United States Firefighter Games (USFFG)

P.O. Box 608792

Orlando, FL 32860

(866) 233-4263 or (407) 696-5390   FAX: (407) 696-4669; 

Web: www.USFFG.com       E-Mail:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

 

EVENT: 

The event is divided into the following divisions:

                                                                    Unisex Open

AWARDS: 

Team:  Medals to all individuals on the roster including 1 non - playing coach. 

OFFICIALS 

Sport Coordinator:  Supervises all facets of event.  

Assistant Coordinator:  When using more than one venue the Coordinator must ensure that an Assistant Coordinator is at each venue during competition. 

Scorekeeper:  One shall be assigned to each game. The scorekeeper works under the direction of the referees. 

Timekeeper:  One shall be assigned to each game.  The timekeeper is responsible for the game clock and works under the direction of the referee and may also be responsible for penalty time keeping. 

A Protest Committee consisting of the event coordinator, a neutral third party coach, and a member of the executive staff shall be assembled on matters regarding protests.  The decision rendered by this committee is final

PERSONNEL
Check-in table workers:  one (1) person to work the competitor check-in table located at each venue each day of competition.  They work under the direct supervision of the Sport Coordinator.

 SCHEDULING

A captains briefing to be held prior to the event will explain the rules and regulations, the start time and locations.       

GENERAL INFORMATION 

Field Paint:  All players will use paint supplied by the Host at the venue.  The Host will ensure an adequate supply of "Field Paint" for the competitors is available on-site, and may charge the player a reasonable price. 

 

Rules of Engagement: 

Starting Position:
The starting position is with your barrel touching the starting station.  That is the only requirement. 

Active/Inactive/Eliminated players:
Active players are live players who are in the game. 

Inactive players are players who are out of the game, but not expected to know they are out.  Examples would include players who false-start, step out of bounds, or have an unobvious hit.  Their actions to not count, and they will be eliminated by a judge, but not penalized for continuing to play. 

Eliminated players are out of the game and should know they are out of the game.  Examples include players with obvious hits, players not wearing goggles, and players eliminated by a judge.  Eliminated players will be penalized for not immediately proceeding to the dead box. 

Obvious/unobvious hits:
Anything that a player should have felt, seen, or heard, at the discretion of the judges, is obvious.  In general, hits in the back of a player's pack are unobvious, and all other hits are obvious.  Hits on the head, body, arms, hands and legs are always obvious.

Playing on:
Players who are eliminated should place their hand or marker above their head and immediately proceed to the dead box.  Failure to do so will result in a major penalty.  The one exception is that players who have obvious hits that they can not check themselves may ask for a paint check, HOWEVER, a player with an obvious hit who shoots, advances, communicates or otherwise continues to play with an obvious hit will be penalized, EVEN if they asked for a paint check.  Calling for a paint check does NOT stop you from being penalized for playing with an obvious hit.

An eliminated player who plays on may be assessed an ADDITIONAL major penalty for each opponent they shoot, whether that opponent ends up eliminated or not. 

Dead man walk are not permited. 

Wiping:
Removing a hit, whether by hand, slide, bunker rubbing, or other means, is wiping.  Players who have been hit who continue to play after that hit has been removed, or who try to disguise/remove a hit, will be penalized for wiping.

Penalties:
Minor: Active players who receive a minor penalty are eliminated.  Inactive or eliminated players who receive a minor penalty will have a teammate eliminated.

Major: (1-for-1) The player receiving the penalty and an additional player are eliminated.

Gross: (3-for-1) The player receiving the penalty and three additional teammates are eliminated.

  In all cases, if there are not enough active players left to eliminate in order to satisfy the penalty, points will be deducted from that team:  10 for minor penalties, 20 for major, and 20 points per player short of 3, up to 50 points, for gross penalties.

 Equipment:
Disposable equipment: Paint, pods, squeegees, flags, batteries. 

Non-disposable equipment: Everything else. 

Players may discard or pass "disposable" equipment.  Players must maintain possession of (physcially control, or be within 5 feet of the equipment or a bunker within 5 feet of the equipment) all other equipment.  Players may *NOT* take possession of any non-disposable equipment not in their possession at the start of the game, or any disposable equipment not in their team's possession at the start of the game, with the exception of their opponent's or the center flag. 

End of Game:
Eliminated players should not leave the dead box until told to do so by a judge.  Active players should proceed to the center of their half of the field to be counted as live by the head judge.

Definitions:

A "Team" is a group of affiliated players, staff and other persons acting on their behalf.

A "Roster" is a list of persons registered with a team. Only persons listed on a roster will be able to act on behalf of the Team. 

A "Player" is a person listed on a roster as a player.

"Team staff" is a person or persons listed on a roster as a team staff member.

An "affiliated person" is a person acting on behalf of a team with the knowledge or permission of a player or team staff member on that team.

"Plays" means to attempt to participate in a game, including checking in as a player prior to a game, wearing an armband on the field of play, or being in the starting position at the beginning of the game.

1. Organization

1.1.      Information

1.1.1.          A team and its players are responsible for learning and understanding these rules, as well as for staying abreast of changes to these rules.

1.1.2.          A captains' meeting will be held on the morning of the competition at a time set in advance by the tournament promoter. The purpose of this meeting is to provide information to the captains of the teams attending concerning the organization, administration and additional rules and regulations governing the event.

1.2.      Judges

1.2.1.          Each field's head judge is the highest authority on that field.

1.2.2.          The Ultimate Judge is the highest authority at an event.

1.2.3.          Any decision of the Ultimate Judge is final.

1.3.      Player Identification

1.3.1.          The name on a player's player ID card must be that player's legal name, and all other information on the player's ID card must be accurate.  Players who use or attempt to use a player ID card with inaccurate information will receive a major suspension.[1]

1.3.2.          Players who use or attempt to use photo identification in a fraudulent manner will receive a major suspension and be reported to the firefighter games executive staff for further discipline.

