Official Bay Area Street Hockey Rulebook

OFFICIAL BAY AREA STREET HOCKEY RULEBOOK

Revised September 19, 2014

Bay Area Street Hockey (“BASH”) was founded in spirit during pickup hockey

sessions organized by Mitchell Friedman in 1991. The first official BASH season was

1991-1992. BASH is, and shall always remain, a non-profit league and the league

shall always remain true to the spirit of cooperation and community.

(Note) Section Two of the Rulebook is in chronological order; Section Four

and Section Six are in alphabetical order.

SECTION ONE: The League Charter

Rule 101: Commissioners

Rule 102: Captains

Rule 103: Players

SECTION TWO: League Administration

Rule 201: Schedule and Deadlines

Rule 202: Official League Pick-ups

Rule 203: Protected Lists

Rule 204: League Draft

Rule 205: Ringers

Rule 206: Supplemental Drafts

Rule 207: League Fees

Rule 208: Forfeits

Rule 209: Suspensions

Rule 210: Minimum Games for Playoff Eligibility

Rule 211: Trading Players

Rule 212: Expansion

Rule 213: Tie-Breaking Procedures/Regular Season Standings

Rule 214: James Lick Middle School grounds and the Storage Facility

Rule 215: BASH All-Star Game

Rule 216: BASH Annual

Rule 217: BASH Awards

Rule 218: Captains’ Meetings

Rule 219: Summer League

SECTION THREE: Officials and Teams

Rule 301: Referees

Rule 302: Scorekeepers/Goal Judge

Rule 303: Playing Lineup

Rule 304: Interacting with the Referees

Rule 305: Injured Players

Rule 306: Player/League Equipment

SECTION FOUR: Officials and Playing Rules

Rule 401: Ball Kicked or Directed In

Rule 402: Ball Out of Bounds or Unplayable

Rule 403: Ball Striking Official

Rule 404: Faceoff Locations

Rule 405: Faceoff Procedures

Rule 406: Goals and Assists

Rule 407: Highsticking (non-penalty)

Rule 408: Icing the Ball

Rule 409: Interference by Spectators

Rule 410: Offsides

Rule 411: Overtime/Shootout

Rule 412: Playoffs

Rule 413: Time of Match

Rule 414: Timeouts

Rule 415: Weather

SECTION FIVE: Penalty Categories

Rule 501: Penalties

Rule 502: Minor Penalties (including Bench Minor Penalties)

Rule 503: Major Penalties

Rule 504: Misconduct Penalty

Rule 505: Game Misconduct Penalty

Rule 506: Gross Misconduct Penalty

Rule 507: Match Penalties

Rule 508: Penalty Shot

Rule 509: Goalkeeper’s Penalties

Rule 510: Serving Multiple Penalties

Rule 511: Calling of Penalties

SECTION SIX: Infractions

Rule 601: Abuse of Officials

Rule 602: Attempt to Injure

Rule 603: Broken Stick

Rule 604: Butt-Ending (including attempt)

Rule 605: Charging

Rule 606: Checking from Behind

Rule 607: Checking into the Wall

Rule 608: Cross-Checking

Rule 609: Delay of Game

Rule 610: Delay of Game - Falling on Ball

Rule 611: Delay of Game – Setting up the Boards (Border Patrol)

Rule 612: Elbowing or Kneeing

Rule 613: Fighting

Rule 614: Handling Ball with Hands (both penalty and non-penalty)

Rule 615: Head-Butting

Rule 616: High Sticks (including attempt)

Rule 617: Holding an Opponent

Rule 618: Hooking

Rule 619: Interference/Obstruction

Rule 620: Kicking Another Player

Rule 621: Leaving the Players’ Bench or Penalty Bench

Rule 622: Roughing

Rule 623: Slashing

Rule 624: Spearing

Rule 625: Throwing Stick

Rule 626: Too Many Men

Rule 627: Tripping/Slide Tackle (Clipping)

SECTION ONE: The League Charter

Rule 101: Commissioners

a) Three “COMMISSIONERS” of Bay Area Street Hockey are nominated by

majority vote of the Captains of the League. The nominees will be drafted by a

league-wide survey.[see Rule 102(c) Captains’ Voting Procedures]

b) The new commissioner will be determined by a league-wide vote with the

nominee who receives the most number of votes (not majority) becoming the

new commissioner.

c) Commissioners are on a three-year term from the moment they are voted in. Their

duties extend until the draft of the year they are scheduled to step down. The

announcement of the new commissioner will occur following the draft.

d) All three Commissioners must be on different teams at all times. If they are not,

then one of them must volunteer to step down or the Captains will vote to

decide who to replace and vote for a replacement.

e) The only other way to remove a Commissioner is through a vote of no-

confidence, which requires a majority vote from the Captains.

f) The Commissioners are each assigned 1/3 of a vote in the event of a tie-breaker.

