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Rules

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No Frills Volleyball League Rules

Use the current Volleyball Canada Rally-Point Rules with the following inclusions and modifications.

1. Net Height:
‘Advanced’, ‘Intermediate Plus’ Divisions Net is to be hung from the top hook (2.43 m) on the posts.
‘Intermediate’ & ‘Recreational’ Divisions Net is hung from second hook from the top (2.35m).

2. Team Composition:
Teams should field a team of 3 males & 3 females. The minimum number of players is 5, with no more than three players of one sex on the court at a time. If a team has 4 players or less, the FIRST GAME of the match (see Rule #5 for details) is a default from 10 minutes after the scheduled start time.

If a team has only 5 players (must be 3-&-2) ready to play at the start of the match then they will start the game down 4-nothing in games that are to 25 points. If the game is to only 21 points the short-handed team will be down 3-nothing. This point handicap will continue for each game until the team that's short gets their 6th player. If the missing player is a woman, then the 6th player must be a woman and vice versa (i.e. if the 6th player is a man then the 6th player must be a man). This rule is meant as a substitute to using the 'ghost' rule.

3. Determining Serve and Sides of Court:
Use either a coin toss, ball spin or rock-paper-scissors at the beginning of the match to determine first service and sides of the court. The winner chooses only one of the two options:

To serve or receive serve; or
The side of the court.

The loser of the coin toss/ball spin...etc. takes the remaining choice.

4. League Match & Games (sets):
All matches are the 'Best-of-5' games unless the league says otherwise (as in mini-round robin matches in the playoffs). The first 4 games within a ‘Best-of-Five’ match will be to 21 points while game 5 will be either hard-capped to 21 points or if there is less than 20 minutes left in your allotted time to 15 or less points (see the time guide for more on this).
IF you have between 15 & 20 minutes left in your allotted time the game must be set to a hard 15-point game. It’s not advisable to start a new game if there are 10 minutes or less left in your timeslot UNLESS you are playing a playoff game which needs to have a winner. If it is a playoff game, make the 5^th game to a point total that is one point higher than minutes you have left (e.g. 10 minutes left = 11 point game, 8 minutes left = 9 point game…etc.)

If time runs out before your last game is finished, the result of match will be based on completed games only. If both teams have won two games and the fifth game is not completed, the match is a tie. Playoff games MUST determine a winner.

Matches begin: at either: 6:30 p.m. (playoffs only), 6:40 p.m., 7:35 p.m. (playoffs only), 8:10 p.m., or 8:40 p.m. (playoffs only) – as per schedule.
Matches end times:
For the matches that start at either: 6:30 p.m. (playoffs only) or 6:40 p.m., play needs to be FINISHED by 8:10 p.m. and the gym needs to be cleared by 8:15 p.m. for the late group.
For matches that start at 8:00 p.m. or later, wrap up is by 9:45 p.m. and exit the gym by 9:50-55 p.m. Match start times that happen to be between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. should only be during the playoffs (if at all) and it will be obvious when those games should finish as they will have matches before and after them.
(Note: The league will not ever try to book a gym from 6 to 8 p.m. without also booking the 8-to-10 p.m. time there as well. Reason being that if we had no late block then all early starts would need to be out of the gym at 7:45…leaving us barely over one hour to play which is just not enough time.)
Standings Points - awarded as follows:
Win = 3 points. Loss (or no/late report) = 1 point. Tie = 2 points.

5. Defaults:
If the minimum required number of players (i.e. at least 3 & 2, see Rule #2) have not arrived 10 minutes after the scheduled start time, the first game of the match is considered a default. If after 20 minutes there are still not enough players, then the shorthanded team loses the second game by default. If there are still not enough players by the 30 minute mark of the match then the shorthanded team will lose the match by default.

There is room for sportsmanship to play a role in making a decision here (e.g. There’s a snow storm and someone is stuck in traffic but is on the way - without her the team is in a default situation. The opponents could give the player-short team some lenience on this rule. But every team has the right to strictly enforce this rule if they so choose.)

