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Fall League

Fall League is back for 2023

We are excited to bring back our co-ed Fall League for 2023! Registration is now open! See details below.

Team and Player Registration

We will continue to use SportsEngine to register players and roster teams. Registrations for teams and players is now open! Captains must perform a team registration before August 31 in order for the team to be a part of the league. A team is considered registered for Fall League with $350 payment and at least 9 rostered players that have successfully completed their individual registrations (minimum of 4 of each matching gender). The league has space for a maximum of 48 teams. Team Registration will close on August 31, first come first serve, with preference given to past participating teams. 

Once a team is registered, players will perform an individual player registration where they will provide league pertinent information, such as which team they are to be rostered onto.  Individual players will be required to sign participation and health waivers.  Individual players can register for a team  September 30. On October 1 all team rosters are locked. Players must be fully registered prior to their first game of participation. 

Free Agents (aka: I need a team)

Fall League is a team-based league, not draft or hat-based, so individual players must be a part of a team that is registering. If you are not a part of a team and are interested in joining a team, we would suggest using the TCUL Sub Community page on Facebook to attempt to connect with other players/teams. 

Schedule

Fall League will run for 9 weeks on Sundays, from September 10 through November 5, 2023. Playoffs begin on October 29th with a championship tournament concluding Fall League on November 5th. All games are played at the Lake Nokomis Fields, along Cedar Avenue. Regular season games will be scheduled in advance during the following time slots: 12:00 – 1:30 PM, 1:40 – 3:10 PM, and 3:20 – 4:50 PM. All games are subject to time cap rules (described below).  Teams with lower rankings will tend to have games in the early time slot, teams with middle rankings during the middle time slot, and upper ranked teams in the late time slot.  Team rankings will be determined by the Fall League Board at the start of Fall League and will change weekly based upon game results.

Time cap rules (regular season):  A halftime cap occurs at 45 min. after game start (i.e., add 1 to the top score, play to that score for new halftime). The halftime break is limited to 5 min. The game also has a hard cap at 90 min. after game start; meaning at 90 min. finish the ongoing point. The team with a higher score wins, or a final point (Universe point) is played to determine the game winner. During a Universe point, no timeouts are allowed, except for injuries, equipment needs, or other extenuating circumstances.

Playoff time cap rules are explained in further detail below.

Forfeits

Please make every effort to avoid a forfeit. To avoid forfeits captains should manage the game roster via the SportsEngine app or the TCUL website, maintain frequent communication with your players, and find suitable substitute players when warranted (all substitute players must complete an individual player registration and agree to health & safety waivers at least 24 hours prior to participation). The Fall League forfeit rules are below:
 
Approved Forfeit

If needed, each team is afforded up to 1 "planned" forfeit per season if announced at least 8 days prior to the event (i.e., by 5 PM Saturday the week before). This provides enough time for league coordinators to seek volunteers to play a double-header and reconfigure the schedule by Tuesday.
 
Unapproved Forfeit

If a team does not have at least 6 players present (min. 3 of each matching gender) at the designated game start, that team has incurred an unapproved forfeit. With the first unapproved forfeit, a team is banned from playoffs for the season. With a second unapproved forfeit in a single season, that team is banned from future league registrations and may be removed from the current season. Note: If a team has only 6 players present, the opposing team does NOT have to match and is still able to play with 7 players. Teams playing with less than 7 players will be put on notice and have their league presence monitored, potentially being removed from the league if this happens often so as to not take away from the experience of their opposing teams. 
 
These forfeit policies will be enforced to encourage teams to have a large enough roster to ensure they will have enough players to field a team each week. Captains can find subs when warranted, but the league's preference is that each team has sufficient registered players to field a team for the entire season.

Code of Conduct

Ultimate stresses sportsmanship and fair play. Competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of respect between players, adherence to the rules, and the basic joy of play. Fall League is meant to be fun for everybody at all levels of play.  

TCUL's official code of conduct can be found here.

The TCUL Code of Conduct is an extension of the USA Ultimate Conduct Policy, which can be read here.

Health Requirements

TCUL has a health and wellness policy that all fall league participants must adhere to in order to participate in league activities. 