A proposal automatically passes if it receives a minimum of 4 Captains’ votes.

Otherwise, a proposal must receive 3 Captains’ votes and a Commissioners’

tie-breaker vote (two-thirds of the 3 Commissioners must approve).

g) No Captains or defacto captains will be allowed to serve as Commissioners

unless all 6 other teams approve: “Andrew Till rule”.

h) The Commissioners will divide up the following duties (unless the Captains vote

to assign them to a particular Commissioner):

i. Organizing and mediating Captains’ Meetings [see Rule 218];

ii. Breaking ties in Captains’ votes [see Rule 102(c)];

iii. Summarizing issues and drafting an outline agenda for Captains’

Meetings;

iv. Mediating disputes between teams and issuing judgments in disputes;

v. Approval of trades;

vi. Handing out penalties and remedies for disciplinary purposes;

vii. Purchasing minor supplies (less than $100 does not require a Captains’

vote);

viii. Corresponding with league members regarding Official League Pick-ups

and League Draft deadlines [see Rules 202 and 204];

ix. Running the Official League Pick-ups and League Draft;

x. Corresponding with James Lick Middle School;

xi. Governance of the league funds and issuing regular bank statements to

the Captains;

xii. Setting up the BASH Bash;

xiii. Setting up and running BASH Summer League;

xiv. Observance of BASH Schedules and Deadlines [see Rule 201];

xv. General enforcement of league rules amongst the teams.

i) The Commissioners or a majority of Captains may also delegate any of these

responsibilities to a third party and amongst themselves.

j) The only way to overturn the decision of the Commissioners is to appeal to the

Captains and receive at least three Captains’ votes and 2/3 of the

Commissioners’ votes or a majority of Captains’ votes. [see Rule 102(c)]

k) The Commissioners may propose rule changes or other such matters to be

considered for vote by the Captains. [see Rule 102(c)]

l) Major purchases over $100, such as new Border Patrol boards, must be approved

by at least three Captains votes and 2/3 of the Commissioners votes. [see Rules

101(e) and 102(c)] A cap will be placed on the BASH Bash.

m) The Commissioners shall log all proposals and make them public until the next

Captains’ Meeting [see Rule 218] or Captains’ vote. The Commissioners may

also appoint a third-party Captain or player to oversee the agenda and the

Captains’ Meeting.

Rule 102: Captains

a) Two (“CAPTAINS”) must be appointed by each team. Usually, one Captain will

appoint a second Captain when there is a vacancy. A team may supplant a

Captain with a simple majority vote (51%).

b) When submitting the Protected Lists, two captains must be designated on the list.

[see Rule 203(c)]

c) Each team shall be assigned one vote when voting on league matters. A total of 4

Captains votes to affirm, constitutes a majority. If the Captains are deadlocked

at three votes apiece or if only 3 votes are obtained for a proposal, it is up to the

Commissioners to cast the deciding vote (at least 2 of the 3 Commissioners

must approve).

i. Email voting procedures: Captains get 5 days from the date and time the

initial email vote was sent. If a Captain doesn’t respond, the

Commissioners must call the Captain. If there is no response to the call,

then the vote is considered “abstained.” Any “urgent” voting issues should

be done with phone calls.

d) Captains are entitled to present proposals to the league and have them heard at

Captains’ Meetings [see Rule 218].

e) Captains are responsible for communicating with their own team about league

rules and league information (including the BASH Message Board at

http://www.3rdbase.com/bash/jw/mb.asp and the league site at

Sportability.com), preferably before the start of the season.

f) Captains are responsible to appoint a member of their team to fulfill Refereeing

duties as per the referee schedule.

g) Captains of the home teams that are responsible to ensure that the Border Patrol

boards are set-up and are taken back to the storage space. [see Rule 610]

h) Captains are responsible for outfitting their team with the uniform colors that are

assigned to that franchise.

i) A Captain may not be traded to another team, unless the Captain first steps down

or is relieved of their duties as per [Rule 102(a)].

Rule 103: Players

a) New (“PLAYERS”) enter the league through the League Pickups and the Draft.

