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Rules

Lethbridge COED Volleyball League Rules

Updated Sept 2020

  • Current Canadian Volleyball Association (CVA) rules will be in effect with the following format and league specific amendments

LEAGUE SPECIFIC RULES

  1. ‘League Night’ and ‘Round Robin’ Tournament Matches will consist of two games. These games will be played to 25 or 21 points depending on Division and Venue, with each game capped at 27 and 23 points respectively.
  2. Playoff Match format is best-of-3-games. The first two games are rally-point scoring to 25 points with no cap. The third game is rally-point scoring to 25 or 15 points as stated, with no cap.
  3. Libero Rule is NOT in effect for our league. A player can only sub in and out for the same player of the same gender.
  4. The LCVL official Game Ball is the ‘NCAA MOLTON’. If this ball is not provided by either team, most simply, use the ‘best available’ ball agreed on by both teams.
  5. Nets should be set to 2.35m or 7’7”.  This is the midpoint btw SR men’s and SR women’s net heights.
  6. LCVL Net / Centre Line Rules: 
    • ANY contact with the net inside the antennae is an infraction and will result in loss of point.
    • A player may contact the net, pads, ties, or poles outside the antennae.
    • You cannot cross the center line. You can step on it, but not over it.
  7. Teams will play opponents on the assigned court in the order outlined on the schedule.
  8. All games for each team must be completed the within the allotted schedule. 
  9. Teams are not permitted to play past their scheduled time. The current game score at the end of the time slot will be taken as the final score.
  10. On court warm-up is not guaranteed. It is a privilege that will depend on set-up time and scheduled start times. 
  11. Teams will have 10 minutes beyond the Scheduled Start Time to ‘court’ a team, after which the first game is forfeited. An additional 10 minutes will be allowed before the 2nd game is forfeited.

GENERAL GAME PLAY

  1. Players are to call balls in or out of bounds. If there is a dispute or uncertainty, resume play by re-serving the ball with no point awarded.
  2. Players are to call their own fouls. If an obvious foul is missed, a player on the opposing team may politely point this out, assuming that their opponent either does not know the rule or missed their own foul. Generally, teams should NOT call fouls against their opponents. Obvious fouls are: carries, double hits, touching the net, going under the net and contacting another player.
  3. Only one toss or release of the ball is allowed per serve.
  4. A double hit is permitted when playing a serve. (e.g. the serve hits the defender’s arms and then chest, or the ball comes out spinning due to 2-contacts with a set). A double-hit is also permitted on a hard-driven spike/hit. Please note that a ball that rolls along a player’s body is illegal.
  5. Players may contact the ball with any part of the body, including areas below the waist.
  6. A player is permitted to pass his/her hand over the plane of the net in the following scenarios:
  1. While blocking an attack after the opposing teams 3rd contact has been made.
  2.  If a player is spiking/blocking the ball, their hand(s) may cross the plane of the net as long as contact is initiated on their own side.
  3. An infraction has occurred if:
    1. A player interferes with their opponents’ attack (e.g. if a setter is trying to set his player, the opponent can’t reach over the net and block that set).
    2. If the defensive player initiates contact of the ball over the plane of the net prior to the offensive team making their 3rd and final contact.

SPORTSMANSHIP

  1. The LCVL encourages a fun-first, winning-second attitude. All players are expected to abide by the LCVL sportsmanship policies, any player or team who does not will be subject to suspensions or league expulsion.
  2. Sportsmanship Prizes will be awarded to one team from each division at our year-end Playoff Tournament. Ballots will be handed out to each team by their Respective League Rep on the last night of regular season play.

ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY

  1. In order to promote a safe and sportsmanlike environment for its players, the LCVL has clarified its stance on unsportsmanlike behaviour. All players must understand the expectations for playing in the LCVL. 
  2. The Division Rep and/or the Team Captain are required by the LCVL to ask players to leave the Gym if they are involved with any of the following acts:
  • Harassing or provoking another player. 
  • Swearing directly at another player or the Division Rep.
  • Intentionally pushing, shoving or making physical contact with another player.
  • Making comments to instigate an altercation with another player.
  1. In addition to being dismissed from the game, a one week suspension (or more) may be assigned by the LCVL executive to the involved player or team.

