At LMVSC basketball, our focus is on providing players with the opportunity to develop their basketball skills in a friendly, competitive environment. In furtherance of that goal, we have implemented a Player Participation rule.
Under this rule, all players must play at least half the game and all players must sit at least one full quarter.
EACH PLAYER MUST PLAY AT LEAST HALF THE GAME
As part of the minimum play time rule, each player must player an entire full, uninterrupted quarter, whether it’s the entire 1st quarter, the entire 2nd quarter, the entire 3rd quarter, or the entire 4th quarter. The balance of the time can be satisfied in the other two quarters.
EACH PLAYER MUST SIT A FULL, UNINTERRUPTED QUARTER
In addition to the minimum play rule, we require that each player sit an entire full, uninterrupted quarter, as determined by his coach. This means the players sits from the first minute of the quarter through the tenth minute of the quarter. No player should have play time in every single quarter.
WHAT IF WE DON’T HAVE ENOUGH PLAYERS FOR EVERYONE TO SIT A FULL, UNINTERRUPTED QUARTER?
The only time this comes into play is if the number of players at the beginning of the game is six or less. In this case, you do not have to satisfy the sit-down rule. However, all players will have to play at least three quarters. If you have seven or more players at the start of the game, you must comply with this rule.
DOES THE MINIMUM PARTICIPATION RULE CHANGE IF SIX PLAYERS OR LESS ARE AT THE GAME?
If a team only has six player at the game, then every player must play at least 3 quarters of the game (30 minutes). Of that time, the player must play in at least two full, uninterrupted quarters. The balance of that time can be satisfied in the other two quarters.
WHAT IF THERE IS AN INJURY OR A PLAYER FOULS OUT?
If a player is injured or fouls out, this rules should still be satisfied. If it is impossible to satisfy the player participation rules due to an injury or a player fouling out, coaches should try to comply with the rule as best they can.
WHAT IF A COACH DOES NOT SATISFY THE PARTICIPATION RULES?
First, all actions should be taken to prevent that from happening. Scorekeepers should be accurately reflecting if players played full quarters or not. Coaches should be looking at the book at half-time to see which players have satisfied the minimum play rule and which players have satisfied the sit-down rule. It is better for an opposing coach or scorekeeper to raise it with the coaches at half-time and at the end of the third quarter.
The referees do not monitor or enforce the player participation rules. If there is an issue between the coaches, the referees are to give the coaches up to five minutes between the quarters to work it out. If the coaches have no agreed to continue the game after five minutes, the referees are to abandon the game.
If you are a coach, or the parent of a player adversely affected by a coach’s failure to comply with the Player Participation Rules, please bring it to the attention to the Player Director and/or the Director of Basketball. Contact information for these individuals can be found here.
We will review the scorebook and take action as necessary to rectify the situation.
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