RULES
& PROTOCOL (revised and posted 9/15/06)
RULES
Matches will be played under current NCAA rules with the following exceptions:
• 45 minute halves with no overtime;
• unlimited re-entry of players;
• substitutions on goal-kicks and own throw-ins only (and not on corner-kicks
- if the attacking team substitutes then the defending team may also substitute
players ready at mid-field);
• in the event of a yellow card the cautioned player must be substituted,
and the opposing team may also have the option of one substitute - the exception
is the goalkeeper;
• and in the event of an injury on the field where the referee must stop
time for treatment, the injured player must be substituted, and the opposing
team may also have the option of one substitute - again the exception is the
goalkeeper.
• NOTE that any match on daylight-savings weekdays that kicks off after
3pm should be 80 minutes (or 40 minute halves) in length.
• NOTE that it is recommended that JV matches play 40 minute halves.
PROTOCOL
• Home team shall wear colors, away white. Socks must match the color
of the shirt. The shirt must have a uniform number printed both on the back
(8-inch minimum) of the shirt, with a smaller number printed on the front of
the shirt.
• Three identical match balls should be provided by the home team; they
should be of at least NCAA-match ball designated quality.
• For the home team: provide two ball persons; assure field and spectator
areas are in accordance with diagrams (ropes are suggested); goals and nets
should be checked, and corner posts in place; introduce opposing coach to referee;
meet with opposing coach to exchange rosters.
• For both coaches: ensure that all players are wearing the numbers specified
on the roster. Rosters should include name, number, class year, position, hometown;
adopted 9/18/88 the first eleven for that match should be clearly indicated;
ensure that players remain seated on the bench when not playing; talk with opposing
coach after the post-match handshake; any refereeing irregularities should be
noted for report to the League Director, and potential All-League selections
should also be discussed.
• Reporting: it is the responsibility of the winning coach (home coach
in the case of a draw) to report the game to the League Director; he should
report score, scorers, assists, all cardings, and any appropriate referee evaluation
(with names); it is also the responsibility of the reporting coach to call the
score into he Boston Globe; the League Director will publish full standings
with cardings, scorers, and goalkeeping statistics each Monday and the Globe
and Herald will carry the standings on Tuesday.
NOTES
• Adopted 11/12/01 - it was unanimously voted by the coaching body that
all games should strive to be played for the full 90 minutes, including those
matches played on weekdays during daylight savings; all agreed that any match
able to kick off before 3pm should be played for the full 90 minutes, and that
any matches that kick off after 3pm on daylight-savings weekdays should be 80
minutes in length.
• Adopted 11/15/99 - length of play will be 45 minute halves with no overtimes;
it is recommended that JV matches play 40 minute halves.
• Established 11/15/99, and effected for the 2000 season, an Ombudsman
Committee comprised of both the current and former ISL Boys Soccer League Directors,
the ISL Boys Soccer Athletic Director liaison, and the sitting ISL Athletic
Director President, will arbitrate any decisions, disputes, or complaints during
the season, and bring any recommendations to the ISL Athletic Directors to render
a final decision.
• Adopted 11/12/98, and effected for the 1999 season, to determine league
standings, three points will be awarded for a win, one point for a tie, and
zero points for a loss.
• Adopted 11/12/98, and effected for the 1999 season in addition to a
league MVP/Globe All-Scholastic, the league will vote for an Offensive MVP and
a Defensive MVP.
• Adopted 11/11/91 - it is recommended that all 14 Massachusetts schools
use the same commissioner to assign referees.
• Adopted 11/12/96, approved by the ISL Athletic Director’s, and
effected for the 1997 season, one central referee will officiate all matches,
with the option to assign “club” linesmen at the host school’s
discretion; the ISL Coaches will also vote “Referee of the Year”
honors at the conclusion of each season.
• Adopted 9/20/90 - the NCAA substitution rules are waived, including
unlimited re-entry in to a match; adopted 11/12/90 coaches are reminded that
a substitute must be at the scorer’s table at midfield before entering
a match, and the substitution rule adopted by the NCAA in 1988 will not be in
force, i.e. players will not have to wait on the touch-line until the player
for which he is substituting clears the field.
• Adopted 11/13/00 and beginning for the 2001 season, teams may substitute
on own throw-ins, own goal-kicks and/or own corner-kicks – the defending
team may also substitute players if the team in possession chooses to substitute
players.
• Adopted 11/12/90 - minimum field dimensions, per NCAA rules, must be
65 X 100 yards; matches should be played on the widest field possible if there
is a choice.
• Adopted 11/12/90 - scoring statistics will henceforth reflect NCAA practice,
with two points awarded for a goal and one point for an assist.
• Adopted 11/12/90 - if a match must be abandoned for any reason deemed
appropriate by the referee, the score will stand if second half play had begun.
Otherwise the match will be replayed in its entirety.
• Adopted 11/13/84 - ISL rules apply for pre-season training starting
times. There should be no formal training before Labor Day without notifying
the Independent School League Council.
• The coaching group has been in the forefront in instituting strict penalties
for card accumulations. It believes that this has gone a long way towards raising
the level of sportsmanship and decreasing the violence in league play. On 9/25/84
the group adopted a policy of suspension for one match for any red card violation.
Additionally, each time a player accumulates three yellow cards he would sit
a match. Each suspension brought a clean slate for the player. On 11/18/87 the
group adopted the "3-2-1" rule... "a player sits out the next
league game after receiving his third yellow card... and again after two more...
and would be out for the remainder of the season after only one more. In other
words, any combination of three reds or the 3-2-1 situation would result in
permanent suspension." A full compilation of cards will be kept by the
League Director.
• Adopted 9/17/89, approved by the ISL Athletic Director’s 3/91/00,
effected in the 1991 season, and reviewed for permanent use 11/11/91, the team
cumulative carding rule: a team shall lose points from its total at the season’s
end if it accumulates excessive cardings; on the fifteenth card one point shall
be deducted, and on the twentieth a second point, and so on; for these purposes
a pure Red Card shall count a s two, whereas a second Yellow necessitating a
Red shall only count as two in total.
• Adopted 9/19/93 a team will forfeit a match and the points in league
standings if a player who should be sitting out enters the game; the offending
player should also sit out the next match. Also adopted 9/19/93 players receiving
Yellow Cards must exit the match immediately but may re-enter at the next legal
substitution opportunity; this does not apply to goalkeepers.
• Adopted 11/14/06: Players (underclassmen) receiving their third yellow
card in the final league match will not have to sit the first match of the next
season. However, for players receiving a red card or their fifth or sixth yellow
card in the final match, the suspension will be enforced at the beginning of
the next season.