City of Huntsville Parks & Recreation Department

Youth Football Rules and Regulations

2015

  1. The purpose of this program is to offer an organized football activity with an opportunity to develop player ability and to teach positive sportsmanship.
  2. Age Division: Freshman Division, 7-8 years old,8 minute quarters. Players cannot have reached their 9th birthday by August 1, 2015. The field length is 80 yards and the football is the Wilson K-2.

Age Division: Sophomore Division 9-10 years old, 8 minute quarters. Players cannot have reached their 11th birthday prior to August 1, 2015. The field length is 100 yards and the football is the Wilson TDJ.

Age Division: Junior Division 11-12 years old, 8 minute quarters. Players cannot have reached their 13th birthday prior to August 1, 2015. The field length is 100 yards and the football is the Wilson TDY.

  1. Weight Restriction: Freshmen Division, Any potential ball carrier (offense or defense) may weigh a maximum of 80 pounds at their initial weigh-in.

Weight Restriction: Sophomore Division, Any potential ball carrier (offense or defense) may weigh a maximum of 100 pounds at their initial weigh-in.

Weight Restriction: Junior Division, Any potential ball carrier (offense or defense) may weigh a maximum of 125 pounds at their initial weigh-in.

All players listed on the regular season roster must weigh in prior to the beginning of the season at the site and time designated by the Parks and Recreation Department. Players will weigh in without football equipment (no helmets/shoulder pads). The weights recorded will be the official players weights placed on the roster. It will be deemed the player’s official weight for the season. It is the “bench mark” weight by which the maximum will be measured. If a player fails to meet the ball carrier weight restriction at weigh-in another attempt will be approved, if requested, at an agreed upon site and time designated by the Parks and Recreation Department.

All potential ball carriers may gain a maximum of 10 pounds over the maximum allowed for their age group during the season. All players will be checked prior to each game and all potential ball carriers will be weighed. (Coaches are encouraged to observe) If a player is over the limit, he may be issued a lineman’s number or he must sit out the entire game. Any player arriving to a game after the official clock starts is considered ineligible to play the 1st and 2nd quarters and will be allowed to play the 3rd and 4th quarters after they weigh in at halftime.

  1. League Football Coordinators must verify proof of age requirements and residence eligibility for all players and submit team rosters to their Zone Coordinator before August 14, 2015. There will be no roster additions made after September 4, 2015 unless authorized by the Parks and Recreation Department.
  2. Boundaries are established by the Parks and Recreation Department. Players must register in the League boundary in which they reside. No two leagues that have 18 or more players on a team can combine teams. Any team playing an illegal player who does not live within the proper league boundary will forfeit all games in which the illegal player participates. The player will be placed on a team in the proper boundary. Exception: Any player who starts playing in the proper boundary and then changes residence (out of league boundary) may continue to play in the league boundary area he started or change to new league. This applies until the player ages out to the age group. Any out of boundary player must be approved by the Parks and Recreation Department prior to being added to a roster.
  1. All players participating in the City of Huntsville Parks and Recreation Department Football Program must have their age verified by a state certified birth certificate or must have already been verified and have a Parks and Recreation Department Sports Management identification number before being submitted on a league team roster.
  1. A league may not register players that reside out of their league boundary. No league may register players from outside the proper league boundary, put them on a roster and have league eligible players placed on a waiting list.
  1. Each player must submit a Parent Permission Form to participate. All players must be physically fit and pass all school work to participate. All parents must sign a Code of Conduct Form and a copy will be kept by each League.
  1. All participants are required to submit evidence of a physical examination to the League Football Coordinator before being placed on the team roster or to practice/play. The league must keep the form on file during the current season.
  1. All injured players should be evaluated/treated by a licensed physician and the player should re-enter competition only with written consent from that physician. All injuries during practice sessions must be reported by the head coach to the league football coordinator and turn into the League’s Zone Coordinator. All injuries during the game must be reported by the field monitor to the Zone Coordinator.
  1. Concussion Rule: Should a player be diagnosed as having a concussion, whether in practice or a game, that player will miss the next scheduled game and will need a letter of release from a doctor stating that this player is “Ready for Play”. All coaches will and should be aware of players that could have possibly been injured during a practice of game and notify their parents. All Injuries & Concussions in practices and games must be reported to the City of Huntsville Parks and Recreation Department immediately.

