Rules

SilverHoops Rules & Regulations have been updated as of April 2024.
Please only refer to rules that have this date printed on them.
Click Here to view or print the Rules and Regulations if you are not able to see the PDF below.

***Due to increasing tournament size, game lengths are 20 minutes.***

Please note that our volunteer monitors are not perfect and we can not guarantee a perfect knowledge of all these rules. Coaches or Captains can dispute rules with monitors keeping in mind that the clock will not stop unless a time-out is called.

Sportsmanship Policy: Participants are expected to demonstrate good sportsmanship and cooperation. Any queries should be directed to the court monitor at each court.
1. Team captains or designated coaches are responsible for managing their teammates' and followers' conduct and serving as the team spokesperson for appeals to the court monitor.
2. Spectators and players are prohibited from directly addressing the monitor or players in derogatory or inflammatory ways. Poor sportsmanship may lead to penalties, including intentional or flagrant fouls (see rules 12, 13, and 14).
3. Disqualification of a player or team is at the discretion of the court monitor/marshal or tournament official. Decisions made by court monitors/marshals will not be subject to review based on video or other recordings.
4. Team Sportsmanship Awards will be presented in Youth and Adult divisions based on nominations by tournament spectators, volunteers, and participants.
Who Can Play:
1. The tournament is open to players entering grades 3-12 and adults.
2. SilverHoops reserves the right to accept or deny any registration at the director's discretion.
Number of Players: Each team may have 3 to 4 players, with only 3 players on the court at a time.
1. In all co-ed teams playing in a CO-ED Division, at least one member of the member of each sex must always be on the court. Games must start with a minimum of 3 players on each team.
2. Player changes for registered teams are allowed until the start of the team’s first game. After the game starts, player changes are not allowed for any reason. Any player changes made after the first game starts will result in an automatic forfeit.
3. Additionally, a player may not play on more than one team in the same division (youth divisions only, grade 3-8).
  1. Example: A 4th grader cannot play on two teams in the 3/4 grade division, but a 4th grader may play on a 3/4 grade team and a 5/6 grade team, as those are different divisions.
Tournament Divisions and Bracketing:
1. Teams will be placed into specific divisions based on players’ ages, school grades, and genders as indicated on each team entry form.
2. Tournament officials reserve the right to verify a player’s entry form data. False information may result in dismissal from the tournament.
3. Each adult player must have personal identification during the tournament.
4. SilverHoops may adjust or combine divisions before the tournament as needed.
5. Teams in school divisions may need to provide proof of players' grades if requested.
Tournament Format:
1. Pool Play Saturday: Teams are guaranteed 3 pool play games on Saturday. Performance in pool play determines seeding for Sunday's single-elimination brackets.
2. Single Elimination Sunday: Sunday features single-elimination brackets in each division. Seeding is based on pool play performance. Winners receive unique championship shirts.
3. Consolation Brackets: Divisions with enough teams will have a single-elimination consolation bracket on Sunday. Teams losing certain games may be entered. Winners receive a unique consolation championship shirt.
Court Dimensions & Ball Size:
1. Games are played on half courts.
2. Free throw line is 15 feet from the backboard.
  1. Grades 3&4 free throw line is 10 feet.
3. The basket height is 10 feet.
4. Two-point shooting distance is 19.5 feet from the rim center.
5. The intermediate-size ball is used for all female games and any brackets with 3rd to 6th-grade players. The full-size ball is used for all other games.
Jump Ball & Possession:
1. A coin toss at the start of each game and/or overtime will determine which team gets the first possession.
2. All jump balls will alternate after that. Court monitors &/or referees will track possession changes.
Checked ball:
1. The ball must be “checked” by an opposing player at the take-back line before it is put into play.
2. The ball must be passed to begin play.
3. Only one point of contact, such as the player’s foot or the ball must clear the top of the take-back line when possession changes during gameplay.
Steals: The ball can be stolen at any time during play.
1. 3rd/4th Grade: You may only steal the ball on a pass, however you may not steal an entry pass, after a checked ball, is made above the 3-point line. You may not steal the ball from a player dribbling or holding the ball.
Common Fouls:
1. Paid referees will monitor and referee all games in brackets whose players are entering grades 3-8. These games will be called similar to regular games to encourage good habits.
2. In all other brackets, the participating players will call their own fouls— more specifically, the player that was fouled will call the foul.
3. All called fouls shall result in one free throw shot, except on successful field goals, in which case the basket counts, and no free throw shot is awarded. During a free throw, opposing team players may not intentionally disrupt the shooter's unhindered throw. A change of possession will result regardless of whether the free throw shot is made or missed (see rules 11, 12, and 13 for exceptions in the rule.) After a foul shot, the ball will be placed into play from the back-court line.
4. Incidental contact between opponents shall not result in a foul unless such contact results in a meaningful disadvantage.
5. All fouls called (both on-the-ground and shooting) will result in one free throw shot, except for a foul during the act of shooting behind the 2-point arc, which will result in two free throw shots each worth one point.
6. Games CAN be won with a free throw shot.
Technical Fouls:
1. A technical foul will be called for unsportsmanlike acts such as taunting, baiting, or trash talk. Taunting and baiting can involve derogatory remarks or gestures that incite or insult a player. Trash talk involves a deeply personal, verbal attack directed toward any person involved in the event.
2. In extreme cases, the player may also be suspended from play and a coach or fan removed from the court for the remainder of that game or the rest of the tournament.
