Indianola Youth Football League
Indianola Youth Football League Inc.
Official Rules and Regulations
EFFECTIVE DATE: April 14, 1993, Revised March 1, 2005, August 6, 2007
SECTION I:
Iowa High School Rules will be used with the following exceptions
1. SHOES Only one-piece RUBBER-MOLDED SOLE (soccer type) or tennis/gym shoes will be allowed.
2. GAME BALL We will use Junior size football furnished by league.
3. PLAYING CLOCK All quarters will be 15 minute continuous clock. Clock will stop only for timeouts, injuries and 2nd and 4th quarters 2 minute warning. A .30 second play clock will be kept and enforced by the officials.
Each tem will receive an official timeout. At that point the officials will follow I.H.S.A.A. rules or stops and starts. (time-outs, incomplete passes, out of bounds, penalties and first downs-moving the chains) There will be a 5 minute half time.
4. TIME-OUTS Each team will receive 3 per half.
5. REFS TIME OUT There will be an official time-out at the end of the first quarter and at the end of the 3rd quarters. This is allowed for the changing of each team’s squads. Playing the game: Purple squad: 1st and 3rd quarters and Gold squads: 2nd and 4th quarters. Purple squads – 4th and 5th graders. Gold squads 5th and 6th graders.
6. GADGET PLAYS Gadget or Trick plays are not allowed!!! All offensive plays must come from the playbook.
OR TRICK PLAYS Penalty for doing this will result in a 15 yard penalty and loss of down. NO WARNINGS.
7. DEFENSIVE All defensive teams must come up in the 5-2 or 5-3 defensive formation. (Straight up). Defensive formations require four distinct levels. 1) Line of scrimmage, 2) Linebackers, three yards off line of scrimmage, 3) Cornerbacks, at least one yard behind linebackers, and 4) Safety, at least one yard behind corner backs. After the ball is napped, the defensive players can go wherever they want. 6-2 defensive formation can be used inside own 20. (No other defensive formations will be allowed). The defensive end may line-up no further out then the outside shoulder of the tight-end or wing-back. In the slot formation, the defensive end may line-up no further out then the outside shoulder of the slot back or inside receiver.
8. BLITZES No pre-snap blitzes.
9. WEIGHTS Gold skilled position players can not weigh more than 125 lbs. Purple skilled position players cannot weight more than 90 lbs. Skilled position players are the following: QB, Half Back, Running Back and Wing Back.
10. WEIGH INS Initial weigh-ins will be conducted the week of team scrimmages. All players must make weight that week. This is a certified weight. Skilled position players will also weigh week three of the season and will be given and 5 lb allowance for both Purple and Gold squads. Weigh-ins for all teams will be conducted by an IYFL Board Member, League Commissioner or Site Commissioner.
11. PLAYS ALL plays must come from the IYFL playbook. No Power Formations (Power I, T Formation, Wishbone, shot gun, twins or triple wide outs).
12. SUBSTITUTING A) No 4th grade player is allowed to replace a Gold player. A 5th grade player on the Purple squad may replace a 5th or 6th grade player on the Gold squad. Likewise no 6th grade player on the Gold squad can come down to replace a player on the Purple squad.
A substituted player is allowed to play both offense and defense only if the squad on the field is short on numbers. (Exception to this rule is defined under SECTION I #11b: Substituting Skilled Players).
A player is allowed to play a maximum of THREE quarters per game. (Quarter is defined as 1 play in that quarter.) Substituting role between squads applies only if you have fewer than 22 players on a team.
Substituting is not allowed in order to strengthen a squad. Substituting is intended for the purpose of filling-in one squad that is short due to illness, injury, or number of players.
If you have a discipline problem with a player, you need to inform the Board and other affected coaches of your purpose of playing an individual on both squads. In case of a squad being short due to illness or injury, you need to inform the Site Commissioner and the opposing coach of the substitution. (i.e. player or players that will be moving up or down and what quarters and positions the players or player will be playing. The ill or injured player must remove his/her shoulder pads if they are remaining on the sidelines.
If a team is caught abusing this rule, it could result in the forfeiture of the game in questions. This decision made by the Indianola Board.