 

1.3.3.          If the tournament promoter requires player ID cards, any person who plays without a valid player ID card will be assessed a gross penalty.

2.        Structure

Team Rosters                                                                                                                              

          2.1.0   A 5-man team roster may include up to a total of 7 players and team staff members.

2.1.1.          A team may remove a player or staff member from their roster at any time prior to the team's first game of an event.

2.1.2.          A person may not be listed as a player on more than one roster at any given tournament.

2.1.3.          All players and team staff must be certified Florida Firefighters.

2.1.4.          A person whose legal name does not exactly match a name on a team's roster is not listed on that team's roster.[2]

2.1.5.          Any person who is not listed as a player on the roster of a team they play for will receive a minor suspension.

2.1.6.          Any team who plays with a person not listed as a player on that team's roster will be ejected from the tournament.

2.1.7.          A suspended player who attempts to play while suspended will be assessed an additional major suspension which will begin at the conclusion of all of the player's previously assessed suspensions.

2.1.8.          Any team who places a suspended player on their roster will be ejected from the tournament.[3]

 

3.        Equipment

4.        Clothing

4.1.         A player must wear at least one layer of clothing on the body, arms and legs.

4.2.         No part of a player may be covered by more than two layers of clothing.

4.3.         Quilting is two layers of clothing stitched over each other.  Quilting counts as two layers of clothing in the area that is quilted.

4.4.         Any layer of clothing that is thicker than a standard 100% cotton T-shirt is padding.

4.5.         Players may not wear extremely oversized clothing.  Clothing is oversized if, when tightly gathered about the body or limb with excess clothing pinched together and away from the body, the excess clothing extends more than 6 inches from the body or limb.[4]

4.6.         Players may not wear clothing that is made out of highly absorbent or slick material, such as felt, fleece, nylon or rubber.

4.7.         Players may wear a hat or cap or headband, except that hats, caps and headbands may not be modified from the manufacturer's original form, and may not extend more than one inch below the collarbone or below the shoulder blades.

4.8.         Players may wear one pair of socks.  Socks may not extend higher than below the knee, and must not be of a quilted or padded nature, and count as one layer of clothing.

4.9.         Players may wear one pair of footwear.  Footwear must not be modified from the manufacturer's original form and must not include metal cleats or spikes.

4.10.      A player who plays with illegal clothing will be assessed a gross penalty.

4.11.      Any head judge or the Ultimate judge may prohibit a particular item of clothing.  Such action by a head judge may be appealed to the Ultimate Judge.

5.        Protective Gear

5.1.         Players must wear a complete goggle system that meets ASTM standards[5] and is in good repair and not otherwise damaged in a manner that affects their ability to protect the player[6].  A person who fails to wear goggles in a designated goggles-on area, including the field of play, will be assessed a minor penalty.[7]

5.2.         Material may not be removed from the manufacturer's original form.  Items not of a padded or absorbent nature[8] may be added to the goggle system provided they do not adversely impact the ability of the goggle system to protect the player.

5.3.         Players must wear the full-face protection provided with the goggle system as it is designed and sold by the manufacturer.

5.4.         Players must wear the ear protection provided with the goggle system as designed and sold by the manufacturer.

5.5.         Players may wear one layer of padding and/or other protection on the elbow, forearm, knee or shin, provided that padding and/or protection has not been modified from the manufacturer's original form.[9]

5.6.         Players may wear a single pair of gloves.  Gloves may not have material in addition to the manufacturer's original form.

5.7.         Players may wear neoprene neck protection of a single layer not to exceed 0.5 cm in thickness.

5.7.1.          Male players may wear groin protection and female players may wear breast protection.

6.        Markers

6.1.         Players may carry a single, .68 caliber, pump or semi automatic paintball marker that includes a single barrel and a single trigger.

6.2.         A marker covered in whole or in part by a material of an absorbent or padded nature is illegal.

6.3.         A trigger is a movable lever that causes a marker to fire when force is applied directly to the trigger in a vector parallel to the vertical plane of the marker.[10]  A marker that can be caused to fire by any other means is illegal.

6.4.         A trigger guard that is unaltered from the manufacturer's original form must protect the trigger of the marker.

6.5.         A marker may fire at a maximum rate of fifteen balls per second.[11]

6.5.1.          A player on the field of play during a game whose marker shoots more than one paintball within 60 milliseconds[12] will receive a gross penalty.

6.5.2.          A player on the field of play during a game whose marker shoots more than one paintball within 65 milliseconds[13] will be assessed a minor penalty.

6.5.3.          A player who carries a marker onto the field of play that can shoot more than one paintball within 60 milliseconds will receive a gross penalty and a minor suspension.[14]

6.6.         A marker may fire no more than three shots per press and release of the trigger, and no more than three shots between presses of the trigger.[15]  A player who carries a marker onto the field of play that fires more than three shots per press and release of the trigger, or more than three shots between two presses of the trigger, will receive a gross penalty and a minor suspension.

6.7.         A marker that has not been fired within the previous second may fire no more than one shot per press and release of the trigger until after the marker has been fired three times.[16]  A player who caries a marker onto the field of play that will fire more than one shot per press and release of the trigger before the marker is fired three times will receive a gross penalty and a minor suspension.

6.8.         A marker with settings, whether mechanical, pneumatic, or electronic, that may be adjusted without the use of tools to allow the marker to operate in an illegal manner is illegal.[17]  A player who operates buttons, switches, valves or other adjustable device on a marker on the field of play without the permission of a judge will be assessed a minor penalty.  The team of a player who operates buttons, switches, valves or other adjustable device on a marker on the field of play after being instructed to provide the marker to an official, or prior to being instructed to do so, will receive a gross penalty and that player will receive a minor suspension.

