Index 1. Athletic Year Central States Football League By Laws and Constitution (Updated April 10, 2017) 2. Organized Football Training 3. Spring Training 4. Official Rules 5. Eligibility for Championship 6. Football Schedule 7. Uniforms 8. Complimentary Tickets 9. Awards 10. Sports Information Director 11. Football Chair and Conference Rater 12. Annual Meetings 13. Marching Bands 14. Halftime Clock 15. Game Administration 16. Letter of Intent 17. Athletic Trainer 18. Video Rules 19. Traveling Squad 20. Membership 21. Dues & Budget 22. Starting Time 23. Game Officials 24. Commissioner 25. Transfer Rule 26. Provisional Member Status 27. Absences of Committee Representatives 28. Changing of Rules and Regulations 29. Eligibility 30. Concussion Management Policy
Section 1 ATHLETIC YEAR The athletic year shall be considered as a 24-week season and can begin prior to August 1 st of each year. Section 2 ORGANIZED FOOTBALL TRAINING Organized football training shall not begin before August 1st and three (3) weeks before the first scheduled game, or one (1) week before the first day of official classes for the fall semester, whichever is first. Section 3 SPRING TRAINING A. Spring football will be permitted by this Conference. The NAIA 24-week rule will be in effect and for a maximum of fifteen (15) sessions. Practice sessions may begin at any time after the start of the second semester. B. There will be no advertised game or games where admission is charged in spring football. There will be no spring football scrimmages or games in football with any other school, institution, or organization. C. This does not prohibit intra-squad scrimmages in football. Section 4 OFFICIAL RULES All Conference football games must be played under the NCAA & NAIA football rules. Section 5 ELIGIBILITY FOR CHAMPIONSHIP A. In order for a team to be eligible for the football championship, they must play all Conference teams. B. To be named the Conference s Champion in football for playoff purposes, a team must meet the NAIA criteria for playoff selection. If a team with the best Conference record does not meet those criteria, the team with the next best Conference record will be designated Conference Champion for playoff purposes. C. To break ties for play-off purposes, the following rules will apply: a. In case of a two-way tie, the team that won the Conference contest between the two will advance. b. In case of more than a two-way tie, the following procedures will apply: 1. The team with the best Conference won/lost record in games played among the tied teams will advance. 2. In the event of the tie still existing among three (3) or more teams, you will look at the won/lost record against the balance of the Conference. Example: Look at how all three did against the 4 th place team, if they all had beaten #4, then go to #5 team, etc. 3. If a winner still is not determined, the team with the highest win percentages against NAIA teams will advance. 4. As a last resort, a coin toss will be used to determine the Champion.
Section 6 FOOTBALL SCHEDULING Football Schedules will be made up two (2) years in advance by the Coaches and Athletic Directors of the Conference at the annual Spring Meeting. They may all be worked out in advance, but voted on at the Spring Meeting. If it can not be accomplished in this manner, the Conference Commissioner will have the final vote. Coaches must keep the last seven (7) weeks open for Conference play when possible. Section 7 UNIFORMS The home team shall wear dark jerseys in intercollegiate competition, and the visiting team shall wear light jerseys. Section 8 COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS A. The Conference will only honor passes that have a NAIA card and CSFL conference passes. B. Conference institutions may not exchange complimentary tickets. (No pass policy) C. The Conference will provide pass cards to each AD to be used for Coaches family. Section 9 AWARDS A. Offensive Player of the Week, Defensive Player of the Week and Special Teams Player of the Week will be determined by a vote from each institution s SID and with a vote from the conference SID. All ties will be broken by the conference SID. 1. Deadline to nominate Player of the Week is 5 p.m. CST on the Sunday following the games for the week. 2. Deadline for SID s to vote for Player of the Week is between 5-6 p.m. CST on Sunday following the games for the week. SID s are allowed to vote for their own institution s nominations. B. Conference Coach of the Year will be selected by a vote from all Coaches. C. Conference Sports Information Director will conduct balloting for the following Conference Awards: Conference All-Conference Honors will be listed as: Offense: 5 Offensive Linemen, 3 Receivers, 3 Running Backs, 1 Tight End, 1 Quarterback; Defense: 4 Defensive Linemen, 4 Linebackers, 4 Defensive Backs; Special Teams: 1 Kicker, 1 Kick Returner, 1 Punter, 1 Punt Returner: Other: Newcomer of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Athlete of the Year. D. Individual certificates will be given for All Conference, 2 nd Team All Conference and Honorable Mentions. Honorable Mention players will receive a certificate. E. A team plaque will be given to Conference Champions and an individual plaque to the Conference Coach of the Year, the Offensive Player of the Year the Defensive Player of the Year and the Special Teams Player of the Year. F. No coach can vote for himself or any of their team members.
