ABOUT THE 2024 LEAGUE

• The Thursday Man-Matching Player's League is focused on being a league accessible to all levels of players, but generally skews towards a moderately competitive league environment. The goal is to have fun, work on bettering your ultimate skills, and competing while playing organized ultimate in a team setting. 
• The Man-Matching Player's league is not subject to the lottery that is used for co-ed leagues. If you register for this league, you will be guaranteed a spot in the league. This is our only summer offering that can guarantee a spot in the league for man-matching players. 
• Teams are assigned via draft where players are ranked by skill and selected by captains. Rankings provided by the players during registration are used to balance the teams (the TCUL Board may override player provided rankings if they appear to not reflect reality). 
• The league will take place on Thursday evenings from May 30th to August 22nd (excluding July 4).
• The league will take place at the National Sports Center in Blaine, except for the 3~ weeks they have blacked out, where we will be at alternative fields, usually in Maple Grove (see location information here). 
• Players should bring light/dark jerseys to games. Teams may also agree upon a team color to use for games (please still also bring an alternate color to games).
• New this year, players can purchase an optional reversible light/dark jersey. 
• Registration for the league is $70.
  • $5 of every registration goes directly to Minnesota Ultimate to help support the growth of youth ultimate programs.
• Please read and familiarize yourself with TCUL's general rules.
• Please consider following us on Facebook for up to date changes and weather alerts, along with using the SportsEngine app for team/league communications.

REGISTRATION

Registration for this league will take place from April 2 - 30. Visit our registrations page to access the sign-up link.

RANKING SYSTEM

Players should assign themselves a skill ranking from 1 (low) to 6 (high) in each of the following areas during registration. Remember, these are ranks relative to your teammates and competitors.

• Athleticism: Speed, quickness, endurance and jumping ability all combine to form your Athleticism rank.
• Throws: How accurate are your throws, and to a lesser extent, their distance and variety of releases.
• Field Skills: How well do you understand game strategy, offense and defense, and transition between the two.

FIELDS

All games will be at the National Sports Center in Blaine, except for the ~3 weeks they have blacked out, where we will be at alternative fields, usually in Maple Grove (see location information here). 

Even though these are adult leagues, NO ALCOHOL is allowed on the fields. This means no alcoholic beverages whatsoever at games or any after game activities at the fields. If we lose our fields, the league is over.

GAMES

Games start at 6:45 pm (or 6:30 pm for August games). You’re encouraged to show up early (usually around 6:15) to find the right field, change, warm up, do a few drills, and prepare for the game.

Games are played to 15, win by 2 up to 17, or until hard cap time is reached. Captains must agree to a hard time cap prior to game start (e.g., 8:45 pm on account of darkness). Once hard time cap is reached, finish the point in progress. The team with a greater score
wins. If score is tied, play one final point to determine a winner.

Halftime occurs when one team reaches 8 or a halftime cap is reached (e.g., 60 min), add 1 to the top score and that becomes the new halftime target.

RULES

2024 leagues will play under the 2024-2025 USAU Rules. You can view them here. 

There are a few exceptions we would like to highlight:

• Due to the short fields at Blaine, brick is 15 yards
• Players will be able to call equipment timeouts

PLAYERS

Walk-on players (such as visitors or friends) are allowed, with the following limitations:

• Walk on players must sign a waiver before playing (which is done by creating a TCUL account online).
• Whenever possible, you must let your team and the opposing team's captain(s) know 24-hrs in advance of the event and you must get the approval of the TCUL Summer League Coordinators.
• A walk on player must be a reasonably fair "1 for 1" replacement for a missing player on the roster. We work hard to balance team strength, and walk-ons should preserve that balance, not disrupt it.
• Walk-on players are only allowed in order to bring a team to a maximum of 9 players. If the team already has 9 present on game-day, then walk-on players are not allowed.

Please remember that registered players have paid for the opportunity to play and walk-on players should be used only as a last resort. 

PLAYER SAFETY

A reminder to all TCUL players regarding player safety. Dangerous play of any type is not tolerated by TCUL and is covered in the Code of Conduct. Please be familiar with this and the sanctioning process. USAU defines dangerous play as: "Actions demonstrating reckless disregard for the safety of or posing a significant risk of injury to fellow players, or other dangerously aggressive behavior are considered “dangerous play” and are treated as a foul. The proper call in such circumstances is “dangerous play” and play stops. This rule is not superseded by any other rule."

FIRST AID

A first aid kit is provided for each team. Your team’s captain should bring it to every game or leave with a designated member of the team if the captain cannot attend a given week’s game.

RAIN, LIGHTNING, AND OTHER INCLEMENT WEATHER

In case of inclement weather, a decision will be made by 5:00 pm about whether or not to cancel the games. If severe weather is imminent, games will be canceled and an announcement placed on the TCUL website, on the TCUL Facebook page, and on the TCUL Twitter feed. Games may also be canceled at game time or during the game if there is lightning anywhere in the area. If your game is canceled, please do not play.