REPORTING SPORTSMANSHIP CONCERNS

  1. If during the game you have a concern with a player or the other team, make an attempt to address the issue respectfully with their team captain at the appropriate time. (i.e. during play, on the sidelines, or btw games)
  2. If at the end of the game you do not feel that the issue has been resolved, report the details of the issue to your Division Rep and/or contact the LCVL President via e-mail by 5pm the next day.

REGISTRATION & SEEDING TOURNAMENT

  1. The first 24-28 PAID teams with completed rosters will be registered for the season; the league reserves the right to adjust schedules and team numbers depending on league needs and gym availability. 
  2. Early Registration may be available to returning teams in good standing to secure their spot prior to open registration.
  3. Payment for registration can be submitted by the following methods:
  1. E-Mail Money Transfer (Sent to our Treasurer a minimum of 1 week prior to registration night)
  2. Cash
  3. Cheque (Made out to the Lethbridge COED Volleyball League)
  • Post-Dated cheques will not guarantee your teams spot.
  1. Your full and completed roster must be submitted with all required player information BEFORE the seeding tournament. 
  2. Our seeding tournament is structured to place teams into divisions of appropriate skill levels. Teams will have further opportunities to move up/down divisions throughout the season, between rotations. 

ROSTERS & SUBSTITUTIONS

  1. Fully completed rosters must be submitted upon registration prior to the start of our season. To be a registered team member, the League must have the individual’s first & last name, date of birth, address, telephone #, e-mail address (optional), emergency contact name & emergency contact phone # on file.
  2. There is no maximum limit to the number of players that you can have on the roster.
  3. Players not registered properly will not be eligible to play in the league. Teams found using ineligible players will forfeit any games those individuals played. A team may then lose all or part of their performance bond. Ineligible players include anyone not registered with a team or the singles list, anyone under the age of eighteen, or anyone currently playing high school, college, or university volleyball (or if after January 1st, anyone that played during the fall semester with a school affiliated team).
  4. Roster additions must be made prior to a new team member playing.
  5. Roster additions must be made two weeks prior to the final league tournament.  In the spirit of sportsmanship, captains are expected to replace players with a person of a similar skill level. Bringing in “RINGERS” for regular season and particularly playoff games is discouraged. 
  6. A full courted team consists of three men and three women on the court. 
  7. Teams are responsible for ensuring 6 players (3 men and 3 women) attend all league matches. 
  8. Teams may agree to play another team that is Short (i.e 5 players). 
  9. It is encouraged to play-out matches even if a team is short of 1 or 2 players.
  10. Teams with less than a full team will be required to play the ghost rule.
  11. In the event of an injury to a player during a match, teams who started any game with a full team may play out that game with their remaining 5 players if they do not have a sub ready. They must follow the Ghost Rule from the point of the injury.
  12. GHOST rule: This is a rule to help in preventing any advantage that could be gained by playing with fewer players in a game. Teams must retain their rotational line-up order throughout the entire game/match. This means that:
    • For 3 of the 6 rotations a team will only have 2 front row players.
    • For the other 3 rotations a team will only have 2 back row players.
    • A team cannot have a player in a back row position, swing or block in the front row.
    • On each occasion that the injured or missing player(s) would normally be serving, this is treated as a loss of serve and point awarded to the opposing team.

FORFEITS, DEFAULTS, and NSF Cheques:

  1. When a team defaults or forfeits, a fine of $50 must be paid to the league treasurer. 
  2. This fine applies each time a team does not court a full team.
  3. Points will not be awarded for team wins until your team has paid this fine.
  4. Continued defaults/forfeits may result in the team and/or team members being prohibited from playing in the league in the future.
  5. A charge of $35.00 will be levied on all NSF cheques.

