The National High School Federation Rules and Regulations (NHSF) will apply to all HOOPLA games with the following exceptions.

I. All games will be played as follows:

A. High School games will consist of four eight minute quarters.
B. Grade 7 & 8 will consist of two sixteen minute halves. These grades will use a regulation size basketball.
C. Grade 3, 4, 5 and 6 contests will consist of two fourteen minute halves. These grades will use the 28.5 intermediate basketball.

II. Halftime shall be no longer than 5 minutes. At least a five-minute pre-game warm-up will be given if games are running behind schedule. No games will start before their scheduled time unless agreed to by both coaches.

III. Timeouts and overtimes will be awarded under NHSF rules accordingly.

IV. The clock will be stopped for all whistle stoppages.

V. Two (2) direct technical fouls during a game on any player, coach, or team representative will result in their disqualification for the next game of the tournament.

VI. Each team is responsible to provide a designated representative to assist in keeping the score book or running the game clock. This must be an adult who will conduct themselves in a professional manner.

VII. Each team is responsible for any items brought to the game. Hoops is not responsible for items lost.

VIII. If a team forfeits two (2) or more pool games; the team will be disqualified from the event and cannot participate in the tourney round of play.

ROSTER RULES:
I. Players participate at present grade level of school. Hoops does use a maximum birthday extension guide to accommodate players who have been retained in a grade for more than one year due to academics and/or parental preference. Refer to OVERAGE PLAYERS

II. Proof of age and/or grade is required. Acceptable proofs of age are, clean photocopies of birth certificates,
adoption papers, immigration papers or school documentation. Proof of grade is a clean copy of any report card of the current calendar year. Teams are required to have proof of age and/or grade upon check-in. Grade Verification will be relied upon from the applicable state of registration by the state director.

III. Players can play up in grade level but not down.

IV. No roster additions will be permitted after the team has begun play of its first tournament game.

V. Completed online rosters and registration fees must be submitted to the applicable Hoops tourney director within the time limits noted or the team will be ineligible for play.

VI. Teams participating in the National Tournament are allowed to add three (3) additional players that are not rostered on teams that have qualified and are participating in the National Tournament. Rosters are allowed a maximum of 15 players.

VII. Players not registered with Hoops cannot play – NO EXCEPTIONS.

VIII. Any team violating roster or team rules will be ineligible to participate in future tournaments.
POOL PLAY AND TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS FOR NATIONAL TOURNAMENTS:

I. In the National Tournament, each team will be placed in a pool for a minimum of three (3) games of play and be guaranteed to total of five (5) games for the event.
II. All Teams will advance to a championship tourney based upon their pool placing (*See Note 10)
A. Teams finishing first or second in their respective pool will advance to the Gold Division Championship single elimination tourney.
B. Teams finishing third, fourth, or fifth in their respective pool will advance to the Silver Division Championship single elimination tourney.
C. Teams losing their first championship tourney game will advance to the Bronze Division Championship single elimination tourney.
D. Silver and Bronze division winners will play each other and winner will play Gold division winner for the championship. All teams guaranteed 5 games.

III. The following criteria will be used to determine pool placing.

A. Pool win-loss record
B. Ties are broken by who won head-to-head competitions (2 teams tied)
C. Point spread on all games won in the pool with a maximum of 20 points counting in any one game (3 teams tied). (*See Note 8)
D. Teams will be seeded in tourneys based on their pool placing
E. The Tournament Direcor’s decision is FINAL regarding placement of any teams.

DIVISIONS OF PLAY:
Hoops Basketball offers three divisions of play at each grade for boys and girls. The Division I level is for elite teams, Division II is for competitive teams, and Division III is for community based or developmental teams.(*See Note 3)

ELIGIBILITY:
All players must participate in their own grade level or above. Players may play and be rostered on only one team per division per tournament.

ELIGIBILITY PROTESTS:
All protests must be filed in writing accompanied by a $100.00 protest fee (refundable if protest is upheld) with the Tournament Director PRIOR to protested game. If protest is valid, the protested team forfeits all previous games. Tournament Director’s ruling on protests is final. If eligibility protests, team must present required proof of eligibility. See ROSTER RULES for acceptable proofs of age and/or grade.

OVERAGE PLAYERS:
Hoops is a grade based basketball tournament with defined age parameters and limitations based on birth dates that allow players in each specific division to compete only against other players currently at the same grade level . The following guide determines all eligible ages at each grade level.

BOYS AND GIRLS
3rd grade – Player MUST be in the 3rd grade or below and NOT have turned 11 before September 1, 2007
4th grade – Player MUST be in the 4th grade or below and NOT have turned 12 before September 1, 2007
5th grade – Player MUST be in the 5th grade or below and NOT have turned 13 before September 1, 2007
6th grade – Player MUST be in the 6th grade or below and NOT have turned 14 before September 1, 2007
7th grade – Player MUST be in the 7th grade or below and NOT have turned 15 before September 1, 2007.
8th grade – Player MUST be in the 8th grade or below and NOT have turned 16 before September 1, 2007
9th grade – Player MUST be in the 9th grade or below and NOT have turned 17 before September 1, 2007
10th grade – Player MUST be in the 10th grade or below and NOT have turned 18 before September 1, 2007
11th grade – Player MUST be in the 11th grade or below and HAVE at least one year of high school eligibility remaining or officially enrolled in a prep school.

MERCY RULE:
Once a team is leading by 30 points anytime in a game, the clock will not be stopped for whistle stoppages. If the lead goes below 20 points the clock will be stopped for all whistle stoppages.
NOTE:
(1) Area and State Tournaments have the authority to modify local playing rules to accommodate local circumstances. All teams participating in the National Tournaments must adhere to the National Tournament Rules as outlined above and have state director’s approval for the respective divisions of play.
(2) There must be a minimum of five teams per division for the National Tournament to be held. If less than five teams, all teams will be moved to Division 1 for tournament play.
(3) School teams can play in any division but must have the applicable state director’s approval for the division they elect to participate in. This is being done to insure parity of play in all divisions
(4) Coaches of high school players playing in National Tournaments that are NCAA certified must be registered and certified with the NCAA in advance of the USSSA National Tournament events. Entries for such teams will not be accepted until this procedure is complete and in compliance with NCAA live period rules posted on www.ncaa.org.
(5) Effective for the 2006-2007 Season(s); players CAN NOT play down a grade even though they meet age
requirements for such grade.
(6) All high school players playing in NCAA Certified events must attend a mandatory educational seminar during such events.
(7) All-tournament teams, MVP’s and Hustle Awards are determined by coaches in the events. All
recommendations must be submitted before coaches leave the event.
(8) If three teams tie with same record the first tie breaker will be points as outlined on III (c) and the remaining two teams will be placed based upon head-to-head record. If teams have not played each other, the tie breaker will be based upon least points allowed.
(9) Coaches and scorekeepers are given passes and credentials at check-in. These passes and credentials are to be used only by persons receiving such at check-in. Any coaches allowing unauthorized use of these passes and credentials during the event will be disqualified from the tournament.
(10) If there is less than 6 teams; special brackets will be developed by the tournament director accordingly.