2021 Summer League
Rules

1. GAME SCHEDULE

All Spring League Games are to be played as scheduled, unless advised by Basketball Nova Scotia Operations Manager, Technical Director, or Executive Director.

2. FIBA RULES

All BNS games are to be played under the current “FIBA Official Basketball Rules”, except for the variations approved by BNS and recorded in this document.

3. BALL SIZES

The ball sizes to be used for each age class are as follows:

3.1 Size 6 Basketballs – U14 males and females, U16 and U18 female.

3.2 Size 7 Basketballs – U16 and U18 male teams.

4. MERCY RULE

4.1 Respect for Opponents – Teams are to show respect for their opponents at all times. Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action. 

4.1 U14, U16 and U18 – If a team is ahead by 25 points or more, the leading team shall no longer be permitted to employ a full court pressure defense of any kind.

5. GAME TIMING

5.1 Under 14 – Four quarters of 8 minutes each with a 1-minute break between quarters.

5.1.1 Equal play – Required in the first three quarters of games player with those three quarters being divided into two 4-minute shifts.

5.1.2 Half-time – 5 minutes when and where possible. Half-time may be shortened if the game is running behind schedule.

5.2 Under 16 and Under 18 – Four quarters of 10 minutes each with a 1-minute break between quarters.

5.2.1 Half-time – 5 minutes when and where possible. Half-time may be shortened if the game is running behind schedule.

5.5 Tie Games – Not permitted in Spring League play. Overtime must be played as per Rule 16 of this handbook.

6. SHOT CLOCK

6.2 The shot clock for all games will be of 24 seconds in duration. 2020 FIBA rules around resets following fouls shall apply except for the offensive reset rule, this will not apply. E.G. a foul in the back court will be a full 24 second reset, a defensive non-shooting foul in the front court with less than 14 seconds shall be a 14 second reset (if the shot clock shows above 14 seconds it will stay as is).

7. BACK COURT POSSESSION

7.1 – A team will be permitted to have possession of the ball in their back court for 8 seconds prior to crossing the midcourt.

8. TIME OUTS

8.1 Regulation Play – Each team shall be permitted a total of five (5) time outs, two of which may be taken in the first half, 3 of which may be taken in the second half with only two permitted to be taken in the final 2 minutes of play.

8.2 Overtime – Each team is entitled to one additional time out. Unused time outs do not carry over into overtime.

9. UNDER 14 DIVISION AGE CLASS VARIATIONS

9.1 Player to Player Defense – Defense must be player to player. Zone defenses of any kind are not permitted.

9.2 No Double Teaming – Double teaming is not permitted. Help defense is permitted but not in a sustained manner such as a trap. When an offensive player has beaten their defender, another defender may step in to help momentarily, but then must immediately return to guard their own offensive player or switch players to return to player to player. Please use this link for videos to provide visual clarification: http://mbans.ca/mba-rules/mba-defense-clarification-videos/

9.3 Penalty for Illegal Defenses – If in the view of the referee there is intent to play a zone defense or double team, the following penalties shall be assessed:

9.3.1 First offence – a warning will be given to the Coach

9.3.2 Second & subsequent offences – one shot and possession of the ball at the point of interruption.

9.4 Equal Play – In all levels of Under 14, no one player shall play more than a one shift difference than any other teammate over the duration of the first three quarters of the game. If players have not been used in accordance with “Equal Playing Time” by the end of the third quarter, the scorer shall record clearly on the score sheet that the game is a default against the violating team. The coach of the violating team will be issued an automatic one game suspension to be served in the next scheduled game. Subsequent violations may result in the coach being suspended for the remainder of the league.

9.5 Substitutions during a shift – If a player fouls out, becomes injured or is unable to play their shift, the player replacing this player will be charged with the full shift and the injured or unable to play player will also be charged for the full shift. The coach may if he or she so chooses to not substitute a player and play with only 4 for the remainder of the shift.

9.6 Fourth Quarter Exclusion – Rules 9.4 and 9.5 do not apply in the fourth quarter of a game.

10. AGE REQUIREMENTS

10.1 Under 14 Eligibility – A player must be born in the year 2007 or later

10.2 Under 16 Eligibility – A player must be born in the year 2005 or later

10.3 Under 18 Eligibility – A player must be born in the year 2003 or later (2002 if currently enrolled in a Nova Scotia High School)

11. ROSTERS

11.1 Number of Rosters Athlete can Play On – No player can be listed on more than one roster for the Spring League.

11.2 Official Team Roster for Coaches – all persons present on the bench during a game must be listed on the team’s official roster. This includes coaches, assistant coaches, managers and other team or club officials.

11.3 Coaching Approval Request – Should a coach be unavailable for a team’s game, and a person not listed on the team’s roster be required to fill in, approval in writing must be granted by the Executive Director.

12. OVERTIME

12.1 U14, U16, U18: If a winner has not been determined at the end of regulation play, there will be 5 minutes of overtime. If a winner still hasn’t been determined after that, overtime periods of 5-minutes will repeat until a winner has been determined after the time expires at the end of one of the periods.

**Please look into specific age class’s for possible variations based on equal shifting rules.**

13. GAME LOST BY FORFEIT

13.1 Rule

13.1.1 – The team is not present or is unable to field 5 players ready to play 15 minutes after the game is scheduled to begins

13.1.2 – Its actions prevent the game from being played.

1231.3 – It refuses to play after being instructed to do so by the crew chief.

13.2 Penalty

13.2.1 – The game is awarded to the opponents and the score shall be 20 to 0. Furthermore, the forfeiting team shall receive 0 classification point.

