The Greenbrier Cup
– Presented by Mountaineer United Soccer Club
2016 RULES OF PLAY
Rosters and Brackets
1. There is no maximum roster size. However, please note that the room package and awards for winners are based on a maximum roster size of 10
2. Players shall be rostered with only one team in any specific age division. Player may play for team in multi divisions, but under no circumstances shall a player be rostered on multiple teams in the same age division. Once a roster has been turned in at registration, no players may be added to or removed from the team’s roster.
3. Age brackets and groupings (if applicable) will be based on the calendar year ending December 31. A player may “play up” but no player may “play down”.
4. All teams must provide a tournament roster, tournament medical release forms, and proof of all players’ ages, at registration. Proof of age may be achieved through the presentation of a valid driver’s license, birth certificate passport or current official player card. No player shall be allowed to play without proof of age and a medical release form turned in at registration.
5. In the case of an age division not receiving enough entries to form a bracket, the tournament reserves the right to combine age groups to form a viable bracket.
6. In the event of more than 12 teams entering a bracket, the tournament may divide the teams into two separate divisions that each compete for a championship.
7. No refunds will be given for any reason, except in the case of the cancellation of the entire tournament (in which case, partial refunds will be provided, after all tournament expenses have been covered).
Field of Play
8. Surface: Natural grass
9. Outdoor balls will be used: Size 5. One official game ball will be provided to each team prior to their first game. Teams are responsible to provide the ball for each game the team plays throughout the tournament.
10. A goal area will be marked four yards from the goal line and eight yards centered along the goal line.
11. A penalty area will be marked ten yards from the goal line and twenty-four yards centered along the goal line.
12. 6’ x 18’ goals will be used
Players
13. Number of players on the field: 7, including a goalkeeper
14. The minimum number of players required to start any game will be 4. One if which must be a goalkeeper.
15. Substitutions (including the goalkeeper) will be made “on the fly”. Exiting players must be fully off of the playing surface prior to replacement players entering the field. Players must exit the field on the teams’ sideline.
16. All players are required to wear shin-guards (covered by socks) and appropriate footwear (e.g. cleats, indoor soccer shoes). No screw-in or metal cleats are allowed.
17. All players on each team must wear similarly colored jerseys and shorts, but numbers are not required. In the event of opposing teams wearing similar colors, the team listed first (i.e. “home team”) is required to change their jersey color. Bibs are permissible.
18. Goalkeepers must wear a different color jersey than all other players on the field to include the officials.
19. No player shall be permitted to participate, if wearing any type of brace with exposed metal. No jewelry shall be worn during play (this includes earrings, beads in the hair, necklaces, bracelets of any type, etc.)
Game Rules (as per the Laws of the Game unless stated).
20. Games will consist of two-25 minute periods. The Referee keeps the official time on the field (no disputes regarding time will be allowed). Referees are instructed not to add on any “extra time” for any reason, due to the tightness of the schedule.
21. Referees are instructed to end games at least 1 minute prior to the next scheduled kick-off time on the field, no matter when the game started, to keep games on time (with the exception of delays caused by play-off games going into overtime or Kicks from the Mark).
22. The “home team” starts the game with a kick-off, which shall be indirect and may go in any direction.
23. There is no off-side. “Cherry Picking” is strongly discouraged.
24. All fouls shall result in an indirect free kick with the opponents five yards away (or on the goal line, for kicks less than five yards from the goal line).
25. There will be no penalty kicks or direct free kicks of any type.
26. No slide tackles will be allowed. Slide tackles shall be punishable by an indirect free kick for the opposing team. Persistent slide tackling will be punishable by a yellow card.
27. In the event of an intentional hand ball in the goal area that takes away a clear goal scoring opportunity (or stops the ball from entering the goal), a goal will be awarded to the opposing team. That player will be shown a yellow card for Unsporting Behavior.
28. Throw-ins will be replaced by a kick-in (to be taken as an indirect free kick).
29. All goal kicks must touch a player or the field before crossing the center line. In the event of a goal kick crossing the center line before touching a player or the floor, an indirect free kick will be given to the opposing team at the center spot. The ball must cross over the penalty area line before being played.
30. The goalkeeper may roll, throw or place the ball on the ground and play the ball with his or her feet (no “double-possession” is allowed), and no drop kicks or punts are allowed. Any goalkeeper distributions must touch a player or the field before crossing the center line. A resulting indirect free kick from the center spot will be the result from this infraction.
31. The goalkeeper may kick the ball across half field during active play as long as they did not possess the ball in his/her hands immediately prior to receiving it (all other rules concerning the goalkeeper as per the Laws of the Game).
32. All kicks restarting play are indirect, including corners, goal kicks, kick-ins, etc.
33. Yellow cards and red cards will be used. In the case of a yellow card, the player is required to leave the field of play immediately and sit out for a minimum of two minutes (the team may substitute for the player). The player may not re-enter the game until the referee determines that he or she is eligible to return. In the case of the team having no substitutes available, the team must play short-handed until the referee allows the player to return to the game.
34. In the case of a red card, the player must immediately leave the field and is banned from participating in the remainder of the tournament. The team will play short for the remainder of that game. No exceptions will be made.
