Maritime Women's Football League- Special Rules

(1) APPLICATION OF SPECIAL RULES

These special rules apply to all Maritime Women's Football League games.

(2) ELIGIBILITY

Players must be at least 18 years old on December 31 in the year of play.

(3) GENERAL RULES

Unless otherwise specified below, the conduct of games in the Maritime Women's Football League will be in accordance with the Canadian Rulebook for Tackle Football.

(4) FIELD SIZE

Games will be played on a regulation size 65 yard wide Canadian Football Field .

(5) NUMBER OF PLAYERS ON THE FIELD

Teams will play with 10 players on the field. The offence must have at least 5 players on the line of scrimmage; two less than for 12 player football. The "Tackle" position has been eliminated.

(6) GAME LENGTH

Games will consist of 4 quarters of 12 minutes each, timed in accordance with the Canadian Rulebook for Tackle Football.

(7) NUMBER OF DOWNS

          For all games teams will play 4 down football with the one yard neutral zone. The offence must throw a legal OVERHAND forward pass on at least one of the first three downs in each series of downs.
        Failure to do so will result in an "Illegal Procedure" penalty. Officials will not stop play until the ball is dead. Attempting to pass and getting sacked or being forced to run will not satisfy this rule. The ball must be thrown as a legal forward pass. A lateral pass will not satisfy this rule. Officials should point this out to a team that has just thrown a lateral pass. A five yard penalty will be applied and the down repeated. The offensive team will still be obligated to pass the ball again after the penalty has been applied.
        The defensive team has the option to decline the penalty, let the play stand and bring up fourth down. The offensive team can run the ball on fourth down.
        In order to avoid this penalty teams are strongly advised to pass on either first or second down.
        The offence is not required to pass the ball in any set of downs that starts inside their own 15 yard line.

(8) BLOCKING RESTRICTIONS

Initiating blocks below the waist is not permitted. Illegal blocks below the waist are a 15 yard penalty. Any player penalized twice for this infraction in the same game will not be permitted to play the remainder of the game.

(9) PRESSURE DEFENCE RESTRICTIONS

       Defensive players may rush from any depth inside "The Box". Players outside "The Box" are not allowed to blitz. The defence can send the same number of players as the offence has inside "The Box" (minus the QB) at the time the QB starts their cadence.
       Example: If the offence has 3 interior lineman and two running backs inside "The Box" the defence can rush 5 players.
       Players on both sides of the ball are considered to be inside "The Box" if their inside foot is in line with or inside of the outside foot of the outermost interior down offensive lineman (C, G, TE).
      There is no restriction on where defensive players can line up. In order to blitz defensive players must be in "The Box" at the time the QB starts their cadence.
      If this rule is violated the defence will be penalized 5 yards for "illegal defence".
      This rule is not in effect when there is two yards or less to go for a first down or when the offense is scrimmaging inside the defensive team's 3 yard line.
       This rule also applies to special teams.

Notes from officials: Any End player lined up on the line of scrimmage must be at least 3 yards outside the G at the time the QB starts their cadence to NOT be classified as a TE for the purposes of this rule.

Once the cadence starts, it finalizes the number of players that can go from the defense. For example, if there are 3 on the line and 2 backs, and the offence motions a player out of the back field after the cadence has begun, the defense can still send 5 players. It works the same if there are 3 on the line and 2 in the backfield and the offense brings an extra player in the box after the cadence starts the defense can still only send 5 players.

All players must come from inside the box. There is no one coming from the outside corners. As in previous years, once it is determined a run anyone can come and meet the player outside.

(10) HASH MARKS

If there are no hash marks on the field the nearest goalpost will be used as the "hash mark".

(11) MINIMUM NUMBER OF PLAYERS

A team must have a minimum of 15 players dressed and capable of participating in order for a game to be played. Any team unable to meet this requirement will forfeit.

(12) HALFTIME

During the regular season, halftime will be 10 minutes. During the playoffs, halftime will be
15 minutes.

(13) LIMIT ON NUMBER OF PRACTICES

During the regular season teams are limited to a maximum of two practices per week. There is no limitation on the number of practices in the preseason or during the playoffs.

(14) OFFICIAL BALL

The official football of the Maritime Women's Football League is the
Wilson TDY composite. The host team is responsible for providing the game ball.

(15) NATURE OF COMPETITION

The primary goal of the Maritime Women's Football League is to promote the growth of friendly competition. In cases where the two teams end up being very unequal in strength and skill the stronger team is asked to take into account the long term consequences of running up the score on the weaker team; both on the future of that team and on the union.

(16) CONVERTS AND FIELD GOALS

A kicked convert is worth 2 points. A convert by pass or run is worth 1 point.

(17) MERCY RULE

When a team has taken and maintained a lead of at least 30 points, the remainder of the game will be timed "straight time" if agreed to by the coach of the trailing team. The coach has the option of having the game continue to be timed in accordance with the Canadian Rulebook for Tackle Football.