WNBA ANNOUNCES RULES CHANGES FOR 2013 SEASON

NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2012 — The WNBA will implement new rules regarding flopping and defensive three-seconds, while also extending the three-point line, Chief of Basketball Operations and Player Relations Renee Brown announced today following the league’s Board of Governor’s Meeting. The rules will go into effect beginning with the 2013 season.

“Flops that are intended to mislead referees into calling undeserved fouls or fool fans into believing a foul call was missed are a detriment to the game," Brown said. "With that, both the Board of Governors and the Competition Committee felt strongly that a player who, upon video review by the league, is believed to have committed a flop will, after an initial warning, be given an automatic penalty.”

“Flopping” will be defined as any physical act that, upon review, reasonably appears to have been intended to cause the referees to call a foul on another player.

The primary factor in determining if a player committed a flop is whether her physical reaction to an action by another player (whether or not that action resulted in contact) is inconsistent with what would reasonably be expected given the force, direction, or nature of the action of the other player. An example would be a player who lunges, flails, or falls following minimal or non-existent contact with an opponent.

Physical acts that constitute legitimate basketball plays (such as moving to a spot in order to draw an offensive foul) and minor physical reactions to contact will not be treated as flops.

During preseason games, warning will be given for acts judged to be flops. Any player who is determined to have committed a flop during the regular season will, upon the first offense, receive a warning. Subsequent violations will result in fines of increasing amounts. Beginning with a sixth violation, a player will be subject to a further increased fine and/or suspension.

The league will announce at a later date a separate set of penalties for flopping that will apply during the playoffs.

The three-point line will be extended from 20 feet, 6 1/4 inches to 22 feet, 1 3/4 inches, consistent with the distance inherent in all FIBA competitions.

“We extended the line to its current distance of 20 feet, 6 1/4 inches in 2004 and our three-point shooting percentage increased,” said Brown. “Since then the talent level and the athleticism of our players has only continued to increase; and with a significant percentage of our players also playing – and excelling – internationally, this brings us into line with the international game. The extended three-point line and defensive three-second rule will create spacing and open up the lane. The improved spacing will create increased opportunities for athletic players to drive to the basket and either shoot or pass the ball back out to open players on the perimeter.”

Under the new defensive three-second rule, a violation will result in a technical foul being assessed if a defensive player violates the “actively guarding” guidelines. Following the free throw for the technical foul, the offense will maintain possession of the ball at the free throw line extended.

Slight changes also have been made with regard to the use of instant replay as it pertains to flagrant fouls and the restricted area.

Whereas previous rules allowed for replay review of Flagrant Foul 2’s but not Flagrant Foul 1’s, the level of the foul will now be assigned only after the play has been reviewed. Replay procedures are also being instituted during the final minute of regulation and overtime if officials determine the offensive player committed the illegal contact but are uncertain as to whether the defender was inside or outside the restricted area.

Updated High School Wrestling rules

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (April 26, 2012) — High school wrestlers who are called for a third stalling violation will receive a stiffer penalty beginning with the 2012-13 season. In addition to the two-point penalty assessed for a third stalling violation, the opponent will now have his or her choice of position on the next restart.

The stalling penalty revision was one of eight rules changes approved by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Wrestling Rules Committee at its April 9-11 meeting in Indianapolis. The changes were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.

“The change to the third stalling penalty resulted from the committee’s desire to encourage wrestlers to wrestle aggressively by providing a greater incentive not to stall,” said Dale Pleimann, chair of the Wrestling Rules Committee and former assistant executive director of the Missouri State High School Activities Association. “No one likes to see a wrestler disqualified for stalling. The hope is that by increasing the third stalling penalty, a wrestler who has been penalized twice will be encouraged to pick up the pace and wrestle more aggressively.”

In other changes, the committee adjusted the current dual meet weigh-in procedure to align with the random draw.

Bob Colgate, NFHS director of sports and sports medicine and staff liaison to the Wrestling Rules Committee, said this change would provide maximum preparation and warm-up time for the first contestants scheduled to compete in a dual meet.

