The East Fishkill Ultimate League has the following additions and variations from USAU rules:
WEATHER
If there is visible lightning or thunder heard on the field, the field must be cleared and games for the night will be cancelled.
Games that are terminated in the second half will count as completed games in the schedule. Games terminated in the first half will not count in the standings.
Minimum players to play (and not forfeit) is 5 including at least one DoW. If a team is short, our league has the tradition of good sportsmanship and we play matching numbers of players. For example, if a team is savage and has to drop to sixes due to injury, the opposing team will also drop to sixes instead of playing seven vs six. If both captains agree, it is permissible for rostered players in the league to guest with a short handed team, but guest players cannot count towards the minimum number of players to avoid forfeit.
Safety. East Fishkill Ultimate emphasizes safe play. With that in mind, we allow sidelines to call dangerous plays. We want to avoid injuries and dangerous plays. If a dangerous play occurs, we want it to be a coachable moment - whether it is an experienced player who is being too aggressive, or a newer player who may not know. If a player continues to make dangerous plays, they may be removed from the game or even removed from the league.
What is a Dangerous Play in Ultimate? In Ultimate, a "dangerous play" is defined as actions demonstrating reckless disregard for the safety of fellow players, or other dangerously aggressive behavior, and is treated as a foul. This means that a player engaging in such actions must be called for a foul, regardless of whether or not contact occurs.
Focus on Safety: The primary goal is to ensure player safety and prevent injuries. Actions that could be reasonably expected to lead to injury are considered dangerous.
Reckless Disregard: This implies that the player is intentionally putting others at risk, or is so careless that they should reasonably expect an injury to occur.
Examples of Dangerous Play:
Significantly colliding with a stationary opponent: A player running into an opponent who is not moving in a way that could cause injury.
Jumping into a group of players: A player jumping over a group of players with the intent to land on them or create a chaotic situation.
Initiating contact with a player's head: Any contact to a player's head is considered dangerous play.
Running without looking: A player running without paying attention to their surroundings, potentially colliding with another player.
Not Superseded by Other Rules: The dangerous play rule applies regardless of other game rules, meaning it is not overridden by any other circumstance.
How it's Resolved: If a player calls "dangerous play," it's treated as a foul. Play stops, and the foul is resolved as if a standard foul had been called
COVID guidelines - Be sure to READ and FOLLOW the USAU's current COVID return to play guidelines. These guidelines include social distancing, mask wearing, and other safety requirements on the field and on the sidelines. If you have been recently exposed to COVID or if you are sick, stay home.
Players eligibility:
Players must be at least 16 years old and be on a team roster. To get on a roster, complete our interest form and sign-up when they are posted in the league's Facebook group - usually in March or April for our summer season, and in July or early August for our Fall season. The league conducts a draft at the beginning of each season.
While nearly all of our players sign up before each draft, teams may add players to their roster up until two-thirds of the current season is complete if they have room. To add late, reach out on the Facebook group and our league commissioner or a team captain will respond with steps for you to follow if there is a spot for you. Late roster adds are intended to help with the balance of the league, not stack a team following the draft. After two-thirds of a season are completed, team rosters are frozen and new players cannot be added until the start of the next season.
All fees must be paid before you play. East Fishkill Ultimate league fees cover the use of the field and lights. As of Summer 2021, our league is affiliated with DiscNY, so players must also have a current USAU membership. Registering to play in our league is done via DiscNY, so both the league and affiliate membership fees can be paid at once. Players must also provide all info required by DiscNY and sign all DiscNY waivers.
Length of Game:
See the league schedule for game start times. We have the field until 10pm, so it is important to start the games on time.
Game start times are to be delayed no more than 15 minutes so the game can be completed by the start time of the next game
Games are played to 15, win by 2, with halftime called when the first team reaches 8 points. If a game is incomplete by the start time for the next game, hard cap is reached. See the Hard Cap for Games section.
Timeouts - Each team has 1 timeout per half, plus one floating time out that can be used during either half.
Hard Cap for Games
Hard cap for games is at the start time of the next scheduled game. For example, a 6PM game reaches hard cap at 7:15PM when the next game is scheduled to begin.
If the hard cap time is reached and it is between points, one additional point is played.
If hard cap is reached while a point is already being played, play continues until that point is resolved.
If that point results in a tie, an additional Universe Point is played to decide the winner.
If universe point is still being played ten minutes past hard cap, the game immediately ends in a tie. Universe point is not to extend past that time.
Timeouts are not permitted after hard cap is reached, regardless of how many timeouts a team had remaining.
Conflict resolution - Conflicts are to be resolved according to the USA Ultimate rules. If there is a disagreement between parties that cannot be resolved in the spirit of the game, the team captains will discuss and resolve the issue. If a team captain is not attending, that team must designate their acting captain when discs are flipped before the opening pull so that there is no question on who is representing the team. If a non-captain enters into the discussion, that player will politely be told to disengage by their captain. If the player refuses to do so, their captain will remove them from the game. If this does not occur or the player refuses, the offending team will forfeit the game.
Gender equity - East Fishkill prefers to play 5-2 with two defenders of women (DoW) players on the field for each team. If there are imbalanced numbers of defenders of women (DoW) players on the teams, those players from each team should discuss with each other how they prefer to handle equity during the game, and male players or defenders of anyone are expected to abide by their decision, including team captains. In those situations, either a gender end zone or offense dictates gender equity should be agreed upon before the pull of the disc. Note, to avoid forfeit, teams must have at least one rostered DoW in attendance, but they should not feel obligated to play an entire game without substitution.
Rule changes: Local rule changes are made by majority vote of the captains. If anyone wants to propose a rule change, they need to notify their captain. If the captain agrees, they will propose it in writing to the other captains. if the majority agree of the captains agree, the captains will be notified and then the rule will be immediately changed on the website to reflect the new rule.