Scramble Flag Football League
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By Laws

  1. BOARD OF DIRECTORS

    1. The initial Board of Directors shall be comprised of volunteers appointed by the founding members of Scramble Flag Football. Election of the Board of Directors shall be conducted annually at the SFFL’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). The Board of Directors will be comprised of at least three persons. To be a member of the Board of Directors, the volunteer does not need to be a member of a team in the League.
 
  1. Upon its election, the Board of Directors:
  • Is given the mandate to govern the SFFL as per the approved Constitution and By-Laws
  • Is expected to provide for the timely fulfillment of any other objectives identified during the SFFL’s AGM proceedings and/or throughout the season.
  • Shall investigate and pursue “incorporation” for the SFFL for the purposes of reducing the actual or perceived amounts of risk to the League, the Board of Directors or any of the league members (in regard to their conduct or actions that are to be reasonably required or intended for the activities sanctioned or required the SFFL’s purpose and operation) from any civil or legal liability or possibility of suit reasonably anticipated or incurred. However, the articles of any such incorporation must also remain consistent with the SFFL’s constitutional requirements.
 
  1. LEAGUE COMPOSITION
    1. The Board of Directors reserves the right to expand, limit or reduce the total number of teams in the SFFL due to availability of fields and game officials. All League Members are expected to identify to the Board of Directors circumstances driving such considerations well in advance of the season. Specifically, awareness to persons interested in becoming a referee, awareness to field under=construction or not available for use situations are all circumstances of interest to every member of the SFFL.
 
  1. REGISTRATION
    1. The Board of Directors shall facilitate the registration of each team and player in order to fulfill the requirements and/or adhere to the restrictions defined by the SFFL By-Laws.
    2. Each team and player must complete the team and player-registration processes identified at the SFFL AGM.
    3. New teams must complete a “Team Registration Form” and submit a list of the names of the players expected to make up the team, to the Board of Directors before the registration deadline.
    4. Each team may have up to a maximum of 12 players on their roster for any one game. Once approved by the Board of Directors, the team roster list must be kept up to date in advance of each game throughout the season by the team Captain.
    5. Teams are encouraged to maintain a roster of 12 reliable players to avoid game defaults.
    6. The player registration process requires the completion of a “Player Registration and Assumption of Risk and Release of Liability Agreement” by the applicant player. This form must be signed/witnessed by the captain of the team for which they intend to play.
    7. A player must be registered with one, and only one, League Member team to be eligible for game play unless otherwise granted permission by the Board of Directors. During a season, if a player switches to another team within this League, then that player may not switch back to the roster of their first team in that same season. Such roster changes must be preapproved by the Board of Directors.
 
  1. GAME ELIGIBILITY
    1. The Board of Directors reserves the right to restrict, decline or terminate the eligibility of any player at any time for any period of time and for the purpose of supporting the league’s mandate of providing organized flag football in a safe, fun, competitive environment.
    2. To be eligible for any SFFL game, a player must first have been registered with the team they intend on playing with in this league (e.g., completed the SFFL player registration and waiver process as well as not be under SFFL suspension). Persons who complete their registration via communication between themselves, a team captain as well as the League are to be known as “league registered players”. 
    3. To be eligible for a SFFL playoff game, a player must have played as a “league-registered player” in at least one SFFL regular season game of the current season with the team they are entering the playoffs with. 
    4. A player who attends their team’s game and is listed on the game sheet is considered to have played in the game.
    5. A player who intended to attend their team’s game(s) but was unable to attend due to health reasons may be deemed by the Board of Directors to have been in attendance provided the request comes in a timely manner.
 
  1. REGISTRATION FEES
    1. Team registration fee information, including the amount and date due, shall be announced by the Board of Directors at least 8 weeks in advance of the proposed season start date.
    2. Fees may be paid by e-transfer (email) or cash for any team. All non-cash payments must be made payable to the “Scramble Flag Football League” and not “SFFL”.
 
  1. SEASON SCHEDULE
    1. The SFFL season will run during the period of the year designated by the Board of Directors. Typically, the SFFL season occurs between mid-May through mid-August each year. Actual game dates, locations and kick-off times are further subject to the “Permit” particulars defined by the organization from which the fields are rented or contracted. Typically, games are scheduled on Sundays. 
    2. The Board of Directors will provide each team with a season of play that includes a predetermined number of regular-season games subject to its defined policies such as the Game Rescheduling Policy, Weather Policy, and Forfeit Policy.
    3. The regular season is followed by playoff games for the purposes of determining a champion. Each team will be afforded at least one play-off game as part of their team registration fee.
    4. All games are subject to the rules established by the SFFL.
    5. Rescheduling of games is at the sole discretion of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors reserves the right to charge a fee for rescheduling requests. Such fees are predetermined by the Board of Directors and announced at the AGM and/or via correspondence and/or website postings.
 
