Men – Outdoor Rules

Your Online Registration Form and Waiver must be completed by all players and coaches before you play your first match. 

All players must be registered to play and have uploaded a suitable profile photo. Absolutely no exceptions. No guest players. All teams must have 2 designated Team Representatives. Both must have access to email.

All participants must abide by Covid protocol set by the Municipality, Ontario Soccer, and the Club and subject to change from time-to-time, which may include, but not limited to: completing the Covid self assessment, providing proof of vaccination (2nd dose receipt or vaccine passport or QR code). Covid protocol may supersede any rules outlined below.

All players must be at least 18 years of age for open age divisions and at least 35 years of age for Masters 35+ division.

No player may play for more than 1 team in the open age divisions. Age eligible players may participate in both the open age division and Masters division (1 team in each division).

All teams are responsible for putting up / taking down goal meshes and corner flags.

Shin guards are mandatory and must be of suitable material and provide a reasonable degree of protection.

No jewelry. If it is visible, it MUST be removed. Metal cleats/studs are not permissible.

All players (excluding goalkeepers) must wear their official team shirt (ie. the one that the rest of the team is wearing) with a unique number. Numbers cannot be taped on. If a number is falling off or has fallen off, the referee has the discretion to allow the player to continue providing the player can still be identified. No shirt swapping or sharing. Goalkeepers may wear their own shirt as long as it clearly contrasts with both teams’ players’ shirts, the opposing goalkeeper’s shirt, and the referee’s shirt. Referees are not authorized to allow exceptions to these rules and will prohibit players from participating who are not properly attired. Players failing to abide by the uniform policy outlined above are ineligible.

Goalkeepers may wear long pants. All other players must wear shorts. Players failing to abide are ineligible. EXCEPTIONS: Religious considerations may withstand this rule. 

The team bench is for players, injured players, and registered team officials. It is not for spectators. Spectators must sit in the designated spectator area. Any individual who is not a registered team official on the team bench will be assumed to be a player and therefore must wear their official team jersey (even if injured and not playing); otherwise they are a spectator and may not be on the bench. 

Computer generated (hard coded) game sheets must be completed by both teams’ players and coaches and given to the referee before the start of play. If the referee has to wait for game sheets to be completed, he/she has been instructed to shorten the match. Referees are prohibited from doing the match if no game sheet is produced. Game sheets may not be signed by anyone after the 2nd half has started. Any player who does not sign the game sheet becomes ineligible. A team representative (preferably Captain or coach) must sign off on the game sheet after the match.

Field position and first possession will be decided by a coin toss before the start of play. The team that wins the coin toss will choose field position. The team that loses the coin toss will get first ball possession.

Teams will play 10-a-side plus a keeper, for a total of 11. Teams that are short players at kick off must play short until more players arrive. BAS reserves the right to add players to a teams that are consistently short.

At its sole discretion, BAS reserves the right adjust the divisions up to the session’s midpoint.

At its sole discretion, BAS reserves the right to place, replace, relegate, and/or promote teams from year-to-year.

Substitutions are unlimited, but may only occur on: throw-ins (initiated by the throwing team ONLY; opponent may piggy-back), goal kicks, after a goal has been scored, at half-time, or during an injury stoppage (at referee’s discretion). No substitutions may occur on corner kicks, free kicks, or before penalty kicks. The referee must be notified and give permission for all substitutions.

Matches will be two halves of 45 minutes each, separated by a 5-minute half-time break.

Matches will be considered official if at least 45 minutes have been played. Not applicable to playoff or Cup final.

BAS reserves the right to schedule regular, make-up, playoff, Cup, Bowl, and/or bye matches on ANY day of the week including long weekends and holidays.

All matches are 3 points for a win, 1 for a tie, 0 for a loss. Ties in the standings will be resolved as follows: result(s) of head-to-head competition (aggregate +/- is not applicable), most wins, least goals against, highest fair play index, greatest positive goal difference, coin toss.

Any forfeited matches are scored as 1 – 0. Refunds are not granted for forfeited matches. The scorelines for ALL matches from ANY withdrawn or expelled team will revert to 1 – 0 losses.

Slide tackles are prohibited. This is not applicable to a keeper sliding in his/her own box. Sliding to stop, trap, kick, or pass a ball when there is clearly no danger to an opponent is NOT slide tackling and is permitted. All other slide tackles (including ones in the box) will result in an indirect free kick.

Yellow cards and red cards will be issued at the referees’ discretion. 

Card accumulation is wiped clean before the post-season. Suspensions and fines are NOT wiped clean. Carryover: Unless otherwise stated, suspensions not fully served at the end of a session will carry over to the next session in which the suspended player is active.

Any team with a Fair Play Index that is less than 70% of the division average will be ineligible for the post-season with subsequent play in future sessions under review.

Matches stopped before fulltime by the referee for ANY non-weather related issue will be investigated by BAS. The Discipline Director and/or the Disciplinary Committee has the sole authority to: declare a double forfeiture (both teams receive a loss), order the match replayed or completed, record the match as a draw, or declare a winner.