6.9.          Marker barrels may be equipped with porting, but may not have a sound suppressor attached or integral to the construction of the barrel.

6.10.      A marker with any valve, expansion chamber, or other item or device except a barrel or screw-in air source[18] that may be adjusted on the field of play to increase or decrease velocity without the use of tools is illegal.

6.11.      Any person possessing a marker that is attached to an air source, does not have a barrel sock properly installed over the end of the barrel, is not at a designated chronograph station being chronographed and is not on the field of play during, in the 10 seconds prior to, or immediately after a game,[19] will be assessed a minor penalty.

6.12.      Any illegal marker is not allowed on the field of play. Players carrying an illegal marker on the field of play will be assessed a minor penalty.  A player bringing an illegal marker onto the field of play after being informed by a judge that the marker is illegal will be assessed a gross penalty.

6.13.      Any player whose marker has been modified from the manufacturer's original form to disguise its mode of operation or to allow the player to change the mode of operation on the field without the use of tools will receive a major suspension.

6.14.      A marker may be confiscated by a head or Ultimate judge for inspection at any time, and may be kept for up to three days following the conclusion of the event.

6.15.       Ramping and or full auto markers are prohibited.

6.16.       Markers with boards or chips which allow the marker to fire full auto or ramping; then upon release of the trigger turn true semi are prohibited.

 

7.        Paintballs

7.1.         Players may carry any number of paintballs.

7.2.         Paintballs must be completely water-soluble.

7.3.         Paintballs must not stain.[20]

7.4.         Paintballs will be field paint only and purchased at the event.

8.        Other Equipment

8.1.         Players may carry one constant air or co2 tank, including the tank attached to the marker, or any number of disposable CO2 cartridges. Constant air or CO2 tanks may have a neoprene or plastic cover, provided no material has been added to the cover manufacturer's original form.

8.2.         Players may carry any number of pods and squeegees, but no pods that are padded or absorbent in nature.

8.3.         Players may carry one hopper.  Hoppers may not be covered by any absorbent or padded material.

8.4.         Players may carry any number of batteries.

8.5.         Players may wear one pack, designed to carry pods and/or an air source.

8.6.         Players may carry one remote line that connects their air source to their marker.

8.7.         Players must carry a barrel sock.

8.8.         Players may carry one time keeping device.

8.9.         Stickers may be affixed to equipment other than an air source.  A judge may require that stickers be removed if the judge believes the stickers interfere with their ability to officiate.

8.10.      Players may carry or wear items that are made necessary by a medical condition or to protect an existing injury, as long as such objects are not unnecessarily padded or absorbent.

9.        Prohibited Equipment

9.1.         Any clothing or equipment not expressly permitted by the rules is prohibited unless permitted by the Ultimate Judge.  Players possessing prohibited clothing or equipment on the field will be assessed a gross penalty.

 

 

 

10.     The Game

10.1.   Field of Play

10.1.1.       The field of play will consist of a level rectangular area called the "in-bounds" area, and any area between the in-bounds area and the netting surrounding the in-bounds area.

10.1.2.       The field of play will be free of any undue obstacle or hazard to participants or officials.

10.1.3.       The edge of the in-bounds area will be marked by a boundary tape or line.  The boundary tape or line and any object or ground outside of the boundary tape or line is out-of-bounds.

10.1.4.       The in-bounds area will include at least 30 obstacles arranged symmetrically across the midpoint or the midline of the in-bounds area.

10.1.5.       Bunkers will be at least 2 meters away from any boundary tape or line.

10.1.6.       The field of play will include a vertical rectangular starting station one meter high by two meters wide in the center of and parallel to the boundary tape or line at each end of the in-bounds area.  The starting station is in-bounds.

10.1.7.       Teams will be permitted to examine the field of play during field-walking times designated by the promoter.

10.1.8.       Any person who intentionally alters the field of play will be assessed a minor suspension.

10.1.9.       Any team whose player, staff or affiliated member alters the field of play will be ejected from the event.

10.1.10.    Any person on the field of play outside of field-walking times designated by the promoter without the permission of a judge or authorized event staff will be assessed a major penalty.[21]

10.2.   Player Status[22]

10.2.1.       An "active" player is any player whose barrel was touching the starting station at the beginning of the game and who has not subsequently become inactive or eliminated.

10.2.2.       A "inactive" player is a player who has not been eliminated and was not in the starting position at the start of the game, or has gone out of bounds, or has an unobvious hit, or has lost possession of equipment other than pods, squeegees, paintballs or a flag, or is not wearing an armband in plain view on their left arm, or has passed between two bunkers that were in physical contact with each other.  An inactive player will be eliminated by a judge.

10.2.3.       An "eliminated" [23] player is any player with an obvious hit; or who was not on the field of play at the start of the game; or has signaled their elimination by removing or losing their goggles, saying "hit" or "out", raising their marker or an open hand above their head, removing their armband, or placing their barrel sock on their barrel; or has been eliminated by a judge or counted as active by the head judge after the end of the game.[24]

10.2.4.       Under no circumstances may an eliminated player be made inactive or active or may an inactive player me made active.

10.3.   Occupation, Possession and Exchange

10.3.1.       A player occupies any bunker that is less than one meter from the player.  More than one player may occupy a bunker.

10.3.2.       Equipment in the physical control[25] of a player or that was in the physical control of a player at the start of the game is possessed by the player, except for squeegees, pods, paintballs and flags that leave the physical control of the player, and except any other equipment that is separated by more than one meter from the player and any bunkers occupied by the player, and except equipment which is in the physical control of another player or a judge.[26]

10.3.3.       Players may not possess any equipment during a game that was not in their or their teammate's possession at the start of the game[27], except that players may take possession of their opponent's flag in 10-man and the center flag in 5-man.  Players who take possession of any other equipment will be assessed a minor penalty.

