OVENS & MURRAY AMATEUR WATER POLO ASSOCIATION (OMAWPA) 2012/2013 Season Rules (Version 3.0 30/10/2012) Introduction Part 1: Local Playing Conditions 1. Registration 2. Age Groups 3. Game Duration 4. Game Rules 5. Club Duty 6. Multiple Teams 7. Forfeits 8. Game Points 9. Abandoned Games 10. B&F Votes. Part 2: Grading 1. Junior Grades 2. Senior Grades 3. Vets Grades Part 3: Finals 1. Club Eligibility 2. Grade Eligibility 3. Finals Game Duration Part 4: Judiciary 1. Reporting of Players 2. Reporting Procedure 3. Penalty on Report 4. Report of same offence or second report within a 24 month time period 5. OMAWPA Tribunal Version 3.0 Page 1 of 8
Introduction This document is imposed on the OMAWPA by Management Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Committee ) resolution to be the primary ruling policy for the competition. Beyond the rules contained herein, the OMAWPA Committee refer to the NSWWPI Rules. The Committee reserve the right to review the Season Rules from time to time, and to update them as they see fit, and in the interests of the OMAWPA competition and membership. Part 1: Local Playing Conditions 1. Registration 1.1 All players must be registered before playing for insurance reasons. 1.2 Players transferring to another Club must complete Clearance Request online through the membership database. 2. Age Groups The O&M has a number of different age groups: U/12 Flipper Ball Born 1/1/01 or later U/14 Junior Competition Born 1/7/98 or later U/16 Junior Competition Born 1/7/96 or later U/18 O&M Junior Registration Born 1/1/95 or later O&M Senior Registration Born 31/12/94 or earlier Vets Competition Born 31/12/77 or earlier 3. Game Duration All times for the Preliminary Rounds are straight time with no extra time. A Men 9 minutes A Women 8 minutes B Men 8 minutes B Women 6 minutes C Men 6 minutes C Women 6 minutes U/16 6 minutes U/14 5 minutes 4. Game Rules 4.1 Teams must have a minimum of 6 players with 1 wearing the goalie cap to commence. 4.2 Teams must be ready to play by the official start time or the conclusion of the previous game, whichever is later. Teams not ready to play by 5 minutes after the official start time or 5 minutes after the conclusion of the previous game (whichever is later) will incur a late forfeit. 4.3 Teams must complete the team listing on the score sheet in legible handwriting, including the players name and registered number. If any name/number cannot be identified, the team result will be a forfeit. The decision to apply forfeit will be referred by the administrator to the Executive of the committee, who will make a determination before the commencement of the next round.. Version 3.0 Page 2 of 8
4.4 Late players can only fill out team sheet at quarter or half time and start at the beginning of the next period. No late players can register once the third quarter commences. 4.5 If a team registers a player on the team sheet not in attendance at the pool or is an unregistered player, this will incur an automatic late forfeit. 4.6 If a player participating in the game has not registered on the team sheet, they will be excluded with a major foul and not permitted to participate until they have registered on the team sheet as per rule 4.4 4.7 If a player has registered on the team sheet with the wrong cap number, they will be treated as per rule 4.6 4.8 Teams wishing to transfer games must fill out the Change of Game form as per Appendix B. This must be filled out and handed to the Administrator or O&M Executive Member at least 96 hours before the official start time. 4.9 Teams listed first on the team sheet must start to the left of the table duty. 5. Club Duty 5.1 Teams named first in the first game of the day are responsible for setting up the pool. 5.2 Clubs must supply 1 person for table duty and organize 1 referee for their own game. 5.3 Teams named last in the last game of the day are responsible for packing up the pool. 6. Multiple Teams 6.1 Clubs may nominate as many teams as they wish in 1 Grade. 6.2 Clubs can swap players between teams in the same Grade in the first 3 weeks. 6.3 Players can only play for 1 team in that Grade each week. 6.4 Players are locked into which ever team they play in week 4 for that Grade for the rest of the season. 7. Forfeits 7.1 All Forfeits shall be recorded as a 10 0 loss with no game points awarded to the losing team as per rule 8. 7.2 Teams providing 48 hours notice to the Administrator and the opposing Team Captain (or Coach) will incur a forfeit but no monetary fine. 7.3 Teams forfeiting within 48 hours of the official start time will incur a Late Forfeit which includes a monetary fine as per table below: Grade Fine A Men $100 A Women $100 B Men $75 B Women $75 Version 3.0 Page 3 of 8
