General Rules for 8u, 10u, 12u, 14u (Division Specific Below)Field Dimensions
50x25 yards Field
5 Yard End Zones
40 yard playing field
20 yard line = Mid-field
5 yard no run zones at both 5 yard lines and 15 yard lines
Extra point markers at both 5 yard lines and 10 yard line
RULES FOR HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS FOUND HERE
START OF GAME
- At the start of each game, captains from both teams shall meet at midfield for the coin toss to determine who shall start with the ball. The visiting team will call the toss. The captain winning the toss shall choose the following option.
o Offense
o Defense
- The winner of the coin toss has the choice of offense or defense. The loser of the coin toss has the choice of direction. The team that wins the coin toss may not choose to defer to the second half. They must choose to start the game on offense or defense.
- Teams change sides after the first half. Possession changes to the team that started the game on defense.
POSSESSIONS
- The offensive team takes possession of the ball on their 5 yard line.
- The offensive team has 3 downs (plays) to cross midfield.
- Once a team crosses midfield, they will have 4 downs (plays) to score a touchdown.
- If the offense fails to cross midfield or after doing so unable to score a touchdown, the ball changes possession and the new offensive team takes over on their own 5 yard line.
- All players must start each play with their flag belts on.
- If a player starts a play without their flag belt properly secured, his/her team will be assessed an illegal equipment penalty of 5 yards and repeating down.
- If a player starts a play with his/her flag belt secured but the flag falls off during a play inadvertently, the defensive team must tag that player with one hand to be marked down.
- All drives and possession changes, except for interceptions, start at the 5 yard line of the offense.
- On interceptions, the team will take possession of the ball where the defender’s flag was pulled, ruled down, or stepped out of bounds.
SNAPS
- The ball may be snapped between the legs or off to one side in order to start a play.
BLOCKING
- There is no blocking allowed at anytime anywhere on the field of play.
INTERCEPTIONS
- Interceptions may be returned for touchdowns and on extra points.
- Interceptions returned for a touchdown on an opposing team’s extra point try is worth the attempt of the extra point.
o Per example - A 2 point extra point attempt that is intercepted and returned for a touchdown will be worth 2 points for the intercepting team. A 1 point attempt that is intercepted and returned for a touchdown will be worth 1 point for the intercepting team.
ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- All players on offense are eligible receivers.
NO RUN ZONES
- While a team retains possession inside of the no run zone, that team cannot run the ball in any fashion. All plays must be a pass play. Even if the QB1 hands off or laterals to a QB2, that QB must complete a forward pass that crosses the line of scrimmage to a receiver.
OUT-OF-BOUNDS
- Stepping on the boundary line is considered out-of-bounds.
- A player needs to touch at least one foot, or body part such as the knee, elbow, hip, etc. and retain possession of the ball to be considered in-bounds.
TEAM AREAS
- Team areas are located between the two no run zone markers, in between the 15 and 5 yard line. Should the team move outside these lines the referee may give the team a warning and later assess a delay of game penalty.
PLAYERS
- Five players on the field at a time for each team in 8u, 10u, 12u, & 14U
- Seven players on the field at a time for each team in Girls High School Division
- More than the eligible players on the field at the start of the snap will result in a too many players penalty
FORFEITS
- To avoid a forfeit, a team must have at least 4 players to begin the game. Game time is forfeit time.
- A team may play with only 4 or 5 players on the field. The opposing team may still play with 6 players.
- Forfeits will be scored 19-0 in favor of the non-forfeiting team.
FLAGS
- Flags must be Pop Flags. New Age Flag Football will have flags for sale on-site if needed.
- All players must use flags issued or approved by the league.
- All flags must secure at the belt prior to the start of each play. Flag belts may not be tied together, and flags may not be tucked into belt or shorts.
SHOES
- Cleats are allowed but they must be rubber. No metal spikes are allowed. Screw in cleats are allowed if they are not metal spikes. Tennis shoes are permitted but cleats are encouraged.
JERSEYS
- All jerseys shall be tucked in to shorts or pants.
PANTS / SHORTS
- Pants or shorts with belt loops or pockets are not permitted. Pants or shorts must be a contrasting color to the flags.
o Per example, a player with blue shorts cannot wear blue flags.
MOUTHPIECE
- All players must wear a protective mouthpiece.
OPTIONAL PROTECTIVE GEAR
- Players may tape their forearms, hands, fingers. Players may wear gloves. Players may wear soft shelled helmets.
- Players may wear braces if the braces do not have exposed metal or hard surfaces.
