1.0 Introduction | Members | The MetroWest Basketball League consists of teams from 30 communities. The league has 2 divisions at each grade level for both boys and girls. The two divisions generally break down according to size of the member community. Thus smaller towns generally play other small towns and larger towns generally play other large towns. | | League Goals | The goals of the MetroWest Basketball League are to: - Create an environment in which children and adults have fun with basketball
- Teach basketball skills, rules and strategy to our players
- Model and teach competitiveness with an emphasis on good sportsmanship
- Promote increased self-esteem among our children and adults
| | Eligibility | Boys and girls resident in the member community and currently enrolled in the 4th (boys only), 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades are eligible. Players may "play up" with a higher grade team but are not allowed to play on a lower grade team. |
2.0 Team Responsibilities | Home Team | The home team is responsible for providing: - timely access to gym
- game ball
- scorekeeper for official scorebook
- time keeper
| | Arriving on time | Each team shall be prepared to play at the scheduled start of the game. A grace period of 5 minutes is allowed, after which the delinquent team shall forfeit the game. | | Paying Referees | The visiting team is responsible for paying each of the two referees at each game. Referees should be paid prior to the start of each game. Each is paid $35 per game. If only one referee is present for the game, he/she is paid $50 (i.e., 1.5 times regular fee). | | | | | Sportsmanship | Coaches are responsible for ensuring that all members of the team and their fans practice good sportsmanship before, during and after the game. Coaches should: - support the referees and refrain from making derogatory comments towards them
- refrain from actions or words that undercut the self-esteem of players from other teams
- not allow your players to make derogatory comments towards other players
- not allow "talking trash"
- support post-game "nice game" exchange between players and coaches
| | Eligibility | Coaches are responsible for ensuring that all members of the team are eligible players. | | Uniforms | Each team is strongly encouraged to use reversible jerseys. Home team wears white or light color. The digits 6,7,8 and 9 are not to be used in uniform numbers (e.g., 19 is an illegal number). |
3.0 Game Schedules | Game Times | The times listed on the league schedule are the game start times. Teams can expect to have approximately 15 minutes to warm-up prior to the start of the game. Teams should arrive at the game site 20 minutes prior to the start of the game. | | Rescheduling | Rescheduling of games is in general not allowed. | | Inclement weather | In the event of inclement weather it is up to the coaches to determine whether or not to postpone the game. Driving safety of the visiting team must be the primary consideration. The visiting coach has the final responsibility for making this determination. In the event the game is postponed the following must be done: - Make determination as early as possible
- Cancel referees for the game. Call your town coordinator to find out who to call (Note: different towns use different sources for referees.)
- Reschedule contest for mutually agreeable time
- Reschedule referees
- Home team should cancel and reschedule gym time.
| | | | | | | | Forfeit | In the event that a team cancels or forfeits a game, that team is responsible for paying for both referees. Referees are paid even if the game is not played! |
4.0 Game Rules | Basic Rules | The MIAA High School Rules are used except as noted below. | | Coaches | No more than 2 coaches are allowed on the bench. (Revised for the 2001-2002 season). Only 2 coaches are allowed on the bench. Anyone else must be a player. Scorers, analysts, or whatever must sit in the stands . (rev. 11/29/2001) | | Shot Clock | A shot clock is NOT used. Instead, the 10-second back court rule is in effect. A team inbounding in the back court shall have 10 seconds to get the ball into the front court. | | Game Length | Games consist of two 16-minute halves. Stop time is used (i.e., clock is stopped on referee’s whistle). Halftime is 5 minutes. | | Overtime | Overtimes shall be 3 minutes in length. Each team will receive 1 additional time-out per overtime. | | Time-outs | Each team is allowed 5 time-outs per game. Time-outs shall be 1 minute in length. | | Fouls | The following rules concerning fouls shall be in effect: - 1-and-1s are shot on the 7th, 8th, and 9th foul of each half
- 2 free throws are awarded on the 10th and succeeding fouls each half
- Second half fouls carry over into overtimes (for the purpose of 1-and-1s)
- Fouls on missed 3 point attempts are awarded 3 free throws
- Player technical fouls are counted as a personal foul and a team foul
- Any player receiving 2 technical fouls in a game or who is ejected from a game shall not participate in the next league game.
- Any coach receiving a technical foul must sit for the remainder of the game
- Any coach receiving 2 technical fouls in a game or who is ejected from a game shall not participate in the next league game.
| | Equipment | Game balls shall be leather or synthetic leather. The following sizes shall be used: - Boys grades 7 & 8 - standard men’s ball 29.5 inches in circumference
- Boys grades 4 - 6 and girls all grades use standard women’s ball 28.5 inches in circumference
| | Full court pressing | There shall be no full court pressing by a team with a lead of 20 points or more. No pressing is allowed for 4th and 5th grade teams except for the last 2 minutes of the first half, the last 4 minutes of the 2nd half and any subsequent overtime. |
5.0 Scores, Standings, Tournament | Scores | Each town is responsible to report their teams’ home game scores on a weekly basis. Scores need to be emailed to metrohoop@aol.com by Tuesday at midnight following the Sunday games. In the case of games postponed by inclement weather, that postponement should be indicated in the email to avoid the team being credited with a loss. | | Standings | Standings will be posted to the web site weekly. Teams who fail to call in their scores will automatically forfeit those games for the purposes of determining their standing in the league. In an attempt to ensure that teams play against peers, the lowest ranked large town teams (usually the lowest 2) and the highest ranked small town teams swap divisions for play in the following season. | | Tournament Pairings | The top 8 teams from each division will play in the MetroWest post season tournament. Teams will be paired within their own division (i.e., large town, small town) initially. Each division will play down until 2 teams remain. At this point the higher ranked team of each division will play the lower ranked team of the other division. The winners meet for the championship. Teams are paired by having the highest ranked team play the lowest ranked team, the 2nd highest play the 2nd to lowest, etc. | Note: Please submit corrections, comments and suggestions to metrohoop@aol.com . |
