We know this is an adult social sports league. However, no alcohol is permitted on Johnson City parks, school, and church grounds. Help us in protecting access to these facilities by waiting until to you get the sponsor bar after the game.

Behavior

Each player is required to display good sportsmanship, and respect to the Game Officials, league staff and other players at all times. Rude/aggressive/vulgar language, fighting, or other negative behavior will result in points taken away, ejection from the game, team forfeit, or by being banned from the league and/or Tri-Cities Social Sports (TCSS) all together based on the severity of the incident. Issues with play or calls by the referee can be addressed to the referee by the captains of the teams and the captains only. ‘Replays/re-serves’ can be issued at the referee’s discretion for close/unsure calls situations.

Equipment/Jerseys

Games will be played with a TCSS issued ball.

Players must wear their League-Provided T-Shirts of the appropriate color for their team (exception being substitute players).  Beginning the fourth week, any team that has more than 1 player, that intends on playing in the game, that is not physically wearing their League T-Shirt will receive a 1 point penalty for each ascending player beyond that 1. This can be waived by the league on special occasion nights, such as Halloween or theme nights. League T-shirts are mandatory for end-of-season tournament.

Players must either wear soft-soled, close-toed shoes.

Roster

Team rosters shall include a minimum of the 8 players, including at least 3 of each gender.

Teams may use a substitute player as long as they are registered as a substitute or are a registered player on a different team in the league. No substitutes are allowed in the end-of-season tournament.

Maximum number of players on the court is 6 per team. Minimum is 4 with at least 1 of each gender. Less than 4 players and/or 1 of each gender will result in a forfeit.

If a team does not have 6 players and/or does not meet the minimum gender requirement, then the ‘ghost rule’ will apply (see below for ‘ghost rule’). When a team has fewer than the required number of players of a specified gender available, players of one gender may not be substituted for members of another gender. For example, if a team has 6 total players available at game time, but only 1 is female, the team must play short with 5 players.

Team captains have the right to question an opposing team’s roster and verify that each player is a registered player on the roster or a registered sub.

Ghost Rule

Teams that do not have 6 players and/or do not meet the gender minimum will start each game with a 3 point deficit in games to 21 points (game will start with 0-3 in favor of the other team) and a 2 point deficit in games to 15 points. If additional players arrive that will make a 6 player team or meet the gender minimum, they can join the current game, but the current 3 point deficit will stay in effect until the next game begins. If both teams do not meet the player minimum (6 total players or gender minimum) then the ‘ghost rule’ will be waived, and the game will start as normal with a score of 0-0.

Rotation

All teams shall rotate clockwise to the next position prior to serving after a side-out.

The player in the front-right position, and only this player, may rotate off the court, and the next player waiting on the sideline rotated into and only into the server’s position.

When 6 players are on court, there shall be 3 players in the front row and 3 players in the back row. When 5 players are on the court, there shall be 3 players in the front row and 2 players in the back row. When there are 4 players on the court, there shall be 3 players in the front row and 1 player in the back row.

Once the game begins, the rotation order cannot be changed. 2 exceptions to this:

-Players arriving late may join a game in progress by being put in the out-of-bounds rotation.

-A gender can move ahead of another gender in order to keep the gender requirement on the court. For example, a team has 2 females and 5 males available. During a side out and during the rotation to the server position, if a male is currently not in play and a female is being rotated out, the female may skip the male who would be rotating to the server position and move directly to the server position while the male would sit out until the next rotation.

Coin Toss

A coin toss or a game of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ will be used to determine start of serve and side of court.

The winner of the toss shall choose between serving first OR which side of the court that team wants to start on. The loser gets the option the coin toss winner did not select.

Team to start serving will alternate each game and teams shall switch sides of the court between each game.

Game Clock/Scoring

One point shall be awarded for each service; i.e. ‘rally scoring.’

For the first 2 games, the first team to score 21 points by a margin of 2 or more, or to reach 25 by any margin shall win the game.