- Large casts may be deemed unsafe to play and will be a judgment call by a league official.
- All protective gear must be approved by a league or game official prior to the start of the game.
JEWELRY
- Players must remove all watches, earrings, necklaces, or any other jewelry deemed to be unsafe by a league or game official.
TOURNAMENT PLAY
- Games are 24 minutes in length with two 12 minute halves.
- Girls High School Division games are 30 minutes in length with two 15 minute halves.
- Halftime is 2 minutes.
RUNNING CLOCK
- The clock shall run in the first half and only be stopped by a coach’s timeout of official timeout.
ONE MINUTE WARNING
- When there is 1 minute left in the game (second half) the game clock shall stop for these reasons:
o Coach’s timeout
o Official’s timeout
o Incomplete passes
o Out-of-Bounds
o First downs
o Touchdowns
o Change of possessions
o Quarterback Spike
TIMEOUTS
- Each team has two 30 second timeouts per half
- Timeouts do not carry over from the first half to the second half
OVERTIME
- No game shall end in a tie.
- Each team receives an overtime extra point attempt
- The home team will call the coin flip
o The home team may choose to start overtime either on offense or defense
- The team that starts overtime on offense may choose to go for 1 or 2
o The offensive team will have one play to score barring a penalty on the defense
- After completion of the first play, the defensive team will then choose whether to go for 1 or 2
- If scored is tied at the end of the first overtime, repeat second overtime, reversing choices.
o The team that started overtime on offense will start the second overtime on defense.
- Overtime will continue until a winner is declared.
- One timeout per team, per overtime period.
o Overtime timeouts are only 15 seconds long.
- Interceptions on returned overtime extra points are worth the value of the attempted overtime extra point.
- Penalties are administered as in regular time.
SCORING
- Touchdown = 6 Points
- Extra Point = 1 Point (5 yard line - pass)
2 Points (10 yard line – run or pass)
- A team that scores a touchdown must declare whether to attempt a 1 or 2 point conversion. After a team declares whether to go for 1 or 2 they may not change their decision. Any changes made must be done so by charging the team with a timeout. Decisions cannot be changed after a penalty.
- If a team attempting an extra point throws an interception, then commits a penalty on the intercepting team then the intercepting team may take offensive possession and attempt and extra point for the same value.
o Per example, Team A is attempting a 2 point conversion. Team B intercepts the ball and attempts to return it. While attempting the return, Team A commits a penalty (holding, illegal tackle, etc). Team B may now attempt a 2 point conversion with its offense.
- Safety = 2 points
- Forfeited Game result in a 0-19 loss for the forfeiting team.
MERCY RULE
- At the One Minute Warning if a team is ahead by 19 points or more the clock shall not stop and will act as a running clock.
- At the One Minute Warning if a team is ahead by 28 points or more the game shall be declared over.
LIVE BALL
- The ball is live at the snap and remains live until the official whistles the play dead.
- One foot in-bounds for a legal catch.
DEAD BALL
-The ball is ruled dead if one of the following occurs:
o A snap to the quarterback hits the ground.
o A fumble hits the ground. There are no fumble recoveries. Offensive team retains possession at the spot where the player lost possession of the ball.
o A ball carrier’s knee, elbow, or rear end touches the ground
o A ball carrier steps out-of-bounds.
o A ball carrier’s flags are legally removed. The ball will be spotted wherever the ball was at the time of a flag pull.
o A ball carrier’s flags have fallen off inadvertently and was tagged by one hand by a defensive player.
o The Pass Clock expires. (Ball is placed at line of scrimmage)
o A touchdown, extra point, or safety is scored.
o Any official can whistle a play dead.
INADVERTENT WHISTLE
- In the case of an inadvertent whistle, the team with possession of the ball at the time of the whistle has two options:
o If the ball is in player possession the team in possession may elect to spot the ball in play where declared dead or replay the down.
o If the ball is in the air, such as a forward pass, the ball is returned to the line of scrimmage and the down is replayed.
PLAYS
- The ball will be sported where the ball was at the time of a flag pull.
- The Quarterback that takes the snap may not directly run with the ball.
- The Quarterback may hand the ball off or backwards lateral the ball to another player behind the line of scrimmage.
o At this time, the Pass Clock is terminated.
o At this time, defensive team may rush the offensive player.
- The center cannot receive a hand off or backwards lateral behind the line of scrimmage. The center must run out for a pass after snapping the ball.
- Laterals and pitches are allowed anywhere on the field.
- The player who takes a handoff or backwards lateral from the quarterback can throw the ball downfield.
