Rules

GUPA follows current USAU rules, which you can read on the USAU website here.

Gender Rule

GUPA follows the WFDF rule set for gender parity and representation on the field. This is an A-B-B-A format for line changes between points, where A represents 4 male-matching and 3 female-matching players on the field, and B represents 3 male-matching and 4 female-matching players on the field for 7s style Ultimate.

Please note that this format is only required in outdoor 7s leagues.

Indoor 4v4

We follow the Quebec rule set for 4s, which is different from the outdoor USAU 4s rule set. Here are some notable rules unique to indoor 4s that we recognize within this league:

  • Gender ratio is 2:2.
  • There are 10 stall counts.
  • Players start at the back line of their endzone for the starting pull and for the first pull after half.
  • Players use disc flips to determine colour, side, and their choice to start on offense or defense at the beginning of each game.
  • Only 2 pulls every game: at the beginning of the game and after halftime. Each team pulls once.
  • Brick mark is set at 2m (10 paces) in front of the endzone line (when a pull lands out of bounds).
  • After a point is scored, the disc is left in the endzone at the spot in which it was caught. Play restarts in that same endzone (i.e., no pull after every point). The team that was scored upon checks the disc in play once the defence is ready.
  • Players may only sub on and off the field between points or from an injury timeout.
  • 3-minute halftime at the scheduled midpoint of the game.
  • Teams switch sides at the half.
  • Teams have 1 timeout per half.
  • A timeout lasts 60 seconds; a timeout cannot be called in the last 5 minutes of the game.
  • If a timeout is called in the last 5 minutes, a turnover ensues. Before a game begins, the Captains should agree on a time piece if a clock is not easily visible from the playing field.
  • Possessions are not played out, the game ends on the buzzer. However, if the disc is in the air at the time of the buzzer, play ends once the disc is either caught, or lands on the field.
  • In the case of a finals game where a winner must be determined, ties are played out until one team scores a point to break the tie.

Weather Policy

Currently under review. In the interim, please use common sense and avoid play in inclement weather where it puts yourself and others at risk of injury.

Player Eligibility

For a player to be eligible to play or be a substitute player, they must be registered as a Regular or Substitute Player on your team within the Zuluru platform. Sign-up is incredibly important as it includes liability and insurance for all players.

Roster Conflicts: A player may be registered as a Regular Player for only one team within a league. If a player is found to be registered as a Regular Player on multiple teams they will be required to commit to only one team.

You can be registered as both a Regular Player and Substitute Player on multiple teams within the same league, but you are not permitted to play more than one semi-finals and finals game per night, as there are conflicts of interest within each team’s performance.

Dangerous Play

GUPA follows the USAU rule set for dangerous play. Please record incidents of dangerous play when submitting scores if no resolution was reached between the two teams regarding proper etiquette. We want to keep our leagues safe and spirited!

From USAU:

Fouls (3.C): It is the responsibility of all players to avoid contact in every way possible. [[Avoid contact in every way reasonably possible, while still playing ultimate. Some contact is inevitable, but players have an affirmative obligation to make reasonable efforts to avoid contact.]]

Dangerous Play. Actions demonstrating reckless disregard for the safety of or posing a significant risk of injury to fellow players, or other dangerously aggressive behavior are considered “dangerous play” and are treated as a foul. The proper call in such circumstances is “dangerous play” and play stops. This rule is not superseded by any other rule. [[The following are non-exhaustive examples of dangerous play:

  • significantly colliding with a mostly stationary opponent,
  • jumping into a group of mostly stationary players,
  • diving around or through a player that results in contact with a player’s back or legs,
  • running without looking when there is a likelihood of other players occupying the space into which the player is traveling,
  • jumping or otherwise leaving the ground where it is likely that a significant collision will result,
  • wild or uncontrolled throwing motions,
  • initiating contact with a player’s head,
  • initiating contact with an airborne player’s lower body that prevents them from landing on their feet, and
  • jumping right in front of a sprinting player in a manner where contact is unavoidable]]
  1. Dangerous play is considered a foul regardless of whether or when the disc arrives or contact occurs.
    1. The vast majority of dangerous play will involve contact between players. However, contact is not required for a player to invoke this rule where there is reasonable certainty that contact would have occurred had the player not taken steps to avoid contact. [[A player is not required to hold their position and receive contact in order to call “dangerous play,” but the mere possibility of contact is insufficient to justify a call. Furthermore, if the offending player stops or changes their path such that contact would not have occurred, contact was not “reasonably certain.”]]
  2. Resolution. If uncontested, a call of “dangerous play” is resolved as an analogous foul (e.g., if the call occurred while or immediately after the calling player was making a play on a disc in the air, it is treated as a Receiving Foul (17.I.4.b)). A player called for dangerous play may contest the call if they believe the call was incorrect (17.B).
    1. Dangerous play between a thrower and marker is treated as a throwing foul that affected the play, regardless of whether or when the disc is released or when contact occurs, unless the calling player determines otherwise.
    2. Dangerous play occurring when or immediately after the disc is in the air is treated as a receiving foul if either player involved is attempting a play on the disc. However, the calling player may elect to treat the dangerous play as a general foul, if the player determines that the dangerous play was unrelated to the overall play that decided the outcome of the action. [[For example, if a third player appears and grabs the disc far before it reaches the two involved players, or if the disc is thrown to the opposite side of the field, the involved players will not be attempting a play on the disc. However, if multiple players accumulate under a floating disc, one player’s dangerous play will be treated as a receiving foul, even if a third player happens to make a successful play on the disc, as the players under the disc were attempting a play on the disc. The calling player would have discretion to deem the third player’s play so independent and removed from the involved players that the calling player wishes to treat the dangerous play as a general foul rather than a receiving foul. In general, a calling player’s decision that a dangerous play was unrelated to the overall play will be based on the dangerous play being removed in significant distance or time from the overall play. By way of further example, even a dangerous play committed against a player unaware of the approaching disc will be treated as a receiving foul, where the offending player was attempting to make a play on the disc, giving the benefit of the doubt that the calling player could potentially have become aware of the approaching disc, had the offending player made a safe play. In this instance, the calling player could determine that it would not have been possible to become aware of the disc such that the outcome of the play would have changed and therefore elect to treat the dangerous play as a general foul.]]
    3. Dangerous play is treated as a general foul only if it occurs when the disc is not in the air, occurs far away from the disc, when the disc is obviously uncatchable, or when the calling player has elected such treatment under 17.I.1.b.2. In this situation, the calling player determines whether the play was affected, under the standard enunciated in this rule and its annotations. [[A disc is obviously uncatchable only when it hits the ground before a catch could possibly be made, is out-of-bounds with no possibility of an in-bounds completion, or otherwise presents no opportunity for a catch (whether initial or subsequent efforts), giving every benefit of the doubt to the calling player.]] [[In determining whether a dangerous play affected the play under 17.I.1.b.3, the calling player should broadly consider the entire play, including any approach taken by the offending player immediately before the dangerous play. A good rule of thumb is to look to the last time when a player could have still changed their actions and actively avoided a dangerous outcome but did not (the “point of no return”) through the time immediately after resolution of the play and broadly consider whether the outcome of the play could possibly have been different, had the offending player taken a safe approach. Even a player’s awareness of the presence of the offending player can affect the play.]]