Concussion recommended Treatment Guidelines: http://www.cdc.gov/headsup/youthsports/index.html

  1. Contact: Full speed contact may not exceed a combined total of 30 minutes per practice. Full speed contact drills may not be conducted when players are more than 5 yards apart from each other. The intent of the rule is to limit the amount of full contact hitting with the head in practice.
  2. Helmet to Hemet Contact: No intentional helmet to helmet contact on offense or defense will be tolerated! Any such infractions will result in an automatic 15 yards unsportsmanlike conduct penalty! 1st offense – warning to player and sideline – 15 yard penalty – 2nd offense – automatic ejection if the same player – 15 yard penalty!
  1. Team Minimum Requirement: A team must have a minimum of 18 players on the roster in order to field a team. Any exception will be made by Parks and Recreation Department in writing. A league that registers 36 players in an age group must split in to 2 teams by August 10, 2015.
  1. No pads will be worn until (4) practices have been completed in shorts and helmets and gradual increase in conditioning has taken place regardless of when a player joins the team. As relating to this, every (20 minutes of practice will be followed by 5 minutes of break time) wherein the participants are allowed/encouraged to consume some form of electrolyte/and/or water solution.
  1. Any players appearing in an official game or on an official roster in any other organized football program will not be eligible to participate in any division in this league. Players may not transfer from one team to another after they have participated in a regulation game. (Penalty/Forfeit ofgame)
  1. Practice will begin August 3, 2015 with only shorts and helmets. Practice in full equipment will begin on August 10, 2015. The regular season will begin on September 1, 2015.
  1. Practices will never exceed two hours. All drills and scrimmages should be preceded by at least 15 minutes of calisthenics and stretching with recommended drills. Teams can only practice 4 times per week if they have no scheduled games during the week and only 3 times per week if they have a scheduled game.
  1. After August 3rd and prior to September 1st, all players added to the team roster must comply with rule #17
  1. All football equipment used by participants must be approved by the Parks and Recreation Department or met the Department standards. Any equipment not meeting the standard or faulty will be removed.

General Playing Rules

  1. All games will be governed by official Alabama High School rules except such rule modifications by Parks and Recreation Department.
  1. To begin each half of each game, the ball will be placed on the 35 yard line for freshmen and sophomore age divisions and the 30 yard line for the junior age division. No kickoff.
  1. Play Clock: 40 second play clock starts for 7-8 age division and 9-10, 11-12 age division 35 second. The play clock will be kept on the field by official. Each quarter is 8 minutes for all age division.
  1. Each team should have at least one official game per week during the season depending on the number of teams in the division
  1. No games will be postponed or cancelled without permission of Parks and Recreation Department. Both leagues/coaches will be notified. If a team forfeit a regular season game, that league/team will be responsible to pay the officials costs prior to their next schedule game. Any unauthorized schedule changes/additional games official’s costs will be incurred by the league.
  1. Only players in uniform and 5 coaches will be permitted on the field during a game. All coaches must be on the roster and display/wear coach badge with photo. 2 cheerleader sponsors per league and must have a badge with photo. The league Football Coordinator may not serve as a coach during league games as to avoid any conflict of interest where he/she may have to render an opinion/decision as the league Football Coordinator.
  1. No video or still cameras will be allowed on the sidelines or in the press box area during a game. No team can film, video or take photos of other teams for scouting purposes!
  1. No player may enter the game without headgear, shoulder pads, pant pads and acceptable uniform. All players must wear a protective mouth piece. No player may enter the field without shoes. Only molder rubber cleats will be permitted for all divisions. Games officials will be required to check all cleats during the warm up period prior to each game.
  1. Safety Rules: Punts will be taken according to the AHSAA Middle School football with the following exceptions. Teams have the option of taking a 20 yard walk off for the Freshman and Sophomore age division and a 30 yard walk off for the Junior division. All age division cannotwalk off ball inside the 20 yard line. The Junior division can punt the ball inside the 20 yard line. Example is if the ball is on the 30 yard line and you elect to kick then the ball can go insidethe 20 yard line. If you walk the punt off then it has to be placed on the 20 yard line. The Juniorage division will have the option to attempt a punt under the following conditions:The punter will take 7 yards behind the center, which will be positioned at the midpoint between the hash marks. The receiving team cannot advance the ball. Fumbled catches are considered “dead” where the ball was initially touched. There will be no rushing the punter. Both offensive and defensive players must remain in a two point stance and not advance during the play. Any snap not fielded by the punter may be recovered and punted from that point. Infractions will result in a 5 yard walk off. The punting team will retain possession if the walk off results in a first down. If the walk off does not result in a first down, the punting team will have the option of going for the first down for re-declaring their intent to punt. If the receiving team fails to field the punt, the ball will become dead where it stops. The receiving team may designate only one player to receive the punt. The receiving team will take possession of the football where it is fielded, rolls “dead” or is touched, regardless of the position on the field. The clock will stop once a punt has been declared and will restart on the SNAP of the ball.
  1. Parks and Recreation Staff reserves the right to remove any dominant player(s) (offense or defense) from the game who have met the minimum play requirement. This rule does not apply unless there is at least 21 point advantage. Any coach who has margin of victory greater than 42 points will be suspended for the next schedule game. There will be no passing by any team with a 21 point lead and the coach will be penalized 15 yards unsportsmanlike conduct for each infraction.
  1. Each team must complete and submit to Parks and Recreation staff at the game site the offensive and defensive starting lineup and substitutes 20 minutes prior to the game. Failure to comply will result in a 15 yard penalty to the offending team and the game will not begin until the lineup is submitted. Each team must be on the field and ready to play 5 minutes prior to game time. No game will start without a full team of 11 players. Game will be forfeited by any team without 11 players at game time.
  1. Picture ID books are mandatory at every game and must be available prior to official weigh-in for review upon request. Failure to comply will result in disqualification of any challenged player(s) by the opposing team.
  1. All guards, centers and tackles (offense and defense) will have no weight restriction. These players may not carry the ball at any time nor may they be used as a blocking back. Should they recover a fumble or intercept a pass, the ball will be ruled dead immediately. These players must wear numbers in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s or 90’s. Ball carrier numbers are restricted to 0-49 and 80-89. “Sweating” players to meet weight limits will not be tolerated by Parks and Recreation Department. Anyone found in violation of the policy will be suspended permanently from coaching and the player involved suspended for that season.
  1. In the Freshman and Sophomore age divisions, all defensive who line up on the line of scrimmage (excluding ends) must be in a 3 or 4 point stance. Freshman division only the defense lineman may match the number of offensive linemen except the center (i.e. if you have 6 players in the box, you may have 5 defensive players as no one can be over center in shotgun formation only.)
  1. All games that are tied at the end of regulation play will have a maximum of 2 overtimes to determine a winner. The ball will be placed on the 10 yard line and each team has the opportunity for an offense series of downs. (4 plays)
  1. Each head coach will be allowed one challenge per game. There will be only two challengeable situations: Ineligible ball carrier (weight) or restricted player (ineligible number). The challenging team will be charged a time out if the challenge is upheld. A team must have a time out to make a challenge.
  1. Any game protested because of an ineligible player must be protested before the end of the game in writing to the field manager. Proof of the ineligibility charge must be presented to the Zone Coordinator by the coach and accompanied by a $100 non-refundable cash fee with 24 hours of the end of the game to be considered. A protest committee of 3 league football coordinators will be established to hear any protest and judgment call cannot be protested.
  1. Freshman Division Only: One coach per team may be on the field on offense and defense. The coach on the field cannot touch any player after they break the huddle. The coach on the field must position himself at least 5 yards behind the deepest official prior to SNAP.

