Rules and Regulations

Fall 2023 Rules and Regulations

PLAYER REGISTRATION:
All players are required to be registered through playpass.com and sign a waiver form. Un-rostered players are not allowed to participate. This is an adult recreational soccer league - no one under the age of 18 years old is permitted to participate. Players are not permitted to play on more than one team in the same season.

PLAYER ELIGIBILITY:
A Referee, Team Manager or MWSA Board Member may check your team roster at any time. If an illegal player is suspected, the Referee, Team Manager or MWSA Board Member has the right to take appropriate action. At a minimum, the illegal player must be removed for the duration of the match. A violation could cause a game forfeiture.

Players in violation of this rule, as well as the team manager of the team in violation, will be reported to the Board for sanctioning. The Board has the final decision as to the extent of any punishment.

The League reserves the right to accept or reject a player’s registration. Players suspended from MWSA or any other leagues because of habitual or extreme violent conduct, serious foul play, and/or slander, will not be allowed to participate in the MWSA League.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:
A minimum of nine (9) players are required to play/continue a match.

Teams are allowed one (1) non-playing coach/team manager on the roster and sidelines.

Rosters will be locked October 21st at midnight. The only exception to adding new players is if your roster drops below 15 players due to injuries or unforeseen events.

TEAM UNIFORMS & EQUIPMENT:
Managers should encourage players to all play with the same color shorts and socks. All players on each team must have the same color and style jersey. Uniforms must have numbers permanently affixed. No duplicate numbers, no taped-on numbers. Uniforms are the responsibility of each Team Manager/Team. All players must wear shin guards. All teams must have a designated Captain. The captain needs to wear armbands to identify them. (See ON-FIELD CONDUCT)

GAME DURATION:
Two 45-minute halves with running time and a 10-minute halftime. The exact duration of halves can be shortened if agreed upon by BOTH teams ONLY due to player count. Officials may stop the clock for injury if excessive time is required to attend to the injured player, provided schedule constraints permit. The game clock starts at the scheduled game time without exception. (See FORFEITS).

DANGEROUS EQUIPMENT:
Casts and/or metal splints shall always be considered dangerous equipment, and not allowed. Knee braces made of hard, unyielding material are illegal, unless the hinges and other hard surfaces are covered with at least ¼ inch of closed-cell, slow-recovery rubber, or other material of the same minimum thickness and having similar physical properties.  Any player who uses a knee brace and fails to cover such equipment according to the above specifications prior to taking part in an MWSA game will be cautioned by the Referee and be asked to leave the game until it is properly covered.

SAFETY:
The league and referees reserve the right to adapt league rules to fit expected or unexpected situations resulting from weather, player/team conduct, and field conditions to ensure the safety of all players and to maintain the integrity of the league. Also, referees may stop or conclude a game at any point due to weather or poor sportsmanship by players.

In case of inclement weather, assume game will be played unless Team Managers receive notice from the league to the contrary. The league will make every effort to reschedule canceled games; however, rescheduled games are not guaranteed.

GAME DAY:
Board Members at their discretion may challenge a player’s eligibility from the opposing team. If an authorized ID card (ie: Driver’s License, passport, ID Card) is not produced, the player will be ejected from the game.

Referees will officiate the game and note any incidents: injuries or cards awarded on the game card.

Both teams will be on opposite sides of the field as spectators. Only registered players/coaches/managers will be allowed on the teams’ side.

SUBSTITUTIONS:
A team is allowed to substitute one or more players at the following times:

-On either team’s goal kick.
-On an own team’s throw-in.
-On the opposing team’s throw-in provided they substitute first.
-If an injury occurs, players on either side may substitute
-Both sides may substitute after a goal scored by either team

Substitutes MUST enter the field at the halfway line and only enter the field once the substituted player has left the field. The substituted player may exit the field anywhere.

FOULS AND MISCONDUCT:

NO SLIDE TACKLING:
Whether accidental or not, slide tackling is not allowed and will result in an indirect free kick for the opposing team, and may result in a misconduct (yellow or red card, depending upon the degree of danger to or contact with the opponent) for the player who committed the slide tackle. Sliding in open field space with no other players in the active area of play is allowed. The goalkeeper is the only player allowed to slide tackle near an opponent provided it is performed within the penalty area and is performed only in a manner that does not pose a danger to the opponent or to herself.

Charging the Goalkeeper:
Charging the goalkeeper shall not be permitted at any time when she is within her own penalty area, regardless of whether she has possession of the ball. More so, the ball may not be played by another player while it is in the goalkeeper’s possession. (One finger on the ball is possession.) 50/50 ball goes to the goalkeeper. Violation of this rule is a dangerous play.

Cautions (Yellow Cards) and Sendoffs (receiving a Red Card or two yellow cards in one game): A player who receives a yellow card must sub-out, but may re-enter at next eligible opportunity. A player who receives a red card will be sent off the field for the remainder of the match and must leave the entire field area. Team must play down a player for the remainder of match. (See CONDUCT) 

ON-FIELD CONDUCT:
In order for the referee to keep better control of the game, all teams must observe the following:

While the ball is in play, no coach/manager, player or spectator shall interfere and/or approach a referee.

Referee judgment calls may NOT be discussed with the Referee nor protested except by the on-field captain.

