Ontario Provincial Football League – Game Rules

DISTRIBUTION

• Clubs, Governors, Head Coaches, Coaches Council, Team Managers, Referee-In-Chief, Executive Council

DIVISIONS AND LEVELS (TIERS)

• Premier League – Bantam, Junior Varsity, Varsity levels
• Regional Rep – Junior Varsity, Bantam

RULES OVERVIEW

• All games are played under the Canadian Amateur Rule Book for Tackle Football, with exceptions noted or emphasized below
• The OPFL reserves the right to add/modify rules with the primary objective of safety to the players and in the interest of fairness.

GAME FOOTBALLS

Age	Divisions	Ball Size and Composition
Varsity	Premier	Size 9 “Official” / Leather
Jr. Varsity	Premier	Size 9 “Official” / Leather
Bantam	Premier	Size 8 “Youth” / Leather
Varsity	Regional Rep	Size 9 “Official” / Leather or Composite
Jr. Varsity	Regional Rep	Size 9 “Official” / Leather or Composite
Bantam	Regional Rep	Size 8 “Youth” / Leather or Composite
Pee Wee	Regional Rep	Size 7 “Junior” / Leather or Composite
Atom	Regional Rep	Size 6 “Peewee” / Leather or Composite

• Game Balls for the OPFL will be the Nike Vapor
• Premier Division Ball shall be Leather
• Regional Rep may be of leather or composite material

• Two game balls will be provided by home team, and two by the visitor. The second balls will remain with the timekeeper or designated official area and will be used if one of the other balls goes out of immediate field area causing any delay.
• The visiting team will use their own regulation ball as approved by the Referee.
• Game balls will be labeled with team name and are subject to approval for use by the Referee.
• The Home team is to provide one person to travel with stick crew to handle game balls along with a towel. 
• Once a ball has been submitted and approved it shall remain as the team ball for the duration of the game at the referee’s discretion.

TIMING STRUCTURE

Timing will follow Canadian Amateur Rulebook standards.

Quarters for all levels will be 12 minutes exempt as noted:

• PREMIER LEAGUE VARSITY DIVISION will be 15 minute quarters

Half time intermission - 15 minutes: but may be shortened due to weather conditions if agreed upon by both Head Coaches.

DOWNS

Premier and Regional Rep. Varsity, and Premier Junior Varsity will play 3 down football as per the Canadian Amateur Rule Book for Tackle Football.

All other age levels will play 4 down series.

TIME OUTS

Two (2) timeouts per team per half of one (1) minute duration. To be administered by the referee. One (1) coach per team can enter the field of play (anywhere on the field) to talk to his team regardless of what team called the timeout, but only during designated timeouts. Coaches must leave the field of play when instructed by the Referee. When exiting the field, coaches will head directly to the sideline.

ROSTERS

The following parameters apply for Rosters.

Division	Minimum (OFA RULE)	MAXIMUM
PREMIER VARSITY	25	60
PREMIER JUNIOR VARSITY	25	55
PREMIER BANTAM	25	50
REGIONAL AA/A VARSITY	25	NO CAP
REGIONAL AA/A JUNIOR VARSITY	25	NO CAP
REGIONAL AA/A BANTAM	25	NO CAP
REGIONAL AA/A PEEWEE	25	NO CAP
REGIONAL AA/A ATOM – 12 ASIDE                                   --   9 ASIDE	20 15	NO CAP

REMINDER – Team Rosters are finalized at the end of Week 3. There will be no additions permitted to Team Rosters after Week 3.

FOOTWEAR

No Metal or partial metal cleats are permitted.

VISORS

No tinted visors are permitted. All visors must be clear. No medical exceptions are allowed.

