1. JHU Intramurals Flag Football Captains Meeting
Oct. 24, 2016
Troy Zuccaro
Coordinator of Officiating,
Lead Official - Football
Gabby Castellano
Assistant Director - Intramurals

2. Flag Football Captains’ Meeting
Administrative Matters
The Rules in brief
Points of Emphasis

3. Administrative Matters

4. Administrative Matters
Eligibility
Forfeits
Sportsmanship
Ejections
Uniforms
Game Cards
Points of contact

5. Eligibility You must be a Rec Center member in order to play.
No J-Card or valid Hopkins ID, no play.
Must play during regular season to be playoff-eligible.
Max players per team is 20.

6. Forfeits
If your team forfeits a game without notice, you are ineligible for playoffs.
If your team is going to forfeit, please let the intramural staff know by ing and .
One free default during the regular season, must inform intramurals before noon on day of game.
Game time is forfeit time. We run on a tight schedule so please be at your game 10 minutes ahead of time.

7. Sportsmanship
Sportsmanship is paramount here. Ratings are on a 0-4 point scale.
Teams exhibiting poor sportsmanship will be noted, and a team averaging a sportsmanship score less than 2.5/4 will be ineligible for playoffs.

8. Ejections
An player ejected for a flagrant foul or unsportsmanlike conduct will be suspended from all intramural activities, and must meet with Gabby to be reinstated.
The participant must Gabby to set-up a meeting.

9. Uniforms
We agree that pinnies are kinda gross. If your team can all wear the same color shirt, you will definitely never have to wear pinnies. Tell your team to bring two colors to the game, just in case.
Please do not wear yellow or gold shirts, as it matches the officials’ shirt color.
No jewelry except medical (may be visible) or religious (must be taped down). No casts.
This is a safety issue.

10. Game cards
This year, officials will hand out game cards to captains before the game, with the officials’ names and team names on them.
Please fill out the cards after the game and return them to the rec center welcome desk. They will be put in the intramural mailbox in the office.
Rate an official holistically, based on judgement, consistency, professionalism, and hustle. Don’t rate just based on one call that didn’t go your way. If you have a problem with an official, detailed comments are more valuable to us than just a low score.
If your officials don’t give you a card, let Gabby know.

11. Game Cards

12. Whom to contact Contact Gabby gabby@jhu.edu regarding:
Issues with player and team registration, scheduling and scores
If you get ejected from a game
If you are forfeiting a game
Contact the intramural staff at , Rohan and Neil regarding:
Issues with scheduling
Contact Troy regarding:
Rules interpretation / officiating-related questions

13. The Rules, in brief

14. The Game High School rules, with exceptions. 7 v 7 flag football
Co-ed must have 3 girls on the field at any time.
20 minute running-time halves (22 mins in playoffs)
Last 2 minutes of the game are stop-time per NCAA rules
Except: no 10-second runoff below Open A level
3 timeouts per game
No OT until playoffs

15. The Field 80 yards, with two 10-yard end zones.
Cones will mark the out-of-bounds lines.
We don’t use a chain crew for the line-to-gain. Instead, the 20, 40, and 20 yard lines denote the “zones” of the field. Advancing the ball into the next “zone” gives your team a first down.

16. Scrimmage plays
Someone has to snap the ball from the ground, and it can’t be a hand-to-hand snap.
Rationale: QB sneaks from under center are not safe in this league.
Snap doesn’t have to be through the legs.
The offense must have 4 players on the line of scrimmage.
The defense must be a yard behind the ball when it is snapped.
Offside and false starts are dead-ball fouls- no “free plays” and no chance for the defense to get back.

17. Fumbles
Fumbles and backward passes are dead once they hit the ground – neither team may recover them.
Backward passes are placed at the spot it hit the ground. Fumbles are placed where they hit the ground or the spot of the fumble, whichever is further back.