10.3.4.       Players who lose possession of any equipment during a game other than pods, squeegees, paintballs and flags will be assessed a minor penalty,[28] except that a judge may take equipment from a player and an eliminated player may discard equipment out-of-bounds.

10.3.5.       Players who lose physical control of any equipment that has a valid hit, except equipment taken by a judge, will be assessed a gross penalty.

10.4.   Flags, Carriers, Pulls and Hangs

10.4.1.       A flag pull occurs the first time during a 10-man game that an active player takes possession of his opponent's flag,[29] or the first time during a 5-man game that an active player takes possession of the flag.

10.4.2.       A player in possession of a flag who hides or attempts to hide the flag from plain view will be assessed a minor penalty.

10.4.3.       If a player is eliminated while possessing a flag, the player will drop the flag at the point of elimination.  A judge may hang the flag on a nearby bunker.

10.4.4.       A flag is hung when a flag in the possession of an active player touches a starting station.[30]

10.4.5.       If the flag has not been hung and the last player is eliminated by a major or gross penalty, and the last player on the team opposing the last player eliminated was not also eliminated by a major or gross penalty, the team opposing the last player eliminated will be awarded the flag hang, and if no team has pulled the flag, the opposing team will also be awarded the flag pull.[31]

10.5.   Game Check-In

10.5.1.       Each team is expected to report to the field chronograph station at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start of their game.

10.5.2.       Only Radar chronographs will be used for an official game chronograph. Multiple chronographs may be designated for each playing field.

10.5.3.       The chronograph judge will inspect each marker prior to chronographing the marker.

10.5.4.        A marker that has significant loose matter other than paintballs in the barrel, feed port or loader is illegal.  A player with such a marker will be assessed a major suspension.

10.5.5.       After the marker has been inspected by the chronograph judge and found to be legal[32], the chronograph judge will assure that the barrel and air system are set to maximize velocity and will then fire three shots over the chronograph.  A marker with any shot which exceeds 300 feet per second, or that cannot fire three shots to be tested, is illegal.  The velocity test may be repeated until a successful result is achieved.

10.5.6.       A player whose marker has passed the chronograph check or has elected to play without a marker will be given an armband and will be stationed in a controlled area with his marker, if it is legal.19   Players and markers that have passed the chronograph check may not leave this area without the permission of a judge.  Players or markers that leave this controlled area to any area other than the field of play must redo the chronograph check.  Players in this controlled area who receive any equipment from outside this area without the permission of a judge will be assessed a major penalty.  A player who possesses equipment they would not be permitted to possess on the field of play while in this controlled area will be penalized as if they had brought the equipment onto the field of play.

10.6.   Starting the Game

10.6.1.       Teams will select their starting stations by coin toss or other mutually agreeable process.  The team winning such toss or other process will select their starting station, and their opponent will start at the opposite starting station.

10.6.2.       The head judge will start the game with a 20-second silent countdown by announcing "20 seconds". Players may remove their barrel socks after the 20-second countdown has begun.  The head judge will announce when approximately 10 seconds remain in the countdown by announcing "10 seconds".  The game will start when the head judge announces "GO GO GO" or signals the game start with some other sound device. The judge will also give a visual game start signal so that each team can easily see such signal.22

10.6.3.       A player who fires a marker, prior to the start of the game, will be eliminated.

10.6.4.       A player whose barrel is not touching the starting station, at the start of the game, will be eliminated.[33]

10.7.   Eliminated Players

10.7.1.       An eliminated player must immediately and swiftly raise their marker or an open hand above their head and proceed out-of-bounds by the most direct route or as directed by a judge.  Once out of bounds, the player must immediately and swiftly deposit their marker in the area designed for that purpose.  A player who fires or otherwise operates or adjusts the marker or air system will be assessed a minor penalty.  Once the player's marker has been deposited, the player will immediately and swiftly proceed to the dead box.  An eliminated player who fails to follow this procedure, except as provided in 4.11.5, will be assessed a major penalty.

10.7.2.       An eliminated player who leaves the dead box without the permission of a judge will be assessed a minor penalty.

10.7.3.       An eliminated player who returns in-bounds during the game will be assessed a gross penalty.

10.7.4.       An eliminated player who shoots an opposing player will be assessed a minor penalty[34], except that an eliminated player who shoots a player from out-of-bounds will be assessed a gross penalty.

10.8.   In-Game Chronographing

10.8.1.       A judge may chronograph a marker on the field of play at any time.

10.8.2.       Any player whose marker fires a shot in excess of 300 feet per second will be assessed a minor penalty, unless the shot exceeds 310 feet per second, in which case the player will be assessed a major penalty.  A player may only be assessed one such penalty per game.

10.9.   Game Stoppages

10.9.1.       The game may be stopped by the head judge or Ultimate Judge in case of an emergency, dangerous weather conditions or other "acts of God".

10.9.2.       A game will be stopped by the judges yelling "freeze" or by sounding the same device used to start the game.  Game time will be stopped.

10.9.3.       Unless otherwise directed by a judge, every player must stay in the position he was in when the game was stopped.[35]

10.9.4.       Players must put barrel socks on their markers when a game is stopped and keep their goggles on, unless given permission to remove them by a judge.

10.9.5.       When the cause of the game stoppage has been addressed, the head judge will restart the game in the same manner a game is normally started, except that players will be in the position they were when the game stopped instead of the starting position.  Game time will restart when the game is restarted.

