Rules and Procedures - Revised September 2006
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SCASA’s goal is to promote, teach, oversee,
and represent the game of soccer;
recognizing that people of all abilities should compete
in a fun and safe environment.

All SCASA league games will be played according to current FIFA rules, with the following exceptions or additions:

LAW I FIELD OF PLAY

1. The home team shall be responsible for marking the game field, if applicable. There will be a $25.00 fine for an unmarked field, payable by the home team.

2. The home team has the choice of sides and the visiting team shall be on the opposite side of the field if either team or its representative requests same.

3. The first team listed on the schedule is designated as the home team and shall change jerseys if team colors conflict.

4. The 7-a-side field shall be shortened.

LAW II THE BALL

1. The home team must provide a suitable game ball.

LAW III NUMBER OF PLAYERS

1. Minimum age and sex requirements are as follows:

  a) Open - Players must turn 15 within the present year.

  b) Women’s Teams - All players must be female. Players must turn the required age in the calendar year. A pregnant player may play with written permission from a physician unless the opposing team objects in a timely manner.

  c) Men’s Teams - All players must be male. Players must turn the required age in the calendar year.

d) Any player’s failure to subscribe to Law III, 1. b. or Law III, 1. c. shall be deemed to fall under the provisions of Law III, 4.

  e) Players may play on one single-sex team per age group. If a player wishes to play on one or more teams per season; they must make a request in writing and receive board approval in advance. Teams are limited to 3 players on multiple teams, per season.

  f) Coed - No more than 5 men per team on the field, excluding goalkeeper. Teams may play with fewer men and more women.

2. Any player of any SCASA League game must meet ALL of the following requirements:

  a) Any changes to your Team Registration form must be postmarked or delivered to the SCASA office at least 72 hours prior to participation.

     1) Registration includes name, address, date of birth, and player identification number.

     2) Any player changing teams must be deleted from his/her former before he/she may be added to a new team.

  b) Hold a current WSSA player card.

  c) Have his/her name player number appear on the team list given to the referee prior to the game.

  d) Have surrendered his/her WSSA player card to the referee prior the game. Failure of any player to comply with ALL the above requirements may cause the implementation of the penalties of Law III Section 4.

3. All deletions from a team’s roster must be in writing and include the player’s WSSA number (see Law III, Section 2, a.2.). All additions to a team roster must be provided the registrar (see Law III, Section 2, a.2.). Responsibility for providing this information to the registrar lies SOLEY with the team and failure to comply with any of the above requirements may cause the implementation of the penalties of Law III, Section 4.

4. A team found to have played an unregistered, fraudulently registered, suspended or otherwise ineligible player shall forfeit the game or games and may pay a minimum $50.00 fine per occurrence. Said player shall sit out one week. The instance of a player having "borrowed" an absent player’s identity will be treated as two occurrences per game. For procedure see Law V, Referees #6.

5. Failure of a team to field a minimum of seven players (11 a-side)/ five players (7 a-side) within fifteen minutes of the scheduled match time, shall result in a forfeit for that team and the team may be subject to a $25.00 fine, however, the teams may wish to play by loaning registered players to the short team. If the game is played as such, it is considered a 1-0 forfeit, UNLESS BOTH managers agree before starting to have it otherwise. Referees are still obligated to work the match.

6. Once schedules have been distributed and a team withdraws, a minimum $25.00 forfeiture of the registration fee will be withheld from their refund.

7. No player whose former team owes SCASA any fees shall be eligible for SCASA activities, unless the player’s prorated share of his/her former team’s deficit is paid to SCASA. The share amount shall be determined by the Board of SCASA.

8. The three part game roster will be completed prior to the game and MUST include the last name and WSSA player card number of each player that will participate in the game. The game roster will be collected by the referee prior to the game. Late arriving players for which the above procedure has not been completed may not play in the game until the referee, at his/her convenience, has added the information to that already in his/her possession. At the conclusion of the game, the referee will note on the game roster the score, comments about nets and lines, injuries, cautions, ejections, and distribute the colored copies to the appropriate teams. The referee shall keep the white copy of the game roster; any player cards held and misconduct reports. They will be delivered to the SCASA office within 48 hours. The player card will be returned.

9. Should a referee find it necessary to eject a player for actions or words occurring after the player card has been returned to a team, and should the card(s) not be surrendered to the referee upon request, then a notification of the facts to the Justice shall be sufficient to cause imposition of penalties in addition to those ordinarily warranted by the actions or words.

10. Unlimited substitutions may be made by either team after a goal is scored and at half-time. A player who has been replaced may reenter the game.

11. Up to three substitutions may be made by either team when the ball is not in play, subject to the referee’s discretion.

