New Brunswick Junior Girls Football League
                    "On Field" Special Rules Summary for Officials                   
                                                                                                                                                                          Revised September 16,  2012


(1) NUMBER OF PLAYERS ON THE FIELD


         
Teams will play with 6 players on the field. The offence must have at least 3 players on the line of scrimmage. All players are eligible receivers except the player in the middle of the offensive line.    

(2) GAME LENGTH      
        

Games will consist of 4 quarters of 12 minutes each for a total of 48 minutes of playing time. 
Except for the last minutes of each half, the timing of games will be
"straight time". The time clock will run continuously  and only stop in the following situations:

(1) A team time out. Each team will have 2 timeouts per half.
(2) An officials timeout.
(3) A prolonged injury where a player is on the ground for more than 15 seconds.
(4) A prolonged officials conference or delay of more than 15 seconds.

During the last 3 minutes of the first half and the last 3 minutes of the second half, the game will be timed in accordance with Rule 1 Section 5 Article 1 of the Canadian Rulebook for Amateur Tackle Football.

(3) NUMBER OF DOWNS

         For all games teams will play 4 down football with the one yard neutral zone. The offence must throw a legal OVERHAND forward pass on at least one of the first three downs in each series of downs. 
       
Failure to do so will result in an "Illegal Procedure" penalty. Officials will not stop play until the ball is dead. Attempting to pass and getting sacked or being forced to run will not satisfy this rule. The ball must be thrown as a legal forward pass. A lateral pass will not satisfy this rule. Officials should point this out to a team that has just thrown a lateral pass. A five yard penalty will be applied and the down repeated. The offensive team will still be obligated to pass the ball again after the penalty has been applied.
        The defensive team has the option to decline the penalty, let the play stand and bring up fourth down. The offensive team can run the ball on fourth down.
        In order to avoid this penalty teams are strongly advised to pass on either first or second down. 
        The offence is not required to pass the ball in any set of downs that starts inside their own 15 yard line. 
 

(4) BLOCKING RESTRICTIONS

        Initiating blocks below the waist is not permitted. Illegal blocks below the waist are a 15 yard penalty. Any player penalized twice for this infraction in the same game will not be permitted to play the remainder of the game.

(5) HASH MARKS 

       The ball will be moved to the "hash mark" after each play. 

(6) CONVERTS AND FIELD GOALS

       
A kicked convert is worth 2 points. A convert by pass or run is worth 1 point. There will be no rush on the kicker during converts or field goals during the first three games. No fake converts or field goals. After three games teams will be able to rush three players and fakes will be permitted. All rushers are subject to the outside shade rule.

(7) COACHES ON THE FIELD

        Teams are permitted to have coaches on the field during the first three games of the season.

(8) PUNTS   

         Teams must declare if they are punting on fourth down. No rush on the kicker and no fake punts. Kicker must kick the ball from at least 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage. After three games teams will be able to rush three players and fakes will be permitted. All rushers are subject to the outside shade rule.