founded 2003
The Conduct of Water Polo Games
and
2007 Rule Change Summary
The following list includes important points about the conduct of water polo games and a summary of important rule changes
1. Playing (conduct) rules (Rule 5 and Rules 11-25) may not be altered except for experimental purposes approved by the NCAA Water Polo Rules Committee. The administrative rules (Rules 1-4 and Rules 6-10) cannot be altered except as indicated in the rules. For example, the length of periods, time between periods, type of overtime played or the number of timeouts may not be altered during any NCAA water polo contest (tournament or regular season).
2. It is important that the host institution ensure that the desk is staffed adequately, with experienced personnel. The instructions for desk personnel are included in Appendix E. The desk of the home team must accommodate a minimum of one observer from the visiting team. All desk officials must act in a neutral, professional manner during the game.
3. There is no playing rule to prohibit a non-participating institution from videotaping games. Conference or local rules may prohibit this action. Video review is not permitted during the course of the game. However, conferences may have rules allowing the conference to utilize video after a game to determine if an incorrect student-athlete is serving a post-game suspension, to determine if brutality occurred that was not detected during the game, or to further penalize a participant for unsportsmanlike conduct.
4. Coaches are reminded that the buzzer for the expiration of time on the game clock must have a different sound from that of the buzzer on the shot clock. This is recommended for immediate implementation and required by July 1, 2009. If the buzzers are not different, the game timer must signal the end of each period by a distinctive sound, such as an airhorn (see Rule 9-3).
5. The complete requirements for pool markings are in effect July 1, 2007. If colored side lines are used in the pool, long markers on the pool deck or colored tile on the pool wall and deck, the distance from the end line to the goal line shall be marked in white, from the goal line to the 2-meter line shall be marked in red, from the 2-meter line to the 5-meter line shall be marked in yellow, and from the 5-meter line to the half-distance line shall be marked in green or color other than yellow or red. If cones are used on the pool deck, a white cone is used on the goal line, a red cone on the 2-meter line, a yellow cone on the 5-meter line and a white cone on the half-distance line. The cones shall be of adequate size and weight so that they are visible and remain at the correct location.
6. Five, game-quality balls must be available for all games. If there are not goal judges, one ball shall be with the referee and two at each bench. If the ball goes out of bounds over the end line, the coach must have a team member from the bench immediately retrieve the ball. If the coach does not do this, the referee shall warn the coach and, at the next occurrence, give the coach a yellow card.
7. The color of any swim cap worn by the goalkeeper may be red or it may match the color of those worn by that team’s field players. That is, the swim cap may be red or dark for the home goalkeeper or red or white for the visiting goalkeeper. The referee shall check for the color of all swim caps during the pregame meeting.
.8. An objective method of determining if a pool should be classified as shallow-deep has been established. A pool is considered to be shallow-deep if any portion of the water polo course is less than 6 feet, 6 inches (2.0m) in depth. If a pool is so classified and one coach requests to change ends each period, the referees shall change sides before the second period, the fourth period, before the first period of any overtime and before the first sudden-death overtime period.
9. Referees must report conduct which requires a game suspension (brutality, fighting, issuance of a red card) as well as any issues with the field of play, non-conforming caps, issuance of red cards, abandonment or forfeit of games, etc., committed by a competing institution to the conference office(s) and assignment authority. The conferences shall report these violations, including issues with field of play and non-conforming caps to the athletic director of the appropriate institution to ensure the issues are corrected.
10. In the interest of fairness, the rules have been clarified to clearly state that desk errors, timing errors, equipment malfunction, difference in signals of referees and misapplication of rules should not affect the outcome of the game and must be corrected by the referees. Several additional examples have been added to the list in Rule 7-9.
11. The wording of the protest rule (7-10) has been changed to clarify that a protest may be filed during a game and at any time up to five minutes after the conclusion of the game. If the event is not protested at the time it occurs, it may still be protested at the conclusion of the game, within the time limits described in the Rule 7-10. Protests are allowed for misapplication of the rules, equipment malfunction, and errors in recording information or other desk errors, but not for judgment calls.
Examples of misapplication of rules include:
a. A player of the team not in possession of the ball is excluded for 20 seconds and enters illegally during the extraman play. The referee excludes the player for 20 seconds and continues play. This is protestable as Rule 21-15 requires a penalty shot in this situation in addition to the exclusion.
b. A player interferes with the taking of a penalty shot. The referee excludes the player for 20 seconds and retakes the penalty shot if missed. This is protestable as the player should have been excluded for the remainder of the game (Rule 21-16).
c. The desk waves in an excluded player who has not reached the exclusion area. The referee awards a penalty foul. This is protestable as the referee should have corrected the error (Rule 7-9-j).
