Rules

PLAYER REGISTRATION: All players must be registered on their teams' registration form before the tournament begins (11:00am on Sunday, April 13).  Please show up 45 minutes early for registration.

Teams may consist of any combination of male and female players (i.e. all male, all female, or mix)

ROSTERS: All rosters are final upon completion of the team's first game.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: FIVE is the maximum number of players on a team; three field players at one time. Players may only play on one team per division. There are no goalkeepers in 3-v-3 soccer.  Substitutes may occur at any dead ball situation, but players must get referees attention and enter and exit at the half-field mark only.

EQUIPMENT: It is strongly advised to wear shin-guards.  Cleveland 3v3 is not responsible for any injury during the course of play.

FIELD DIMENSIONS: Length - 40 yards, Width - 30 yards.

GAME DURATION: The game shall consist of two 7 minute halves separated by a 2 minute halftime period OR the first team to reach 10 goals, whichever comes first. Games tied after regulation play shall end in a tie. Except Playoffs. Which will be a 3 minute golden goal period followed by a shootout.  If game is held at the rain/snow location, game time length is subject to change.

GOAL SCORING: A goal may be scored from anywhere on the field except on restarts from out-of-bounds.

SCORING (IN POOL PLAY): Games will be scored according to the following: 3 points for a win; 1 point for a tie and 0 points for a loss.

TIEBREAKERS: In pool play, ties between three or more teams will be broken by; 1) head to head results between tied teams; 2) goal difference in pool play; 3) Shootout

NO OFFSIDES IN 3-V-3 SOCCER AND NO SLIDE TACKLING IN 3-V-3 SOCCER

FIVE YARD RULE: In all dead ball situations, defending players must stand at least five yards away from the ball. If the defensive player's goal area is closer than five yards, the ball shall be placed five yards from the goal area in line with the place of the penalty.

KICK-INS: The ball shall be kicked into play from the sideline instead of throw in.

INDIRECT KICKS: All dead ball kicks (kick-ins, free kicks, kick-offs) are indirect with exception to corner and penalty kicks.

GOAL KICKS: May be taken from any point on the end line, and not in the goal box area.

KICK OFF: May be taken in any direction.

PENALTY KICKS: Shall be awarded if, in the referee's opinion, a scoring opportunity was nullified by the infraction. It is a direct kick taken from the middle of the half-field line with all players behind the half-field line. If a goal is not scored, the defense obtains possession with a goal kick. Penalty kicks are not live balls.

SHOOTOUTS:  Shootouts are based on a best of three shots.  If tied after three shots, the format is a goes to sudden death (i.e. if team 1 scores and team 2 misses, team 1 wins).

PLAYER EJECTION (YELLOW/RED CARD): Referees have the right to eject a player from the game for continual disobedience or as a result of an incident that warrants sending the player off. The tournament director will decide suspension from additional games.

FORFEITS:. A forfeit shall be scored as 5-0.

SPORTSMANSHIP: Players, coaches and spectators are expected to act in the nature of good sportsmanship at all times. Abuse of the referees will not be tolerated. Any instance of such conduct will disqualify the responsible team from the event.