B) No 4th grade skilled position player is allowed to replace a Gold skilled position player. A 5th grade skilled position player from the Purple squad may be allowed to replace a Gold skilled position player due to injury or absence from the game. The substituted player is this case may only play on the offense on the Gold squad. The 3-quarter maximum rule per player still applies. Again 22 player rule applies.
A 5th grade skilled position player from the Gold squad may be allowed to substitute a Purple skilled position player due to injury or absence from the game. The substituted player however must still meet the 90 lb maximum weight requirement to be eligible to play a skilled position on the Purple squad. 3-quarter maximum rule per player still applies with 22 player rule.
No 6th grade skilled position player from the Gold squad will be allowed to play on the Purple squad, regardless of his/her weight.
13. KICK-OFF THERE IS NO KICK-OFF. Play starts at the offense’s 40 yard line for kick-off, i.e. receiving team puts the ball in play at their own 40 unless moved by a penalty situation.
14. EXTRA POINTS If you decide to kick an extra point, you must kick the extra point. On kicking extra points, defense can rush after the holder has the ball set. Extra points will be placed on the 3rd yard line.
15. SAFETY After a safety, the team who was tackled for a safety turns over the ball to the other team. Two points are awarded to the team who tackled the offensive player in the end zone. The team who was awarded the 2 points gets the ball 1st and then at mid-field (50 yd line).
16. PUNTS No punting. The officials will walk off 30 yards. (The ball cannot go inside the 20 yard line.) The other team will take over at that point. THE CLOCK DOES NOT STOP.
17. SPECIAL NO PILING, SPEARING, OR FACE MASKING on offense or defense. This
EMPHASIS applies to the RUNNER as well as any other player. MAJOR PENALTY of 15 yards. Spearing can result in game ejection of offending player under High School Rules.
18. OVERTIME When the game ends in a tie. The ball will be placed on the 10 yard line with each team having four attempts to score using the Gold squad first. In the event of no score, the Purple squad takes the field for the second overtime with each team having four attempts to score. If no team has scored at the end of the second overtime, then the game will result in a tie. For Super Bowl Weekend all ties will be played out in the same overtime format noted above until a winner is determined. In the event of a tie in team win/loss records (division winning percentage) at the end of the regular season, head to head competition, strength of schedule, and then a coin flip will be used to determine the placement for Super Bowl weekend. Each team will receive 1 time out per O/T per High School rules.
19. TEAM ROSTER Each team will carry a maximum of 26 players on their roster. Rosters should be filled from within your school district with ONE exception, this being. . . if there are two or more teams in the school district then you must FIRST fill you rosters from within your school district with a draft selection. If you are still short on players you may SECOND contact players from the neighboring communities that DO NOT have a IYFL team or program in their own community.
Each team will consist of a minimum level of eight sixth graders and five fifth graders per team with the remainder being fourth graders or third graders as a final option to fill out rosters.
20. CHAMPIONSHIP Seeding for Super Bowl weekend will be determined by Division winning percentage, head to
SEEDING head competition, strength of schedule, and then a coin flip.
21. SITE Game Site Commissioner(s); Clock, Scoreboard and Operator; Game Announcer; Game Officials;
REQUIREMENTS Concessions.
22. CASTS A player wearing any type of cast, including but not limited to a hard plastic, plaster pares or hard splint, will be allowed to practice, but no contact allowed. The player will not be allowed to play in a game. Cast or hard splint must be removed and a written permission from doctor stating child is released to play must be in the possession of the IYFL Board Secretary before the child is able to regain game play.
23. LEGACY For a child to be placed on a team without going through the draft selection, the child must be the subsequent sibling of an enrolled child. An established coach may also have his child placed on his team.
24. TEAM DUES All team league fees are to be paid to treasurer of the league by April 1, of the current year. If team league fees are not paid by May 31 of current year, the unpaid team will be removed from the league for the current year.