12. Team names shall not be sexually suggestive or profane.

LAW IV PLAYER’S EQUIPMENT

1. Teams shall wear uniforms. Each player’s jersey must display a different number, 6 to 10 inches in height, on the back of the jersey, goalkeeper’s jersey excepted.

2. Players may wear soft caps, gloves, and leotards so long as they are not confusing with the uniforms of the opposing team, and provided they are not being used for unfair advantage, in the discretion of the referee.

3. Players may not play while wearing a cast, splint or brace unless sufficiently padded and determined by the referee not to be dangerous.

LAW  V  REFEREES

1. The referee’s judgment and discretionary rulings on the field of play in all cases will be final and no protest shall be allowed.

2. Only the referee shall determine if a game shall be abandoned for any reason whatsoever.

3. A game postponed due to paragraph 2, above, or due to lack of officials may be rescheduled by SCASA.

4. If a match official feels that he/she has suffered referee assault and/or abuse:

  a) WSSA will review incident, determine appropriate action and notify SCASA;

  b) SCASA will suspend the right to play within the SCASA league until the WSSA Judicial Chairman has reviewed the incident;

  c) SCASA will honor WSSA decision and may add additional penalties as necessary.

5. Any complaint or comment regarding a referee’s ability, demeanor, or appearance shall be addressed to:

      SCASA, Attn: Referees, P.O. Box 2844, Everett, WA 98213

6. To protest a match for any reason, a team must first notify the referee, so he/she can note the protest on the player list and referee’s report. The protest then must be filed in writing within 48 hours if possible of the game being protested to:

      SCASA Judiciary Chairman, P.O. Box 2844, Everett, WA 98213

A protest fee of $25.00, payable to SCASA, must accompany the written protest. If the protest is upheld, the fee shall be returned.

7.  Red card infractions will be dealt with per “SCASA Infraction Guidelines”, see back of these procedures.

8. Normally, cautions and ejections are not protestable. However, if a player wishes to challenge the penalties he/she must follow the same procedures as above in Law V, 6.

9. All postcards shall be received within two weeks of the season’s termination in order to receive refunds for referee no shows. Standings are kept solely on referee evaluation cards turned in by managers. Postcards must be received within 2 weeks of the season’s end.

LAW VI ASSISTANT REFEREES

1. No exceptions or additions

LAW VII GAME DURATION

1. All games must be played at the scheduled time and place. Any requests for a change must be in writing, postmarked seven days in advance of the scheduled game and accompanied by a $25.00 fee, together with the opponent’s verifiable consent. This request should be addressed to the SCASA office, Attn: Scheduler.

2. A team must attempt to field enough players for each scheduled game or notify SCASA and the opposing team’s manager more than 48 hours in advance of the game. If 2 or fewer players show-up for a game, and the team has not provided timely notification, the team will be designated a no-show and will forfeit the game. In addition, the team that no-show shall reimburse SCASA for the cost of the game (referee and field fees) plus a $25 fine. SCASA may or may not elect to reschedule the game.

If a team no-shows 2 or more times in a season or does not pay the no-show fees and fines imposed, registration for upcoming season(s) may be refused at the discretion of the SCASA Board.

3. When a game starts late, managers will be notified that the game may be shortened (at the discretion of the referee).

4. Any team leaving the field of play prior to the completion of the match shall forfeit the match.

5. Seven (7) a-side plays 30 minute halves.

LAW VIII START OF PLAY

1. The match shall commence when each team has a minimum of seven players for 11 a-side and five players for 7 a-side, and the appointed match time has arrived.

2. If no referee shows, managers may mutually agree on a substitute, preferably a registered referee, who has full authority. The match will be official. If this is unacceptable to either team, SCASA may or may not reschedule the game.

LAW IX FOULS AND MISCONDUCT

1. Slide tackling is allowed in Open Men’s, Open Women’s, Over 30 Men’s and Over 30 Women’s divisions only. Slide tackling shall not be allowed in all other divisions and will be considered Dangerous Play.

2. In all divisions, no player shall initiate physical contact with the goalkeeper within the penalty area.

3. The referee’s authority begins upon his/her arrival in the proximity of the game to be played and continues uninterrupted until he/she leaves. Should any player or coach be deemed by the referee to be in violation of LAW XII of FIFA (Fouls and Misconduct) during the time if the referee’s authority, then that player or coach will be issued either a caution (yellow card) or an ejection (red card).

4.  In the event of the issuance of an ejection (red card), the offending player shall immediately surrender his/her card and immediately leave the area of the game (including the parking lot), and not further participate until notified by the league Justice (see LAW III, Section 8). Failure to leave the area of the game or refusal to surrender player cards will result in additional game suspension.