10.10.               Game Completion

10.10.1.    A game will end at the earliest of a valid flag hang, the elimination of all players, or after 12 minutes of game time have elapsed in a 10-man game or 5 minutes of game time have elapsed in a 5-man game.

10.10.2.    All active players at the end of a game must present themselves to the nearest judge for inspection.

10.10.3.    After an active player has been inspected, the player will proceed to the middle of their half of the in-bounds area to be counted as active by the head judge.[36]

10.11.               Hits

10.11.1.    A hit is any mark left by a paintball striking and breaking on a player or any equipment in the player's possession, or any mark resembling such a hit.

10.11.2.    An invalid hit is any hit that a judge observes is not from a paintball shot by an active player striking and breaking on a player.  Judges will remove invalid hits, except that a player may remove an invalid hit on the lens of their goggle system with the permission of a judge.

10.11.3.    A valid hit is any hit that is not an invalid hit.  If a valid hit is removed from an in-bounds player by any means other than by a judge, or a player attempts to remove a valid hit, that player will be assessed a gross penalty.[37]

10.11.4.    An obvious hit is any valid hit the receiving player should have seen, heard or felt, including any valid hit anywhere on the player's body.[38] A player with an obvious hit is eliminated.[39]

10.11.5.    A player with an obvious hit that is in a location that the player cannot verify may ask a judge or teammate to verify the hit before proceeding as otherwise required by 10.7.1, but may take no other action.[40]

10.11.6.    Players who are in motion when they receive an obvious hit in a location they cannot verify themselves may proceed to the nearest cover while waiting for a judge or teammate to verify the hit as in 10.11.5.

10.11.7.    A player who asks a teammate or judge to verify a hit that the player could have verified will be assessed a major penalty.[41]

10.11.8.    Unobvious hits are any valid hit that is not obvious.  A player with an unobvious hit but no obvious hits is inactive and will be eliminated by a judge.

10.11.9.    A player who becomes aware of an unobvious hit on themselves or equipment in their possession is eliminated.

11.     Penalties

11.1.   Interference and Sportsmanship

11.1.1.       A person who is not a judge or a player on the field of play who issues instructions to active players, makes comments about play which are likely to be heard by active players, reveals the location of any player on the field, or otherwise interferes with play or communicates with persons on the field of play, will be assessed a major penalty and escorted from the tournament facility. 

11.1.2.       Any player or team staff who uses inappropriate language that is audible[42] by spectators will be assessed a minor penalty.

11.1.3.       Any person who engages in aggressive or insulting behavior towards another person, except a judge, will be assessed a minor penalty.

11.1.4.       Any person who engages in aggressive or insulting behavior towards a judge will be assessed a gross penalty.

11.1.5.       Any person who engages in hostile physical contact with another person, including shooting another person who is not participating in a game or shooting from outside the field of play, except in defense of that person's immediate safety[43], will be assessed a major suspension and reported to the firefighter games executive staff for further discipline.

11.1.6.       Any person who engages in intentional physical contact with an official will be assessed a major suspension and reported to the firefighter games executive staff for further discipline..

11.1.7.       Any person who throws an air source will be assessed a major suspension.

11.1.8.       Any person who throws any equipment on the field of play other than an air source, pods, squeegees, paintballs or a flag will be assessed a gross penalty.

11.1.9.       Any person who intentionally shoots in the direction of another person who is not wearing a paintball goggle system will be assessed a major suspension.

11.1.10.    Any person who engages in other minor acts of unsportsmanlike behavior may be assessed a minor or a major penalty by a judge.

11.1.11.    Any person who engages in other major or severe acts of unsportsmanlike behavior may be assessed a minor or major suspension by a head or the Ultimate Judge and reported to the firefighter games executive staff for further discipline..

11.1.12.    Every player on any team that intentionally gives up points to an opponent or plots to set scores with opponents will be assessed a major suspension.

11.2.   Assessing Penalties

11.2.1.       Any judge may issue a penalty on the field of play.  Any authorized event staff may issue penalties outside of the field of play.

11.2.2.       Penalties are assessed to people.  Action is taken against the penalized person and/or or the penalized person's team.  A person's team is the team that has that person listed as a player or staff on its roster, or the team on whose behalf the player is acting if the person is not listed as a player on any roster.

11.2.3.       No more than one penalty may be assessed for a particular action by a player or team.  In the event that a given action qualifies for more than one penalty, the most severe penalty will be assessed.

11.2.4.       Points deducted as the result of penalties assessed on the field of play will be deducted on the score sheet of the previous or next game to be played on that field by the penalized person's team, at the discretion of the head judge of the field.  Penalties not assessed on the field of play will be assessed on the scoreboard by the Ultimate judge, except that penalties assessed after the quarterfinal round will be assessed on the score sheet of the team's next game.

11.2.5.       A person who is assessed a minor penalty will be eliminated by a judge, unless the player is not active, in which case the active teammate nearest the penalized player will be eliminated by a judge.[44]  If the penalized player has no active teammates remaining, or there is no game in progress, that person will be assessed a 10-point penalty.

11.2.6.       A person who is assessed a major penalty[45] will be eliminated by a judge and the active teammate nearest the penalized player will be eliminated by a judge.  If the penalized person has no active teammates remaining, or there is no game in progress, that person will be assessed a 20-point penalty.

11.2.7.       A person who is assessed a gross penalty[46] will be eliminated by a judge, and the three active teammates nearest the penalized person will be eliminated by a judge.  If there are not enough active teammates to eliminate, or there is no game in progress, the person will be assessed a 20-point penalty per teammate less than three so eliminated, except that the total penalty may not exceed 50 points.[47]

11.3.   Suspensions

11.3.1.       Any head judge or ultimate judge may issue a suspension on the field of play.  Any authorized event staff may refer a person outside the field of play to the Ultimate Judge for suspension.