C Men $50 C Women $0 U/16 $0 U/14 $0 7.4 In the case of a late forfeit, the opposing team (the team not forfeiting) must fill out team sheet with at least 6 eligible players to not forfeit by the official start time. 7.5 Where there is an early forfeit as per rule 7.2, the opposing team does not receive a game credit for finals eligibility. 7.6 No player on the team forfeiting will receive a credit for the game and are free to play in another game within the Grading rules. 8. Game Points Game Points are awarded as follows: Win 5 points Win by Forfeit 5 points and 10 goals for, 0 goals against Draw 3 points Abandoned 3 points and 0 0 score line Loss 1 point Loss by Forfeit 0 points and 0 goals for, 10 goals against 9. Abandoned Games 9.1 Abandoned points will only be awarded if the pool was unavailable due to an emergency. These include lightning, bush fires and pool water is unsafe. Other emergencies will be considered by the O&M Committee. 9.2 Abandoned games will not be replayed. 9.3 Teams do not need to fill out a team sheet and all players eligible for that game will receive a game credit towards finals eligibility. 9.4 Players do not need to be in attendance at the pool to receive a game credit for Abandoned Games. 10. B&F Voting 10.1 This season, only one set of votes will be cast jointly by the game referees. 10.2 Votes will be placed into a sealed envelope to be delivered by the Administrator to the President for secure storage until the conclusion of the season. Note: All protests, complaints and disputes resulting from Local Playing Conditions must be lodged in writing within 24 hours of the incident to the Secretary. The Secretary shall then refer the matter to the next Committee meeting for discussion, where, if necessary, the matter may be referred to the tribunal. Version 3.0 Page 4 of 8
Part 2: Grading 1. Junior Grades 1.1 Players must be registered as a Junior (not Flipper Ball) to play U/14 or U/16 games. 1.2 Players can only play 1 game per Junior Grade in each round subject to rule 1.3. 1.3 Players may play a second game if that team has a Double Up for that round. 1.4 An U/14 player can play in an U/14 team and an U/16 team in each round. 1.5 Junior U/16 Players may play for 2 Senior teams in different Senior Grades in each round and are not locked up to a higher Grade subject to rule 1.6. 1.6 Junior U/16 Players cannot play C Grade for the rest of the season once they have played an A Grade Game. 2. Senior Grades 2.1 Players can play 1 game per Senior Grade in each round subject to rule 2.2. 2.2 Players may play a second game if that team has a Double Up for that round. 2.3 Players may play for 2 Senior teams in different Senior Grades in each round subject to rule 2.4 and 2.5. 2.4 Players cannot play C Grade for the rest of the season once they have played an A Grade Game. 2.5 Once a player has played A third plus 1 games in a higher grade, they cannot drop back to a lower Grade. (E.g. 18 Rounds means a player is locked in to the higher Grade once they have played 7 games.) This ruling applies irrespective of any game scheduling issue that may cause more games to be played in one grade than in the other. 2.6 For all A Grade teams there will be a core group of players (7 for men, 5 for women). The core group are not eligible to play in any lower grades. The core group of each team must be nominated around the time of the first game of the season. The Committee will call for comment on the nominated teams, and after a short period of consultation and possible revision, approve such lists. The Committee will view these lists and the process with a view to ensuring fairness, and that the list is constructed in the spirit of the game. 3. C Grade Women 3.1 C Grade Women is a Social Grade played on a week night.. 3.2 As per rule 2.4, any player who has played in A Grade is not permitted to play in C Women. 3.3 Players are not bound by the third plus 1 rule if they also play B Grade. This means players can play B & C all season. 3.4 Teams must have a majority of C Grade only players. 3.5 Exemptions will be considered by the C Women Sub Committee to prevent teams from forfeiting. Version 3.0 Page 5 of 8
3.6 Finals will consist of 1 st vs 2 nd in the Grand Final and 3 rd vs 4 th playoff final. Note: Requests for exceptions to the grading rules must be made in writing to the O&M Committee. The requests will be considered at the next Committee Meeting. Part 3: Finals 1. Club Eligibility 1.1 Players must play five (5) games for their Club to be eligible for Finals. Only the higher Grade per round is counted where players are playing multiple Grades 1.2 Credits towards eligibility will not be given for games played outside the regular competition. Therefore O&M Representative duty will not count, nor club games played at Country Clubs. 2. Grade Eligibility 2.1 Players qualifying to play finals in lower grades or Junior U/16 players are allowed to play Finals in higher grades subject to rule 2.2 and 2.3. 