GPLVL Rules

The Grande Prairie Ladies Volleyball League follows the rules of the Alberta Volleyball Association (VA) Rulebook. For any questions regarding the rules please contact the President or check the rules book online. 

Players:

Player Eligibility: Age limit to play in the GPLVL is 18 years of age and above. 

• Any player who is currently playing college volleyball is only eligible to play in ladies’ league as a sub, and only one sub from a college team can sub on any specific team at one time. This is to prevent stacking teams. This rule will also take effect at the tournament. 

Subs: Anyone may substitute for any given team throughout the year.

• Subs must also sign a waiver form prior to playing. 
• All subs must be listed on the score sheets in the appropriate place.
• Teams are allowed to pick up players for season league play during the season.
• If you wish for them to participate at the tournament, they must have played 3 nights with that team. You may not play with a team in the tournament if you’re on another team’s roster. And you can only play on one team during the tournament, otherwise both teams must forfeit.

Player Release: Any member of a team wishing to change team’s during the regular season must have a release form submitted prior to the Christmas break in order to properly re-assign you to the new team for the 2^nd half of the season. Any changes in team rosters must be notified to the GPLVL Committee ASAP.

Game Nights

Scores: The first two games in the match will be played until the first team reaches 25, winning by 2 points over the opposing team with a cap at 26-27.  The 3^rd game of the match is played to 15 with a two-point win, no cap.

• All games are to be played in the rally cap style.
• All matches are BEST of 3.

Score Sheets: Make sure that the score sheet and roster has been filled in correctly.

• If there are names on the roster and a player who is not there is named, that player must be removed.

Game Play: One hour time limit for each match.

• Games are to start on time. Games not completed by 10pm, will be stopped immediately and the score at that time is the final score and will be used to determine the stats.
• Games are played as follows:

Amount of Players: A minimum of 5 players per team are required to play a game. Any team unable to provide at least (5) players for a match, will forfeit that match to the opposing team. 

• If a team does not have a minimum of 5 players at the start of the match, then the 1st game is forfeited (due to scheduled gym time).
• If the 5th player does not show at 15 minutes past the hour, then the 2nd game is forfeited. Matches are all best of 3 so match over, 2 sets – 0 sets. Scores for these games would be 25-0 and 25-0.
• NOTE: If a team who has all their players agrees to start play with the other team that is short players, this decision and the outcome of the decision are final.  The outcome will be used to determine tier placements and will not be revoked by council.

The tier bag must be present each night of play.

Tier Standings: The GPLVL runs on a tier system that works as follows. Points are accumulated to determine the standings in the GPLVL. Placing order is determined by the placement of teams in a tier on each night of play.

• That has the most matches won goes up a tier and is in 4^th place in that tier for the next week of play.
• With the 2^nd most matches won stays in that tier and is in 2^nd place and takes a tier bag.
• With 3^rd most matches won stays in that tier and is in 3^rd place.
• With the least matches won, goes down a tier, and is in 1^st place in the lower tier for the next week of play.

All teams are required to have at least 1 player remain at the school until all games are finished playing and placements have been determined.

TIES:

2 Way Tie: If there is a 2-way tie, it will be determined by who beat who.

3 Way Tie: If there is a 3-way tie it goes to games for and against
Example (3-Way Tie Games for/against):

If there is a 2-way tie after this step it goes to who beat who.
If there is still a 3-way tie after these steps, it goes to points for and against.
Example (3-Way Tie Games for/against):

The games vs the team not in the tie are excluded.

Team Responsibilities

Game Night Responsibilities:

• Beginning of the night- ALL TEAMS MUST HELP set up nets.
• End of the night- ALL TEAMS ASSIST with taking down of nets and putting equipment away.
• Games start at 7PM.

Stats will be entered by the top team in the tier on the GPLVL website (www.gplvl.com) only unless otherwise directed by the GPLVL board.

• The stats have to be entered no later than noon, 12:00 pm, following the day of play.
• Because of the nature of the tier system there will be no rescheduling matches. No exceptions!! Failure to field a team will result as a forfeit.
• Should more than one team forfeit in a tier in one evening, the first team to forfeit will be in the 4^th position, 2^nd in the 3^rd position and so on.

Net Height: The height of the net for women’s is 2.24 meters. 

Fines: The following instances will result in a fine being issued to the offending team:

1. Failure to bring the tier bag

2. Failure to keep a representative at the gym until all the games are completed

3. Failure to notify the following of a forfeiture: 

 -Make a post on the GPLVL Facebook page as soon as possible once the decision has been made to forfeit

-email the board indicating forfeiture.

-Text the 3 other team contacts/captains (contacts located on GPLVL website, password protected)

4. Failure to enter stats by noon the day after a league night

Play will not be permitted until ALL FINES HAVE BEEN PAID. Each team will be given one warning following which the following will apply:

First Infraction = WARNING

Second Infraction = $25 fine

Third Infraction = $50 fine

Fourth Infraction = $100 fine

General Rules:

1.     The ball may touch any part of the body.

2.     The ball may not be caught and/or thrown.

3.     The 1^st hit on any play can be a double hit but cannot be caught or thrown and it must be one continuous action, i.e. going to set the ball with a double hit is okay but hitting it with one arm and then with a second is not.

