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Flag Football
Rules
Flag Football
Fields
- Captains will use the pylons provided by rec league to set up the field. The playing area should be 100 yards X 40 yards. There will be 80 yards of playing area with two 10 yard end zones making up the difference.
- Each team will mark one side of the field with the pylons. If the field width is approx 40 yards you can use the lines marked by the city. If the field with is larger, you can either use the extra space or use the markers to narrow the field. There should be 1 pylon on each side of the field approx. 10 yards from the field goal line (This is the end zone).
- If the field is longer than 100 yards you can shorten the field by making the end zone larger. The remaining pylons should be spread out between the two end zones.
Roster
- There will be 6 players on the field at one time. At least two must be female.
- Teams can sub players in at any stoppage of play.
- A team will default if they have less than 4 players and/or less than 1 female.
Defaults
- If a flag football team is not ready 10 minutes after the posted game time they will lose by default 10-0. We recommend the game be played regardless if possible.
- A minimum of 4 players need to be present at the start of the game to avoid a default. A least 1 player must be female. If the minimum requirement is not met, the team that is short players will lose the game by default 10-0.
- If a team defaults one game then they will be required to pay a default fee by e transfer before their next game. If this is not paid then all games will be updated as a default loss and the team will not be scheduled anymore games.
- If a team misses two games then another default fee will need to be paid in order to have any future games scheduled. A meeting with the league will occur to determine if this league is the right fit for your team. If a second default fee is not paid then the players on the roster will not be allowed to play in any future sports.
- If a team misses more than two games then this is not the right league for your team. You need a drop in league and the players on the roster will not be allowed to play in any future sports.
- If both captains agree, the minimum requirement rule can be waived and the game will count towards the standings. This must be decided upon before the start of the game and teams cannot change their minds once the game has started.
Pre Game
- Teams will have 5 minutes to warm up. The game will consist of two 25 minute halves and a five minute intermission.
- Captains will flip a coin or play rock/paper/scissors to determine which team receives the ball first. The other team will receive the ball in the second half.
- After the coin toss – the kicking team will punt the ball from their 30-yard line. Teams should mark where the 30 yard line is with one of the pylons provided by the league.
- All players must bring a light and dark coloured shirt. Captains will decide prior to the game, which team wears light and which wears dark.
Offense
- The offense (Team with the ball) has four downs to get a touchdown. Each down is played from the middle of the field.
- All forward passed must be overhand. Once the ball crossed the line of scrimmage, forward passes are not permitted.
- Lateral and backward passes are unlimited
- The play will begin with the quarterback “hutting” the ball to himself. (Centers are not needed to hut the ball)
- Once a team gets inside the opposing teams end zone, either with a pass or running play, they get 6 points. After the touchdown, the offensive team then attempts their extra point. The offense will have one attempt to get the ball into the end zone. The team may choose to start from the five yard line (If good worth 1 point) or from the 10 yard line (if good worth 2 points). Captains should pace out 5 or 10 yards from the end zone line to start the extra point play.
- If a pass is dropped the play is over and the offensive team begins the next down. If the pass is not complete on the fourth down the defensive team gets the ball from the line of scrimmage where the offence finished.
- The offensive team can either punt the ball or attempt a play on the fourth down.
- When receiving a kick, the kicking team must give the receiving team 5 yards from the ball before they touch the ball.
- If the ball is kick out of bounds the receiving team begins their offensive downs where the ball left the playing field.
- If the ball is kicked through the endzone then the receiving team takes the ball at their own 20 yard line.
- The play is over when one or more of the offensive player’s flags are pulled off them of if any part of the body touches the grass – besides their feet or hands.
- Pick plays are not allowed. Pick plays are any cross pattern there the offensive player crosses the field in an attempt to pick a player to free a receiver.
Defence
- The defence must count to five before crossing the line of scrimmage. The quarterback cannot run across the line of scrimmage until the defensive player has crossed the line of scrimmage.
- When counting, the defensive player should count 1 STEAMBOAT, 2 STEAMBOAT etc...
- If the defence does not rush the quarterback (Enabling the quarterback to cross the line of scrimmage) the quarterback has until 10 Steamboat to pass the ball. If a pass isn’t made by the count of 10 the play is dead. In order for this rule to be in effect, the defence must continue counting to 10 Steamboats out load so everyone can hear.
- Blocking, tackling, pushing, tripping or any other physical contact is not allowed. There is no flexibility with this rule.