Rosters

The following rules apply regarding rosters:

  • All players must be properly registered for TCUL through SportsEngine prior to participation on a team. Players must sign electronic liability and health waivers. These registration requirements also apply to substitute players (at least 24 hours prior to the event). No exceptions!  Substitute players can perform their individual registration to play by going here.
    • Players from other fall teams can substitute on another team in the league at a different time slot. These players must still be communicated to opposing captains. 
  • If the Board discovers that a team allowed someone to play that was not fully registered (as a rostered player or substitute), that team will have incurred an Unapproved Forfeit and may be subject to additional league consequences. Captain(s) of the team, as well as the player who was not fully registered, will also have this action considered a breach of the TCUL Code of Conduct.
  • Players are only allowed to be rostered on a single team. However, rostered players are allowed to sub for other teams with prior Board approval. 
  • Substitute players are limited to subbing on a single team up to 2 times; if additional participation is warranted, that player must be rostered on the team (note that Rosters lock after September 30th).
  • All players on a team's roster must play a minimum of 2 games in order to participate during the playoffs (i.e., no ringers just for the playoffs) unless a team would otherwise be playing without subs.
  • TCUL Fall League has adopted the USA Ultimate Gender Inclusion Policy. If you have questions about gender selection when registering for the league, please contact the TCUL Board at TwinCitiesUltimate@gmail.com. 
  • Rosters must be finalized by September 30. Prior to that date, players may be added to or deleted from a team's roster. Beginning October 1st, rosters will be frozen as-is for the remainder of the season without exception; only those players will be allowed to participate in the league, in addition to registered substitute players.
  • Captains are strongly encouraged to use the SportsEngine app and TCUL website to manage roster attendance from week to week, so they can seek subs in advance or notify the Board of a planned forfeit (up to 1 allowed per season).

League Rules and General Tenets of Play

See information posted here

Fields, Setup, and Takedown

  • A map of Lake Nokomis field locations is at the bottom of this page.
  • Fields will be labeled A through H on the field map located both online and at Frisbee Central. 
  • The TCUL Board will endeavor to mark field corners at the start of the season. If field locations become difficult to identify, Captains are encouraged to utilize a can of spray paint from frisbee central. 
  • The field cones will be setup for Week 1, but captains will be responsible for setting up their field cones thereafter (field cones available at Frisbee Central). Please take note of field locations, refer to the field map located at Frisbee Central, and be mindful of Captains setting up adjacent field spaces. 
  • The price of winning is costly! Each winning Captain of games in the final time slot is responsible for picking up cones and returning them to Frisbee Central by 5:00 pm.
  • Captains of games in all time slots are responsible for keeping their sidelines clean of refuse following their games.

Playoffs

  • Playoffs occur during the last two weeks of the season, for a total of 3 games:
    • Quarterfinals - 2nd to last week
    • Semifinals - Tournament Sunday Game 1
    • Finals - Tournament Sunday Game 2
  • Playoff brackets will be posted prior to the Quarterfinals. Whether you win or lose in the Quarterfinals, your team should still have two games to play on Tournament Sunday. 
  • In years that we have an odd number of teams, we may ask Captains if their team only wants to play 1 game on Tournament Sunday. 
  • Teams are broken into 8-team brackets for the playoffs. The A-bracket is for the top eight teams, the B-bracket for teams ranked 9 to 16, and so on.
  • Seeding for the playoffs is determined by regular season performance and strength of schedule. Wins, losses, score differential and opponent's strength all factor into a team's given ranking.  
  • On the final Sunday tournament day, games are played to 13 and 70 minutes in length. Hard cap goes on at 70 minutes and games are over after that point (unless the score is then tied, then teams will play a final point to decide the winner). In order to keep games on time, no time outs are allowed once a time cap is reached. 
  • Teams will have one time out per half on tournament Sunday games.
  • There will be no half time break on tournament Sunday games. Halftime is mirrored at 7 points (i.e., opposing team pulls the disc) or once halftime time cap is reached at 35 minutes (add 1 to the top score, play to that score for new halftime). 

Lost and Found

The lost & found treasure chest gets very large each season, and most of it goes unclaimed. The league will send out a communication to Captains via SportsEngine each week with a list of lost & found items. If you lose an item, please notify your Captain or email the TCUL Board at TwinCitiesUltimate@gmail.com. After two weeks, lost & found items will be donated to charity, added to the lost & found curator’s assets, or discarded properly.

Food, Alcohol, and Other Forms of Enjoyment

Food is allowed on the fields but alcohol and all forms of recreational drugs are prohibited by Minneapolis ordinance. Beyond any legal ramifications encountered from players caught using alcohol or drugs on the fields, the TCUL league could get banned from renting the fields and/or lose its liability insurance. There are many bars in Minneapolis that can cater to your needs, including Carbone's at the intersection of Cedar Ave and Minnehaha Parkway. Teams interested in post-game socializing are encouraged to frequent those establishments; do not bring the party to the fields. This absolutely applies to Tournament Sunday as well.

Contact

To contact the TCUL Board, send an email to TwinCitiesUltimate@gmail.com