Recreational League Rules—4th, 5th and 6th Grade Boys and Girls

The objective of this document is to describe how teams are formed, frequency of practices, game rules and player/coach/spectator conduct required for the 4th, 5th and 6th grade recreational leagues.

Team Formation

• Player talent will be divided evenly among the teams in each league. A draft will be held to ensure player talent is equally divided. Every effort will be made to have at least two athletes from a school on a team.
• Playing time in each game will be divided evenly among all the players on a team.
• Each team will have a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 10 players. At coach’s discretion, an 11th player may be added. Placing more than 11 players on one team requires Board approval.
• Each team will have at least two coaches.

Practices

• 4th grade teams will have 2 one hour practices
• 5th/6th grade team will have one 90 minute practice per week
• Practices will be coordinated through the Middleton Basketball Club, not directly with the schools.

Game Rules

• Warm up is 5 minutes.
• Games consist of two twenty-minute halves with the clock running until the last minute of each half.
• Half time is 5 minutes.
• No overtime.
• Time-outs: each team receives two-one minute time-outs per game.
• Lane Violations are 4 seconds.
• Free throw line is 13 feet. (4th grade only) start at the line but can jump over it.
• Substitutes must report to the scoring table before entering the game.
• Substitutes are allowed on dead balls only (when the referee blows the whistle).
• Defense: NO ZONE defense is allowed. Must play person-to-person defense.
• Defensive players cannot double or triple team a player. They must guard their person. If, however, there is an offensive player who is going in for an uncontested basket or if there is an offensive player left open, a defensive player can cover that player until his defense recovers. There should only be one defensive player on an offensive player. If a ball possession changes because of this violation, the ball will be given back to the offense.
• Defense begins at half court.
• Full court defensive pressure is allowed the last 2 minutes of the game only. No trapping or double team, must still play person to person defense during the 2 minutes of full court pressure.
• 3 point shots count
• No player can foul out. A coach, however, should rest a player who has committed several fouls and provide that player with instruction. The referee can also ask the player to sit out for a break.
• Game score is kept during the game.
• 4th Grade Only: Defensive pressure will now pick up at the 3 point line extended across the court. This will allow all kids to spend time at the point guard position, not just the best ball handlers. It will also allow teams to set up their offense. In order not to have teams stall out in the safe zone, the ball must cross the 3 point line within 10 seconds from being inbounded. Just to clarify, this is the 3 point line extended across the court...not the 3 point arc. Once the ball passes in to the defensive zone, defense can move wherever their player moves. There is no longer a "safe zone" at that point.

Revised 12/7/2011