• The 2^nd and 3^rd hit must be clean. Cannot be a carry. (see next point)

4.     The ball may touch various parts of the body if the contact takes place simultaneously.

• It is a double hit if it is more than one consecutive contact on the body, i.e. hits hands then forearms
• If it rolls across the body, it is a carry, i.e. rolls from the hands up the forearms before going into the air

5.     Back row attack: A back row player can complete an attack at any height from behind the attack line, as long as their foot has not touched or crossed the attack line on take-off.  

• A hit can be made in the front zone by a back row player if at the time of contact, a part of the ball is lower than the top of the net.

6.     Rotation/position faults: Rotation order is determined by the team’s starting line-up.  Player placement on the court must abide by the rotation order until the server has made contact with the ball. 

• If you are deemed out of rotation after the server on your team has served, play is dead, and your team will lose serve and a point. The opposing team gains serve.
  

7.     Net: Contact with the net by a player between the antennae, during the action of playing the ball, is a fault.

• This includes any part of the body, including hair.
• Honesty is the responsibility of the all the teams playing. PLEASE CALL YOURSELF ON THE NET. 

8.     Center line: Any part of the body can cross the center line as long as this act does not interfere with play.  If it interferes with the play, the offending team will lose the rally and the point.

• The entire foot crossing the centerline is a fault.

9.     Serving:

• The server has 8 seconds to complete once the server is behind the service line. Only 1 toss is allowed.  You cannot retoss the ball if it was a bad throw, it must be hit on the original toss otherwise it is a loss of serve and point.
• You cannot touch or cross the back line while serving. If you do, it is a loss of serve and point.
• Some gyms do not have much space behind the serving line, if there is 3 feet available behind the line, no step in will be allowed. Under 3 feet, one step is allowed but you must still start behind the serving line.
• Starting on the serving line or in the court will result in a lose of serve and point.

10.  You CANNOT HIT OR BLOCK a serve.

11.  Antennas: If present use, if not present, be honest and play fair.

12.  Liberos: This is an optional player; you do not have to use this position. You may use this position ONLY IF your team notifies the ref and opposing teams that you are using a Libero.

13.  Officiating: All teams will be officiating themselves.  Honesty and fair play are expectations.

14.  Sportsmanship: Unnecessary language and unsportsmanlike conduct will not be tolerated towards players, refs, or anyone else in the building.

15.  Supervision: When taking children to any scheduled game you become totally responsible for their well-being.

• CHILDREN ARE NOT ALLOWED TO RUN AROUND FREELY;
• This includes between plays/games even within the gym.
• They must remain in the gym and will be supervised at all times.
• If we receive further complaints from the schools and other teams, the privilege of bringing children to games will be taken away.

16.  School Property: 

• ANYONE CAUGHT SMOKING, VAPING, POSSESSING/USING ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES or POSSESSING/DRINKING ALCOHOL ON SCHOOL PROPERTY (INCLUDES PARKING LOTS/PLAYGROUNDS) DURING LEAGUE OR TOURNAMENT PLAY, WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE EXPELLED FROM THE LEAGUE.
  
• If you smoke, do so in your vehicle off of school property and do not leave cigarette butts anywhere on school property.
• No exterior door can be propped open. This includes for letting late players in or for cooling off “warm” gyms.
• As per our contracts with the City and the schools, the custodians have the authority to evict any user group if they feel it is necessary.
• If the gym doors do not open until 7:00pm, your full team should still be present before then. So that when you do get into the gym, you are ready to start immediately. Do not be offensive or aggressive with the school staff even if the doors are opened late. Please advise the GPLVL board if there are issues with the doors being opened on time.
• Only water is permitted in the gyms. No food or other beverages.

17.  Disciplinary Action: We as an executive board of the GPLVL reserve the right to initiate disciplinary action against any individuals, teams, or officials, as we deem necessary.

• Unprofessional behavior will not be tolerated. This is a team sport and each player/team represents the entire league.
• Illegal players will result in disciplinary action.
• Smoking/Vaping/Drinking/Use or possession of illegal substances on school property will result in expulsion from the league for the remainder of the season.

18.  Gym Cancellation: If your gym is unfortunately cancelled at the last minute or you rescheduled at the last minute, it is not the executive’s fault. Rescheduling will be attempted but this is not a guarantee as gym space is limited.

19. Cold Weather Policy: There will be no gym cancellations during inclement weather, all games will proceed as scheduled due to difficulty in obtaining alternate gym times.

20.  Complaints: If your team wishes to lodge a complaint:

• You must wait 24 hours after the end of your matches to email or call in a complaint.
• Only one person from the team is to lodge a complaint on behalf of the team.

21.  Refunds: There will be NO REFUNDS in whole or in part given to any team(s) who leave the Grande Prairie Ladies Volleyball League, either of their own accord or otherwise.

Executive

If you ever have any questions regarding the league please feel free to contact anyone on the executive. You can contact them through the contact portion of the GPLVL website or to the president email of president@gplvl.com.