Three new rules were approved by the committee, including Rule 4-3-5, which states that wrestlers “may not wear wristbands, sweatbands or bicep bands during a match.” This rule was enacted in an effort to minimize risk of injury from wrestlers getting their fingers caught in an opponent’s wristband or sweatband.

Another new rule for 2012-13 is an exception to the 30-second tiebreaker. The new exception (8-2-1h) will read as follows:

“If the second injury time-out is taken at the conclusion of the first 30-second tiebreaker period and the opponent already has the choice at the beginning of the second 30-second tiebreaker period, the opponent would then have the added choice at the first restart after the beginning of the second 30-second tiebreaker period.”

This provision was a rule change last year for the regulation match and will now apply to the overtime as well.

Rule 10-2-9 will be added to next year’s rules to address what happens when two wrestlers in the championship bracket simultaneously cannot continue a match.  If both wrestlers cannot continue because of disqualification for stalling or having their injury or blood time elapse, the wrestler who is leading on points at the time the match is terminated will continue in the consolation bracket. If the match is tied at the time of termination, neither wrestler will continue.

Following are the other three changes approved by the committee:

4-1-1a: Language has been updated to describe the wrestler’s singlet, and the change will also allow the T-shirt with no sleeves to be worn under the one-piece singlet when approved by the referee.

5-11-2i: Rules language was expanded to complete the near-fall and penalty sequence.

10-3-6 and 10-3-7: The tournament bracket format was revised to allow more flexibility in conducting a tournament.

“The NFHS Wrestling Rules Committee confirmed that the sport of high school wrestling is in great shape overall by making only a few changes to the scholastic rules,” Pleimann said.

Wrestling is the sixth-most popular sport for boys at the high school level with 273,732 participants in 10,407 schools during the 2010-11 season, according to the NFHS Athletics Participation Survey. In addition, 7,351 girls were involved in wrestling in 1,215 high schools.

Volleyball Uniform Requirements to Change in 2016

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (February 9, 2012) — In an attempt to more clearly distinguish between the libero and other team members, uniform requirements will be changing in high school volleyball.

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Volleyball Rules Committee, at its January 9-11 meeting in Indianapolis, approved new uniform requirements that will take effect in 2016. All rules changes passed by the Volleyball Rules Committee were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.

The revised rule will require the libero to wear a uniform top that is immediately recognized from all angles as being in clear contrast to and distinct from the other members of the team. The libero and/or his/her teammates shall wear a solid-colored uniform top. The solid-colored uniform top shall clearly contrast from the predominant primary color(s) of the teammates’ uniform top, with the predominant color(s) being the color(s) appearing on approximately half of the uniform.

Other requirements of the solid-colored top are 1) the sleeves shall be the same color as the body of the uniform top; 2) piping/trim no wider than 1 inch in total at its widest point may be placed along the seams and may be a different color(s) than the uniform top; 3) lettering and collars may be different color(s) than the uniform top; and 4) numbers shall be a contrasting color to the uniform top and meet all other specifications in Rule 2-2-4.

“Some uniforms were affecting the officials’ ability to identify the libero and determine legal playing action,” said Becky Oakes, NFHS director of sports and liaison to the Volleyball Rules Committee. “The tradition is that volleyball is a sport with colorful uniforms. Because there has been increasing difficulty identifying the libero because of uniform design, the rules needed to make sure the libero was easily identified.”

The rule will take effect July 1, 2016, which should give uniform manufacturers time to make the necessary changes and allow high schools to make uniform changes in their normal budgeting process and not incur additional expense, according to Oakes.

The committee also made a change to Rule 10-3, which deals with illegal alignment penalties.

The rule now states, “Illegal alignment is charged when an illegal substitute is identified in the set after the whistle/signal for serve and results in a loss of a rally/point.”

Oakes said that the committee wanted to add consistency to the rule and that a team should face the same consequences regardless of whether it plays an illegal libero or an illegal substitute.

In addition, some changes were made to the responsibilities for referees.

In Rule 5-3-4d, prior to a deciding set, the second referee shall conduct the coin toss at the officials table. The second referee shall then confirm with the first referee the result of the coin toss. Formerly, the coin toss would take place at center court, and the first referee had the option of conducting the coin toss or passing it off to the second referee.

