Masters Basketball League Rules
1. Conditions of Team Entry
Teams must pay the full amount of the Team Entry Fee by the publicised closing date. Late payments will NOT be accepted.
1.2 Teams
Teams are required to fulfil all fixtures over the course of the season.
Failure to attend a Game Day or fulfil one of your fixtures will result in:
i) Forfeiting the missed fixtures (0-20 Loss)
ii) £75 fine payable within 30 days
Failure to attend a second Game Day over the course of a season will result in:
i) Forfeiting the missed fixtures (0-20 Loss)
ii) £75 fine payable within 14 days
iii) Expulsion from the league
Max Player Registrations per team: 20
Max Game Day Squads: 12
Each team will be responsible for providing 1 competent table official for the game preceding their fixtures according to the published fixtures list. See 2.2 Table Officials for more information.
1.3 Players
To be eligible to compete, players must be:
- Aged 40+, or aged 39 on 1st September of the current season
- Registered with Basketball England
Players are only permitted to play/register for one team in the Masters Basketball League (MBL) over the course of a single season.
2. Officials
2.1 Referees
Each game will be officiated by two Basketball England qualified referees. The MBL Committee will oversee the appointment of referees for each Game Day.
2.2 Table Officials
Each team will be responsible for providing 1 competent table official for the game preceding their fixtures according to the published fixtures list. This can be a travelling member of your playing or coaching team, or it can be a friend or relative who is in attendance with you. They do not have to be a ‘qualified’ table official, but teams are welcome to bring a qualified table official if you wish.
The maximum number of games you will be required to provide a table official for per game day will be 2 games.
If you are scheduled to provide a table official for two games, this does not have to be the same person for each game.
Basketball England’s Play HQ eScoring platform will be used for all games.
eScoring Resources
Basketball England Escoring FAQs
Basketball England Play HQ Demo – Select ‘Basketball England’ to learn how scoring works before game time.
3. Playing Rules
All games will be played under FIBA rules with the following adjustments:
Teams must be present at the venue a minimum of 15 minutes prior to the commencement of their fixture and produce a written list of registered players names and numbers to the table officials.
Clock
Each game will consist of 4 x 8-minute quarters running clock (stopping clock in the final 2 minutes of the final quarter) with 1 minute between quarters and 3 minutes for half time. There will also be 1 x 60 second time out per team per half permitted.
Fouls
Free Throws will be awarded when a team reaches 5 team fouls per quarter.
Players will be permitted 4 personal fouls in the game. They will foul out of the game after being awarded their fourth personal foul.
Tie
In the event of a tied game there will be Golden Basket 2 minutes overtime (stopping clock and team fouls carrying over). First team scoring a field goal or a free throw will win the game. In the event the game is still tied after the 2 minutes, sudden death free throws will decide the winner. The free throws can only be taken by the 5 players on court at the end of the game.
Player Availability
In the event that a team is short of players, which would make them unable to continue to participate, the team may make a request to the committee to relax the Player Eligibility rule however this can only be considered in exceptional circumstances.
Late Arrivals
If the game is delayed due a team arriving late or not having enough players to take the court, the opposing team will be awarded 1 point up to a maximum of 20 for every minute the game is delayed. When the team who arrived late is ready to take the court the game will be played within the time remaining for that particular one-hour slot.
Teams arriving 20 mins late or more will forfeit the fixture to the opposing team.
4. League Positions
League positions are decided by awarding 3 points for a win, 1 point for a loss and 0 points awarded for a forfeit or default.
If 2 teams are tied on league points then the result of the games involving the 2 teams will resolve the tie. If 3 teams are tied on league points, then a classification is set up which only takes account of the results of the tied teams against each other. Positions are determined by points difference calculated for each team.
5. Disciplinary Sanctions & Fines
It is expected that all teams and players conduct themselves in the spirit of Masters Basketball. Failure to do so may incur disciplinary action and a fine against a team, player or coach.
In addition, any spectators directly linked to a team that behave in an unacceptable manner may be asked to leave venues, and/or banned from attending further events.
Teams are asked to ensure any spectators behave appropriately in accordance to league rules, venue rules and Laws. Failure to do so may lead to sanctions against the team involved.
5.1 Disciplinary Sanctions
Automatic Bans: An accumulation of technical fouls, or an ejection triggers an automatic one match suspension for the player or coach.
Misconduct & Violence: Aggressive behaviour, verbal abuse, or physical contact directed at referees, opponents, venue staff or spectators can incur multi-game suspensions (ranging from 2 games to league expulsion depending on severity). Previous breaches may be used to reach a decision on length.
Fielding an ineligible player: In the event a team is found to have fielded an ineligible player (unregistered to the team or not of masters age eligibility), then the offending team will be given an automatic loss for the game in which the player participated, with the win being awarded to the opposing team. A fine will also be incurred by the offending team (see 5.2 Disciplinary Fines below).
Financial Penalties (Fines): Levied for unfulfilling fixtures, fielding an ineligible player, or violent conduct, with unpaid fines preventing participation in subsequent matches for teams or players.
5.2 Disciplinary Fines
Fines (financial penalties) will be issued to and payable by the associated team of the individual coach, player, or spectator who has committed the offence.
Here is a list of some fines that a team may incur:
- Failure to attend a round of games: £75
- Ejection – violent conduct/verbal abuse: £50
- Fielding an ineligible player: £30
All infringements will be recorded by the league and documented for transparency. Only the team contact or the named individual can request this information from the league. Any other parties requesting this information will be refused.
All fines are payable within 30 days of being issued.
All monies remaining at the end of the season accumulated from disciplinary measures will be either used to reduce costs for the following season or donated to charity (the committee will meet to decide the outcome).
6. Committee
The MBL Committee will resolve all matters referred to it, which are not covered by the League Rules.
The Committee is made up of the following individuals:
Chris Plowright, Alex Price, Scott Brant, Matthw Ryznar, Daniel Fellows
