•• Rules For All Sports: To be eligible for playoffs, participants must play in at least 3 regular season games for their team. The purpose of the League Rep(s) are not to referee the games. Team captains and their teams are expected to referee their own games accordingly and responsibly. League Rep(s) will step-in to make important calls and clarify rules at their own discretion. If issues arise, team captains are asked to speak with the League Rep(s). No players except for captains should approach the League Rep(s) with issues. ••
A. GENERAL
- Teams are advised to be at the courts 10 minutes before the start of the match.
- A match consists of games played in two 25-minute halves with a 5-minute break at halftime. Teams play as many games as possible within each half. Each game win equates to 1 point in the overall match score. The team with the most points at the end of the second half wins the match.
- Teams field 6 players (minimum 2 players of each gender) on the court for the game.
- Minimum requirements: Teams must have at least 4 players for the match to start. If only 1 female player is present, the team must play with 1 less player. A team will automatically forfeit the match if no female players are present.
- The points differential applied to the standings will be capped at +/- 5 of the match score.
- At their discretion, the league rep will announce the final game when time is almost at the 50-minute mark.
B. GAMEPLAY
- Objective of the game: The first team to have 5 players standing on the bench and the remaining player (the final thrower) makes a successful throw to a teammate wins the game.
- Starting position: Each game begins with 1 player starting on the opposing team’s bench (located at the opponent’s side). The remaining five players start by touching the back wall on their side of the court.
- Every player on the team must start a game on the bench at least once before a player may start on the bench again. Players are not limited to how many times they start throughout the match but may only start on the bench for two games in a row.
- To start the games, the league rep shouts “3, 2, 1, Benchball!”. the players not on the bench can then rush to the centerline to retrieve the 3 balls on the right side. Players may not retrieve the 3 balls on their left as those belong to the opposing team.
- Players can immediately attempt to throw the ball(s) to their teammate on the bench after retrieving the ball(s). Players do not need to bring the ball back to the bench or wall first.
- Players on the bench can retrieve balls behind the taped-off area and throw them back to their teammates.
- A player may cross the centerline and move to the opposing team’s bench after making a throw with a Successful Catch.
- Successful Catch: A catch by a player on the bench is considered successful if:
- The ball doesn’t make contact with the bench, ground, ceiling, wall or other parts of the gym before the catch.
- The player doesn’t make contact with the ground or gym wall in the process of catching the ball.
- The catching player is only holding onto 1 ball (ie. the ball being caught).
C. GAMEPLAY – FINISH
- If a team has 1 player remaining on the court (i.e. the rest of the players have made it onto the bench), the game is won once that final player throws a ball and is successfully caught by one of their teammates.
- All players (except the final thrower) must be standing on the bench at the moment the final ball is caught for the winning catch to be valid.
- The remaining player does not have to run and stand on the bench.
- If each team has 1 player remaining on the court, whichever players’ throw is caught by their teammates first will determine the winner. If catches for both teams happen simultaneously (or too close to determine), the game will be declared a draw and no points will be awarded.
- All players, not including the final ball thrower, have to be standing on the bench at the moment the final ball is caught for the win to be valid.
- If multiple balls are caught resulting in all remaining players to be eligible to reach the bench, the last player to have their ball caught must remain on the court and throw another ball to validate the win. If multiple balls from the same team are caught at the same time to end the game, the team has the option to choose which player will go and who remains.
D. RULES / INFRACTIONS
- Players may only have 1 ball in their possession at a time.
- If a player picks up a second ball, that ball is considered dead and they must roll the ball to the opposing team.
- Players on the bench may only hold 1 ball at a time. If they attempt to make a catch while holding another ball, the catch will not count. Players should only attempt to catch if they are not holding any balls.
- Players may only cross the centerline to make their way onto the bench after a Successful Catch by a teammate. If a player steps on or crosses the line when in the process or follow-through of throwing a ball, the catch will not count. This infraction is called by players on the opposing team.
- A player may only hold onto a ball for 10 seconds. If a player takes longer than 10 seconds to throw, that ball is considered dead and they must roll the ball to the opposing team. The opposing team has to make a clear 10-second count out loud to enforce this rule. Players may not repeatedly pick up and drop a ball to circumvent the 10-second rule.
- A player on the bench may deflect the ball to another player on the bench. The ball is considered a Successful Catch after a deflection, provided the players that contacted the ball remain on the bench during the catching process.
- For safety reasons, players may not be lifted up by another player(s) at any time while on the bench or on the court.
- Once a Successful Catch is made, the player on the bench may throw the ball back to their teammates. The player who threw the Successful Catch may not interfere with any players or balls while running across the court to join their teammate(s) on the bench.
- Players on the defending team cannot step on or go into the area behind the taped line where the opposing team’s bench is located, whether to defend or retrieve balls. If a defending player blocks a thrown ball but crosses the line in the process of doing so, the thrown ball will be considered a Successful Catch. This line infraction has to be called by the player(s) on the bench and made known to the defending team.
- Teams cannot hoard the balls. Players should make an effort to keep the flow of play in motion. If the League Rep notices that a team is hoarding the balls, they have the authority to roll some of those balls to the opposing team.
- A player may reach over the centerline or taped off area to grab a free ball as long as no part of their body touches the line or the floor in the prohibited areas.
Last updated: September 7, 2024