11.3.2.       A person who receives a suspension is not permitted to play for the remainder of the event and reported to the firefighter games executive staff for further discipline..

11.3.3.       The team of any person who receives a suspension will have the number of players they may field for the remainder of the event reduced by one for each player so suspended.

11.3.4.       Any team who has three or more players suspended in any event will be ejected from the event.

11.4.   Ejections

11.4.1.       Only the Ultimate Judge may eject a team from an event.

11.4.2.       A team that is ejected from an event will forfeit any entry fee paid and any prizes or points earned at the event.

11.5.   Appeals

11.5.1.       Calls made on the field of play may be appealed to the head judge of the field.  The head judge may not overturn eliminations.

11.5.2.       The decision of the head judge of a field is final, except for point penalties, suspensions and ejections.[48]

11.5.3.       A team may file a written grievance with the Ultimate Judge regarding the decision of authorized personnel, a scoring official, a judge, or a head judge.

11.5.4.       The Ultimate Judge will not reverse any decision made by a judge or head judge, except for point penalties or suspensions.

12.     Scoring

12.1.   Forfeits

12.1.1.       A team will forfeit any game for which they fail to report in a timely fashion for pre-game check in, or for any game in which the team refuses to take the field.[49]

12.1.2.       If a team forfeits a game, and their opponent for that game does not also forfeit that game, the opponent will be awarded a score for that game equal to the average score of all their games in that round (penalties not included) or the average score of all games played against teams in the same classification as the team that forfeited (penalties not included) or 90 points, whichever is higher.

12.1.3.       A team will receive no points for a game they forfeit.

12.1.4.       Once a forfeit has been declared, the forfeited game will not be rescheduled unless the forfeit was caused by error on the part of the promoter.[50]

12.2.   Points

12.2.1.       At the conclusion of each 10-man game, the head judge will award to each team 2 points for each opponent less than 10[51] marked active by the head judge at the conclusion of the game, 1 point for every player marked active by the head judge on said team, 20 points if the team was the first team to pull a flag, and 50 points if the opponent's flag was hung.[52]

12.2.2.       At the conclusion of each 5-man game, the head judge will award to each team 4 points for each opponent less than 5[53] marked active by the head judge at the conclusion of the game, 2 points for every player marked active by the head judge on said team, 20 points if the team was the first team to pull the flag, and 50 points if the flag was hung on their opponent's flag station.

12.3.   Score Sheets

12.3.1.       Any judge may complete the score sheet. The head judge will show the score sheet to captain of each team.

12.3.2.       Any correction made to the score sheet must be initialed by the head or Ultimate judge,[54] unless the correction corrects an obvious mathematical error,[55] the correction may also be initialed by a scorekeeper.

12.3.3.       In the event that one or both team captains do not agree with the contents of a score sheet and thus will not sign the score sheet, the head judge may decide whether the score sheet must be amended and/or validate the score sheet himself.

12.3.4.       An Ultimate Judge or a scoreboard official may correct clerical or mathematical errors on the scoreboard at any time prior to the start of the next round of play.[56]

13.     Miscellaneous

13.1.   Decorum

13.1.1.       Persons attending an event will refrain from wearing or otherwise displaying offensive pictures, words, logos or other materials at the event.  Persons displaying such offensive materials may be instructed to remedy the situation and/or be assessed a minor penalty.

13.1.2.       Persons attending an event shall refrain from engaging in any conduct that would bring the promoter, the tournament or any sponsor into disrepute, including, but not limited to, trashing hotel rooms, discharge of markers in an area not designated as a playing or chronograph area, the willful destruction of private property, engaging in physical altercations except in defense of one's person against an unprovoked aggressor, or the commission of a criminal act.

13.1.3.       The Ultimate Judge may assign a minor or major suspension to any person who violates decorum.

13.2.   Maintenance and Cleanup

13.2.1.       All persons shall adhere to the administrative rules and regulations promulgated by the promoter with respect to maintenance and cleanup of the event facility.

13.2.2.       All persons will dispose of all trash they generate in designated trash receptacles.

13.2.3.       Any person that fails to adhere to rules and regulations contained in section 13.2 or promulgated by the promoter may be fined up to $250 by authorized personnel.

13.3.   Rules Modifications

13.3.1.       Judges have the authority to interpret, extend and apply the rules to situations not already covered by the rules.[57]

13.3.2.       Under exceptional circumstances, the promoter may modify one or more rules for the duration of the event. Teams must be informed of any modifications during the captains' meeting.

13.3.3.       Should any reasons for a modification arise during the tournament, the Ultimate Judge may issue a modification to the rules, upon which time a captains' meeting will be called to inform the teams of the change.  Teams will not be held accountable for any changes made to the rules prior to the completion of such meeting.

 

 

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[1] Your information must match your government-issued photo identification.  If your player ID does not match your government-issued photo ID, it is not your player ID.

[2] If your name is not on the roster correctly, it is not there at all.

[3] This includes being on the roster as staff.

[4] The article of clothing should be grabbed at a single point and pulled away from the body or limb.  Once this has been done, the clothing should be pinched on opposite sides of this point so that these two points are brought together next to the body or limb.  The clothing will then be tight around the body or limb, with any extra clothing pulled through the pinch and held at the original grab point.  When tightly pulling the extra clothing away from the pinch and measuring the distance from the pinch to the grab point, the distance should not exceed 6".

[5] Goggle manufacturers must submit independent laboratory test results to the promoter at least 10 days prior to the start of a tournament demonstrating that the goggle system meets or exceeds ASTM standards for any system such manufacturer wishes to be allowed for use during that tournament.

[6] Cracks in the lens, however slight, affect the ability of the goggles to protect the player.

