Nourish International Backyard Football Tournament 2011 *RULES*

1. 5v5 one hand touch football 2. Games will consist of two, 12 minute halves with no clock stoppage. 3. All officiating is done by the referees and their calls are final. Fouls, infractions, and the locations where a player is tagged down will be indicated by the referee. Final calls go to the Nourish Referee. 4. Teams play with 5 players at a time and may have substitutes which may be brought in at any time of a dead ball. 5. Excessive physical contact will not be tolerated and may result in forfeit or ejection from the tournament (discretion is given to Nourish officials). 6. Offensive players will be deemed as down with a touch from one hand (the referee will decide if it was a good touch) or any other obvious physical contact (i.e. tripping over a defender, making inadvertent contact etc.) made with a player on the opposing team. a. A player is down if his knee makes contact with the ground or if he makes a diving catch 7. Following a score or half-time, teams start with the ball 5 yards from the opposing teams goal line. 8. There are no centers and no lineman, the quarterback snaps the ball from the line of scrimmage. 9. Punting: a team may punt on 4th down if they so choose, but it must be declared by the punting team so that the defense is made aware of it and the punt must follow through (no fake punts). a. Touchbacks will result in the ball being placed 5 yards from the opposing teams goal line. st 10. A 1 down is rewarded by advancing the ball halfway up the field. There is only one attainable 1st down per drive. 11. After the ball is snapped, there will be a 5-mississipi count done by an official, after which the defense may blitz. There is no blitzing until after this count. a. The quarterback may not advance up the field unless blitzed. 12. Teams will have a maximum of 25 seconds to start their next play before there is a delay of game penalty that will push them back 5 yards (dont stall, its no fun for anyone). 13. Catches will be considered in bounds according to college rules (one foot). 14. Pass Interference: this will be called by the official if it is blatantly obvious. The penalty results in a 5 yd gain by the offense and an automatic 1st down. a. Excessive pass interference 15. The 5 yd bump rule is not in effect (no hassling the receivers). 16. Blocking: there will be no lowering of the shoulder, pushing with the arms, or holding the other player. This penalty results in the loss of a down and a 5 yd penalty. If the infraction is serious enough, it may fall under excessive force which can lead to ejection or team forfeit. 17. The run rule is in effect for a team winning by 7 scores at the beginning of their possession. 18. 1 member from each of the sitting teams in each division may be asked to watch the game to help the Nourish official in making calls (but the Nourish official will have the final say). 19. Since this is for charity, the honor system applies and all players are expected to respect each other and play fair. This is all for a good cause, so just have fun.