- There are no points awarded for a safety. Safety is when the offence loses a flag in their own end zone. The next down will take place on the 1 yard line. If the play occurs on the 1-yard line, the defence then becomes the offence and their first down occurs on the 1-yard line.
If there is a penalty on the offence, the play does not count and the team will start their next down where they started the previous down before the penalty.
If there is penalty on the defence the following options are available to the offence.
- Replay the down from the original line of scrimmage
- Play the next down from the spot where the foul occurred
- Decline the penalty and let the play stand as is. (The two captains should discuss the penalty to ensure both teams are aware of it.
General Game Rules
- If the defence intercepts the ball, they become the offence. Except when a team is attempting and extra point, when this occurs the play is dead.
- After a touchdown and the extra point attempt the offence team will punt the ball from their 30-yard line to the opposing team
- When teams are substituting players in/out, they must not delay the game. Team may have huddles, but they are not to be more than 15 seconds. If the opposing team is complaining about the length of the huddle, please hurry to keep the game moving.
- The offence can do hurry up offence and not have a huddle. When this takes place they do not need to wait for the defence to be ready.
- Players are not to cover up any part of the flags. If necessary shirts must be tucked in.
- Flags must be placed on the hips
- There is no overtime is regular season play and overtime rules for playoffs will be set before the playoffs begin.
- A fumbled ball is dead once it touches the ground. The last team to have possession of the ball gets the ball at that point. If the ball is fumbled on the fourth down, the ball is turned over to the defence and they will start the play from the same point as where the fourth down took place.
Officiating
- All Leagues are self officiated.
- Captains are responsible to ensure that games start and end on time. Team captains should assign someone to be in charge of keeping time and they should let everyone know when there is five minutes remaining in each half.
- Team and players must make their own calls. Teams should not be making calls on the other team, but if necessary please do so in a polite and respectful manner.
- Any reckless, aggressive, threatening or unsportsmanlike behaviour will result in being ejected from the game or league. Team captains should report any issues with the opposition.
Alcohol Consumption
- The league and the facilities do not allow any open alcohol at any public venue.
- Any player or team found to be under the influence of alcohol, or other controlled substance, will be automatically ejected from the league without refund.
Weather
- Because the season is short and field availability is limited, rescheduling games is very difficult.
- If it is raining prior to your game, teams are to show up at the field regardless and wait 15 minutes for the rain to stop. If the rain does not stop and it is raining too hard to play, the two captains are to agree on a day to reschedule
- If it has been raining for a prolonged period of time, the fields will probably not be open and you may not want to bother showing up, but out of respect you should contact the opposing team captain.
- If it begins to rain after you started the game. If you can play though it you should do so. It is up to the captains to decide if the game cannot continue. After half time the game will not be rescheduled and the leading team after half will be declared the winner.
- If you do not contact the other team to let them know you are not going to make it and they show up then it will count as a default to your team.
- If the fields are open games should take place and will not be made up.
- Weather Closure Icon on our website
- City of Edmonton weather hotline @780-496-4999 .
- These should be used as a guide as they are not updated past a certain time of day and conditions can improve or change very fast.
Rescheduling
- The Rec League will not reschedule games for any other reason than weather. Should you cancel your game you will lose by default.
- We will make up rained out games but it is the captain’s responsibility to discuss with the opponent when a suitable day/time to make up will be. We do have fields on many days so games can be made up on any of these days but both captains must agree.
- Once a date and time have been agreed upon the league should be notified and then we will schedule your game on an available field.
- All games must be made up prior to the final regular season game. If they are not made up before the final game then the score will not count towards the standings.
Sportsmanship
This is a Rec League and we expect all players and teams to have a fun first attitude. To help enforce this style of play we ask all teams to report the sportsmanship rating of the opposing team after every game.
2 – Good, fun spirited team, respected their opposition and made the game enjoyable
1 – Was not unsportsmanlike, but didn’t go out of their way to make the game enjoyable.
0 – Was not a fun team to play. They made the game less enjoyable and did not respect the opposition
If a team gets two 0 ratings in one season the league will decide whether the team is fit for this league and may remove them from the schedule.
Scores
- Captains are responsible for sending scores and sportsmanship rating within 24 hours of games.
- Captains should confirm each other’s scores throughout the game.
- If scores are not reported then they will not count towards the standings
Scores should be emailed to info@edmontonrecleague.com
Refunds
Registration fees are fully refundable, minus a $20 processing fee, up to 2 weeks prior to the beginning of the season. After this, the league assumes you have committed and all fees are non-refundable. We require this time frame in order to create teams and to complete scheduling.