2.2 Players may only play 1 Senior Final per week. Junior U/16 players are permitted to play 2 Senior Finals per week as per the Grading Rule. 2.3 A player who has played in a higher Senior Grade in a Final is not permitted to drop back into a lower Senior Grade for subsequent Finals. 3. Game Duration Times for the Finals (not including the Grand Final) are straight time with extra time as per Preliminary Rounds. If there is a draw at the end of regular time, there will be extra time of 2 X 3 minutes of straight time. If there is still a draw at the end of extra time, there will a penalty shoot out with each team selecting 5 players. If there is still a draw at the end of the penalty shoot out, it will go to sudden death penalty shoot out. The Grand Final will be actual time: A Men 7 minutes A Women 6 minutes B Men 6 minutes B Women 5 minutes C Men 5 minutes C Women 5 minutes U/16 5 minutes U/14 4 minutes Grand Final extra time will be 2 X 3 minutes actual time. Note: Any exemption to the Finals rules must be made in writing to the O&M Committee. These requests will be considered at the next Committee Meeting. Version 3.0 Page 6 of 8
Part 4: Judiciary 1. Reporting of Players Players and officials of clubs may be reported by referees for, but not limited to the following and/or as determined under the rules of water polo (as published by NSWWPI and/or AWPI); - Misconduct, - Disrespect, - Brutality, - Bringing the game into disrepute. Notwithstanding any of the above, the OMAWPA reserves the right under the constitution to expel the member from OMAWPA or to suspend the member from membership of the OMAWPA. 2. Reporting Procedure Referees must complete a report sheet documenting, in as much detail as possible, the circumstances of the report. Referees must notify the OMAWPA Administrator and/or OMAWPA Secretary of the report. A member of the OMAWPA Executive will notify the offending members club official verbally and then deliver a copy of the written referee s report. The offending member s club must then notify the reported member. A tribunal hearing, if required, will be held as soon as practical following the report. 3. Penalty on Report This table is indicative of, but not limited to, the penalties received for the following offences. They are used in conjunction with the NSW Water Polo Code of Conduct/Judiciary Provisions. Misconduct - 1 round suspension Brutality (Striking, kicking, attempting to strike or kick) - 4 rounds suspension Disrespect/Abuse -2 rounds suspension Bringing the game into disrepute - 2 rounds suspension The President or acting President on the day, can, after consultation with the executive of the committee and/or other members, authorise the administrator to offer the set penalties detailed above and referred to in item 4 of this section, in response to an early guilty plea. Where such is offered, it must be done in writing (email acceptable) to the charged member with a copy to his/her club president by Noon of the first business day following the scheduled start time of the game in which the report occurred. The member charged, has a further 24 hours to respond. If such offer is not made within the required period, or the charged member fails to respond within the required period, the matter is referred to the Tribunal. NOTES: - A bye does not count as a round. - Double Ups count as 2 rounds. - The offending member may elect to take a set penalty as listed above, however the OMAWPA Executive may elect to Version 3.0 Page 7 of 8
waive the right to the offending member to take a set penalty and have the matter heard by the OMAWPA tribunal. - In all other cases the offending member may elect to take the set penalty as listed above or have the matter heard before the OMAWPA tribunal. - All other offences will be heard before the Tribunal. - The duration of a suspension is calculated as the specified number of rounds of team in which the member was playing/officiating when reported. - SUSPENSION IS THE CANCELLATION OF OMAWPA MEMBERSHIP FOR THE SPECIFIED TIME. 4. Report of same offence or second report within a 24 month time period. The penalty recommended will be double those penalties listed above. 5. OMAWPA Tribunal An executive member of the OMAWPA will arrange the Tribunal hearing. The Tribunal panel will consist of at least two persons and preferably three. Note: All protests, complaints and disputes resulting from Judiciary must be lodged in writing to the Secretary. The Secretary shall then refer the matter to the next Committee meeting for discussion, where, if necessary, the matter may be referred to the tribunal. Where a matter to be dealt with by the Judiciary process involves immediate family of a member of the committee, that committee member will be excluded from any decisions or any deliberations leading to any decisions in relation to the matter. Version 3.0 Page 8 of 8