[7] A player may not ever remove their goggles once they enter the field of play.  Note that if an active player removes their goggles intentionally, they are automatically eliminated and a teammate must be eliminated to satisfy the minor penalty.  Because an elimination is NOT a penalty, the player eliminating themselves does not count as a penalty being assessed.

[8] Ex. Goggle Fans, but decorative additions that are not padded or absorbent are acceptable.

[9] Hits on padding are obvious.  Players should not wear so much padding that they cannot feel hits.

[10] They may operate if and only if the trigger is pulled, and may not fire if it is hit, dropped, or sneezed on.

[11] The rate will be measured by the shortest time between two shots.  Players whose markers have no electronic components and fire no more than one shot per press and release of the trigger will not be penalized under 3.5.  (If you have a mechanical marker and your trigger is slightly sloppy, but you never fire faster than 65 ms between shots, you're ok.  If you have a mechanical marker that sometimes fires faster than 65 ms between shots and your trigger is absolutely, positively, no-slop-whatsoever semi-auto, you're ok.  If you have a bouncy trigger and exceed 15 bps you'll be penalized.)

[12] Timer reading of 60 milliseconds or less. (16.7 bps)

[13] Timer reading of 66 milliseconds is ok, 65 is not. (15.2 bps)

[14] Markers will be checked before/after game play.  There will be no penalty due to this rule if the only way to get a marker to fire faster than 16.7 bps is to actually pull the trigger faster than 16.7 bps.  This penalty is in addition to any in-game penalties, so if a player is pulled for breaking the limit in the game, and then the marker is checked after the game and found to shoot faster than 60 ms between shots, the player will get an additional gross penalty.

[15] Shots may not be buffered past trigger pulls - if you pull the trigger, the marker fires, and you pull the trigger again, the marker may only fire three more times, not five.

[16] If the trigger is pulled one, two or three times, the marker may fire no more than the number of times the trigger is pulled.  The marker may fire up to three balls per pull after that.  If the marker is not fired for a second, the trigger must again be pulled three times before the marker may fire more than one shot per pull.

[17] Essentially, anything that can adjust velocity, shot mode, de-bounce, etc, must be locked-down so it can't be changed on the field.

[18] This exception only applies to screwing in or unscrewing the air source - any settings on the air tank itself must not be adjustable without the use of tools.

[19] Players will be given a reasonable amount of time (10-15 seconds) to install barrel condoms after a game ends.

[20] See Appendix A for tests used to determine if a paint stains.

[21] This effectively establishes a major penalty for entering the field of play at any time without a judge's approval or checking in.

[22] During a game, a player is always either active, inactive, or eliminated.  Inactive is when a player is out of the game and his shots should not count, but the player would not be expected to know he is out of the game (i.e. the player's foot touches tapeline, then the player bunkers two people - the player should be eliminated with no penalty and the two people bunkered should be left in).  Eliminated is when a player should know they should not still be playing, either because a judge has told them they are eliminated, or because they have an obvious hit, or because they were never on the field at the start of the game to begin with.  Thus, when assessing appropriate penalties, a judge must only determine whether the player was active, inactive, or eliminated when the infraction was committed.

[23] Note that in these rules, the phrases "is inactive" and "is eliminated" means the player's status is IMMEDIATELY and AUTOMATICALLY changed to inactive or eliminated, respectively, without any action by a judge.  The phrase "eliminated by a judge" means the player maintains their current status until a judge informs them that they are eliminated, either verbally, by signal, or by removing an armband.

[24] A player remains active after the end of the game.  Once the head judge has counted the active players and awarded their team the points for active players, those players are eliminated.  Players may thus still be pulled after a hang or time has elapsed if they have not yet been counted as "live".

[25] Merely touching equipment does not establish physical control.  Generally, any equipment that will advance with the player if the player advances can be considered to be in the physical control of the player.  This includes bunkers - so if you move a bunker because you accidentally run into it, you're ok, but if you intentionally move the bunker, you're eliminated.

[26] If you start the game with it or pick it up, you possess it until you either drop it (pods, squeegees, paintballs and flags) or until you get more than one meter away from it (anything else) unless a judge or another player takes it from you or it's within a meter of a bunker you're in (so you can drop something on one end of a large bunker and play another end).

[27] Anything that your team didn't start with (except the center or your opponent's flag) you can't take/pick up.  This includes paintballs and your flag (in 10-man).

[28] Once you lose possession of any of your equipment (other than pods, squeegees, paint and flags), you're eliminated.  If you're eliminated on the field of play and you lose possession of any of your equipment prior to exiting the field of play one of your teammates will be pulled.  This also means you can't exchange anything other than squeegees, paintballs, pods, or the flag.  Whoever gives up any other equipment will be eliminated for discarding it and you may be eliminated for having more equipment than you're supposed to.

[29] If it is determined that a player was not active when the flag was taken, the flag pull will not be awarded, regardless of when that determination is made.  For example, if all players on a team are eliminated and then a player on the opposing team ‘pulls' the flag and is found to have a hit when he hangs the flag, the flag pull does not count.  If that player's teammate can then take the flag and hang the flag however, both the pull and the hang will be awarded, as the teammate taking the flag would be "the first active player to take possession of his opponent's flag".  If a judge is not sure if a player was active when pulling the flag, the flag pull will not be awarded.  For example, if a player pulls a flag while under fire and the judge can not determine if the player was hit before or after pulling the flag, the judge will assume the player was hit first.  It thus behooves the player to get the flag and get to cover and checked as soon as possible.

[30] In 10-man, a team may not mistakenly hang a flag, as they are inactive and should be eliminated when they touch their own flag.  In 5-man, hang points are awarded based on where the flag is hung, not who hangs it, so a team can score a flag hang for their opponents by hanging the flag on their own start station.

