your team will not receive the loss as a forfeit.

Teams have until ten minutes past the designated start time to field a full squad (or the league minimum of players required according to rules). If at that time a team is unable to field a legal team, it will be up to the staff and the opposing captain to determine whether a team will receive a forfeit win or if a team will allow the opposing team to play a legal game with less than league minimum of players required according to the rules.

STANDINGS:
The updated standings will be posted weekly. The standings will be posted out at the league and on our website The standings will display each teams rank within its skill level. Rank is based on a points system. Teams will be awarded 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss.

PLAYOFFS:
Playoffs will begin immediately following the end of the regular season and will typically last between 2 and 3 weeks. After teams have been seeded according to their records all captains will receive an email with the 1st week of playoff game times roughly 3 days before their league. Teams will not receive an email or any other weeks of playoffs! It is ALL TEAMS responsibility to check the playoff brackets at the league or online to find out what time they will be playing the following week if they win. In playoffs it is not uncommon, (and in some cases will be necessary), for teams to have more than one match in a given night. No non-roster players will be allowed during playoffs. All players must have signed the waiver by the second week of the season in order to be eligible for playoffs. All eligible teams will make the playoffs. Playoff eligible teams will be determined on a league by league basis. Teams that have violated the forfeit policy during the course of regular season will not be eligible for playoffs. In certain situations teams at or near the bottom of the standings may not advance to the playoffs. Check with CSSC league coordinator to see if this applies to your league. Playoffs are single elimination.

Seeding: Teams are seeded according to total points and strength of schedule.
Teams may be dropped from their regular season level based on the above criteria. Teams may play more than one game per day/night, and/or play games on days/nights other than the regularly scheduled league day/night if necessary. CSSC reserves the right to schedule playoff games on days other than the leagues regularly scheduled night.

WAIVERS:
In order to participate in the league, each participant must sign the team waiver. Waivers are provided at the facility must be completed before participating. 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 by the second week of the season in order to be eligilble for playoffs.


PLAYER ELIGIBILITY:
Any questions regarding rules, policies, or eligibility of players must be addressed before the start of the playoff game. Any team that would like to challenge the eligibility of an opposing player must do so before the start of the game. Players who have been placed on the roster and signed the waiver are eligible for playoffs. A formal protest may be filed before a game if an opposing player’s eligibility is in question. The player in question will be required to provide his/her player information (name, address, phone #, signature) in writing to a CSSC staff member prior to the start of the game. This qualifies as an official protest. Any protest made during a game or after a game will NOT be considered a formal protest. The game will then be played in its entirety as scheduled. Teams will be notified of all rulings on the identified eligibility discrepancy by the following business day – decisions will not be made on site. If the protest is proven to be legitimate, it will result in the forfeiture of the game in question.Games subsequent to the protested game may be rescheduled. The above procedure will also apply for any other “logged” protests. All rulings by CSSC staff are considered final.

SPORTSMANSHIP:
The idea of CSSC is to have fun. We hope that all participants keep that in mind when becoming involved. Although the games may become intense, you still can be competitive while maintaining good sportsmanship. With this being said, any behavior deemed unacceptable by staff may result in suspension and/or ejection from a game or the league. Abuse of officials/referees and other staff will not be tolerated. CSSC reserves the right to remove a player from a game or a league if they are considered to be bringing down the quality of the league. CSSC will not tolerate fighting! Fighting will be an automatic ejection from any game and in most cases ejection from the league for the remainder of the season.

STAFF:
To coordinate and run the league, our refs and/or staff will be available at all times to help the league run as smoothly as possible. If you have questions regarding schedules, policies, rule interpretations, directions to the sponsor bar, etc. please ask.

LEAGUE CANCELLATION/RAINOUT:
Leagues may be cancelled due to extreme weather conditions, dangerous or unplayable surface conditions, facility constraints, etc. CSSC staff makes every effort to play all scheduled games, thus we will not cancel games until absolutely necessary. Therefore, if you are calling concerning a decision on a cancellation, remember we will not have an answer until close to the start of the league.
If the league is cancelled, CSSC staff will change the weather hotline immediately. CSSC will then email/text all of the captains to let them know (if possible.) It is then the captains responsibility to inform all teammates of the cancelation. If a league is cancelled on site, CSSC staff will attempt to contact those teams still scheduled to play the remainder of the league day/night. Depending on the time of cancellation, some teams will have to be notified on site. If we do cancel, follow next week’s schedule (ex. If April 13 is cancelled teams should follow the April 20 schedule for their next game). The games that are cancelled will be made up towards the end of the season if time allows. In extreme circumstances, CSSC reserves the right to run a shortened season without a refund. CSSC also reserves the right to schedule games on days other than your regularly scheduled league day/night if necessary.

PRIZES/T-SHIRTS:
Each team will be given a t-shirt for each person signed on the waiver with a maximum of 15 t-shirts per team. The shirts will be handed out at the facility the first week of the season. The top teams in each division will receive a prize of great emotional, spiritual, and most importantly, social value.

These policies are designed to make the league run as smoothly and safely as possible, and provide continuity for its participants. Each player in the league is responsible for this information: please advise your team of these rules and thanks for playing.