Unless otherwise noted, Official High School Rules will apply.
All leagues
1. Each player on a team must play one continuous full quarter during the game. A continuous full quarter is defined as the beginning of a quarter through its completion.
2. Exceptions: AA division is not required to follow this rule due to the ages of the players. However, the spirit of the rules should apply in that each player should play at least the equivalent of a full quarter.
3. If any team has more than 10 players at the game, they will be responsible for playing 10 players one continuous full quarter (Start to finish of a quarter). Additional players beyond 10 must play 2 continuous minutes sometime during the game.
If a player starts a quarter and gets hurt and must come out of the game that quarter will be counted as their continuous quarter.
4. Late Arrivals: If a player arrives anytime during the first half they must meet the regular requirement of playing one continuous quarter. If they arrive after the start of the third quarter, they are eligible to play but are only required to play 2 minutes in that game. If they arrive after the start of the 4th quarter they are ineligible to participate in that game. Penalty: Violation for not playing a player will be forfeiture of the game. It is recommended that coaches verify player-playing status with the official scorekeeper during halftime to make sure there is no violation. No technical foul will be issued for a player arriving late if he/she is already signed in the scorers book!!
5. Referees are required to officiate a game even if it is a forfeit.
6. A forfeited game must end 10 minutes prior to next scheduled game time.
7. The season will begin the first Saturday in December. Games will be played on Saturdays between 8:00am and 6:00pm when possible.
8. Length of games will be as follows:
9. “AA” Division - 4 quarters of 6 minutes each.
10. “A” Division – 4 quarters of 7 minutes each.
11. “B”, “C”, “D”, & “E”, and all girls divisions – 4 quarters of 8 minutes each.
12. Additional game rules:
13. One (1) minute between quarters. Five (5) minutes between halves.
14. Time-outs: 2 per half. (no carryovers).
15. Overtime: Two (2) minute overtime periods for “A”, and “B” Divisions. Three (3) minute overtime periods for “C”, “D”, and “E” Divisions. Overtime will only be during playoff games. There will be no overtime during the regular season.
16. Ten (10) minutes are allocated for team warm-ups prior to each game (if time permits), but may be cut to minimum of five (5) minutes if games are running behind. This is the decision of the gym official.
17. No dunking is allowed anytime. A technical foul will be assessed for violations.
18. The game clock will stop only on shooting fouls, time-outs, and on each dead ball in the final minute of the 1st three quarters and the final two (2) minutes of the 4th quarter.
19. No team will be allowed to full court press with a lead of 20 points or more. The first team violation will result in a warning. On the second and successive violations a 2-shot technical foul will be called on the player committing the violation. Two (2) technicals in a game on an individual will result in that player being disqualified from that game. (If one team is obviously much superior to another it is recommended that the superior team do certain things in the name of good sportsmanship to prevent humiliating the other team. Some of the things recommended are to pull back in a zone on defense or don’t guard anyone outside the 3-point line. On offense you as a coach could have your team work on their offensive sets by not fast breaking. At this point these are merely recommendations that will become written rules if teams continue to abuse their superiority over another team!)
20. During any time that pressing is not allowed the team on defense must allow offense to get the ball across midcourt before guarding them. (Referee will warn defensive team and ask them to back up if not allowing the ball to cross into the front court)
21. Only coaches and players on the team that is playing are allowed on or around the bench during the game. An adult team scorekeeper is considered a coach.
22. No coaches, players, or friends of scorekeepers are allowed to be around the scorer’s table during the game. (It is a major distraction) Obvious exception would be players checking into a game (they should sit down in front of the table to avoid blocking view of scorekeeper) and coach asking a question at the proper time and in the proper manner. (examples: time-outs, between quarters, halftime break, or at referees request)
23. Teams may start a game with 4 players. If a team fails to have four players on the court at game time, they will be given five minutes before a forfeit is called.
24. In the AA, A, GA, B and GB divisions (10 years old and under) players may play with starter earrings that cannot be taken out. The earrings must be only the studs and must be taped up. The parents of players that have these earrings must sign a waiver before the child is allowed to play.
Game Rules
1. “AA” - “A” Division Special Rules
2. Offensive possession is established with controlled ball possession.
3. The defense may not interrupt the dribble.
4. In “AA” the ball cannot be tied up or taken from a player at anytime while he/she maintains possession. It can only be intercepted when it is passed or blocked when it is shot.
5. There will be no backcourt defense at anytime for “AA” division games. Offensive players must be allowed in the frontcourt before being picked up by the defense. In the “A” division full court press is allowed the last 1 minute of the game unless the team is ahead by 10 or more points. The frontcourt is usually considered the middle of the court.
6. There will be no backcourt violation in the “AA” divisions. In the “A” division the ball must get across mid-court within 10 seconds. The gym site should have at minimum a piece of tape to designate the frontcourt line.
7. No triple teams on the ball handler are allowed. The first 2 times will be a warning. The third time and each time thereafter will result in one (1) foul shot and the ball.
