FAQ

Date

August 2nd 20205

How much is the team entry fee?

Before July 1 - $135 per team

After July 1 - $160 per team

When is the entry deadline?

2025 Registration CLOSES on SUNDAY, July 27th @ midnight OR when tournament bracket is full.

Do all team members have to be the same grade/age?

No. You can build your team however you like. 

Can we have a COED Team?

Yes. Coed teams must have one player of each sex on the court at all times. If a team wants to play COED in a division where COED is NOT offered, they will automatically be placed in the Male Division. If more than 3 COED teams register in their according Male Division, a separate COED bracket *may* be created for those teams at the discretion of the bracketing committee.

Can I play on more than one team?

While we do allow individuals to play on more than one team, we cannot control game schedules to prevent scheduling conflicts. Individuals playing on multiple teams could have multiple games scheduled at the same time.

Player Age/Grade:

           Divisions Grades 3-12:  Players in school age divisions register based on the grade they will be entering in the fall of tournament year. 

           Divisions Ages 18+: Players who are age 18+ register in the division appropriate to the age of the youngest player on the team at the date of the current year tournament.

Forfeits/Disqualifications etc: 

             Player/Team Disqualification: Court monitors have the authority to disqualify any player from a game, and may request a tournament disqualification at the approval of a tournament director. Tournament Directors judgments are final and cannot be refuted. If you are disqualified from the tournament and you play on multiple teams you are disqualified on all teams. 

              Forfeit/Double Forfeit etc: Teams who do not arrive by 5 minutes after the listed game time will forfeit that game. The other team will receive a 20 to 0 score in their favor. In the case of a double forfeit, where both teams do not show or are disqualified a score of 0-0 will be entered. If a double forfeit occurs during bracket play, neither team will advance through the brackets, nor will either team be allowed to enter a consolation bracket.

Player Change/Substitutions: Player changes may be made until 7/27/25. Player changes made at check-in must not effect the division requirements of your current bracket (age, gender, grade etc)

Any player substitutions made after your first game are not valid and may be grounds for disqualification if the other team reports the illegal substitution. 

There are no exceptions to the player change rules, regardless of the reasons, such as injuries incurred during or before the event etc.

GAME RULES: 

Please note that our volunteer monitors are not perfect and we can not guarantee a perfect knowledge of all these rules. Coaches or Captains can dispute rules with monitors keeping in mind that the clock will not stop unless a time-out is called.

1. Sportsmanship Policy: Participants are expected to demonstrate good sportsmanship and cooperation. Any queries should be directed to the court monitor at each court.

   1. Team captains or designated coaches are responsible for managing their teammates' and followers' conduct and serving as the team spokesperson for appeals to the court monitor.

   2. Spectators and players are prohibited from directly addressing the monitor or players in derogatory or inflammatory ways. Poor sportsmanship may lead to penalties, including intentional or flagrant fouls. 

   3. Disqualification of a player or team is at the discretion of the court monitor or tournament official. Decisions made by court monitors will not be subject to review based on video or other recordings.

2. Tournament Divisions and Bracketing:

   1. Teams will be placed into specific divisions based on players’ ages, school grades, and genders as indicated on each team entry form.

   2. We may adjust or combine divisions before the tournament as needed based upon number of team entries in divisions.

3. Tournament Format:

   1. Pool Play: Teams are guaranteed 2 pool play games during the morning.

   2. Single Elimination: The afternoon will feature single-elimination brackets in each division. Seeding is based on pool play performance. Winners receive a prize and can have "CHAMPION" added to their shirts at the printing station. 

   3. Other Brackets: Divisions with minimal team entries may have brackets formed in a different way to ensure they will get to play 3 games. This could include combinations of divisions. It could also include more Pool Play options in place of actual tournament bracket.

4. Court Dimensions & Ball Size:

   1. Games are played on half courts.

   2. Free throw line is 15 feet from the backboard. Grades 3&4 free throw line is 10 feet.

   3. The basket height is 10 feet.

   4. Two-point shooting distance is 19.5 feet from the rim center.

   5. The intermediate-size ball is used for all female games and any brackets with 3rd to 6th-grade players. The full-size ball is used for all other games.

5. Jump Ball & Possession:

   1. A coin toss at the start of each game and/or overtime will determine which team gets the first possession.

   2.  All jump balls will alternate after that. Court monitors &/or score keepers will track possession changes.

6. Checked ball:

   1. The ball must be “checked” by an opposing player at the take-back line before it is put into play.

   2. The ball must be passed to begin play.

   3. Only one point of contact, such as the player’s foot or the ball must clear the top of the take-back line when possession changes during gameplay.

7. Common Fouls:

   1. Monitors will monitor and "referee" all games in brackets whose players are entering grades 3-6. These games will be called similar to regular games to encourage good habits.

   2. In all other brackets, the participating players will call their own fouls— more specifically, the player that was fouled will call the foul.

   3. All called fouls shall result in one free throw shot, except on successful field goals, in which case the basket counts, and no free throw shot is awarded. During a free throw, opposing team players may not intentionally disrupt the shooter's unhindered throw. A change of possession will result regardless of whether the free throw shot is made or missed. After a foul shot, the ball will be placed into play from the back-court line.

