5 on 5 FLAG FOOTBALL RULES

Illegal equipment:
A. Headwear containing any hard, unyielding, stiff material, including billed hats, or items containing exposed knots.
B. Jewelry.
C. Pads or braces worn above the waist.
D. Shoes with metal, ceramic, screw-in, or detachable cleats and Nike Sharks.
E. Shirts or jerseys that do not remain tucked in. Any hood on a coat, sweatshirt, or shirt that does not remain tucked in.
F. Pants or shorts with any belt(s), belt loop(s), pockets(s), or exposed drawstring(s).
G. Leg and knee braces made of hard, unyielding material, unless covered on both sides and all edges overlapped.
H. Any slippery or sticky foreign substance on any equipment or exposed part of the body.
I. Exposed metal on clothes or person.
J. Towels attached at the player's waist.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: Each team should start the game with 5 players; (2 female) 4 are needed (1 Female) to avoid a forfeit.

LENGTH OF GAME: Playing time shall be 30 minutes, separated into two halves of
15 minutes. Half-time shall be 5 minutes. A coin toss will determine who shall receive the choice of possession or side at the beginning of the game. If only one team is ready to play at game time, they will automatically have the choice. In the case of overtime, there will be a 3-minute intermission prior to starting overtime.
Should darkness threaten the completion of a game, periods can be shortened by mutual consent of captains, the referee, and a supervisor.

OVERTIME (TIE GAME): If the game score is tied after regulation time, then a coin toss will determine who will get the ball & side. The home team shall call the toss. If additional overtime periods are needed to decide the outcome of the game (more than first overtime), captains shall alternate choices. Each team will have the chance to score in series of four downs from the 10 yard line. If the score is still tied after each team has had a try, a second series is played, Starting at there own 20 yard line and so on until a winner is determined.
(Exception: Regular season games will end in a tie if teams are tied after the second series).

Kick Off: Kicking Team will kick off from there own 10 yard line. All kickoffs will be in the form of a punt.

Downs: Each Team shall have 4 downs to score a touchdown. Teams may punt on 4th down. Should a team turn over possession by failing to score on 4th down the defensive team will take over from the line of scrimmage. In recreational division a female must be involved in one of the four plays for touchdown to count (if touchdown is scored on 4th down).

PUNTING: Quick punts are illegal. On fourth down the Offensive team must indicate to the defensive team they want a protected scrimmage kick. Once the offense has declared their choice, the only way the Offense can change their decision is to call a time-out, or if a foul occurs anytime prior to or during the down and the down is to be replayed. In the later case the Offensive team must indicate if they are putting or not. The kicking team must have all of its players, except for the punter, on the line of scrimmage. No kicking team players may move until the ball is kicked. There are no restrictions to the number of players the defensive team must have on the line. Defensive players MAY attempt to block the punt by jumping straight up in the air. They may not, however, penetrate the line of scrimmage. If a punt crosses the scrimmage line and touches a player from either team and then hits the ground, the ball is dead at that spot and belongs to the receiving team.

No Yards: Players receiving punts will be given a 5 yard buffer to receive the kick while the ball is in the air. If the ball touches the ground there is no 5 yard zone and the kicking team may down the ball.

LINE OF SCRIMMAGE: The offensive team must have a minimum of 3 players set the line of scrimmage at the snap. Players in motion do not count as players on the line of scrimmage. Only 1 Player can be in motion at any time. Once the center has placed his hands on the ball no offensive player may enter the neutral zone. Following the ready for play whistle and until a legal snap, no defensive player may encroach, touch the ball, stand in, or in any other way interfere with the offensive team.
Penalty - Dead Ball foul, encroachment, 5 yards from succeeding spot.

Rushing the quarterback: Players may rush the quarterback after counting 5 steamboats out-loud, a steamboat equals one second not how fast you can say steamboat!!

PLAY TIME: Should the ball not cross the line of scrimmage within 10 seconds the play is considered dead from its current location not the line of scrimmage!

BACKWARD PASSES AND FUMBLES: Any ball that is fumbled during a down will be dead by rule once it has touched the ground. A backward pass or fumble may be caught or intercepted by any player inbounds and advanced. A player may not intentionally throw a backward pass out of bounds to conserve time or to avoid being downed. This will be penalized as an Illegal pass: loss of 5 yards and loss of down. Once a ball has touched the ground the ball is considered dead.

FORWARD PASSES AND INTERCEPTIONS: If a player is in the air attempting to catch a ball, the player must contact the ground with at least one foot in-bounds with the ball in their possession prior to going out of bounds, unless contact by an opponent causes the player to first touch out-of -bounds. If possession of the ball is lost simultaneously when they hit the ground, it is not a catch.
If a forward pass is caught simultaneously by members of opposing teams, the ball is dead at that spot and belongs to the team that snapped the ball.

PASS INTERFERENCE: Any contact that, in the view of the official, interferes with the attempt to catch a pass (offensive or defensive player) is pass interference unless, in the view of the official, it occurs when two or more eligible receivers make a simultaneous and bona fide attempt to reach, catch, or bat a pass. It is also pass interference if an eligible receiver is de-flagged or touched prior to touching the ball on a pass thrown beyond the offense's line of scrimmage. If the pass interference by the defense is intentional and/or unsportsmanlike, the defense may be penalized an additional 10 yards.

SCORING:
Touchdowns = 6 points
Extra Point = 1 point
All extra point attempts are a single play from the 5 yard line.

SAFETY: If a player carries the ball across the goal line they are defending and the ball becomes dead while in their team's possession, it is a safety. If a team commits a foul in the end zone where the spot of enforcement is designated as the spot of the foul, it will be declared a safety. A team recording a safety will receive two points, and the ball shall be snapped by the scoring team at their own 10 yard line, unless moved by penalty.

PERSONAL FOULS: Any act listed below or any other act of unnecessary roughness is a personal foul. Players shall not:
· Punch, strike, strip, steal, or attempt to steal the ball from a player in possession.
· Trip an opponent.
· Contact an opponent who is on the ground.
· Throw the runner to the ground.
· Hurdle another player.
· Contact an opponent either before or after the ball is declared dead

FLAGS: No player shall protect their flag being removed during a play. Protecting a flag will result in loss of down and the next play will take place from original line of scrimmage.

ALL PLAYERS ARE RESPONSIBLE TO CALL THEIR OWN FOULS!!!!!