  1. SEASON INFORMATION
    1. As a result of actual game play, the standings will be tabulated by the Board of Directors. Standings are tabulated based on win percentage.
    2. Standings are determined based on game points awarded. The greater number of game points, the higher the ranking.
    3. A game forfeit will be considered a 12-0 loss for the offending team. In the case of both teams forfeiting a scheduled game, the SFFL will assign both teams a loss with a score of ‘0-0’. (See forfeit policy).
    4. A game that is postponed but not rescheduled due to uncontrolled circumstances (such as no suitable time available that is agreeable to both teams) will result in a score of ‘0-0’.
 
  1. GAME INFORMATION
    1. All games are expected to start at the time and locations noted on the schedule provided to all teams at the beginning of each new season unless it is subsequently announced otherwise by the Board of Directors or the officiating crew.
    2. Game officials are independently sourced by SFFL. Game officials are empowered by the Board of Directors to enforce the rules of the game. This empowerment includes the permission for the officiating crew:
  • To terminate, pause, or alter a game for any adverse or unsafe condition of play or participant behaviour, or due to a request by the field renter (field-permit supplier).
  • To shorten the length of a game or delay the start of a game – due to inclement weather, injury, discipline, safety, cancellation by field supplier or interruption by Emergency Responders. In such circumstances in which the game has been delayed (for reasoning other than the arrival of the minimal number of players needed to play) then each half should be attempted to be played for at least 15 minutes unless that game, upon its start, needs to be subsequently terminated.
  • To eliminate the half-time (rest) period to ensure that a “complete game” opportunity is afforded within the time originally allocated for that game.
  • To report to the Board of Directors violations of SFFL policies or codes of conduct observed to have occurred during the period of time typical to the duty of a game official at a game site.
  1. Normally, a game is comprised of two (2) twenty-minute halves. Depending on various circumstances (as identified in section 8.2), the officiating crew may need to modify and then announce a time period that is different than the standard 20 minute half for each anticipated half remaining to be played in a game. The Board of Directors will have final say on any such rescheduling circumstances.
  2. Each team is allowed to provide its own footballs at the discretion of the Head referee but are required to use SFFL purchased flag belts and flags. Teams failing to field a minimum of 4 eligible players will forfeit that game. (See Game Forfeit Policy).
    • If the Head referee denies a team the use of their own football, the team will be provided an SFFL issues football for the duration of the game. The Board of Directors may be consulted on the decision of the football. 
  3. Any team deemed to have used an unregistered or otherwise ineligible player(s) will be subject to the assignment of discipline from the Board of Directors, including but not limited to game forfeiture, suspension, and fines or expulsion of the team(s) and/or player(s) implicated.
  4. A fine may be assessed to a team for a game forfeit. Any fine imposed is payable prior to the offending team’s next scheduled game. A second-game forfeit may result in expulsion from the SFFL for the current season, the playoffs, and/or subsequent seasons.
 
  1. GAME RESCHEDULING
    1. So as to avoid a game default, a team may seek to have a game rescheduled. Honouring such requests are dependent on the availability of their opponents, game officials, and suitable field site. Opponents are encouraged to be receptive to such game rescheduling. 
 
  1. LEAGUE DISCIPLINE
    1. The Board of Directors is empowered to issue game suspensions to players and/or to revoke the League Membership of whole teams for behaviours that show disregard or disrespect for game rules, and/or that are in opposition to the Aims and Objectives specified in the SFFL’s Constitution.
    2. Observations of incidents may be sought from players, game officials, and spectators, or other witnesses or participants. The Board of Directors will have final say in how such matters are resolved respective to the activities and responsibilities of the SFFL.
 
  1. LEAGUE RECORD RETENTION
    1. The Board of Directors will retain key records for a period no less than two years of the close of the season from which they apply. Key records include:
  • AGM package
  • Team and player registration data
  • Expense receipts
  • Relevant information (e.g., game scores, discipline incident data, attendance) from the submitted game sheets
  1. For retention purposes, the content of these key records may be summarized and/or placed into an electronic format. Due to the voluntary, not-for-profit nature of the SFFL and its Board of Directors, neither exact nor comprehensive archives of these records can be expected or guaranteed that are reliable and easily accessible.
  2. The Board of Directors will appropriately destroy paper-based records to prevent unauthorized access or use.