• Teams must be comprised of 6 to 10 players. Six players must be on the court (with at least two females) at all times. Teams not meeting this requirement will be subject to default. The opposing team may waive the minimum player requirement and have the match count as an official game. This determination must be made prior to the start of play

• Players must be 18+ in order to play.

• Score Keepers will be assigned to the competitive and corporate divisions only where available, the recreation division is self-refereed.
• All score keepers are volunteers and have the power and authority to make decisions on any matter involving the game. The court score keeper’s decisions are final based on his/her understanding of the HOPE Volleyball SummerFest Official Tournament Rules. If the team captain(s) protest a score keeper’s call that directly affects the game outcome, the dispute will be resolved as per Section 6.
• At the end of regular play the score keeper shall determine the outcome for the game. Both team captains will be required to sign the score sheet at the end of the game to signify their agreement with the scores recorded. Court runners will collect score sheets and deliver them to the Score Keeper/Referee Tent for score input.

• If a ball wanders onto the court from an adjacent court during a rally the game MUST be stopped and the serving team will be asked to re-serve.
• In the event of an accident during play the game will be stopped and the serving team will re-serve after a legal substitution has been made. No time-outs will be permitted.
• In the event of suspension of play by tournament officials, the game will resume with re-serve at the point of interruption.

• Each game ends after 12 minutes of play (signalled by a radio announcement) or when one team reaches 21 points first. If time runs out prior to either team reaching 21 points, the team with the most points will be considered the game winner.
• There are no tie games. If the teams are tied at the end of 12 minutes of play, one sudden-death rally-point (served by the team that won the previous point) determines the game winner.
• There are 3 minutes between games. During this time teams must exit and/or enter the court in a timely fashion, while the team captains and the score keeper mark and sign the score sheet. A coin toss or ball spin (air pump direction to determine “toss” winner) will be made by the score keeper; winning team chooses either: (a) first serve, (b) preferred side or (c) receive serve.
• Points are scored according to the Rally-Point System (winner of each rally gains a point). If the serving team wins a rally, they continue to serve. If the receiving team wins a rally, they must rotate players and serve next.
• Hope uses the Let-Serve Rule. The ball can make contact with the net when it’s served and still be in play, it counts. (or a player touches the ball before it hits the ground outside of the court) it will be considered a legal serve.
• A server may serve the ball from anywhere along the baseline. There will be no “re-tosses” which means players will not be permitted to let a bad pass drop to the ground without serving and then toss it again to serve.
• A normal overhead serve (with both feet on the ground while serving) is permitted in all divisions. Jump-serving is allowed ONLY in the Competitive division.
• Ball must be clearly visible to opposing team’s players while serving – screening will not be permitted.
• There will be a maximum of five serves per player. After five serves the serving team must rotate and a new player will continue serving.
• Blocking or spiking serves is not permitted however players may receive a serve using an open-handed volley.
• Spiking is only permitted in the Competitive Division. Spiking in other divisions will result in an Attack Fault consisting of a loss of serve (if offending team had serve at the time of the fault) and a point for the opposing team.
• Ball must be hit over the net on or before the 3rd hit on each side of the net.
• Players are not permitted to hit the ball consecutively (i.e. players may not hit the ball two times in a row). A block is NOT considered a hit.
• A ball that lands touching a court boundary line will be considered in play.
• The ball must be cleanly hit and not held, lifted, pushed, carried or thrown. The ball cannot roll or come to rest on any part of the body however the ball may touch more than one part of the same player’s body only if the contacts take place simultaneously. Player may use any part of their bodies (including feet) as long as the ball is cleanly hit at contact. To prevent injury, kicking is not permitted in the Corporate and Recreational divisions.
• There is no centerline therefore a player may pass under the net as long as it does not interfere with the opposing team’s play. For example, a blocker or hitter may land under the net and/or across the “centreline”, as long as the opposing team is not hindered. Please note that this is to be avoided whenever possible to minimize the risk of injury.
• Open handed tips will be considered legal in all divisions.
• If player contacts the net while playing the ball or to interfere with a play, they are at fault. Otherwise, no fault is committed.
• Players must rotate one position clockwise when their team receives the right to serve (side-out).
• Any player substitutions must be made at the back row, middle spot of the rotation. Gender substitutions are allowed however there must be two (2) female players per team on the court at all times. Substitutions are made only when the ball is not in play. If a player is unable to continue to play, they must be legally substituted after the rally has been completed. If a legal substitution cannot be made (i.e. the team does not have another player to replace their injured player) the team is incomplete and is deemed to be in default. At this point the referee will ask the opposing team captain if they will agree to the defaulting team playing with fewer than 6 players. If the captain does not agree the game will end with the score as determined by the score keeper at that point.
• In case of a dispute that cannot be resolved by team captains or the score keeper (where applicable), see section 6.
• Common Volleyball Canada Indoor Rules will apply including the items noted above or with the noted exceptions.

• A team is deemed a “no-show” if the said team fails to report for play within 3 minutes after the start of play is announced. The team is then assigned a “default”. A team with insufficient number of players to start a game (i.e. at least 2 females on the court at all times during play or less than 6 players total), is declared in default. Defaulting teams are credited with 0 points while the opposing team is credited 21 points. The opposing team’s captain may waive the default and play the match as an official game. This determination must be made in the presence of both captain and the score keeper (where applicable) prior to the start of play

The Official Tournament Head Referee and HOPE Committee Members reserve the right to:

• Terminate any person(s) or team(s) play due to; unfair play i.e. poor sportspersonship, derogatory comments, excessive consumption of alcohol, fights, etc.
• Postpone or cancel play due to adverse weather conditions, or
• Attempt to resolve disputes using the determination of the following individuals (in the following order): Division Convenor, Official Tournament Head Referee, or if necessary, the Tournament Chairperson.
• If a dispute does arise after a game has ended, only the team captains may present themselves at the Score Keeper/Referee tent.

There are no play-offs for the Recreational division.

• To qualify for play-offs the Competitive and Corporate teams will need to be the winner of their pool. Pool winners are determined as follows:
• By the ratio of matches won/matches lost (entire pool play round), or
• Where two teams have equal matches won/matches lost, their rank in the pool will be determined by the results of the game played between such teams, or
• For a three-way tie (i.e., three teams have equal matches won/matches lost within the pool), the points won vs. points lost system will be applied to determine the winner of the pool. NOTE: all points for the five games played will be counted to determine the winner.
• If a tie still exists, then the Divisional Convenor will decide who the pool winner will be.
• One play-off game between pool winners will determine the court winner.
• Play-offs are single elimination for the court winners. Depending on the number of teams in the competitive and corporate divisions there may be “wildcard spots” or “byes” in the play-off “trees”. If so, the official Divisional Convenor will determine the “wildcard(s)”.