18. Flags and tackling
The ball carrier may not use an arm or the ball to guard his flags or ward off a defender attempting to grab the flags.
The ball carrier may not dive to advance the ball.
Penalty: Flag Guarding. 5 yards plus loss of down. If this occurs after the line-to- gain is reached, the first down is still awarded.
A defender may not hold the ball carrier, nor may he tackle the ball carrier.
Penalty: Illegal contact or holding, 5 or 10 yards, respectively. Tackling, 15 yards and possible ejection.

19. Blocking
It is recommended that blocking done with arms behind the back. Arms in front or the body, “flared” elbows, or arms out to the side puts you at risk of a foul.
No charging into or initiating positive contact with an opponent.
Penalty: Illegal contact or holding, 5 or 10 yards, respectively.
Low blocks or blocks in the back are never legal.
Penalty: Illegal block, 10 yards. 15 yards if violent.

20. Passer / ball carrier protections
A player may not swat the ball out of the passer’s hand, nor may he initiate contact to the passer’s arm.
Penalty: Roughing the Passer yards and an automatic first down.
No player may “strip” the ball from another player.
Penalty: Illegal contact or Personal foul. 5 yards, or 10 + AFD.

21. Passing
No “5 yard” contact rule like the NFL, but initiating contact with an opponent is still a foul for illegal contact.
Pass Interference and Illegal Touching are penalized by NCAA rules.
One foot or other body part with control = catch.
Only one forward pass is allowed per down.
Intentionally throwing the ball out of bounds to stop the clock is illegal.
Penalty: 5 yards + loss of down.

22. Kicking
No kickoffs to start the game or after scores, instead, the ball is placed at the receiving team’s 10 yard line.
After a safety, the team that got scored on will kick off from its 10 yard line.
Rationale: teams would exploit the old rule giving the ball to the other team at their 10, essentially netting 70 yards of field position at the cost of 2 points.

23. Punts
On 4th down, a team may choose to punt. No kicking team players can go downfield until the ball is kicked, and no defensive players can rush the punter.
If you declare that you’re punting, you have to punt. If you declare that you’re going for it, you may not punt.
A ball that hits the ground is live. If it is muffed or fumbled, it becomes dead. If the kicking team recovers, the ball is dead and belongs to the receiving team.

24. Scoring
A touchdown is 6 points, and the opportunity to go for an extra point worth 1, 2, or 3 points:
1 point from the 3 yard line
2 points from the 10 yard line
3 points from the 20 yard line
A safety is worth 2 points.
If Defense fouls on an extra point, offense is allowed to change where they’re going from. If Offense fouls, they’re stuck.
Touchbacks are placed at the 10.

25. Co-Ed modifications
Males may not run the ball through the line of scrimmage.
During a possession, a team may not throw two consecutive forward passes from a male to a male (“Open / Closed” rule). If a team completes a pass from a male to a male, its next completion must involve a female and gain positive yardage.
If a female scores a touchdown, either by running the ball across the goal line or throwing a forward pass that leads directly to a touchdown, it’s worth 9 points.
Punts may be thrown instead of kicked, but are dead where they land.

26. Points of Emphasis

27. Injuries
If a player is hurt and needs attention, he needs to get attention. It’s just a flag football game.
A player with a head injury should not return to play.

28. Flag Guarding
We’re keeping a closer eye on the more subtle flag guards that involve using the ball to ward off a defender or using a arm in a running motion to ward off a defender.

29. Kick Plays
This year, kicks that hit the ground are live and may be returned. This is a PoE so that no one is blindsided by this rule change.

30. Sportsmanship
Celebrations are encouraged; we don’t have a celebration rule that prohibits coordination, going to the ground, using the ball as a prop, or any of the other things that certain leagues have decided to ban. This is intramural flag football, and it’s supposed to be fun.
Taunting is absolutely not encouraged. Pointing or spiking the ball at an opponent, verbal abuse, threatening an official, etc. will result in a penalty.
Spiking the ball in the field of play, is still, of course, a foul for delay of game.

31. Have a great season!