CSA SPORTS LEAGUES

KICKBALL GAME RULES

CO-ED LEAGUES & TOURNAMENTS

CSA CO-ED KICKBALL GAME RULES

REGULATION GAME:

• Regulation games last five (5) full innings. In the event of a tie score at the end of the game, the game shall be marked as such.
• A game is considered official once three innings have been satisfactorily completed. This means that three full innings have been played and the visitor is ahead, or 2 and 1/2 innings have been played and the home team is ahead.

MERCY RULE: A game will be stopped because of the "Mercy" rule in the following instances:

• One team is leading by 15 or more runs after 3 innings.
• One team is leading by 10 or more runs after 4 innings.

The "Mercy" rules will be enforced. It is not the discretion of the teams to waive the rule.

PITCHING/CATCHING:

• No bouncies. A pitch that is higher than one foot at the plate, and called as such, results in a ball.
• The pitcher must stay behind the pitching strip until the ball is kicked. Failure to do so results in a ball.
• No player may field in front of the pitcher other than the catcher, and no player may advance forward past the 1st-3rd base diagonal line until the ball is kicked. Failure to abide by this rule results in a ball.
• The catcher must field directly behind the kicker and may not cross home plate before the ball is kicked. Failure to abide by this rule results in a ball.

ELIGIBLE PLAYERS: All players must be 19 years of age or older. Their are no roster restrictions and a team can have as many players as they wish. ALL players are required to sign a release of liability waiver before participating.

ROSTERS: Roster additions will be open during the regular season, but no players can be added prior to the playoffs. For tournaments, teams must submit a roster prior to the start of play.

TEAM MAKE-UP:
IN THE FIELD

• Teams must field a minimum of eight (8) players, with a minimum of three (3) women.
• Teams can field a maximum of ten (10) players and a minimum of four (4) women.
• Players can play any position in the field
• Teams that field less than 10 players are not required to have a catcher. If a team fields the maximum 10, they MUST have a catcher.

THE LINE-UP

• Teams can kick a minimum of eight (8) players, of which three (3) must be women.
• Teams are required to have a minimum 2 to 1 ratio of men to women.
• Teams can kick as many players as they want up to 20 kickers. The 2 to 1 ratio must be maintained
• Teams are not allowed to have four male kickers in a row. Teams can have three men kick in a row, but the fourth batter must be a woman.
• No player can kick more than once in the kicking order.

KICKING

• All kicks must be made by foot
• All kicks must occur at or behind home plate. A kick in front of home plate is called a foul.
• Bunting is allowed.

RUNNING

• Runners must stay within the base line. Fielders must stay out of the base line. Fielders trying to make an out on base may have their foot on base, but must lean out of the baseline. Runners hindered by any fielder within the base line shall be safe at the base to which they were running.
• Neither leading off base, nor stealing a base is allowed. A runner off of his/her base when the ball is kicked is out.
• Hitting a runner with the ball above shoulder level is not allowed. Any runner hit above the shoulders is safe and advances one (1) base. If the runner intentionally uses the head to block the ball, and is so called by the referee, the runner is out.
• After a kicked ball is caught, runners must tag their originating base before running to the next base. If the runner has not moved before the ball is caught, the runner may simply run forward without a tag up.
• All ties will go to the runner. Runners may overrun first base.
• One base on an overthrow. In taking advantage of the time loss from an overthrown ball that travels out of bounds, a runner may not run beyond the subsequent base to the one originally running toward when the ball was thrown.

BALLS & STRIKES (& FOULS)

• A count of three (3) strikes constitutes an out
• A strike is:

            a. a pitch within the strike zone either not kicked, or else missed by the kicker
            b. any foul ball

• A count of four (4) balls advances the kicker to first base
• A ball is:

            a. a pitch outside of the strike zone
            b. an illegal bouncy
            c. any fielder or pitcher advancing on home plate before the ball is kicked
            d. any catcher crossing home plate before the kicker or failing to field behind
                 the kicker

• A count of four (4) fouls constitutes an out.
• A foul is:

            a. a kick landing out of bounds
            b. a kick landing in bounds, but traveling out of bounds before reaching first or
                 third base
            c. a kick made in front of home plate

OUTS

• A count of three (3) outs by a team completes the team's half of the inning
• An out:

            a. a count of three (3) strikes or four (4) fouls
            b. a runner touched by the ball at ANY time while not on base
            c. any kicked ball (fair or foul) that is caught
            d. a ball tag on a base to which a runner is forced to run
            e. a runner off his/her base when the ball is kicked

BALL IN PLAY

• Once the pitcher has the ball in control and on the mound, the play ends
• If a runner intentionally touches or stops the ball, the play ends.

DESIGNATED RUNNER/PLAYER POSITIONS

• In cases of injury or illness, a time-out may be requested for participant removal and replacement with a substitute of the same sex. If the participant later returns to play, the participant must be inserted in the same fielding and kicking order position previously held.
• If a player is ejected, injured, or becomes ill and cannot continue, the line-up will continue in the same formation, less the removed player.
• The pitcher may only be replaced on the mound once per inning.

HOME/AWAY: The home team is pre-determined by CSA and will be noted in a schedule distributed prior to the season.

SUBSTITUTION: Players are free to enter and re-enter the game without penalty. The following substitution rules apply:

• If a woman is removed from the game, another woman must replace her in the field and in the line-up
• Players re-entering the game must do so in the field before they can take a turn at bat
• If a player is injured, the normal substitution rules may not apply

OUTFIELD ARC: A line in the outfield will be denoted. When a female batter is up, all the outfielders are required to stay behind that line until contact is made by the kicker.

GAME EQUIPMENT: CSA will provide the game balls.

RAIN-OUTS: CSA has three services to alert teams about rain cancellations. The first is the Rain-out Hotline, players and coaches will be given this number prior to the season. The second is the Weather Update page on the web-site. The third is the e-mail alert - CSA will e-mail team captains if games are cancelled before 4PM.

If games are rained out, CSA will attempt to reschedule all games. CSA may not be able to reschedule all games. If that occurs, appropriate adjustments will be made.

PROTESTS: Once a game is declared official, protests will only be accepted in extreme circumstances.

FORFEITS: If a team is unable to field enough players by 10 minutes past the stated game start time, then it is considered a forfeit (see the minimum player rules)

PLAYOFFS: Each league has different playoff criteria. The league home page will have the relevant playoff information.

OFFICIALS: A CSA supervisor will be responsible for the administration of all tournament and league games. CSA will provide at least one official for all games.