Water Polo Governing Rules           

1.    GOVERNING RULES    6/07

    1.1    All water polo competition in CIF Central Section shall be conducted in accordance with the current National Federation Water Polo Rules along with State and Central Section CIF regulations and procedures.

    1.2    The CIF Central Section Water Polo Advisory Committee shall be composed of one representative from each participating league.  The CIF president shall appoint the chairperson.

2.    GENERAL RULES

    2.1    The length of quarters for dual games is seven (7) minutes for varsity  and six (6) for junior varsity (National Federation Rule 11, Article 1).

3    CLASSIFICATION OF TEAMS

    3.1    Teams shall be classified as varsity and junior varsity for dual games, and no seniors will be allowed to compete at the junior varsity level.

    3.2    Only varsity teams will participate in championship playoffs.

4.    SEASON OF SPORT

    4.1    The season of sport for water polo is defined as that period which starts with the first inter-school game (scrimmage, non-league, or league), and ends with the last regularly scheduled league or playoff game.

    4.2    There must be 10 days of practice prior to the first scrimmage/game.  

    4.3    There shall be no inter-school scrimmages prior to the date set by CIF.

    4.4    Schools shall be limited to a maximum of twenty (20) contact points during a season, excluding playoffs.

    4.4.1    Maximum games allowed per week is two, excluding tournaments.

    4.4.2    A tournament shall count as two games.  End of the season league tournaments that have a bearing on  league standings shall not count as a tournament or contact points.

    4.4.3    Maximum number of tournaments allowed during a season is four.

5.    PLAYOFF PROCEDURES

    5.1    The date and place of the Section Championship  will be determined by the Board of Managers (Commissioner)

     5.1.1    Section playoff sites shall be limited to Clovis West, Clovis, Clovis East, Granite Hills,  Buchanan, Exeter, Golden West, Kingsburg,  Lemoore, Central, Sanger, Sunnyside and Tulare Union.

    5.2    The Section champions will be permitted to enter a post season invitational tournament in another section, if invited.

    5.3    The Section Commissioner and the three League Commissioners  shall meet prior to playoff dates for seeding of teams for the playoffs. NOTE: The Committee will seed Division 1,2, and 3.

    5.3.1    The tournament shall consist of three Divisions as set by the Central Section Board of Managers. Division 1 shall consist of 12 teams and Division 2 will be limited to 16 teams. and Division 3 will have 8 teams. All schools are eligible to apply, if they so desire.

    5.3.2    The Seeding Committee will use the following criteria to seed the brackets:

        Each category is worth 1 point. The school that scores 3 points will receive the high seed.

                Categories are: 

                     1) Head to Head   

                     2) Strength of schedule/overall record   

                     3) Record vs. Common opponents    

                    4) Place in common tournaments  

                    5) Record vs. play-off teams in same division

    5.3.3    All play-off contests, through the semi-finals, will be hosted by the highest seeded team.  Games must be played at an approved site.

    5.3.4    The order of seeding of the boys brackets and girls brackets shall be rotated annually. The boys will seed first in the even number years and the girls first in the odd numbered years.

   5.3.5 Schools with an approved site may apply to host the finals.

  5.3.6   Play-off contests shall be played as follows:

    5.4    Officials for playoffs shall be assigned by the officials associations.

    5.5    Officiating fees shall be in accordance with the current CIF Central Section contract with the associations.

    5.6    Awards shall be in accordance with the current CIF Central Section Awards and Entry Fee regulations.

     5.7    Financial Regulations

    5.7.1    Each principal (or designee) of a host school shall be responsible for seeing that financial regulations pertaining to playoffs, such as admission prices, game expenses, financial statements, etc., are strictly adhered to.

     5.7.2    Admission Prices are set by CIF.  See playoff admission prices in Awards and Entry Fee Addendum.

     5.7.3    Passes:  Without exception, regular season CIF passes, league passes and school passes are not to be honored at playoff contests.  Only CIF Central Section Playoff Passes, CIF Lifetime passes, or State CIF Courtesy or Lifetime passes are to be honored.

  EJECTIONS

6.1    Ejections and Appeals

    First ejection

        Any player or coach ejected from a contest or scrimmage for unsportsmanlike conduct will be ineligible for the next CIF contest. The next contest could be the second game of a doubleheader or even the next season of sport. Athletes competing in concurrent sports would be ineligible in both sports.

    Second ejection

         Any player or coach ejected from a contest or scrimmage for unsportsmanlike conduct will be ineligible for the next two CIF contests. The next contest could be the second game of a doubleheader or even the next season of sport. Athletes competing in concurrent sports would be ineligible in both sports.

    Third ejection

         Any player or coach ejected from a contest or scrimmage for unsportsmanlike conduct will be ineligible for the next 365 days. Any appeal must go to the Section Commissioner

        APPEALS PROCEDURE- First and Second Ejection

        Unless otherwise specified, an appeal of an ineligibility of a player or coach may be made, in writing, through the player or coach’s site administrator to the Central Section Commissioner or his or her designees for consideration of reinstatement. The Section Commissioner and or his or her designee will convey results to all schools involved. ( Approved by Board of Managers-Apr. 2004)

06/17/08