TournamentRules

HOME TEAMS wear light jerseys and are responsible for providing the official scorekeeper. Tournament score sheets will be provided.

1) Head-to-head. 2) Margin of Victory (capped at 15 amongst tied teams only). 3) Margin of Victory (capped at 15 - includes all pool play games).

The TSSAA basketball handbook will be used for all rules not specified on this rule sheet.

The gym director has the authority to make decisions that are in the best interest of the tournament. Please direct all questions or concerns to the gym director. All protests must be directed to the gym director (if not available then protesting team should notify scorekeeper - play the remainder of the game, and wait for the gym director or tournament director to make ruling after the game). The gym directors will work alongside the tournament director to ensure the success of the tournament.

The head coach is ultimately responsible for the conduct and behavior of his/her team, assistant coaches, and fans.

Team rosters are due at registration. Age determination will be based on AAU guidelines and all teams should be prepared to present recent grade cards or birth certificates in the event of a protest. GRADE EXCEPTIONS ARE NO LONGER VALID OR ACCEPTED!

Any team wishing to protest the roster of an opposing team must do so before the end of halftime or the beginning of the second half. Also, any team that protests the roster of another team must be prepared to show age documentation of their own team as well. Any team found violating the age qualification will be forced to forfeit the game and will have to remove ineligible players from the roster before participating in another game. Also, any team that is caught playing an ineligible player will not be allowed to advance or win a tournament championship.

All teams should be at their game site at least 30 minutes prior to their start time. Dressing rooms will NOT be provided so players should show up ready to play.

All teams should have both a light and dark uniform and should bring both to each game. The home team will wear white (or light) colored uniforms while visitors will wear dark uniforms.

The only people allowed on the bench are the players, head coach, and 2 other non-players (assistant coach(es), scorekeeper, etc). All of these individuals should be included on the team roster.

Each game will consist of four 8 minute quarters with a running clock. The clock will stop the last two minutes of each half.

Overtimes will be an additional two minutes with the clock stopping for all dead balls. Double overtimes, if necessary, will be sudden death in which the first team to score will be the winner, unless in bracket play, in which double overtime and all subsequent overtimes will be 1 minute with clock stopping. Teams get 1 additional timeout in the first overtime, but no timeouts in additional overtimes.

Teams will be given 4 minutes for warm-ups and 4 minutes for halftime. These times will be shortened if games are behind schedule.

Each team will be allowed two 60 second (full) time outs and two 30-second time outs. One additional full time out will be allowed for overtime.

If a team leads by 20 or more points, they may not apply back court pressure and the clock will only stop for time outs. When games involve 2nd and 3rd grade teams, the team winning by 20 or more points must move their defense inside of the opposition's three point line before applying defensive pressure.

All teams are responsible for their own warm-up balls. Be sure to properly put away these balls during game play.

All girls teams as well as boys teams 6th grade and under will use the 28.5 inch ball. All boys 7th grade and up will use the 29.5 inch ball. If both teams' coaches agree to use a different sized ball before a game, then they can do so, but if either does not agree, AAU rules for ball size will be used.

Only the head coach is allowed to address officials. All other coaches and players must be seated. Any coach that receives a technical foul must remain seated the remainder of the game. Also, teams should clean their bench area immediately after the game.

All forfeits are subject to review by the Gym Director, and may result in the offending team being declared ineligible for any future tournament play. The gym director will administer the rule so that any team which forfeits will not benefit and may not advance to semifinals or championship games unless the Gym Director determines there were extenuating circumstances causing the forfeit. Teams not having enough players to start a game WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED extenuating circumstances.

First Ejection - For coaches, other bench personnel, or players, the first occurrence of an ejection by a referee results in suspension for the game and removal from the gymnasium. The ejected individual is not permitted in the gymnasium for the remainder of the game and the game will not resume until the ejected party has left the gymnasium. Second Ejection - If an individual is ejected a second time they will be suspended from the remainder of the tournament.

Parents and spectators will be held to the same requirements as listed above for coaches and players.

In the event that we do not have 4 teams in a particular age group, we will allow teams to play up into an older division. We will do our best to let teams know if this is necessary before the start of the tournament, but this is not always possible.