Rules, Regulations & Policies

Section 1.  Pregame Rules

A.  All games will be played on short sided fields in a 6vs6 format with U-10 sized goals (7’X21’)

B. All players must be registered within the current season

C. Teams must have matching shirts or jerseys

D. Each team must field a minimum of four players rostered to that team.  Teams unable to field a team with at least four of their own players will forfeit the match.  (See section 6)

     a. If a team is found to be using an unregistered player, the offending team will automatically forfeit the match and the team will be eliminated from tournament play

E.  Each team must field a minimum of one female player (two for division C and D) at all times.  Teams who cannot field the appropriate number of female players will forfeit the match.  (See section 6)

F. Games will start at the listed time.  Forfeits will be determined five minutes after game time

G. Referees must be paid prior to the start of the game

Section 2.  Rules of Play

A. Bakersfield ACES adheres to the FIFA laws of the Game with the following exceptions:

     a. No slide tackling.  Slide tackling will result in an automatic yellow card

          i. Within the penalty area goalkeepers are permitted to slide

          ii. Sliding to save a ball from going out of bounds is permitted granted there are no other players around you.  The idea of “around you” is at the referee’s discretion.  If it’s close, keep your feet

     b. No offside infraction

B. “ACES Culture call gives the referee the ability to make a call that does not necessarily violate any FIFA rules, however, is made specifically to preserve the integrity of the ACES culture. 

Section 3.  Yellow and Red Cards

A. Any player receiving a yellow card is required to substitute immediately

B. Red cards of all kind carry with them a one game suspension

C. Teams with 5 or more yellow cards or 2 or more red cards will be disqualified from participating in the End of Season Tournament.

Section 4.  Substitution

A.  On the fly substitutions can be made.  If a substitution is made it should not be made from a position on the field to gain an advantage

Section 5.  Player Sharing

A.  The sharing of players between teams is allowed during regular season play.    Lup as many divisions, but can ONLY play down one division

     a. Registered upper division players (Divisions A&B) can play for division A & B teams ONLY

     b. Registered lower division players (Divisions C&D) can play for division C & D teams ONLY.

Section 6.  No Shows and Forfeits

A. Regardless of advanced notice, if a team cannot provide their opponent with a game at the scheduled time then that game will be considered a forfeit.  If notification can be made to the league no later than Tuesday, before that weeks game, we will likely be able to reschedule that game.  Notification after Tuesday will result in a forfeit.  

     a. For each forfeit, the offending team will be deducted $40 from their referee refund check

          i. The team who did show up for their game will not pay the referee

     b. A team with two or more forfeits will be ineligible for tournament play

B. If a team cannot satisfy the pregame requirements they will forfeit the game and a pickup game will be played instead

     a. If a game is played each team will still pay the referee and the game will be officiated

Section 7.  Violent Conduct and Zero Tolerance Policy

A.  Any violent conduct or conduct that can lead to violence is in violation of Bakersfield ACES Zero Tolerance Policy.  In the case of a Zero Tolerance incident, ACES will initiate a Zero Tolerance Review which consists of:

     a. Creation of a three person review committee made up of unbiased ACES board members

     b. Solicitation of incident reports from both team managers as well as the referee

     c. A discipline review and formal decision.  All decisions are final.  No protests.

B. If a player or players are deemed in violation of the Zero Tolerance Policy they will be permanently removed from the league without refund and indefinitely barred from participating

C. The team which the player(s) participates on will be under review as well and may be subject to suspension or removal from the league

     a. Team is defined loosely as a group of players that play together, but can include up to an entire roster. 

D. Any team with a player in violation of the Zero Tolerance policy will not be eligible for tournament play

E. After the passing of three full seasons, not including the season in which the incident occurred, a player (or players) involved in violation of the league’s zero tolerance policy may apply for reinstatement to the league by issuing a formal letter to the league director.  It is the sole decision of the league director to reinstate a player(s) and all decisions are final.  No appeals.

Section 8.  Refund & Bad Weather

Teams understand that there will be no refunds granted for any reason after the registration deadline.  This includes, but is not limited to inclement weather, etc.  In case of inclement weather, the Director reserves the right to reduce the number of scheduled games and/or the time of games and/or postpone or delay game times and/or cancel the event.  Every effort will be made to complete games and the tournament.  Entry fees are non-refundable after registration deadline.

Section 9.  Invitational Tournament Rules

A. Only teams in good standing with the league will be eligible for tournament play

B. Only players registered to your team roster may play for your team during tournament play

C. Unless otherwise specified, tournaments will use a 10 point system: 

     Win: 6 points

     Tie: 3 points

     Loss: 0 points

     Goals: 1 point per goal (maximum of 3 points)

D. Tiebreakers are as follows:  Points.  Head to head result.  Goal differential (max of 3).  Goals against.  Penalty kicks

E. Knockout games (including finals) that end in a tie go directly to penalty shootout.  No overtime.

F. Penalty shootouts are three shooters and must alternate gender (Ex:  Male, Female, Male).  After three shooters it is sudden death

     a. Shooters cannot be repeated until all players of that gender have taken a penalty.

     b. If a team has a limited number of one gender, that person/those persons will continually take the kicks

     c. For Championship games, penalty shootouts will be 5 shooters and no sudden death.

Section 10.  Concussion Protocol

A. Any player who appears to have potentially sustained a concussion will be evaluated by a referee and if deemed to have possibly sustained a concussion will be barred from participating for the remainder of the day

B. The team manager (or the player acting as team manager) will be notified of the player’s inability to participate

C. The incident (including player name) will be reported to the referee administrator.  The team manager will then be contacted by the referee administrator and will be responsible (along with the player) for verifying the player’s ability to return to play

Section 11.  Registration Protocol

A. Players may register up to the posted registration deadline

B. Any player seeking to register after the posted registration deadline and up to week 4 must clear that request with the registrar

C. No player may register after the 4^th week of the season is complete

     a. ACES reserves the right to invoke our “Culture Call” when it comes to player registration and participation windows.  In extreme cases, we may give consideration to add players late in the season