SINGLES LIST

  1. Each team will be given access to the singles list for the league. You may contact these players to play for your team to avoid forfeiting matches.
  2. If a team wishes to add a player to their roster from the singles list, please contact our rosters/singles list coordinator. 
  3. Any player who is NOT registered on a league team roster, is over the age of 18, is not in high school, and has not played on a school affiliated team during the current season/school year is eligible for the singles list.
  4. Singles list players have the choice of playing in their preferred division(s).
  5. A person can add themselves to our singles list by accessing our website www.lcvl.ca  and following the procedure on our home page.

 SCORING & STANDINGS

  1. The winning team from each game must record the final score on the sheets provided in the gym. Failure to fill out the score sheets will result in 0 points being awarded for those games.
  2. When division reps play early matches, they will assign a team captain to submit results for the late matches.
  3. Easiest way to submit scores is to take a photo of the score sheet on your phone and e-mail or text it to your division rep and/or our statistician and website manager.
  4. Please indicate any forfeited games or defaults on the score sheet when providing the scores.
  5. Points are awarded as follows:
  • Each game win will count for 2 points. 
  • No wins will be recorded defaults/forfeits/non-recorded final scores.
  1. Updated standings will be posted weekly on the LCVL website.
  2. At the end of each rotation, the top 1 or 2 ranked teams in each division will be moved up one division for the next rotation. Consequently, the last 1 or 2 ranked teams will move down one division.
  3. Tie breakers at the end of each rotation will be determined by

a. games between the tied teams. 

b. points for and against between tied teams

c. total points for and against

LEAGUE PLAYOFF TOURNAMENT & CABARET

  1. Our LCVL Playoff tournament is typically a double knockout format, but is subject to change depending on number of league teams and available gym time.
  2. Playoff tournament seeding will be determined by an average of each team’s final position after all 3 rotations. 
  3. Our “Annual League Meeting” is mandatory for all teams to attend and typically is scheduled on the Saturday morning of our playoff tourney.
  4. Sportsmanship awards will be given out during the league meeting.

FACILITIES 

  1. Players must understand the rules and agreements that LCVL has with the City of Lethbridge as well as with the Schools in which we play. Respect and adherence to these rules is mandatory as it promotes a positive relationship with the facilities and allows us to retain our gym times. To view the rules please see our website.
  2. Alcohol is strictly forbidden inside facilities or in parking lots.
  3. Players are expected to clean up after themselves, please do not leave any garbage behind.
  4. Any player who causes the LCVL to receive a complaint regarding a facility will face a $100 fine and may be ejected from the league.
  5. The LCVL asks all players to arrive 15 minutes prior to the game start time. This 15 minutes should be used to change shoes, stretch, set up nets, and any other pre-game preparations.
  6. Some facilities will allow us into the court early and some will not.
  7. Players must wear clean non-marking running shoes. 
  8. Players are responsible for property damage. 

Catholic Central High School Campus West (Time Sensitive Schedule)

  1. We have a small window to complete six, two-set, 21-point matches. (6:30-10:00pm), this means 35min for two, 21 point games.
  2. The 6:30-10:00pm time also includes set-up and take down. 
  3. Early Scheduled teams should arrive early and ALL teams should help set-up nets as quickly as possible. (Doors should be open by 6:15 at the latest every night).
  4. Early Scheduled teams must start promptly at 6:30.
  5. Teams may have to forgo formal warm-up time to ensure we complete our matches.
  6. Teams will+ have to reduce down time btw matches/sets and/or start immediately after completion of a match/set
  7. Early Scheduled Teams must quit play at 8:10 sharp to allow late teams to start by 8:15. (This may mean playing to only 15 points or simply taking the final score at 8:10)
  8. Late Scheduled teams should be ready and warm at 8:10, so they can take a quick 5 min on court warm-up and start promptly at 8:15. 
  9. Late Scheduled Teams must quit play at 10:00pm sharp and take down/clean-up and vacate the building by 10:10pm. (This may mean playing to only 15 points or simply taking the final score at 10:00pm)

EQUIPMENT

  1. All required court equipment will be provided at the gym facilities including flips charts.
  2. All players are required to help with the set-up and take-down of the nets at CCH West.
  3. Nets will be set-up and Taken Down by Care Takers at the Fritz Sick.
  4. Teams are responsible for providing their own balls for warm-up and games.