Beach Volleyball Rules – NY

SUMMARY

• Format is 6-on-6. Maximum 4 men, minimum 1 woman on the court
• Each match consists of 3 games (to 21, rally scoring, win by 2 or first to 23). Matches must be completed within the allotted time (45 minutes)
• No warm-up time on the court. Please come early and warm up on the side.
• Teams forfeit 1 game for first 10 minutes past game time that they do not have enough players. Teams forfeit all games if not enough players after 20 minutes
• A team may rotate any number of players into the game in set order or choose to have a designated sitter for each game
• Carrying is illegal. A carry generally is any use of an open hand(s) while making contact with the ball that is not in a firm manner, but can be called with a closed fist at the referee’s discretion.
• Any unsportsmanlike behavior will result in that player/team being suspended/removed from participating in all ZogSports leagues for one year

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) players including 1 (one) woman to start a game.
• Teams receive a forfeit for Game 1 if they do not have enough players by 5 minutes after the scheduled start time
• Teams receive a forfeit for all 3 games if they do not have enough players by 10 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

CO-ED RULES

A team may never have more than 4 men on the court at one time

REVIEW OF BASIC VOLLEYBALL RULES

• Serving – Once ready for play (whistled for service) you may have 2 tosses if you allow the ball to drop but you have 10 seconds to serve the ball. Ball must be released from hand before contact is made. Play continues until a whistle is blown for a violation (e.g., carry or player touching the net) or the ball hits the floor.
• Double contacts (two people hitting ball simultaneously) are allowed on the first ball over the net as long as it is one attempt to play the ball. It doesn’t matter if the other team served, spiked, bumped, or set the ball over the net). Double contacts are not allowed on team’s 2nd or 3rd contact
• Carrying- is illegal. A carry generally is any use of an open hand(s) while making contact with the ball that is not in a firm manner, but can be called with a closed fist at the referee’s discretion.
• Hitting the Ball – You can use any part of your body as long as it is not a carry. Exception is that a serve must be put into play with your arm
• Touching the net – Player can never touch the net while ball is in play
• Underneath the net – If player’s hand or foot remains in contact with plane of centerline it is legal, but if half or more is beyond the line it is a violation. If any other part of your body touches the opposing court, it is also a violation
• Reaching over the net – You can reach over the net as long as you do not touch the net, but the ball must break the plane of the net before you can make contact with it
• Reaching over to block a set is a violation
• Back row players – cannot spike or run up to block at the net. If a back row player wishes to spike (direct a ball into opponent’s court that is above the height of the net) a ball at the net, they must jump from behind the 10-foot line
•  USA Volleyball Rules – apply unless stated otherwise

BEGINNING OF THE GAME

• The team wearing more ZogSports shirts automatically wins the toss
• If both teams have a comparable number of team shirts, 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)
• Each match will consist of three games. 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 for the evening, not 1-0) o All games are played to 21, rally scoring
• 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 a designated sitter for each game.
• 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. Before you get too excited, there is a limit to the number of players you can pick up and there is a limit to 2 times/season; after that it’s a forfeit. Here are the guidelines:

• You need to have the minimum of 4 players with 1 woman
• 0 women -> official forfeit, play a scrimmage
• If you have women->you can pick up to the same amount of players as the other team. For example if you have 4 and the other team has 5, you can pick up 1 player.

All pickups must be identified at the start of the game. Teams can never pick-up non-ZogSports players. If it is found out that you did not inform the referee about picked up players prior to the start of the game, 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 45 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

• Let serves are allowed, and the ball can be played off the net on a serve.
• The server may not step on 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 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

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
• This includes the first side out of the game. A team is not allowed to decide not to rotate for their first service
• 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 25
• Speed/Rally score will be used for all games
• One time-out (1 minute in length) per game is allowed

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 with the same scoring as the regular season.

SEEDING / TIE BREAKERS

1. Head-to-head competition (among all tied teams)*

2. Record against other teams in or tied for playoffs (by win percentage).

3. Record against next best common opponent

4. If team forfeited or did not send of referee, loses tie breaker if others don’t resolve seeding

5. If none of the above tie breakers resolve seeding, ZogSports will execute a coin toss

*It’s a two tiered tie breaker system. If there is a tie breaker between more than two teams, after one team is determined to successfully make the playoffs we start the system over from number one with the remaining team.  For Example: If three teams are tied, and one team makes it to playoffs after number 2 (the record against other teams in or tied for playoffs) the to determine the next best team it will go back to number 1 (head to head competition).

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. If the games are cancelled, ZogSports will post it on the Weather Page of the website (https://play.zogsports.com/weather-alert-hotline) and post an alert on the ZogSports Weather Alert Hotline at 332-213-9023. 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

Penalties

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

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.

There is no additional penalty if you show up short-handed (and need to add other ZogSports players to field a full team) and have to forfeit the game, since you did make an effort to get a team to play.

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.