We go by the USAU rules for ultimate unless they contradict what is written below. Games are self-officiated. The ten simple rules are a good place to start if you have beginners on your team. Click here for the complete USAU Rules of Ultimate.
Game Play Rules
1. Games are to 13. Halftime occurs when one team reaches 7 points (please keep halftime brief!!!). Teams must win by 2, with overtime applied at 12-12 (so games of 13-12, 14-12, 14-13, 15-13, and 15-14 are possible outcomes depending on if/when time caps are called). There is a hard point cap of 15 (i.e. no matter what, if a team reaches 15 points they win).
Weekday Time Caps (Fall 2021):
Start time: 5:30pm
Soft cap time: 6:45pm (play to end of current point, then add 2 to the highest score and play until one team reaches that value or the hard cap time is called. You do not need to win by 2 once soft cap is called)
Hard cap time: 7:00pm (play to end of current point. If tied, play 1 more point. You do not need to win by 2 once hard cap is called).
**Cap times will change as the season goes on and we have later sunsets**
There are no time caps for Saturday games, but the hard point cap of 15 stands.
2. Before each game the captains will flip a disc to determine who pulls/receives and the direction.
3. Each team gets 1 timeout per half and 1 floating timeout. The floating timeout can be used either half. Timeouts are not affected by the cap, but keep them very short.
4. All games are played by the 11th edition rules of ultimate. Handle all conflict in a respectful manner.
5. If the disc hits a tree it is considered out of bounds.
6. Follow all safety and roster rules (below).
Safety Rules
Rain/Thunder/Lightning rules: We play in rain BUT If thunder is heard or lightning is seen, play must stop immediately. If games make it past halftime before they are stopped then the score at the time of stoppage is the final score. If lighting/thunder happens prior to halftime we will finish those games another day (or at least 30 min after the last thunder/lightning). Captains can use their discretion to postpone games in poor weather, but are responsible for rescheduling their game before playoffs.
Daylight/Visibility: Follow the cap times to ensure enough visibility for safe play. If it is getting dark before cap is called, use your judgement and stop play if it becomes unsafe.
Apparel: Do not wear metal cleats, rings, hoop or dangling earrings, necklaces, clothing with metallic zippers, or anything you think has a risk of causing harm to yourself or others.
Injured Players: If a player is injured during a game, any player may call "injury" and play stops immediately. When the issue is resolved, play resumes back at the point the injury was called.
Daylight/Visibility: Follow the cap times to ensure enough visibility for safe play. If it is getting dark before cap is called, use your judgement and stop play if it becomes unsafe.
Apparel: Do not wear metal cleats, rings, hoop or dangling earrings, necklaces, clothing with metallic zippers, or anything you think has a risk of causing harm to yourself or others.
Injured Players: If a player is injured during a game, any player may call "injury" and play stops immediately. When the issue is resolved, play resumes back at the point the injury was called.
Roster Rules
Gender Balance Rules: Each team has 7 players on the field and standard gender balance for this league is 5 men and 2 women.
A team must have a MINIMUM of 4 men + 1 woman to play, otherwise that team forfeits the game.
The offense (receiving team) may choose between the following gender ratios:
- 5 men + 2 women: Standard for this league and the defense (pulling team) MUST match this gender balance.
- 4 men + 3 women: If the defense has 3 women present, they must match this gender balance. The defense does NOT have to match this gender balance if they have fewer than 3 women present (i.e. if the offense chooses to play 4:3 and the defense only has 2 women, the defense may play 5:2 resulting in one man guarding a woman)
- Teams may also play with 6 players if they cannot field a full team. Here are possible gender balances for a team playing with 6 players:
- 4 men + 2 women: if the offense has only 4 men present
- 5 men + 1 woman: if the offense has only 1 woman present.
Prevention of playoff stacking:
Players must have played in at least 2 regular season games to participate in playoffs (both round robin and bracket play).
Experienced Player Rules: THERE IS NO EXPERIENCED PLAYER RULE FOR THE SPRING 2018 SEASON. The draft-style league is intended to level the playing field.
The Experience player rule from previous seasons is preserved below, but does NOT apply to Spring 2018:
Experienced player (EP) is defined as "on a club team roster for at least 2 seasons". A team may have up 0-3 experienced players assigned as "active" in a given game, yet there is no limit to the number of rostered EPs
Teams may NOT switch who is an assigned active EPs in the middle of a game. The 0-3 EPs can sub in/out like everyone else, but the EPs who are active at the beginning of the game cannot be replaced with a new active EP in the middle of the game.
For example, Team A has 5 EPs on its roster: Jen, John, James, Mary, and Mark. In their first game, they decide Jen, John and James will play. Mary shows up to cheer for the team but decides she wants to play. Mary cannot play, even if Jen subs out, is injured, or has to leave the game. In their second game, Team A decides to have James, Mary and Mark play. In their third game, Team A decides to have Jen, John, and Mary play...etc.