8. A basket will not count if shot into the wrong basket. If this happens the ball will be taken out by the team that had possession of the ball when it was shot.
9. Free Throws will be shot from the 9ft line.
10. The “A” division has a 5-second lane violation in place of the 3-second lane violation. The “AA” has no lane violation, unless the team is getting an advantage by staying in the lane. The referee should warn the player and coach.
11. The closely guarded five (5) second rule does not apply; however, obvious stalls by individual players will be called a change of possession. A player may only keep possession of the ball a maximum of 20 seconds in the frontcourt before they must pass or shoot.
12. There will be a free throw-in into the backcourt.
13. No score will be kept in “AA” games.
14. No tournament will be played at the end of the year in “AA”.
15. “B” Division Special Rules
16. Offensive possession is established with controlled ball possession in the backcourt.
17. A free throw-in into the backcourt will be allowed except for the last two (2) minutes of the game. The defense cannot cross half-court to intercept the pass.
17. No full court press until the last two (2) minutes of the game. The full court press rule does apply.
18. Free Throws will be shot from the 12ft line.
Reporting Scores
The score of each game will be entered on the IYBL website by the host site gym as soon as possible after the game is played. Scores will also be emailed by the host site gym to [email protected] for official verification.
Ball Size
1. 28.5 inch ball will be used for “AA – B” teams both boys and girls.
2. 28.5 inch ball for all girls divisions, 29.5 inch ball for boys “C - E”
Goal Heights
1. “AA – AA” will shoot on 8’ goals
2. “B – E” will shoot on 10’ goals
Referees
1. For all “AA & A” games, there is one referee per game.
2. All other divisions will have two referees per game.
3. Playoff and tournament games will have two referees.
4. The league is responsible for supplying and paying all referees.
League Fees & Insurance
1. All league fees will be paid by the host church based upon the league established per team rate. League fees will be billed at the end of the season.
2. Insurance will be provided for all players in the IYBL by the league. Participating churches will split the costs of insurance based upon the number of players in the league.
Gym Operation
1. Each gym will supply an official scorer, timer, game ball, and set of shirts or pinnies that can be used as a visible means of telling two (2) teams apart.
2. Host gym sites will be reimbursed at the end of the season, by the league, for supplying scorers and timekeepers and regular season and tournament games.
Game Times
1. The times listed on the league schedule are the game start times. Teams should arrive at the game site 10 minutes prior to the start of the game.
2. Each team shall be prepared to play at the scheduled start of the game. Teams are required to have 5 players to start a game. A grace period of 10 minutes is allowed, after which the delinquent team shall forfeit the game.
3. If a forfeiture occurs and the other team has more than 5 players, the team with excess players is encouraged to “loan” players to the delinquent team so that the players may scrimmage and still get to play.
Rescheduling of games
Once the league schedule has been released no games will be rescheduled.
Note: Teams are required to provide any scheduling conflicts to your church's basketball director.
Only Church related functions would be considered when scheduling around conflicts.
There will be no scheduling conflicts honored during tournament.
Inclement Weather
When inclement weather threatens the safety of travel in the league’s region, the league will consider cancelling all games for that day. Any such league-wide cancellations will be posted on the league’s website as early as possible on game day. Also, in case of league-wide cancellations, the league will contact the coordinator of league referees to alert them to the game cancellations.
Games canceled due to inclement weather will not be rescheduled. However, the league, in its discretion may decide to schedule make-up games for the play-off’s or tournaments.
Sportsmanship - Coaches and Players
1. Coaches and players are expected to conduct themselves as Christians at all times. Any use of profanity will result in an automatic technical foul.
2. Any coach or player ejected from a league game will automatically be suspended for the next game (may not practice with his team the next week nor attend his/her next league game). That coach must also initiate a meeting with their pastor/church representative and 2 members of the executive committee to determine if and when they will be allowed to coach.The league will contact you to set up a meeting.
3. Any coach or player ejected from two (2) games during the season will automatically be suspended for the remainder of the season effective immediately upon the second ejection. Any coach thus suspended must have league approval prior to coaching again in the IYBL.
4. Coaches may stand and move about in the vicinity of the bench but must leave absolute control of the game to the officials. Coaches or team scorekeepers may not stand near the scorer’s table or interfere with the official scorekeepers at any time. Any questions about the score should be directed to the officials at the proper time and proper way.
5. If a bench is issued a technical foul then all coaches must remain on the bench for the remainder of the game.
6. Any physical or verbal confrontations between players or coaches of opposing teams after a game will be dealt with severely by the league. The confrontations will be treated as if two technical fouls were given to the player or coach involved.
7. Teams should circle up at mid-court, as close to the spectators as possible, before and after the game for prayer.
8. The home team on the schedule is responsible for a pre-game prayer with the players and spectators. If you don’t feel comfortable leading the prayer ask the gym site coordinator to have someone do it.