- All forward passes must cross the line of scrimmage.
o Forward passes behind the line of scrimmage will be penalized as an illegal forward pass.
- Once the ball has been handed off or backwards lateralled behind the line of scrimmage all defenders are eligible to rush.
- No players can run in the No Run Zone. All plays must result in a forward pass across the line of scrimmage.
- Ball carriers may not leave their feet (jumping or diving with possession of ball) to advance the ball.
o Ball carriers may leave their feet only if it is clear that he or she has done so to avoid collision with another player and not used as a form of flag guarding.
- Spinning is allowed.
- No blocking is allowed at any time.
- All jerseys must be tucked in before play begins. The flags must be on the player’s hips and free from obstruction.
- There is no stiff arming or swiping of a defender’s hand attempting to pull flags. This will result in a flag guarding penalty.
- There is only one forward pass permitted per down and that pass must be across the line of scrimmage.
- If a passer crosses the line of scrimmage, comes back behind the line of scrimmage and throws a pass, it is an illegal forward pass.
- Passers may not cross the line of scrimmage prior to a forward pass.
- If a penalty occurs on an interception by the returning team, the penalty will be assessed from the spot of the foul.
- If a penalty occurs on an interception by the team that threw the interception, the penalty will be assessed at the end of the return.
- A passer may not intentionally throw the ball into the ground to avoid the loss of yardage.
- A quarterback spike in order to stop the clock during the one-minute warning is allowed.
- All players are eligible to receive a pass.
- Only 1 player is allowed in motion at a time. All motion must be parallel to the line of scrimmage. Any motion towards the line of scrimmage is not allowed and will result in a false start penalty.
- In the case of simultaneous possession by both an offensive and defensive player, possession is awarded to the offense.
- Once a player has gained possession of the ball, another player may not strip the ball from that player.
- Players attempting to rush a passer may attempt to block a pass including jumping. However, no contact can be made with the passer in any way. Any contact with the passer will result in a Roughing the Passer penalty.
- A rusher cannot run directly into the center. The center has the right of way to his/her route. If contact is made with the center by a rusher who did not attempt to avoid contact will result in a Defensive Obstruction Penalty.
- A sack occurs if the passer’s flags are pulled behind the line of scrimmage. The ball is placed where the ball is at the time of flag pull. If the passer and the ball are in the offensive team’s endzone at the time of a sack, it will result in a safety.
FLAG PULLS
- Defensive players may leave their feet, dive, to pull a flag but cannot tackle, hold or run through the ball carrier when pulling flags.
- It is illegal to strip or pull the ball from the ball carrier’s possession at any time.
- If a player’s flag inadvertently falls off during the play, the deflagging reverts to a one hand touch of the ball carrier.
- A defensive player may not intentionally pull the flags off a player who is not in possession of the ball.
- Tampering with the flags in any way is not permitted.
- Flag Guarding is illegal and is the result of the ball carrier attempting to obstruct the defender’s access to the flags by stiff arming, dropping the head, arms, shoulders, or intentionally covering the flags.
FORMATIONS
- The offense must have at least 3 players on the line of scrimmage.
- Only 1 player is allowed to go in motion.
- There is no motion allowed towards the line of scrimmage.
- Movement by a player who is set or runs towards the line of scrimmage while in motion is considered a false start.
- The center must snap the ball in a fluid motion. He or she may not start the snapping motion, place the ball back on the ground, and reattempt the snap. This will result in a false start penalty.
UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT
-To the referee’s discretion, if a player intentionally tackles, elbows, punches, or any other unsportsmanlike conduct, that player may be ejected from the game.
o No appeals will be considered
o No foul play is tolerated
- Offensive, confrontational, and cursing are not allowed. The referee may issue a warning or assess a penalty. If this continues, the referee may eject that player, coach, or spectator.
- Spectators muse adhere to sportsmanship as well or may result in an ejection.
- Players are not allowed to run on to the field if they are not part of the play. Running on the field for any reason may result in a penalty or ejection.
PENALTIES
- The referee will call all penalties and are final.
- Referees determine incidental contact that may result from normal run of play.
- Only the team captain or head coach may consult with the referee regarding rule clarifications.
- Games may not end on a defensive penalty unless the offense declines the penalty.
- Penalties will be assessed half the distance to the goal yardage when the penalty yardage is more than half the distance to the goal.