Any team that defaults 2 or more complete matches during the regular season, will be disqualified from all playoff games.

6. Substitutions:
Players may come in and out of the game freely within the following parameters:
- Substitutions may occur only in the back court (all players must be allowed their service turn)
- One substitution per service rotation and,
- The 3-men, 3-women ratio must always stay intact on the court.

7. Ceiling Ball:
The ceiling, rafters, poles, cross-beams, lights, horizontal light poles...etc. are all considered out of play (except the very low-hanging objects - see Rule #8). If any ball hits any of these objects, the result is an end of rally and the serve goes to the non-offending team. No replay. If any ball travels through or around the rafters or any of these other mentioned obstacles WITHOUT touching anything, then the play is STILL alive and the ball is played as normal.

8. Ball hitting low-hanging object:
At the start of the game, both teams define if and what are considered 'low-hanging' objects (e.g. a low-hanging climbing rope). Any time during the match, if a ball hits any of these “low-hanging” objects, it is considered a 'dead ball' and the point is replayed. In other words, the team that served the ball gets to 're-serve'.
(Note: if a ball is obviously going to hit the ceiling (or wall), but hits a rope, light, or rafter and comes back down, this ball is out of play no replay, loss of rally or service).

9. Avoiding Foot Faults While Serving:
To avoid stepping over the service line when preparing to serve…ALL players are asked to start their serve at a place that is at least 3 feet (i.e. 1 yard or 1 meter) BEHIND the service line. This should be even further back for those you do running or running-&-jumping serves, if space allows. A foot fault is considered when either one of the server’s feet step on or over the service line before making contact with the ball. Teams should call themselves on the foul if they catch themselves faulting.

Of course exceptions need to be made in small gyms that have less than 3 feet behind the service lines. The details of these exceptions should be discussed between the captains at the start of every match along with any discussions about low hanging objects too.

Rules Clarifications

Points are scored by the team that wins a rally, regardless of who serves. On every serve, someone wins a point. This “rally-point” rule speeds up the games and allows more games to be completed per match.

Scooping: A scoop is where a player tries to push or lift a waist-high ball up in the air, usually using a 'pushing or lifting-up' motion with his/her open hands. This infraction is also known as a "carry or catch." 'Carries' can also occur when someone tries to spike or tip or block the ball, but rather than hitting the ball over the net, the hitter pushes the ball with her/his hand, thereby gaining unfair advantage by having better directional control (similar to taking a slam-dunk or free-throw shot in basketball). Open-hand contact with the palm or fingers that does not result in a quick release or rebounding action is a violation.

(Suggestion: To avoid committing a scooping violation, either contact the ball with the back of your hand, or close your hand to make a fist, or “snap” your wrist. Remember you must "hit" the ball, not push it. Your hands must not stay in contact with the volleyball for more than a fraction of a second.)

Double Hits: There are certain times when a player is allowed to hit the ball twice. They are:

At the first ball contact of a team, the ball may contact various parts of the body consecutively, provided that the contacts occur during one action. This means you can’t make two intentional contacts with the ball, but if the ball goes off your arms then your head or shoulders accidentally – it is NOT a violation.
A block at the net doesn’t count as a hit. The blocker(s) may contact the ball, then while the ball is dropping to the floor (on blocker’s side of the court) the blocker or any other hitter, can hit the ball again. This only counts as 1 hit.

Net Infractions: Contact with the net is once again a fault (violation) UNLESS it ISN'T involved with the play. Players must not touch the net while attempting to play the ball. If any player touches any object outside the net (such as rope that holds the net up), it is NOT considered a fault provided that such action does not interfere with the opposing team's attempt to play a ball. Interference would be:

touching the top band of the net during her/his action of playing the ball (setting, blocking, tipping, etc);
taking support from the net, ropes, or post while playing the ball;
hindering the opponent’s legitimate attempt to play the ball.