For the third game, the first team to score 15 points by a margin of 2 or more, or to reach 19 by any margin shall win the game.

A match is won when a team has won 2 out of 3 games. A third game will be played regardless of if a team is 2-0 in the first 2 games or not. The third game is used as a tie breaker and used for total points in the league standings.

Each match ends after 3 games have finished or 45 minutes of game time from the scheduled start time have been reached.

Each team is permitted one 30 second time-out per game. Unused timeouts do not carry over into subsequent games.

A team can be up to 10 minutes late for the start of a match. However, that late team will be given a loss for the first game of the match and play will start with the second game. Any team late by more than 10 minutes will forfeit the match with a score of 0-3. If both teams are late, play will start with the second game and will still finish at the 45 minute mark from the scheduled game start time.

Service

Serve must be delivered from behind the boundary line.

Served balls that contact the net on the way over are considered live and may be played.

Served balls are dead, and a side-out and point awarded to the opposing team if:
-The ball fails to cross the top of the net.
-The ball lands out of bounds.
-The ball contacts a serving team’s player prior to crossing the net.
-The ball makes contact with the ceiling or other obstruction.

Returns

Any part of the body may be used to hit the ball, including feet.

Serves may not be attacked or blocked; i.e. they may not be returned when the ball is higher than the top of the net.

The ball must be returned with no more than three hits.

A player may not hit the ball twice in a row.

A player in the back row may not spike the ball from in front of the attack line.

A ball that hits the ceiling or any objects attached from the ceiling (basketball backboards, light fixtures, etc.) shall remain in play provided the ball remains on the hitting team’s side of the court. Should this happen while crossing the plane of the net, the ball is dead and a side-out and point awarded to the opposing team.

Side Outs

If a team commits an error or foul, a side out shall be called, 1 point and service awarded to the opposing team.

Errors include:
-Ball lands out of bounds.
-Ball fails to pass over the net on a serve.
-Carrying the ball, ‘lift’.
-Throwing the ball.
-Team contact with the ball more than three times in a return.
-A player contacting the ball more than once in a row or a ‘double-hit’.
-Ball contacts the ceiling or hanging object prior to crossing the net.

Faults include:
-A player making contact with the net during the serve, unless the net is pushed into the player.
-Blocking a serve.
-Crossing the service line while serving the ball.
-Making contact with the net while attempting to play the ball. Exceptions: Incidental contact by a player not actively attempting to play the ball is NOT a fault as long as it does not interfere with play. Contact with the net as a result of movement of the net is NOT a fault.
-A player on the back row crosses the attack line to spike the ball.
-Illegal rotation or substitution (2 exceptions, see ‘Rotation’).
-A player making contact with the opposing team’s side of the court while making a play on the ball and/or interfering with the team’s play (accidental going under the net is ok as long as it does not interfere with the opposing team’s play and not while making a play on the ball).
-Unsportsmanlike conduct.

Net Play

In blocking, a player may touch the ball beyond the net, if he/she does not interfere with the opponent’s play before or during the latter’s attack-hit.

A player may cross under the net if it does not interfere with play such as stepping on an opponent’s foot or causing an opponent player to move to avoid coming in contact with the player that went under the net, etc.

Accidental contact with the net is permitted as long it does not interfere with game play or not while making a play on the ball.

Officials

Each game shall be officiated by a League-assigned referee. Referees are responsible for:
-Keeping game time.
-Enforcing all game rules.
-Calling points, errors, and faults.

Tournament

A single elimination tournament will be held at the end of the season the following week after the last regular season game for qualifying teams (top 6 teams).

It is a best of 3 game format. No third game unless needed for a tiebreaker. Winner moves to the next round.

For the first 2 games, the first team to score 21 points by a margin of 2 or more, or to reach 25 by any margin shall win the game.

For the third game (if needed), winner will be the team first to 15 points by any margin.