DEVENSIVE PENALTIES
- Offside: +5 yards from line of scrimmage & Repeat Down
- Illegal Rush: +5 yards from line of scrimmage & Repeat Down
- Illegal Flag Pull: +5 yards from line of scrimmage & Repeat Down
- Roughing the Passer: +10 yards from line of scrimmage & Automatic First Down
- Unsportsmanlike Conduct: +10 yards from line of scrimmage & Automatic First Down
- Holding: +5 yards from spot of hold & Automatic First Down
- Defensive Pass Interference: +10 yards from line of scrimmage & Automatic First Down
- Stripping: +5 yards from spot of strip & Automatic First Down
- Defensive Unnecessary Roughness: +10 yards from spot of penalty & Automatic First Down
OFFENSIVE PENALTIES
- Offside/False Start: -5 yards from line of scrimmage & Repeat Down
- Illegal Forward Pass: -5 yards from line of scrimmage & Loss of Down
- Offensive Pass Interference: -10 yards from line of scrimmage & Repeat Down
- Illegal Motion: -5 yards from line of scrimmage & Repeat Down
- Delay of Game: -5 yards from line of scrimmage & Repeat Down
- Screening or Blocking: -5 yards from the spot of block & Loss of Down
- Flag Guarding: -5 yards from spot of flag guard & Loss of Down
- Offensive unnecessary Roughness: -10 yard from spot of penalty & Loss of Down
8u DIVISION RULES
Fix Players on the Field
One Coach Allowed on Field on Offense & Defense
Offensive Rules
- Five (5) Second Pass Clock.
- One (1) run per set of first downs (outside of the no run zone).
- If the quarterback who takes the direct snap hands the ball or backwards lateral to another player behind the line of scrimmage it will kill the Pass Clock. At this time the defense is able to rush.
- All forward throws must cross the line of scrimmage.
Defensive Rules
- Defense may not rush quarterback who takes the direct snap unless the quarterback hands the ball off to another offensive player or fakes a hand off to a player which may allow the defense to cross the line of scrimmage.
- The defense may rush an offensive player if he/she receives a hand off or backwards lateral behind the line of scrimmage. At this time the Pass Clock is killed but does allow the defense to rush
10u DIVISION RULES
Five Players on the Field
One Coach Allowed on Field on Offense & Defense
Offensive Rules
- Four (4) Second Pass Clock.
- One (1) run per offensive possession (outside of the no run zone).
- If the quarterback who takes the direct snap hands the ball or backwards lateral to another player behind the line of scrimmage it will kill the Pass Clock. At this time the defense is able to rush.
- All forward throws must cross the line of scrimmage.
Defensive Rules
- Defense may not rush the quarterback who takes the direct snap unless the quarterback hands the ball off to another offensive player or fakes a hand off to a player which may allow the defense to cross the line of scrimmage.
- The defense may rush an offensive player if he/she receives a hand off or backwards lateral behind the line of scrimmage. At this time the Pass Clock is killed but does allow the defense to rush.
12u DIVISION RULES
Five Players on the Field
One Coach Allowed on Field on Offense Only. No Coach Allowed on Field for Defense.
Offensive Rules
- Four (4) Second Pass Clock.
- No Runs.
- If the quarterback who takes the direct snap hands the ball or backwards lateral to another player behind the line of scrimmage it will kill the Pass Clock. At this time the defense is able to rush.
- All forward throws must cross the line of scrimmage.
Defensive Rules
- Defense may not rush the quarterback who takes the direct snap.
- The defense may rush an offensive player if he/she receives a hand off or backwards lateral behind the line of scrimmage. At this time the Pass Clock is killed but does allow the defense to rush.
14u DIVISION RULES
Five Players on the Field
No Coaches Allowed on Field.
Offensive Rules
- Four (4) Second Pass Clock.
- The only time the quarterback who takes the direct snap is permitted to run is when the defense uses their one (1) rush per possession. If the defense crosses the line of scrimmage the quarterback who took the direct snap is allowed to run except inside of the no run zones.
- If the quarterback who takes the direct snap hands the ball or backwards lateral to another player behind the line of scrimmage it will kill the Pass Clock. At this time the defense is able to rush.
- All forward passes must cross the line of scrimmage.
Defensive Rules
- Defense may use one (1) direct rush per possession.
- Rush may not be used during extra point attempt.
- The rusher must line up 5 yards from the line of scrimmage. The referee will walk off 5 yards prior to each snap. Should the defense decide to use their one (1) direct rush per possession, the quarterback of the opposing team may run except inside of the no run zones.
- The defense may rush an offensive player if he/she receives a hand off or backwards lateral behind the line of scrimmage. At this time the Pass Clock is killed but does allow the defense to rush.