The penalty for playing such a suspended player shall be a $50.00 fine plus additional game suspension at the discretion of the SCASA board. The penalty for additional violations shall be $150.00 and a mandatory appearance before a Board of Review for both the player and the team manager. The penalty for any red card is a minimum of a one week suspension. The League Justice has the right to delay suspension and/or ruling due to time constraints. Any suspensions may be carried over to the next season. Those players ejected (red carded) for violent conduct will sit out a minimum of three weeks of play and pay a fine of $50.00 before regaining eligibility, if after review by the SCASA Justice the incident is determined to be fighting.

5. Any player who accumulates two cautions during play or league matches per season may, at the discretion of the Justice, be suspended for one week.

6. The manager may receive official notification of further Judicial Board actions from the Judicial Chairman.

7. The SCASA Board has the right to review and evaluate players actions, both physical & verbal, to assess suspensions and/or penalties to ensure safety and fair play.

8. Reckless play that endangers any player is a foul (even when unintentional). Fouls may be called even if there is no contact. These fouls include, but are not limited to:

a) tripping, kicking, pushing, or colliding into players while "going for the ball"

b) slide tackling

c) running out of control, or too fast, and almost colliding with any player

d) intimidation by action or words - (this penalty results in an indirect free kick)

9. Teams will be held responsible for the conduct of their sideline participants.

a) Sideline participants include players, coaches, managers, spectators, or any other person that in the opinion of the game official is associated with the teams.

b) Sideline misconduct is defined as any act or action by a sideline participant disruptive to the game and includes assault or abuse directed toward the game official/s, field players, or other sideline participants.

c)          c) Sanctions for sideline misconduct may include temporary suspension of the game, abandoning the game (recorded as a forfeit by the offending team/s), player cautions (yellow card) or player ejections (red card), or cautions or ejections of the manager, coach, other individuals, or the team.

d)       The need for imposing sanctions for sideline misconduct during the game will be at the

sole discretion of the referee. Further player and team sanctions will be at the discretion of the Justice and the Board of Directors of the League. Minimum suspensions for assault will be based on the guidelines for violent conduct for players, covered under Law X, section 4. Incidents of referee abuse or assault are considered severe misconducts and will not be tolerated (reference also Law X, section 4.). The Board of Directors of the League may impose additional sanctions depending on the severity of the misconduct: individual players or teams may be suspended for the remainder of the season, additional seasons, a period of years, or permanently from the League.

SCASA INFRACTION GUIDELINES

 Class of Infraction

Technical – Class I

1. Serious Foul Play - Intentionally handling a ball to prevent a goal or a goal scoring opportunity.
2. Serious Foul Play – Impeding a player, through unlawful means, thus denying the attacking player’s team a goal scoring opportunity.
3. Foul or abusive language – not directed at another.
4. Persisting in misconduct – after having received a caution.

Physical – Intentional – Class II

1. Serious Foul Play – other than those listed under Class I.
2. Foul or abusive language – directed at another player or spectator.

Physical – Intentional – Class III

1. Violent Conduct.
2. Foul or abusive language – directed at a game official.
3. Racial harassment,
4. Sexual harassment.

Penalties for Infraction

Class I

1. Minimum: Caution or removal of player during reported game and one additional game suspension.
2. Nominal: Caution or removal of player during reported game and one additional game suspension.
3. Maximum: Caution or removal of player during the reported game and two additional game suspensions.
4. Exception: Unusual circumstance may result in more severe penalties. 

Class II

1. Minimum: Caution or removal of player during reported game and one additional game suspension.
2. Nominal: Caution or removal of player during reported game and two additional game suspensions.
3. Maximum: Caution or removal of player during the reported game and three additional game suspensions.
4. Exception: Unusual circumstance may result in more severe penalties.

Class III

1. Minimum: Caution or removal of player during reported game and two additional game suspensions.
2. Nominal: Caution or removal of player during reported game and three additional game suspensions.
3. Maximum: Caution or removal of player during the reported game and five additional game suspensions.
4. Exception: Unusual circumstance may result in more severe penalties.

SCASA Judicial Committee will use the above as guidelines for determining penalties for the appropriate class of infraction. If there are extenuating circumstances and the player feels that are extenuating circumstances and the player feels that a lighter punishment is warranted, player may appeal to the Judicial Committee. All appeals submitted to SCASA must be in writing, accompanied by a fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) and be postmarked within

forty-eight (48) hours of notification of said decision.  Note: Law X 4.  Players ejected for violent conduct shall be fined $50.00 if after review by the SCASA Justice the incident is determined to be fighting.

THERE SHALL BE NO ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES ON ANY FIELD!!!!