3. A player who aggressively comes in contact with or assaults a court monitor, court-martial, or other tournament official shall be automatically ejected from the game and for the remainder of the current tournament. Additional suspension for such acts will be determined by the SilverHoops Committee on a case-by-case basis.
4. The court monitor may also assess a technical foul if the monitor determines that the team is stalling in the interest of preserving a winning margin. A technical foul results in one point for the offended team and possession of the ball.
5. Technical fouls may only be called by a court monitor/marshal.
Intentional Fouls:
1. An intentional foul is a foul designed to neutralize an opponent’s advantageous position. It is a foul which, based on the court monitor’s observation of the act, is not a legitimate attempt to directly play the ball.
2. A foul shall also be ruled intentional, based on the monitor’s observation of the act, if while attempting to play the ball, a player causes excessive contact.
3. An intentional foul will result in one free throw shot and the offended team maintains possession of the ball, which is taken out at the back court line.
4. Intentional fouls may only be called by a court monitor/marshal.
Flagrant Fouls:
1. A flagrant foul may be violent, or an act that displays unacceptable conduct. It may or may not be intentional. It may involve violent contact such as striking, kicking, kneeing, moving under an opponent who is in the air, and crouching or hipping in a manner that could cause severe injury to the opponent. It may also involve deadball contact or dialog which is extreme or persistent, savage, or abusive.
2. A flagrant foul will result in one free throw shot and the offended team maintains possession of the ball, which is taken out at the back court line.
3. The player committing the foul will be suspended from play for the remainder of the game or the rest of the tournament depending on the severity of the foul and monitor/marshal determination.
4. Flagrant fouls may only be called by a court monitor/marshal.
Crowd Control:
1. The Team Captain or the designated parent/coach are the only people, other than the players, who are permitted to address the Court monitor/marshal.
2. Any fans or parents who negatively address a Court Monitor/Marshal or Tournament Official may be assessed a technical foul to their team.
3. Please also see the Player Agreement form that players & parents/guardians agree to during online registration.
Substitutions:
1. Substitutions may be made during a time-out or a “deadball” situation.
2. You may only substitute players who are named on your registration form or your team forfeits the current and future games. (see rule 3 for info on player changes)
Keeping Score:
1. Teams are required to provide their scorekeepers if needed.
2. All made baskets from inside the two-point arc count for one point and made baskets from outside the two-point arc count for two points.
3. Made free throws are worth one point.
4. The Court Monitor/Marshall will decide how many points any shot is worth.
5. The first team to 20 points is the winner.
6. 20 points is the maximum points a team can score during pool play. (see rule 17 for exceptions)
Game Length:
1. All games have a 20-minute time limit during which each team is allowed a single 30 second timeout per game.
2. The clock is only stopped during timeouts or if there is a player injury or other unusual circumstance at the monitor’s discretion.
3. All games end when a team reaches 20 points. The court monitor can declare a technical foul (see rule 11) if they determine that a team is intentionally stalling to run out the clock.
4. If neither team has reached a score of 20 points, the court monitor shall stop the game after 20 minutes of play. If neither team reaches 20 points in the allotted time, a winner will be declared if a team has a lead of 2 or more points. If there is a tie score or a team only has a 1-point lead, overtime will be initiated.
Overtime:
1. Overtime will start with another coin toss to determine possession. In the event of overtime, a winner is determined by adding 2 points to the top score (never to exceed 20). The first team to reach that number is the winner and you DO NOT have to win by 2 points.
  1. Grades 3&4 only 1 point is added to the top score, see example 4 below.
2. In the case the top score is 12 or less only 1 point will be added to the top score.
3. There is no time limit or length of overtime. In overtime, each team is allowed a single 30-second timeout.
4. Overtime examples:
  1. at the time limit, the score is 14-13, first to reach 16 points wins.
  2. at the time limit, the score is 18-18, the first to reach 20 wins.
  3. at the time limit, the score is 19-18, the first team to 20 wins.
  4. at the time limit, the score is 12-11, first team to 13 wins.
Forfeit:
1. Teams have 5 minutes to report to the court after the scheduled game start time. If 1 team does not show up that team will forfeit the game, resulting in a 20-0 score.
2. If neither team arrives, it will be a double forfeit, with both teams receiving a score of 0. (our software requires a winner, a coin toss will determine the winner)
The monitor/marshal, or tournament official’s decision are final.

***Court Monitors, Marshals & Referee's***
Court monitor: Court monitors are volunteers and will not be refereeing the games, they are only there to verify game results, and settle disputes. Players/teams are responsible for making calls and understanding the rules. A copy of the rules is in the court binder. Single-game ejections are at the discretion of monitors and referees, SilverHoops committee members and directors will review and make final decisions on all tournament ejections.
Referees: Paid referees are placed on courts for games of teams in grades 3-8. These referees run the game making all the official calls. Only the team captain/coach or a designated parent can address referees regarding made calls. Referees are not responsible for teaching/explaining why calls are made, that is the responsibility of coaches and parents.
Marshall/Director: Occasionally courts will be monitored by members of the SilverHoops committee. These marshals run the courts like court monitors, but marshals have a greater understanding of tournament rules and have greater authority regarding ejections from games or the tournament.