Coach Conduct and Requirements

  1. It is mandatory that all coaches submit a City of Huntsville Volunteer Application and be approved by league board of directors before being assigned to a team or have any interaction with the players.
  2. The conduct of the team, its coaches and spectators should be closely controlled. Any coach who comes on the field to approach the officials without permission will draw an immediate 15 yard penalty. The second offense will result in forfeiture of the game. A parent who approaches an official during a game shall be given a warning; a second offense will result in forfeiture of the game.
  3. A player or coach will be permanently banned from Parks & Recreation Department activities for striking official, player or coach. No profanity on the field.
  4. Any coach who takes his team off the field will be permanently banned from coaching in Parks and Recreation Department.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct Rule

  1. If a coach receives on unsportsmanlike penalty before, during or after game, that coach may be suspended for the next game. A coach that receives one unsportsmanlike penalty, before, during or after a game for any reason must appear along with his league Football Director at a date, time and place designated by their Zone Coordinator before they may resume their coaching position. Failure to appear at the designated meeting will result in a suspension for the remainder of the season.
  2. The second unsportsmanlike penalty on the same coach during any other game that season will result in the coach being suspended for the remainder of the season. If the second offense is the last game of the season, the suspension will carry over until the next season.
  3. During the period a coach is suspended, he/she may not associate themselves with the team in any manner of practice or game. A suspended coach is allowed to attend games in which his child/children are participants as long as his behavior is deemed appropriate by the field manager.
  4. Any coach whose team has a margin of victory greater than 42 points will be suspended for the next schedule game.
  5. Any coach who illegally changes a player’s jersey before or during game will automatically be suspended for the remainder of the season.
  6. Chain Crew Rule: The home team is responsible for finding 3 adults to hold the chains. The chain crew will not be allowed to cheer, coach, or taunt any players, coaches or officials while they are performing these duties. A 15 yard penalty can be accessed by the officials to the team that the chain crew personnel represents should their behavior warrant!
  7. Coaching Staff Shirts: All coaches will be required to have coaching staff shirts on during the game. This will help our staff designate who is and who is not a coach.
  8. All rosters must be signed prior to first game! No Exceptions!

Mandatory Play Rule (MPR)