If the Referee feels he/she cannot control the game for the safety of the players, he/she has the right to terminate the game. If the game is terminated after the first half is completed it is considered a full game.

FORFEITS:
Forfeiture of Game occurs if a team does any of the following:

-Fails to start the game with a minimum of 9 players within 10 minutes after the scheduled time for the game.
-Plays an ineligible player.
-Causes the game to stop before full-time is completed, unless agreed upon by both teams.
-Does anything that is deemed by the MWSA Board not to be in the best interest of the game.

If any of the items listed above occur, the team who has caused the forfeit will be responsible for paying the following: a $70 forfeit fine which must be paid prior to the forfeiting team’s next scheduled game.

All forfeits will result in a win for non-forfeiting team.

NO-SHOWS AND CANCELLATIONS:
If a team cannot field a team for a scheduled game, the team MUST provide cancellation (no later than 4pm the FRIDAY BEFORE THE GAME) to their opponent and to the MWSA Board. Failure to give timely cancellation notice will be incur forfeit fines. If Board is notified of cancellation before 4pm the FRIDAY BEFORE THE GAME the forfeiting team will NOT incur the fines, but will incur the forfeit for purposes of the game score.

A. If a team shows up at the field with less than 9 players but at least 6 players, the game will be considered as a forfeit for purposes of the game score, and both teams are obligated to scrimmage.  If teams scrimmage, the teams are encouraged to share players and the forfeiting team will not incur the $70 forfeit fine.  If the forfeiting team refuses to scrimmage or has less than 6 players, then the forfeiting team will incur the fines described.

B. Any team that fails to show, cancels or forfeits more than 2 games within a season MAY be suspended for the remainder of the season.

SPORTSMANSHIP:
Players, coaches and spectators are expected to act in the nature of good sportsmanship at all times. Abuse of the referees will not be tolerated. Teams are responsible for sideline fans. If fans are causing trouble and refuse to leave at the request of the referee, the team is subject to forfeit.

PLAYOFFS:
Top 8 teams will participate in quarterfinals of playoffs. Seeding and brackets will be sent no later than Oct 21st.

Teams finishing at the top of league may be promoted to the higher division for next year. Team finishing at the bottom may be relegated to the lower division. All such relegations and promotions are subject to the MWSA Board.

Regular Season Standings and playoff seeds shall be determined as follows:

• 3 points for win
• 1 point for draw
• 0 points for loss

Tie-breaking procedures:

Head-to-head results

Winning percentage will be used in case of games not played.

CONDUCT: ALL FORMS OF VIOLENT CONDUCT AND SERIOUS FOUL PLAY CAN AND WILL WARRANT AUTOMATIC EJECTION WITH NO WARNINGS GIVEN.

ZERO TOLERANCE FOR FIGHTING OR INSTIGATING PHYSICAL ALTERCATIONS!

-LIFE SUSPENSION FROM LEAGUE!

Any player or coach/manager ejected from a game will be reported to the MWSA Board for disciplinary action. The immediate penalty for receiving a red card is suspension from the game in question. The duration of that suspension, which can range from 1 game to the entire season, will be determined by the league based on the red card infraction, and that player’s behavior after receiving notice.

The MWSA Board will review each case and assess the proper disciplinary action.

No coach/manger, player, or spectator (on or off the field) shall:

Physically or verbally attack, threaten/harass (including online platforms) an official, player, coach/manager, board member, or spectator.

Lay a hand upon, shove, or strike an official or another player, coach/manager or spectator. ANY PLAYERS/COACHES INVOLVED IN AN ALTERCATION ARE BANNED FROM THE LEAGUE.

Be guilty of objectionable demonstrations or verbal dissent at official’s decision

Refuse to abide by official’s decision

Any player removed from a game must leave the playing field immediately.

Referees and MWSA Board Members have the authority to give warnings to players, substitutes, and spectators and suspend/eject if necessary. Referees and MWSA Board Members reserve the right to make the final decision in all matters if the referee is incapacitated.

Players guilty of Violent Conduct are subject to termination from MWSA upon review by the board.

MASS CONFRONTATION – Teams involved in a mass confrontation will be sanctioned with a MINIMUM one game suspension, based on the referee’s report. If it can be established that the majority of the players of either team become involved, OR that the behavior of the few involved is such that the game must be terminated for safety reasons, either or both teams are subject to suspensions. Cases involving mass confrontation will be evaluated and decided upon by the MWSA board. Decisions made by the board regarding mass confrontation MAY NOT be appealed. Mass confrontation is defined as involvement by one or more players from either team with a situation on the field that does not directly involve them. Mass confrontation usually occurs following serious foul play or violent conduct and may or may not require a match to be terminated.

The league reserves the right to evaluate reports of unsporting conduct or failure to uphold the league’s standards of conduct. A player’s behavior or actions may be evaluated for compliance, even if no sanctions have been taken against them by the referees. In the case where violations to these principles occur, the MWSA Board will take the necessary corrective actions, ranging from friendly reminders of the rules to player suspension.

Spectator violent conduct will warrant automatic ejection of said person from the vicinity of the playing field. The match will be SUSPENDED while the player or spectator leaves the premises.  If an ejected player or spectator does not leave the premises within two (2) minutes, the match can be TERMINATED.