G. Rings for the Conference Champions must be purchased from Balfour. A total of $1,000.00 will be given to the championship team to aid in the purchase of rings. If there is more than one team that is declared Conference Champions, the $1,000.00 will be split between the teams. H. A Freshman must have completed twelve (12) hours and maintain a cumulative grade point average of a 3.0 at that institution before being eligible for Academic All-Conference honors. I. Each Coach will select two student athletes from their team to be on the Champions of Character Team for the CSFL. Section 10 SPORTS INFORMATION DIRECTOR Conference Sports Information Director will be employed by the Conference Commissioner and is subject to annual review by the Commissioner. Section 11 FOOTBALL CHAIR AND CONFERENCE RATER The football coaches will elect a Football Rater and Chair at the Annual Meeting for the upcoming season. In case of a tie, the Conference Commissioner will cast the tie-breaking vote. Section 12 ANNUAL MEETING A. The location and date of the annual meeting will be set by a majority vote by every institution at the annual meeting. The meeting will move North and South each year. B. A meeting will be conducted by the Coaches for selection of All Conference on the 2 nd Monday after the completion of the season. The meeting will be held at the site of the team still in the NAIA play-offs, or if no teams are remaining in the play-offs it will be held at a central location. This is a mandatory meeting for all Coaches. Section 13 MARCHING BANDS It will be up to the two individual institutions to work out the marching band s performances prior to the starting of the game and at half time. The NCAA and NAIA rules will apply. If mutual agreement cannot be reached, the Conference Commissioner will make the final decision. Section 14 HALF TIME CLOCK Half time clocks will be 20 minutes as provided by the NCAA Rules. However, at homecomings and etc., there are circumstances when five or ten additional minutes may be added. The host institution must provide in writing, 72 hours prior to the game day, notice of the change to the visiting Coach and the Conference Commissioner. These times must be approved by both Athletic Directors.
Section 15 GAME ADMINISTRATION A. The Conference will follow NCAA and NAIA Football rules. B. A Game Administrator and Crowd Control person should be available for all home games. C. Each institution will use one of the three NAIA approved footballs manufactured by Big Game. Section 16 LETTER OF INTENT Each school will use institutional Letter of Intent to be kept on file at the institution. Section 17 ATHLETIC TRAINER A. Each school will need to have an Athletic Trainer on site for all home games. B. All games will have a doctor available. If no doctor is available, you need to notify the visiting team within 5 days of the game. This should go from AD to AD. An ambulance services is recommended to be available for all home games. Section 18 VIDEO RULES (Hudl) A. Each institution will identify a video coordinator. Name, cell phone, and e- mail of video coordinator will be supplied to CSFL Conference Commissioner Tony Stigliano. This directory will be published to all head coaches. B. Filming Area 1. Adequate room will be given to film personnel from the opposing team in or on the press box. 2. End zone filming is the responsibility of the individual teams. The home team does not have to supply lifts, etc. for visitors. 3. Opposing teams can utilize the home teams film should they choose to not bring filmers. If this arrangement is made the home team is responsible to share the film with visitor ASAP following the game. 4. It is expected that film personnel will not be in with other coaching personnel unless adequate space is given. C. Film Views 1. A sideline wide view will be shot that incorporates from deep safety to tailback in scope. 2. An end zone view will be shot that will incorporate from TE to TE in scope.
D. Sharing Film 1. Film will be uploaded to HUDL and shared by 6:00 PM on Sunday following a game. 2. Shared video will be intercut (wide/end zone) and will include the following information; Quarter, Series, ODK, Play Type (pass, run, special teams), Down, Distance, Yard Line, Hash. i. For HUDL users the most efficient way to accomplish this is with an I-Pad or smart phone during the game using the HUDL app designed for game interactive breakdown. 3. Each game is shared with all conference opponents. I.e. after game one of season the game is shared with all conference opponents and so on for each successive game. Teams may pick and choose the games they wish to scout on any conference opponent. 4. No team is to exchange conference film to a team outside the conference. This would not include film traded to a non-conference team for the purpose of preparing to play that non-conference team. 5. The CSFL procedure for tagging exchanged video will be required. If a team does not tag by the CSFL procedure: 1) Video will be sent to the commissioner 2) Commissioner will notify HUDL and the offending team will be removed from the CSFL pool 3) Trading video will then be team by team with like tagging 4) Teams in the pool still have access to the violating team s video through their opponents video E. All schools will us the pool system when filming. 1. Quarter/series/OBK/play type (pass, run, special teams)/down/distance/yard line/hash 2. We will have to have a tight end and a wide view. Section 19 TRAVELING SQUAD The travel squads for Conference games will not have any limit. The school will determine the numbers. It will be left up to the institution on the number that will travel. Section 20 MEMBERSHIP Membership in the Conference is open to any NAIA institution that is in good standing with the NAIA and received a majority approval by the current Conference membership in good standing with the Conference and the NAIA. Applications must be made in writing to the Conference Commissioner prior to the Annual Meeting.
