Announcements

People,

The Board met last night and discussed the COVID regulations, pertaining to CDC and MA state guidelines. We have also discussed a few (minor) rule changes to the league itself. Please be sure to read everything, as it is very important.

COVID Regulations

1. First things first: Masks will be VOLUNTARY for those that are vaccinated. For anyone that is NOT vaccinated, we will highly encourage/ expect that they wear masks. We will not be policing this, and are going on the honor system (like ultimate does in general).
2. We ask that you space yourselves out when having team huddles.
3. Spectators ARE allowed, but we ask that they remain distanced from the players. Spectators do not need to wear masks if they are vaccinated, but WILL be required if they are not (per CDC and MA state guidelines).
4. These regulations can STILL CHANGE during the season, and we will make everyone aware if anything comes up.

New Rules to Ultimate

For those that did not hear, USAU passed new rules for the 2020-2021 season. RIPUL will be adhering to these rules. Ultiworld did a nice little recap that you can read about here: https://ultiworld.com/2019/12/31/tuesday-tips-biggest-changes-2020-2021-12th-edition-usa-ultimate-rules/

These will be the main rule changes that RIPUL will adopt:

1. Sideline CAN offer best perspective; it no longer has to be a player on the field.
2. If you call a timeout when you don't have one, it is NOT a turnover! You simply add +3 to the stall count. **In the past, we have given a "1 strike rule" that we will still enforce; if you call a timeout when you don't have one, your team will get 1 warning. If you do it again, the new +3 stall rule will come into effect.
3. Sidelines CAN call offsides on the pull. Please be lenient with this rule; this is still a summer league and we don't need to have people checking offsides on every pull, unless it's totally egregious.
4. Travel calls (on the catch, NOT the throw), are not stoppages. The player will simply return back to the infraction spot, tap the disc in, and continue play. Travels on the throw will still remain the same; stoppage of play, disc comes back, reset, etc.

RIPUL Specific Rules

1. We will allow zone after week 1, instead of 2 weeks like we have done in the past.
2. The gender ratio is going to ONLY be 4/3 (male-identifying / female-identifying) this season; no 3/4 or 5/2 at all. It is very important that you let your captains know if you are going to miss a game.
3. No dogs or alcohol allowed on the fields.
4. All other rules are listed on the RIPUL site, and will be updated to reflect these new rules as well. https://ripul.org/rules.php

Community Agreement

We would like everyone to reacquaint themselves with the Community Agreement, listed on the RIPUL page (https://ripul.org/conduct.php). This is an agreement that everyone in the league has agreed to (when you signed up originally). Please give this another read, and be sure to act accordingly this season. We are lucky enough to be able to play this year, and we want to make sure everyone is feeling safe, included, and respected when they play or partake in any league / team events.

That's all for now! Games will start on June 14th, and captains will hand out your jerseys and discs at game 1. Hope everyone is excited to get back to playing again! See you all on the fields!

<3 Sticky