[see Rules 202 and 204]

b) Once a player is drafted and has paid their dues [see Rule 207] they become a

lifetime member of the league and cannot be turned away in following seasons,

even if that player has missed a season or more.

c) Ringers are not permitted in BASH. [see Rule 205]

d) A player may declare free agency and throw themselves in the draft, even if a

team wishes to protect them. The deadline for declaring Free Agency

is 11:59pm on the Wednesday prior to the draft.

e) A player may only return to their team if they have been away from BASH (not

registered) for less than two seasons. There will be no compensation and the

player may be added to the protected list of that team. If the player is not added

to the protected list during the draft, the returning player will enter the

draft (and as a rookie if they have been away from BASH for two or more

years.

f) Players may make a proposal for rule change or any other type of proposal to the

Captains or Commissioners and it will be placed on the league agenda.

g) BASH is a non-fighting league [see Rule 613] and bodychecking is forbidden,

though incidental contact does occur.

h) Veteran players must be registered (and paid) by 11:59pm on the Wednesday

before the day of the draft. Any player who registers after the veteran deadline

loses the benefits of veteran seniority for that year. Such players will then be

considered a rookie and placed into the draft pool (like the rookies). “Veterans-

now-rookies” do not have to be evaluated at tryout/pickup game. In addition,

players who register after 11:59pm on the Wednesday before the draft will have

to pay an additional $25 on top of the league fees as a penalty.

i) If a player is selected in a supplemental round they are not given veteran status after that season is concluded, if a player is selected twice in the supplemental round they will then be given full veteran status

SECTION TWO: League Administration

Rule 201: Schedule and Deadlines

a) Each team will play the other an equal amount of times. Each team will play a

near-equal amount of 9am, 11am, and 1pm games and as equal an amount of

home and away games as is possible. The schedule will be random (i.e., a team

could end up playing the same team twice in the span of four games), however

back-to-back games and two games against the same opponent in the span of

three weeks are to be avoided when creating the schedule.

b) BASH does not play on holidays. Holidays, especially Easter, must be taken into

account when preparing the schedule.

c) The playoff schedule will be played on both Saturdays and Sundays and will carry

over to as many weeks as needed to complete two rounds of three-game playoff

series (the first round and the final round).

d) The following is a list of BASH deadlines:

i. August 1 – A mailer will be sent around to prospective returning players

by email.

ii. August 1 – Commissioners release status of BASH bank account.

iii. August 15 (approx.) – BASH pickups will commence in mid-August.

There will be three pickups.

iv. 11:59pm on Wednesday before Saturday draft day – deadline for veteran

players to retain veteran status (registration)

v. 11:59pm on Wednesday before Saturday draft day – deadline for veterans

to declare Free Agency

vi. Saturday after the last pickup – The BASH draft.

vii. Before game 1 – one new Commissioner will be voted in, as voted by

the Captains.

viii. Before game 1 – BASH Annual to be updated; Commissioners release

status of BASH bank account.

ix. Monday after game 10 – All-Star ballots must be submitted by Captains.

x. Monday after game 10 – Commissioners release status of BASH bank

account.

xi. 9am prior to Game 15 – Trade Deadline

xii. Monday after Game 20 – Commissioners release status of BASH bank

account.

Rule 202: Official League Pick-ups

a) Three official League Pick-ups will be held prior to the League Draft [see Rule

204] in order for the teams to evaluate the talent available for the League Draft.

b) Players must sign the sign-in sheet and provide ALL information requested on the

physical sheet (not just Sportability.com) in an accurate manner to be eligible

for the League Draft. All players eligible for the draft must provide info by the

3rd pickup. Information that will be requested on the sign-up sheet includes:

i. Total hockey experience (in years; whether it be ice roller or foot);

ii. Highest level achieved as a position player (high school, college,

schoolyard, etc.);

iii. Level of ability as a position player (advanced, intermediate, beginner);

iv. Total goaltending experience (in years; whether it be ice, roller or foot);

v. Highest level achieved as a goaltender (high school, college, schoolyard,

etc.);

vi. Level of goaltending ability (advanced, intermediate, beginner);

vii. All positions played;

viii. Which BASH member told you about the league or how did you hear

about the league;

ix. Who else do you know in the league;

x. Place born and place raised.

c) Pickups will start at 11 a.m. and officially end at 2 p.m., though the pickup may

end sooner if the players decide. Any player who shows up to play at any other

time cannot be officially counted as eligible for the draft.

d) Rookies must participate for one full pickup to be eligible for the draft

e) Rookies who intend on playing goal during the season must play in net for at least

one full pickup.

f) Captains that attempt to sneak players (ringers) into the draft by asking them to

under-perform at the pickups will be subject to Rule 205.

Rule 203: Protected Lists

a) Protected Lists are due immediately prior to the draft. Protected Lists will be

handed in simultaneously by each team in a sealed envelope to the

Commissioners and will be revealed simultaneously at that time. No new