25. PLAY BOOK Plays will be run from the IYFL playbook, NO EXCEPTIONS. There must be 7 players on the line of scrimmage for all plays. Interior line splits can be no further than arm length apart, with fingers touching. Allowed formations (I, Slot, veer or Pro Set, Offset Wing) Running Plays: (Dives, ISO/Blast, Chase, Quick Pitch, Sweep, Crossbuck, Trap/Wing Back Counter [hand-offs only NO pitches], Bootleg, QB Sneak, Option) Passing Plays: Only limitation would be that you cannot have a double pass and the quarterback must take the ball from under center. Flea Flicker is a trick play. IF IT IS NOT IN THE RULE BOOK IT IS NOT ALLOWED!!
Indianola Youth Football League Inc.
Official Rules and Regulations
EFFECTIVE DATE: April 14, 1993, Revised March 1, 2005, August 6, 2007
SECTION II:
COACH’S CONDUCT RULES: The children in our program are at a very impressionable age, therefore, these rules of conduct for the coaches will help to set a favorable example for all participants. All Head Coaches are responsible for their Assistant Coaches following these rules. Also, blatant violations of these rules could lead to forfeiture of game(s).
THIS PROGRAM IS FOR THE KIDS!!
1) No betting between coaches.
2) No alcoholic beverages are allowed at practices or games. This rule includes parents. Coaches are to make sure parents understand this rule. Coaches violating this rule will be dismissed from the program immediately. NO EXCEPTIONS. Parents violating this rule will be warned once and then their child may be removed from the program by action of the Board of Directors.
3) Per Officials discretion, swearing or unsportsmanlike conduct will result in 1 – warning to stop conduct in questions, and 2 – ejection from the game. The Indianola School System enforces a tobacco free facility.
4) No striking any of the children for any reason. These are children not adults, treat them accordingly.
5) Follow the league rules in fact and in spirit. Remember at all times this program is for the player’s benefit, not for the Coaches or parents.
6) No game films or videotapes, etc., can be used for coaching or scouting purposes. Violation of this rule will be reviewed by the Board to determine possible punishment.
7) No scouting of other teams at their practices or pre-game warm-ups.
8) No criticizing officials at any time, on or off the field. This can only hurt the program. If you disagree with a call and you think the official misapplied a rule, you can call a time out and discuss it with the officials and site commissioner. This does not apply to judgment calls. If the official agrees a rule was wrongly applied, the time out is not charged and the correction is made. If the official/site commissioner thinks the rule was correctly applied, the time out is charged to your team and the play stands. The referee’s decision is final.
9) Up to three Coaches are allowed on the field to attend to an injured player at the Official’s request. In a game, first aid to be administered by the attending medical official only. Medical official (trainer) must authorize return of the injured player in the game. At the time of an injury, Coaches are allowed to pull team to sideline for water or coaches instructions.
10) Head Coach is responsible for conduct of his Assistants and parents of players on his team.
11) Up to 2 Coaches allowed on field during Time Outs.
12) Coaching Rosters are to have one Head Coach and up to four Assistant Coaches.
13) Show good SPORTSMANSHIP at all time.
14) Playing time for all participants is more important than winning or losing a game. REMEMBER: THIS PROGRAM IS FOR THE YOUTHS, not the coaches and parents.
INFRACTIONS OF THE ABOVE RULES ARE SUBJECT TO A VARIETY OF DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS BY THE BOARD, UP TO AND INCLUDING, DISMISSAL FROM THE PROGRAM.
Indianola Youth Football League Inc.
Official Rules and Regulations
EFFECTIVE DATE: April 14, 1993, Revised March 1, 2005, August 6, 2007
SECTION III:
PRACTICES AND GAMES:
1) All teams will be limited to three (3) practices a week for the duration of the season. Only (1) practice session per day is allowed, and each practice session is limited to a maximum time of 1 hour and a half. One practice scrimmage is permitted in the third week of practice. A scrimmage shall be counted as a practice for that week and is limited to the one hour and a half maximum, as are the regular practices. A practice starts with warm-ups and concludes in one and one half hours. Continued report of abuse of this rule will result in the following discipline: 1st Offense – written warning, 2nd Offense – removal of head coach.
2) Equipment to be used the first week of practice will be football helmet only. The second week of practice full equipment may be used. NOTE: Commissioners have the authority to immediately suspend a practice or dismiss a Coaching Staff found guilty of violating this rule.