Approved Football Definitions and Requirements

ciacnew_fbThe CIAC Football Committee recently approved important information dealing with the definitions of certain activities, as well as contact limitations for the coming year. This information will all be included when the 2015 CIAC Football Packet is released, but it is necessary information for teams holding spring practice in the coming weeks. A question and answer section on both the contact limitations and the new definitions follows each section.

Contact Limitations 2015-2016 in the Sport of Football:

Fall Season Contact is limited as follows:

  • Week 1– Pre-season Conditioning  – No Contact
  • Weeks 2 & 3 – Maximum 120 minutes per week- includes only 1 scrimmage per week (deduct 60 minutes from the 120 for each additional scrimmage)
  • Weeks 4-13 – Competition season – Maximum 90 minutes per week (Must include a Bye week – No (zero) contact in practice allowed)
  • Week 14 – 45 minutes of contact in practice per that week
  • Week 15TG  & State Tournament (starts the Sunday prior to TG) – zero contact in practice allowed
  • (Note: Spring Practice = 120 minutes for the entire spring session- after the 3 day conditioning period)

All schools with football are required to participate in RIO Injury Surveillance Study- Football only.

Definition of Contact

  1. Full Contact– Football drills or live game simulations where live action occurs- (11 on 11 or 7 on 7)
  2. Live Contact- Contact at game speed where players execute full tackles at a competitive pace taking players to the ground
  3. Thud, – initiation of contact at or up to full speed with no pre-determined winner and no take-down to the ground.*

* New Definition for contact, this drill was previously considered “non-contact”

Definition of Non-Contact

  1. Air– Players run unopposed without bags or any competition
  2. Bags– Activity is executed against a bag, shield or pad to allow for a soft contact-surface with or without the resistance of a teammate or coach standing behind the bag.
  3. Control- Drill is run at an assigned speed (not full) until the moment of contact, one player is pre- determined the winner by the coach. Contact remains above the waist and players stay on their feet.

Questions and Answers

Q. How much contact can my football team have during the mid-season bye week?
A. The mid-season bye week has zero contact for the entire week.  There is to be no contact in practice nor in a scrimmage or simulated game.  You can run drills, condition and conduct a walk through but with no contact.

Q. What do I do if during my bye week for the varsity and JV the freshman team has a game?
A. All teams at all levels, therefore all athletes, are required to have a bye week in the mid-season.  It does not have to be the same week.

Q. What day of the week does my weekly contact period begin?
A. The contact period for each week begins on Sunday and ends on Saturday.

Q. What if my contact period begins in the middle of the week?
A. You cannot use the full contact minutes allowed during a partial week. An adjustment should be made to correspond to the amount of contact that would have ordinarily have taken place during the partial week.

Q. What is my time frame if my team participated in spring football and my first contact day is on a Thursday?
A. You still have 2 week time period of 120 minutes per week during the preseason.  You would adjust your time for the first 3 days (Thursday-Saturday) to correspond to the amount of contact that would have ordinarily taken place during the partial week and then start all over on Sunday with a new 120 minutes and the following Sunday start with the remaining time from the first partial week.

Q. What if I have 2 scrimmages scheduled in the same pre-season week?
A. The 120 minutes of contact is in addition to one (1) scrimmage. If a second scrimmage is needed than 60 minutes must be deducted from the 120 minutes. Therefore it would be 60 minutes of contact plus 2 scrimmages.

Q. What is the penalty or violating this regulation?
A. The CIAC Board of Control would consider a violation of this rule to be negligent behavior and therefore seriously consider a penalty which will include a fine, and may also result in the program being put on probation or prohibition from tournament participation. Violation of this regulation can have serious liability consequences.

Monitoring Participation in Athletic Contests for ALL 2015-16 Football Athletes

Counting quarters and defining a week new approved language

  1. Football student-athletes may not participate in more than 2 levels of competition in any one week period. (Examples of levels: Vars. J.V. Freshman, other)
  2. Football student-athletes may not exceed participation in more than 6 quarters in any one week period.

Definitions

  • “Level of competition” is defined as either varsity, junior varsity, freshman or any other additional level.
  • A “quarter” is counted towards participation once an athlete has been involved in at least 6 plays in any one quarter.
  • A “one week period” is defined as a period of time where a minimum of five days (24 hour periods) of rest or practice are scheduled between athletic contests except when games are postponed.

Questions and Answers

Q. Can a JV football athlete, who is a special team’s player on the varsity team, play in all 4 quarters of the varsity game and then play the entire ensuing JV game?
A. Yes, provided that during the varsity special team’s participation the JV athletes did not participate in more than 5 plays in two of the four quarters.

Q. Due to weather we have to move our varsity football game to a Sunday night. How does this affect my next game scheduled for the next Friday night?
A. The CIAC regulations for counting quarters are in effect for regularly scheduled events. Cancelations for inclement weather would not have an impact this regulation.

Q. Can a freshman who plays in an entire freshman game, and then participates on special teams the following night in the varsity game but does not participate in more than 5 plays in any one quarter, participate in two full quarters of the ensuing JV game?
A. No, Football athletes may not participate in more than 2 levels of competition in any one week period.

Q. How do I effectively monitor who plays in how many quarters?
A. Each program must devise a way to monitor this requirement.  You should make sure every athlete is aware of the regulation and that the purpose is to lessen the number of contact exposures to the head.

Q. What is the penalty or violating this regulation?
A. The CIAC Board of Control would consider a violation of this rule to be the same as using an ineligible athlete which will include a fine and the athlete being declared ineligible. Serious consideration would also be given to the program being put on probation or prohibition from tournament participation. Violation of this regulation can have serious liability consequences.

Sorry, comments are closed for this post.