MEDICAL – TRAINER – THERAPIST

Premier Division

• Each team will provide an individual that shall be designated as the teams “Athletic Therapist” for the game. This person must meet the minimum requirements as outlined by the OFA / Football Canada
• If one team’s “Athletic Therapist” is unavailable or late they must make arrangements with the opposing team to “share” the services of the “Athletic Therapist”.  Please note the team without the “Athletic Therapist” will now become responsible for the fee of the “Athletic Therapist”.
• If both teams have no medical person there is no game.

Regional Rep

• Home Team will provide an individual that shall be designated as the teams “Athletic Therapist” for the game. This person must meet the minimum requirements as outlined by the OFA / Football Canada
• Visiting team is permitted and encouraged to provide their own “Athletic Therapist”
• If both teams have no medical person there is no game.

Reporting Incidents:

1. The OFA has a sport incident report form for all members to use in the event of an incident at an OFA sanctioned event. Please use this form (available from out website under “FORMS”) in the event of an incident (example, injured player, physical and non-physical altercations with a player, coach, volunteer, official or parent).
2. The Incident Report form should be kept for your records. The form is an important step whether and claim is being submitted to the insurance company or not. This information is very important if a claim should be taken to the courts. 

OVERTIME RULE

Games will be played until a winner is declared as per “White Book” rules.

OFFICIAL GAMES

In the case of a suspended game due to curfew or weather, the game shall be deemed official and recorded after the completion of three (3) quarters.

Teams awarded wins from defaulted games will be awarded a 6 to 0 score.

CODE OF CONDUCT

Players, coaches, and team staff are to conduct themselves in a sportsmanlike manner at all times.

A player receiving any combination of three unnecessary roughness and/or unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in a game is to be ejected.

Helmets must be worn and not carried during after game handshake.

The Head Coach is responsible for his team, during and after games and is therefore open to discipline by the Executive Vice-President.

Any incidents occurring outside the game (skirmishes before or after the game) are to be reported to the Regional Director within 24 hours of the end of the game so that disciplinary action may be taken if necessary.

Conduct unbecoming a coach or team official is grounds for ejection. If ejection occurs, he is not to remain on the playing field or in the bench area and must leave the park. Further sanctions and or penalties can be issued to the coach or team official by the Executive Vice-President depending on the severity of the infraction.

GAME USE OF COMMUNICATIONS

Helmet radios of any kind are not allowed. No player is allowed to have a helmet communication device of any sort installed in their helmet or on their person.

Coach to coach radios are the responsibility of individual teams and may only be used in Bantam, Junior Varsity and Varsity divisions.

EJECTIONS

A player ejected from the game may not return to the playing field and may not play in the team’s next league or playoff game. If the ejection occurs, he is to remain on the bench with his helmet and shoulder pads removed unless otherwise directed by the officials. Further sanctions will be issued if the expelled player is involved in any altercation during or after the game.

A coach ejected from the game must leave the sideline area and proceed to the dressing room or leave the park immediately. While serving a suspension, a coach may not attend his teams next scheduled regular season or playoff game.

Any player, coach or team official ejected from a game is automatically suspended from participating in the next game in any capacity and may be subject to further disciplinary action pending league review.

No appeals of game ejections are allowed.

REFEREE & OFFICIALS

All Teams will supply the following minimum number of on-field officials per game plus 1 time-keep and a three man stick crew from their local referee association.

Premier AAA:

• Varsity:  6 on field
• Junior Varsity: 6 on field
• Bantam: 5 on field

Regional AA/A

• Varsity: 5 on field and home team supplied stick crew
• Junior Varsity: 5 on field and home team supplied stick crew
• Bantam: 5 on field and home team supplied stick crew

RAIN DELAY POLICY

The maximum cumulative delay for any OPFL game shall be 60 minutes.  This means that after any thunder or lightning flash the 30-minute delay has reset. After the accumulative 60 minutes the scheduled game shall be suspended. 

To conclude any strike after 30 minutes of delay will result in the game being called at that time.

This will not affect any subsequent scheduled games on the day.   The same policy will be introduced and become effective once the subsequent games scheduled start time has occurred.