All referees are assigned by BAS. If the referee is more than 15 minutes late, both Team Representatives may mutually agree to elect or appoint a substitute to ref the match. The substitute will receive the regular fee for his/her work. If no substitute can be agreed upon, the match will be rescheduled. It should be noted that rescheduled matches will likely fall on a Saturday.

Match protests must be made to the referee immediately following a match (at the latest). Please ensure that he/she records your protest on the game sheet. Protests made after that will not be considered. A follow-up email to BAS is recommended.

Teams may register a maximum of 22 players and 1 team official (who does not play). Any players registered after the 22 player maximum will result in an extra fee payable by the team. All players (except the keeper) must have a unique shirt number. Players can be registered up until the Thursday preceding the final match of the regular season.

All other regular rules of soccer, the Ontario Soccer Association, and the Peel Halton Soccer Association will be observed.

All participants are reminded that the primary purpose of your League is for recreation. BAS is committed to ridding itself of aggressive players, bullies, cheaters, and players and coaches who persist in abusing the rules and/or the officials.

FINES
Red Cards: $25 fine payable by the offender to his Team Representative. The suspended player will not be allowed to return until his suspension is served AND the Team Representative has received the payment of the fine.

No Meshes and/or Corner Flags: $50 fine payable by the Team Representative to BAS BEFORE the next match. The referee reserves the right to NOT officiate a match where mesh or corner flags are absent. In this case, the team without the equipment would forfeit.

Unofficial Game Sheet: A game sheet submitted that is not hard-coded or otherwise unofficial will result in a $25 fine for first seasonal offense, $50 fine for second seasonal offense, $100 for third seasonal offense. Fines for additional seasonal offenses are at the discretion of BAS.

No Pinnies or Alternates: Home Team failure to wear pinnies or alternates when there is a colour conflict will result in a forfeit and $50 fine.

Forfeit Without 48-hour Emailed Notice: $100 fine. BAS reserves the right to the following: (i) levy a fine for ongoing (more than 1) forfeits even IF more than 48 hours notice is provided, (ii) disburse some or all of collected fines to the opponents of the forfeiting team, (iii) require a forfeiting team to add players to their roster to mitigate future forfeits.

Ineligible Players: Teams caught using unregistered, suspended, expelled, or players otherwise ineligible will forfeit the match and will be fined $200. Further disciplinary action may be pursued.

Participants who are non-compliant with requests to present satisfactory identification from BAS and/or its representatives will be subject to a $250 fine. Further disciplinary action may be pursued.

Shirt Swapping/Sharing: Teams caught with players who are swapping or sharing shirts will forfeit the match and will be fined $50. Further disciplinary action may be pursued.

Frivolous Protest: At its discretion BAS may levy a fine not exceeding $100 for any protest deemed to be frivolous in nature.

Game Abandonment:A team or teams found guilty of causing a match to be abandoned due to the actions of its players and/or coaches and/or fans may be fined to a maximum of $500.

Generally speaking, fines are payable to the Team Representative. BAS will collect from the Team Representative. BAS reserves the right to call fines at anytime, but will do so automatically if fines reach $100 or more.

OTHER USEFUL INFO
The goal mesh / buckets that have been given to you are the property of BAS. Replacement costs are as follows: goal mesh=$70, buckets=$5. Lost, stolen, or misplaced items will be replaced by BAS and the costs above charged to your team. Deposits on these items may be reclaimed in March of the following year upon return of the items in functional condition to BAS.

All participants are reminded that outdoor soccer is played in all weather conditions except the following. (1) During an electrical storm, the referee will stop play and restart play when the lightning has stopped. Players are reminded to wait in their vehicles or inside of a building during the storm (do not stay outside). (2) During periods of heavy rain prior to the match, the match may be “called” since playing on a saturated field will destroy the turf. You may check the status of the field before your match by calling: 311. DO NOT CALL BAS. (It would be a good idea to program this number into your cell phone NOW). After you’ve confirmed the status of the field, PLEASE record the name of whomever you spoke to. If you can’t get an answer from the number above or the answer is inconclusive, please use any of the following criteria: The field is unplayable if: (a) puddles are visible on the surface of the field, (b) water sponges up around your shoes when you walk on the field. 

DO NOT ASSUME that if the referee is present, the other team is present, and the lights are on, then there must be a match. Use the criteria above. Teams caught playing on a field that is obviously unplayable will be expelled from the League.

Gates not open? Lights not on? The home team must call 311 or ask the building manager (where applicable). DO NOT CALL BAS.

If you have any field related problems or complaints such as: lining not done, lights not turned on, broken glass on field, debris or garbage on field, grass too long, grass too dry, broken benches, gates not open, dog feces on the field, please send an email ASAP to Brampton Adult Soccer.

All other complaints, concerns or suggestions that you or your team may have should be emailed to Brampton Adult Soccer IF you want a response.

Rules, Results, Standings, Schedules, Photos, Maps to Venues, Forum, News, etc. are posted on the League’s website: www.bramptonsoccer.com

Players and coaches are encouraged to critique referees as often as possible by emailing Brampton Adult Soccer.