Examples of judgment calls of the referees, which may not be protested, include:
a. The referee signals that a direct shot on goal scores. The decision of the referee that the shot was taken correctly cannot be protested.
b. A player initiates a drive. The referee calls no foul on the defense. The coach can not protest later than the player was held or sunk at that time.
c The goalkeeper is excluded and a field player enters the goal and blocks a shot. The referee allows play to continue. The coach can not protest later stating that the player really had two hands up, even though blocking the ball with only one hand.
12. A referee may award a red card to a coach, team official or player for disruptive behavior at any time from 30 minutes before the game to five minutes after the conclusion of the game or until any protest filing procedures have been completed. The individual must leave the bench and not communicate with the team during the remainder of that game until to five minutes after the conclusion of the game or when any protest filing procedure has been completed During the subsequent game the player, coach or other team official may not communicate with the team, team officials or referees by any method during the entire time of jurisdiction of the referees (from 30 minutes before the game to five minutes after the conclusion of the game or when any protest filing procedure has been completed).
13. Red cards may be issued to individual players on the bench for disruptive behavior but are usually not issued to players in the water who are still eligible to play, unless otherwise specified in the Rules.
14. The referee shall not use any signal, such as raising an arm or showing five fingers, to indicate that a player is eligible to shoot a direct shot on goal after that player’s team has been awarded a free throw for a foul committed outside 5 meters.
15. The procedures for taking a penalty throw have been expanded to include that the shooter may not move forward until the ball leaves the hand; the defensive players may not interfere with the taking of the penalty throw up to the time the ball leaves the hand of the shooter; when the whistle is blown, the defensive players on each side of the shooter may only move forward towards the goal, not towards the shooter; after the ball is released, the defensive players may move towards the shooter.
16. An excluded goalkeeper’s substitute may only be another goalkeeper; an excluded field player’s substitute may only be another field player. Therefore, if a goalkeeper is excluded, a substitute wearing a goalkeeper’s cap may not be substituted in for an exiting field player during that exclusion period.
17 .If a player commits an act of disrespect to the referee on the way out from the pool after committing that player’s third personal foul, the player is removed for the remainder of the game, the substitute may not enter for 20 seconds or until the occurrence of an event described in 21-3, and a penalty throw is awarded.
18. The penalty for a minor act of disrespect committed immediately after an exclusion foul has been changed from .a penalty throw to the award of another exclusion foul. However, if a player commits a minor act of disrespect while exiting the pool after a third exclusion foul, a penalty throw is awarded. If the player committed the minor act of disrespect after a third personal foul which is a penalty foul, both penalty throws shall be taken, with the first penalty throw being a dead-time penalty throw.
19. The penalties for exposure in women’s competition have been clarified. A defender shall be excluded for 20 seconds after grabbing an offensive player’s suit and causing breast exposure. When an offensive player grabs the defender and causes exposure, the player shall be excluded for 20 seconds. Finally, if a player grabs her own suit and exposes a breast, a minor act of disrespect with a 20-second exclusion shall be called. To decrease the incidence of exposure, it is recommended that the swim suits be full-back and that the zipper is fully zipped. A zipper which is not fully zipped is considered to be an article which is likely to cause injury to either that player or to another player. If the zipper becomes unzipped, the player should zip up the suit at the next appropriate stoppage of the game when the player’s team is in possession of the ball, without taking away the advantage, just as in the cap replacement rule (4-1). If the zipper can not be fixed at that time or if a suit is torn, the referees should remove the player, allow the immediate entrance of a substitute, and the original player may be substituted in after the problem is corrected.
20..The method of tournament advancement has been changed. If three teams are tied in points in a bracket, the goal difference between these three teams shall be calculated. If the tie is broken, the team with the greatest goal difference shall advance first. The second and third places are determined by which team won the game between the remaining two teams. Additional examples are given in Appendix C.
21. A referee signal of a rolling motion with one arm has been added to indicate the exclusion foul of a minor act of disrespect. This foul must be noted on the score sheet as E-MAD.
22. When one referee awards an exclusion foul and at the same time the other referee awards a penalty foul but for opposing teams, both the offending players are excluded and a neutral throw awarded.