Section 21 DUES AND BUDGET A. The annual dues must be paid in full prior to August 15 th of the current year. B. The Conference Commissioner will submit a budget at the Annual Presidents Meeting for review by the Presidents for approval. Section 22 STARTING TIME OF GAMES All Conference games will be set on Saturday at 2 p.m. Time changes may be made by mutual agreement of both teams that is approved by the Athletic Directors of each team. Section 23 GAME OFFICIALS A. A seven (7) person officiating crew will be used by the Conference. All officials will be paid $185.00 per game (no mileage). The Commissioner s office will assign and approve all game officials for all Conference football games. B. The Conference will pay all officials assigned to work out of the Conference office. Each school will get an invoice for the total cost of officials and payment should be sent to the Conference office by the 20 th of August. C. Game fee can be changed by a majority vote at the Annual Meeting. Section 24 COMMISSIONER Presidents The chair of the President s Council will have a two-year term. The chair will also represent the CSFL on the NAIA COC group. The Presidents of the member institutions will hire the Conference Commissioner. The Conference Commissioner will be reviewed every three years and voted on at their Annual Meeting by the Chair of the President s Council. Section 25 TRANSFER RULE The Conference will have a one (1) year waiting period if a student athlete wishes to transfer within the Conference to play football. Under unusual circumstances, the student athlete may request a hardship waiver to the Conference. If a player transfers within the Conference, he is ineligible to participate for one year. President s Exception is possible if an appeal is made because of extenuating circumstances or serious problems. Both schools must submit information including releases from both schools (including signatures from both Coach and AD from each school) and the student must submit a letter of request and information as well. In the event a request is made and agreed upon by both institutions, the executive committee will make the final decision.
The penalty for a transfer within the Conference without approval and the student playing in a game, all games the player played in will be forfeited. Section 26 PROVISIONAL MEMBER STATUS New members to the league will enter as provisional members for a one year period. Provisional members cannot compete for the Conference Championship. Dues payments will be paid for the provisional year. Members must be present at Conference meetings. Section 27 ABSENCES OF COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE AT MEETINGS In the event that someone cannot attend their designated committee function, they are to contact the commissioner immediately. An individual can be selected to represent the school and have a vote. Section 28 CHANGING OF RULES AND REGULATIONS Any portion of these rules and regulations can be changed at the Annual Meeting by a majority vote of the membership in good standing with the Conference. A written notice to all member institutions and the Conference Commissioner must be given 30 days prior to the Annual Meeting of any changes to the bylaws. Section 29 ELIGIBILITY The eligibility will be conducted thru each of the schools Eligibility Chairs. The CSFL Conference will have an individual to oversee the eligibility process and answer any questions. Section 30 CONCUSSION MANAGEMENT POLICY A CSFL member institution shall have a concussion management plan for its student-athletes. The plan shall include components of education, assessment, treatment and return to play (RTP). The following list is not meant to be comprehensive but outlines minimal requirements for institutions. A. An annual process that ensures student-athletes are educated about the signs and symptoms of concussions. Student-athletes must acknowledge that they have received information about the signs and symptoms of concussions and that they have a responsibility to report concussion-related injuries and illnesses to a medical staff member; B. A process that ensures a student-athlete who exhibits signs, symptoms or behaviors consistent with a concussion shall be removed from athletics activities (e.g., competition, practice, conditioning sessions) and evaluated by a medical staff member (e.g., sports medicine staff, team physician) with experience in the evaluation and management of concussions; C. A policy that precludes a student-athlete diagnosed with a concussion from returning to athletics activity (e.g., competition, practice, conditioning sessions) for at least the remainder of that calendar day; and
D. A policy that requires medical clearance for a student-athlete diagnosed with a concussion to return to the athletics activity (e.g., competition, practice, conditioning sessions) as determined by a physician (e.g., team physician) or the physician s designee. An institutional Concussion Management Protocol shall be submitted and on file with the Commissioner s Office. The protocol shall be consistent with the NCAA guidelines and shall include: A. Policies and procedures that meet the requirements of CSFL By Law Section 30; B. Procedures for pre-participation baseline testing of each student-athlete is highly encouraged; C. Procedures for reducing exposure to head injuries; D. Procedures for education about concussion, including a policy that addresses return-to-learn; E. Procedures to ensure that proper and appropriate concussion management, consistent with best known practices, is made available to any studentathlete who has suffered a concussion; F. Procedures requiring that the process of identifying, removing from game or practice, and assessing a student-athlete for a possible concussion are reviewed annually; and G. A written certificate of compliance signed by the institution s athletics director.