13.2.2 – For a 2-games (home and away) total points series (aggregate score) and for Play- Offs (best of 3), the team that forfeits in the first, second, or third game shall lose the series or Play-Offs by ‘forfeit’. This does not apply for Play-Offs (best of 5 and best of 7).

13.2.3 – If in a tournament the team forfeits for the second time, the team shall be disqualified from the tournament and the results of all games played by this team shall be nullified.

14. GAME LOST BY DEFAULT

14.1 Rule

14.1.1 – A team shall lose a game by default if, during the game, the team has fewer than 2 players on the playing court ready to play.

14.1.2 –  If a team is unable to field required number of players to start the game per their age class variations listed above, but still plays the game.

14.2 Penalty

14.2.1 – If the team to which the game is awarded is ahead, the score shall stand as at the time when the game was stopped. If the team to which the game is awarded is not ahead, the score shall be 2 to 0 in its favour. The defaulting team shall receive 1 classification point.

14.2.1 – For a 2-games (home and away) total point series (aggregate score), the team that defaults in the first or in the second game shall lose the series by ‘default’.

15. FIBA TIE BREAKING PROCEDURE

15.1 Procedure – Teams shall be classified according to their win-loss records, namely two (2) points for each game won, one (1) point for each game lost (including lost by default) and zero (0) points for a game lost by forfeit.

15.1.1 – If there are two teams in the classification with equal points, the result(s) of the game(s) between the two teams involved will be used to determine the placings.

15.1.2 – If the points and the goal average in the games between the two teams are still the same, the classification will be determined by the goal average of all the games played in the group by each team.

15.1.3 – If more than two teams are equal in the placing, a second classification will be established, taking into account only the results of the games between the teams that are tied. See below.

15.1.4 – If there are still teams tied after the second classification, then goal average will be used to determine the placing, taking into account only the results of the games between the teams still tied.

15.1.5 – If there are still teams tied, the placing will be determined using the goal average from the results of all their games played in the group.

15.1.6 – If, at any stage, using the above criteria, a multiple team tie is reduced to a tie involving only two teams, the procedure in 19.1.1 and 19.1.2 above will be applied.

15.1.7 – More than two teams – equal points:

Team      Wins      Losses

A               1              1

B               1              1

C               1              1

Results between A, B, C:

Game	Result
A vs. B	82 (A) – 76 (B)
A vs. C	77 (A) – 80 (C)
B vs. C	88 (B) – 77 (C)

Team	Points for or Against	Goal Difference	Placement
FOR (+)	AGAINST (-)
A	+159	-156	+3	2nd
B	+164	-159	+5	1st
C	+157	-165	-12	3rd

16. VIOLATIONS & DISCIPLINARY MEASURES

16.1. Basketball Nova Scotia shall have the power to investigate it’s member clubs and apply consequences, up to and including permanent suspension from Basketball Nova Scotia (BNS) sanctioned events, to any club, team, coach, player or associate, who in the opinion of BNS are deemed to have acted in detriment to the game. 

16.2. In relation to suspensions, correspondence shall be conducted between BNS and the respective club president or key representatives with the exception of investigations by the Discipline Committee.

16.3. The term “game official” as it applies through Rules 15, 16 17 & 18 shall include the referees, the minor officials, tournament organizers who may be assigned to the game to monitor compliance with the rules as set out by BNS.

16.4. The term “automatic suspension” shall be defined as one where a BNS Board member, a Club President, or a game official submits a report to BNS on an infraction listed in rules 16.0, 16.3, 16.6 or 17.2 by a coach, player, team official, team associate or spectator.

16.5. The term “indefinite suspension” shall be defined as one where the coach will be suspended immediately following the incident and or game and will not be permitted to coach until the situation has been reviewed by the Discipline Committee.

16.6. Automatic and indefinite suspensions are not subject to appeal.

16.7. Any player suspended at the end of a season and or is graduating to a higher division within Basketball Nova Scotia must serve their remaining suspension at the start of the next regular season scheduled games. The player is allowed to participate in training camps and exhibition games that are part of the tryout process. Once the team is picked the player will not be permitted to play further pre-season exhibition games until their suspension has been served.

16.8. A Discipline Committee shall review any matter which has been deemed by BNS to be of a sufficiently serious nature to possibly warrant disciplinary measures beyond those specified in the below table.

16.9. Any spectator, coach or non-player person serving a suspension issued by BNS shall not be permitted within a gym or building in which any BNS game(s) are being played until such time as their suspension has been served in full.

• 16.9.1. Failure to abide by this rule will result in a further two (2) game suspension.
• 16.9.2. Unless otherwise mentioned by a Basketball Nova Scotia official, any player serving a suspension shall be permitted the remain on the bench for the duration of the suspension. Should that player create problems during a game in which they are suspended for they will be suspended for an additional three (3) games.

17.0. Involvement with Fans – Players or Team Officials

• 17.0.1 Team Official(s) penalized for any incident involving a fan(s)
  • Indefinite suspension pending investigation by the Disciplinary Committee.
• 17.0.2. Player(s) penalized for any incident involving with a fan(s)
  • Indefinite suspension for a maximum of five (5) games, pending investigation by the Disciplinary Committee.

17.0.3. Any Player or Team Official making derogatory remarks in public, or through the media or social media regarding:

1. BNS &/or representatives
2. the Disciplinary Committee &/ or representatives,
3. Canada Basketball &/ or representatives
4. Associated League &/ or representatives, or
5. Game Officials
6. the associated club of that athlete or team official shall be fined $200.00.

Outlined is our list of standard violations. BNS may use this list at their discretion unless the incident is believed to require the involvement of the Disciplinary Committee. Infractions will be issued in the form of an email from the Executive Director to the Club President.