   4. Incidental contact between opponents shall not result in a foul unless such contact results in a meaningful disadvantage.

   5. All fouls called (both on-the-ground and shooting) will result in one free throw shot, except for a foul during the act of shooting behind the 2-point arc, which will result in two free throw shots each worth one point.

   6. Games CAN be won with a free throw shot.

8. Technical Fouls:

   1. A technical foul will be called for unsportsmanlike acts such as taunting, baiting, or trash talk. Taunting and baiting can involve derogatory remarks or gestures that incite or insult a player. Trash talk involves a deeply personal, verbal attack directed toward any person involved in the event.

   2. In extreme cases, the player may also be suspended from play and a coach or fan removed from the court for the remainder of that game or the rest of the tournament.

   3. A player who aggressively comes in contact with or assaults a court monitor, court-martial, or other tournament official shall be automatically ejected from the game and for the remainder of the current tournament. Additional suspension for such acts will be determined by the Swish Committee on a case-by-case basis.

   4. The court monitor may also assess a technical foul if the monitor determines that the team is stalling in the interest of preserving a winning margin. A technical foul results in one point for the offended team and possession of the ball.

   5. Technical fouls may only be called by a court monitor.

9. Intentional Fouls:

   1. An intentional foul is a foul designed to neutralize an opponent’s advantageous position. It is a foul which, based on the court monitor’s observation of the act, is not a legitimate attempt to directly play the ball.

   2. A foul shall also be ruled intentional, based on the monitor’s observation of the act, if while attempting to play the ball, a player causes excessive contact.

   3.  An intentional foul will result in one free throw shot and the offended team maintains possession of the ball, which is taken out at the back court line.

   4.  Intentional fouls may only be called by a court monitor.

10. Flagrant Fouls:

    1. A flagrant foul may be violent, or an act that displays unacceptable conduct. It may or may not be intentional. It may involve violent contact such as striking, kicking, kneeing, moving under an opponent who is in the air, and crouching or hipping in a manner that could cause severe injury to the opponent. It may also involve deadball contact or dialog which is extreme or persistent, savage, or abusive.

    2. A flagrant foul will result in one free throw shot and the offended team maintains possession of the ball, which is taken out at the back court line.

    3. The player committing the foul will be suspended from play for the remainder of the game or the rest of the tournament depending on the severity of the foul and monitor determination.

    4. Flagrant fouls may only be called by a court monitor.

11. Crowd Control: 

    1. The Team Captain or the designated parent/coach are the only people, other than the players, who are permitted to address the Court monitor.

    2. Any fans or parents who negatively address a Court Monitor or Tournament Official may be assessed as a technical foul to their team.

    3. Please also see the Player Agreement form that players & parents/guardians agree to during online registration.

12. Substitutions:

    1. Substitutions may be made during a time-out or a “deadball” situation.

    2. You may only substitute players who are named on your registration form or your team forfeits the current and future games. 

13. Keeping Score:

    1. Teams will be required to provide a scorekeepers if needed.

    2. All made baskets from inside the two-point arc count for one point and made baskets from outside the two-point arc count for two points.

    3. Made free throws are worth one point.

    4. The Court Monitor will decide how many points any shot is worth

    5. The first team to 20 points is the winner.

    6. 20 points is the maximum points a team can score during pool play. 

14. Game Length & Score Limits:​

    1. Each game has a 20-minute time limit.

    2. Each team is allowed one 30-second timeout per game.

    3. The clock only stops during timeouts, player injuries, or other interruptions as determined by the court monitor.

    4. All games end immediately when a team reaches 20 points--no win-by-2 is required in this case.

       1. If no team reaches 20 points within the 20-minute limit:

          1. The team leading by 2 or more points is declared the winner.

       2. If the game is tied or the lead is only 1 point, the game goes into overtime.

    5. Intentional stalling to run out the clock may result in a technical foul at the court monitor’s discretion (see Rule 11).

15. Overtime:

    1. Overtime begins with a new coin toss to determine possession.

    2. The first team to score 2 points will be the winner. The final scores will be reported after Overtime. 

    3. No win-by-2 rule in overtime—the first team to score 2 points is the winner.

    4. There is no time limit in overtime.

    5. Each team is allowed one 30-second timeout during overtime.

16. Forfeit:

    1. Teams have 5 minutes to report to the court after the scheduled game start time.

    2.  If one team fails to arrive, that team forfeits, and the opposing team is awarded a 20–0 win.

    3.  If neither team arrives, it will be ruled a double forfeit, and both teams will receive a score of 0.

17. The monitor, or tournament official’s decision are final.

***Court Monitors, Marshals & Referee's***

Court monitor: Court monitors are volunteers and will be assisting to referee the games, they are there to verify game results, and settle disputes. Players/teams are responsible for understanding the rules. A copy of the rules is in the court binder. Single-game ejections are at the discretion of monitors and referees, Swish committee members and directors will review and make final decisions on all tournament ejections.

Organizers: Occasionally courts will be monitored by members of the Swish committee. These volunteers run the courts like court monitors, but have a greater understanding of tournament rules and have greater authority regarding ejections from games or the tournament.