Most volleyball injuries result from contact between players at the net – do not play recklessly.
NOTE: We don’t have antennae available for the nets so we generally use the edge of the netting (before the ropes/wires part) as an equivalent marker. Not an exact science but it’s our general rule-of-thumb.

Serving: You can serve from anywhere behind the back line, but between the two sidelines.
(Note: some gyms have little to no space behind the back line, so ‘service-line’ violations are not observed in these gyms)

You are not required to serve from between the little hash marks that are located just behind the back line of some courts.

A served ball may touch the net while crossing it. If a served ball hits the net and just rolls over and lands on the floor on the opposing side - the serving team wins the point.

Volley or “Setting” Infractions: If you attempt to volley the ball with an overhead pass and you end up pushing the ball or it seems like you are throwing and/or catching the ball, then it is an infraction. A volley must be quick and the ball can¹t stay in your hands for more than a split second.

Reaching under and over the net - It's OK to enter/touch your opponent's court under the net with part of your foot (or feet), as long as your entire foot is not fully across the centre line. Other parts of your body are permitted to touch their court, provided you do not interfere with the opponent’s play.

It's not OK to reach over the net and contact a ball on your opponent's side. Two exceptions can occur: if you are blocking and a) the attacker has completed either their “attack hit” or b) the attacking team has made their “3^rd ball contact.” You can never interfere with the opponent’s play on their side of the net. Other than blocking an ‘attack’ hit, you can only contact the ball on your own side of the net. Further, if you are the attacking team, you may not contact a ball that has fully passed over the vertical plane of the net into the opponent’s space – even if you have not used your 3 hits.

Kicking: intentionally contacting the ball with one foot, is allowed. This rule is in effect as at September 2010 for all play levels, but is subject to review and repeal if deemed necessary. Please bear in mind that kicked balls may contact objects (such as noses!) with greater velocity – and more resulting drama- than “hand-hit” balls.

Blocking: There are no blocking restrictions on men or women in any division (that means that men CAN block women within the normal FIVB rules of volleyball.)

Guidelines For When Your Team is Short the Minimum Number of Players:

If you’ve reached 4:30 p.m. on game day and you realize that you may not be able to get the minimum number of players out for the match, look up the other team reps in the Team Rep Administrator section of the website. You’ll find these contacts under the ‘Team Contacts’ section. Each team rep should list at least one phone number and a cell/text number along with their email address.

First, attempt to call the team rep and if you have no luck, leave a message then text the rep.
If you are able to email, also email the rep if you’re not having any luck with reaching them by calling or texting.
Email the league at info@nofrillsvolleyball.com as well. Just to let us know what’s happening. If you are able to email the opposing team rep(s) in step 2 you can simply cc the league at the address just given.
Keep trying to get some more players through your resources.
If at the 90 minute-before-game mark you are still short of the minimum, email or text the league at 778-683-4595 (email is usually better) and let us know that you are still looking. We’ll see if I can find some players from a team who has a game close to you to fill in, if the timing works.
Sometime between 45 to 60 minutes before game time, text or better still, call, the opposing rep and update him/her on your situation.
Appropriate decisions need to be made by the 45-minute mark. If you mutually agree to call the game off, contact me so that I can notify anyone else that may be affected by this situation.

We don’t really have the flexibility to make games up but cancelling is still the last resort.

By being in communication, you are able to enroll more people to help you and in some cases your opponent may have an extra player they can lend you! You may be surprised how resourceful people can be when they are in touch with each other!

Keep in mind that very often your opponent wants to play so they will probably be interested in trying to find a way to help you because they don’t want to cancel or have no game.

You may also decide that even if you only have 4 players coming out, to call the game a default and have the full team lend a player and play 5-on-5 for fun, that way at least everyone who was planning to come get to still play!

Updated: September 9, 2023