35. All coaches must stay behind the sideline on their team’s half of the field.
36. All players must shake hands/high 5 opponents, after the final whistle. Sportsmanship is encouraged and required!
37. The referee’s decision regarding any on-field play shall be absolutely final in ALL cases. No appeals or protests are permitted, under any circumstances.
Tournament Rules
38. Except in the case of any championship/play-off elimination game, the winner of each game shall be awarded three points, each team participating in a tie shall be awarded one point, and no points shall be awarded for a loss.
39. The position of teams in their respective brackets shall be determined by the total number of points awarded.
40. In the case of two teams being tied on points, after the bracket games, the following tie-break procedures will be used, in the order listed:
a. Head-to-Head Winner
b. Greatest Number of Wins
c. Goal Differential (goals scored less goals conceded). For the purposes of calculating goal differential, the maxim um goal difference awarded for any individual game will be +4 or -4
d. Least Total Goals Against (maximum of 4 against per game)
e. Most Goals Scored (maximum of 4 goals for per game)
f. Most Shutouts
g. Least number of red cards
h. Least number of yellow cards
i. Kicks from the Mark, as described in #42 below (only if tie needs to be broken to determine which team will advance)
41. In the case of three or more teams being tied on points, after the bracket games, the following tie-break procedures will be used, in the order listed. Under no circumstances does the tie-break procedure return to the top of the list, or revert to the tie-break procedure listed for two tied teams (i.e. the steps listed below are carried out in order, until the necessary number of teams have been ranked). Head-to-head results are not to be considered, in the case of a tie between three or more teams.
a. Greatest Number of Wins
b. Goal Differential (goals scored less goals conceded). For the purposes of calculating goal differential, the maximum goal difference a warded for any individual game will be +4 or -4
c. Least Total Goals Against (maximum of 4 against per game)
d. Most Goals Scored (maximum of 4 goals for per game)
e. Most shutouts
f. Least number of red cards
g. Least number of yellow cards
h. Kicks from the Mark, as described in #42 below (only if tie needs to be broken to determine which team(s) will advance). In the case of three or more teams remaining tied, a random drawing will take place to determine which teams participate in a shoot-out. The losing team is eliminated, and the winning team participates in a shootout against the next randomly drawn team (or the winner of concurrent shootout), etc., until teams have been ranked accordingly, as necessary.
42. Should any championship or play-off elimination game end in a tie, there will be a 1 minute break, followed by a single 4-minute, sudden victory overtime period with no goalkeepers (i.e. teams play with only field players–6 players per team). A goal may only be scored if the ball is touched by an attacking player in the opponent’s half of the field before entering the goal (i.e. a team may not score by shooting directly into the goal from their defensive half of the field). Teams remain at the same end as during regulation play, and the
“visiting team” has the kick-off. If the game is still tied at the end of the overtime period, the outcome will be immediately decided by alternate penalty kicks. The team listed first on the schedule (i.e. the “Home team”) shall kick first. Each team will take 3 penalty kicks. If the score remains level at the end of the 3 kicks from each team, the kicks shall continue until one team scores and the opposing team does not score (i.e. sudden victory). Any player on the roster may take a penalty kick (i.e. they do not need to be on the field at the end of regulation time). No player may take a second penalty kick until all players on the team, including the goalkeepers, have taken a penalty kick. In the case of a team having fewer players than their opponent and completing a full rotation of kicks (i.e. a kick by each player) that team will begin their rotation again, while the opponent continues through their roster of players.
43. In all cases, the decision of the Tournament Director shall be final and binding on all participants.
FACILITY RULES
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PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!
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ALL TEAMS MUST HAVE A DESIGNATED REPRESENTATIVE WHO WILL HANDLE ANY MISCONDUCT PROBLEMS
PERSONAL MISCONDUCT BY TEAM PLAYERS (OR SUPPORTERS) IS PROHIBITTED.
PENALTY: AFTER A WARNING TO THE TEAM COACH, A SECOND
OFFENCE BY ANY PLAYER (OR SUPPORTER) ON THE TEAM WILL
RESULT IN THE TEAM BEING DISQUALIFIED FROM THE
TOURNAMENT AND ASKED TO LEAVE THE FACILITY WITH NO REFUND.
TEAMS ARE EXPECTED TO CLEAR AWAY THEIR OWN TRASH! – THIS
INCLUDES TAPE AND WATER BOTTLES
PERSISTENT OFFENDING WILL RESULT IN EXPULSION FROM THE
TOURNAMENT
FOOD CAN ONLY BE PURCHASED AT THE CONCESSION AREA
OUTSIDE VENDORS ARE NOT PERMITTED WITHOUT MUSC
PERMISSION
ONLY PLAYERS/OFFICIALS OF THE TEAMS PARTICIPATING ARE
ALLOWED ON THE TEAM SIDE OF THE FIELD DURING GAMES
DRESS WARMLY! THIS IS AN OUTSIDE EVENT, AND IT CAN TAKE A
LONG TIME TO WARM UP, IN THE CASE OF LOW OUTSIDE
TEMPERATURES! WE DO HAVE INDOOR HEATED AREAS, AND
PLAYERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO RETREAT TO THESE AREAS
BETWEEN GAMES
THE GREENBRIER AND MUSC ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY
ITEMS LEFT AT THE FACILITY, INCLUDING BALLS THAT ARE KICKED OUTSIDE THE FIELD AREAS (OVER THE HILL)