[31] If the last player on a team is eliminated because of playing on, wiping, or some major sportsmanship violation, the opposing team gets the flag hang.  This is to prevent a team from denying their opponents a 72 point pull and hang with a 25 point penalty.

[32] A marker may be found to be illegal at any time, regardless of whether a chronograph judge has declared it legal.

[33] Thus the starting position is in-bounds with the barrel on the starting station at the start of the game.  Any position where these two conditions are met is an acceptable starting position.

[34] This means that in addition to getting a one-for-one for playing on, an additional player should be pulled for any opponent the playing-on player manages to shoot, whether the opponent is erroneously eliminated by a judge or not.

[35] All field judges will note the locations of the players at the time that the game is stopped. Once the game has been stopped, the field judges will insure that players remain in those locations. Judges will check all players and will remove any players who are eliminated prior to the game being stopped. Judges will confer to review the sequence of events prior to the game stoppage. If penalties need be assessed, they will be so assessed at such time. Players with hits may be reinstated into the game if the field judges determine, in their discretion, that a player was eliminated as a direct result of illegal actions which led directly to the game stoppage. Once the condition causing the game stoppage has abated or been resolved all the live players and flags are placed in proper positions by the field judges, the Head Judge will restart the game in accordance with the procedures before.

[36] Players are active until the head judge counts them as active for scoring, at which point they become inactive.  This means penalties for playing on, leaving the field of play, and anything else apply, and any active player can still be pulled, and will not count towards live players if they are made inactive or eliminated before being counted active by he head judge.

[37] The chances of a player receiving a hit, not feeling, seeing or hearing the hit, and accidentally removing the hit are so small that it is preferable to rarely assess a gross penalty in such a case to prevent players from removing hits on a frequent basis via slides, rubbing bunkers, etc.

[38] If it hits the hopper and sprays on your goggles, it's obvious.  If it smacks into your earflap, it's obvious.  If it makes a loud "ting" on your tank, it's obvious.  If it hits your facemask and sprays paint on your face, it's obvious.  If it hits your elbow pad that is 2" thick and you didn't feel it, it's still obvious - players should not wear padding so thick that they cannot feel hits.  If it hits your shoe, glove, leg, cup, belt of your pack, neoprene neck protector, or hat, it's obvious.  If it grazes off the side of your hopper where you can't see the hit or it's in your pack then it may not be obvious if the judge does not have any reason to believe you should know a paintball hit you there.

[39] It is much better if players have to rarely stop playing for a few seconds to get hits checked than it is to have players regularly playing on because "The hit might have bounced" and they can keep playing until a ref drags them off the field, so players are eliminated when an obvious hit is received without any action from a judge being required.  A player who is shot in the back and continues to shoot will receive a major penalty.  A player making a bunker move who is shot and runs another 5 feet to complete the move will be assessed a major penalty and an additional minor penalty for shooting a player while eliminated.

[40] If you're not sure if a hit broke, and you can't check it yourself, you can ask a ref or teammate to check it without penalty before exiting the field of play, so long as you take no other action.  You may choose to continue to play, HOWEVER, if it turns out that the hit was valid, you will be assessed a major penalty plus a minor penalty for any opponents you shoot because you were playing with an obvious hit, so you should consider carefully whether the risk of the penalty is worth continuing to play prior to getting the hit checked.

[41] It is the player's responsibility to call themselves out when they have an obvious hit.  It is the ref's job to penalize players who continue to play with an obvious hit, so if you call a ref over to check a hit you could have checked yourself, expect a penalty too.

[42] "Audible" is at a judge's discretion.

[43] "The Robbo Defense" is not valid.  A person's immediate safety is not at risk if the person was able to retreat from the situation, including leaving the area.  Escalating a situation also negates any claim of self-defense.

[44] Note that this means active at the time the judge eliminates the player, not at the time the penalty occurs.  Thus if a penalty calls for a player to be pulled, and that player gets shot before the judge can get to the player to eliminate them, the judge should pull the next closest player.  This eliminates the incentive for players who know a judge is trying to pull them to attempt run-throughs to try and shoot other players before a judge can chase them down.

[45] During the game, essentially a 1-for-1.

[46] During the game, essentially a 3-for-1.

[47] If there are 3 players left to be pulled, there is no point penalty.  2 players, 20 points; 1 player, 40 points; 0 players, 50 points.

[48] Errors including a player being erroneously eliminated, or a player not being properly eliminated, or any other in-game call is not reversible, although you can still file a written grievance.

[49] No matter what the reason is for being late (e.g. disqualification). In the event that both teams fail to show for a game or both teams are unwilling to take the field, both teams will have forfeited that game. If there is already a known no-show on the schedule, the participating team will get their points automatically.

[50] "Error on the part of the promoter" includes a team forfeiting a game within 20 minutes of finishing another game.

[51] This is written to cover the case of a team that starts with less than 10 players - you want points for players that are not active, not players that were eliminated.

[52] Because a player is eliminated if they possess their own flag, it is not possible for a team to pull or hang their own flag.

[53] This is written to cover the case of a team that starts with less than 5 players - you want points for players that are not active, not players that were eliminated.

[54] This allows teams to do the "right thing" if they agree on a scoring error.  If two teams are intentionally doing the wrong thing to fix the score, they should be dealt with as any other team intentionally fixing scores.

[55] For example, the score sheet lists 40, 32, 21, and 3 for points with a total of 93, the total score may be corrected to 96.  If, however, there were 4 live players instead of three and the score sheet has been signed, that change must be initialed by both captains as well.

[56] The scoreboard is ONLY the scoreboard - copying scores to the scoreboard wrong, or calculations in error on the scoreboard, will be corrected by scorekeepers.  The scoreboard does NOT include score sheets.

[57] Any such action may be appealed through the standard process.

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