“This rule change will give the second referee some extra responsibility,” Oakes said, adding that the committee believes that the change will be a much more efficient procedure.

Referees now will be required to carry a watch, per a change to Rule 5-2-2, to serve as an alternate to the visual timing device in the event of a malfunction with the on-site device.

The final rule change comes with the increasing presence of electronic media in high school sports. Rule 11-2-3 now allows state associations to determine the number of electronic media time-outs transmitted for matches and to have the option to reduce the number of charged time-outs.

A complete listing of all rules changes approved by the committee is available on the NFHS Web site at www.nfhs.org. Click on “Athletics & Fine Arts Activities” on the home page, and select “Volleyball.”

Volleyball is the third-most popular girls sport and 13th-most popular boys sport at the high school level according to the 2010-11 NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey. There are 409,332 girls at 15,479 high schools and 50,016 boys at 2,078 high schools participating nationwide.

Football Rules Press Release

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (February 9, 2012) — High school football players must sit out one play next year if their helmet comes off while the ball is live.

In cases where the helmet comes completely off without it being directly attributable to a foul by the opponent, the player will have to leave the game for at least one down.

This addition to Rule 3-5-10 was one of eight rules changes approved by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Football Rules Committee at its January 20-22 meeting in Indianapolis. All rules changes were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.

“The committee made this rules change after reviewing data from multiple states regarding the frequency of helmets coming off during live-ball play,” said Julian Tackett, chair of the Football Rules Committee and commissioner of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association. “It is the committee’s hope that this serves notice for schools to properly fit players with helmets to reduce the incidence of these situations and remind the players not to take steps that alter the fit.”

Another significant change next season will be a new interpretation of a legal catch. A receiver now will be required to establish possession of the ball and contact the ground inbounds while maintaining possession – regardless of the opponent’s action.

“In previous years, the covering official could have ruled that an airborne player attempting to catch the ball would have come down inbounds, but was prevented from doing so because of contact by the opponent,” said Bob Colgate, NFHS director of sports and sports medicine and liaison to the Football Rules Committee. “Now, the player must establish possession and contact the ground inbounds for a legal catch.”

The Football Rules Committee also cleared the way for state associations and their member schools to place corporate advertising and/or commercial markings on the field of play. These types of markings previously were only allowed in the end zones and outside the field.

Rule 1-2-3l will state that while corporate advertising and/or commercial markings will be allowed, the markings may not obstruct the yard lines, hash marks or nine-yard marks.

A risk-minimization change was made to Rule 2-3-7 that changes an interpretation for blocking below the waist.

“The previous interpretation was that it was not a foul for a player to block below the waist if the hand(s) of the opponent was first contacted below the waist,” Colgate said. “This revision changes that interpretation and stipulates that such action is a foul.”

After experimentation in Minnesota and Iowa, the committee revised Rule 9-3-8 to prohibit members of the kicking team from initiating contact (blocking) against members of the receiving team until the ball has broken the plane of the receiving team’s restraining line, or until the kicking team is eligible to recover the free kick.

The other three rules changes approved by the committee include Rule 1-5-3c(8), which expands the list of illegal equipment to include play cards that are not worn on the wrist or arm, as well as Rule 9-4-3h, which now states that grasping the tooth and mouth protector, as well as the face mask, is a foul. Also, to provide guidance to game officials, the committee clarified Rule 9-4-3k by adding the direction in which the opponent was pulled during a horse-collar.

Finally, the NFHS decided to extend the effective date of its new glove rule from 2012 to 2013. During the 2012 season, both gloves meeting the current standard and gloves meeting the new standard will be legal for play.

“The game of football at the high school level is in great shape, and the committee continues to review all available data to minimize the risk to participants,” Tackett said. “A hallmark to the NFHS playing rules is the constant emphasis on risk minimization, as well as historic tenets regarding the balance between offense and defense and making the rules appropriate for the levels of the coaches, players and officials.”

Football is the No. 1 participatory sport for boys at the high school level with 1,134,377 participants in the 2010-11 school year, according to the High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the NFHS through its member state associations. In addition, the survey indicated there were 1,561 girls who played football in 2010-11.