Proposal 17: polish up the rules [ Revision 1 ]
Committee: HockeySubmitted on 2015-01-20
Status: Passed on February 28, 2015
Background
I think the current rules for unicycle hockey work very well. Maybe
that's the reason why the hockey section of this rulebook committee is
very quiet so far. This is probably a good time to "polish up" the
rules. Here, I have prepared a couple of ideas to remove redundancies,
make the rules more structured, and easier to read:
Proposal
A) 6.2.1) A team cannot have more than 5 players on the field. It
follows that, during substitution, one player has to leave the field
first before the substitute can enter it. To make this clear, 6.2.1
should be slightly rephrased:
OLD: The new player must enter the field where the other exits it.
NEW: The new player must enter the field where the other has left it.
B) Intentional delay: Section 6.4.2 mentions that the player has 3
seconds time for the 6.5 m. Other than this, no explicit times are
mentioned. Sometimes, players of the leading team intentionally delay
the game to secure their lead. Under the current rules, this is
considered unsporting behavior. Instead of adding explicit times to
several sections in the rules, I suggest to add one sentence at the
end of section 6.6.1 (General Considerations) to cover intentional
delay:
NEW: Intentional delay of the game is not permitted.
C) How to resume the game after an injury? We currently have a
contradiction in the rules. As no team is penalized, rule 6.4.4 says
the game MUST be resumed with a bully. However, according to rule
6.9.6, a free shot is given to the team that was in possession of the
ball at the time of the interruption. This contradiction can be
removed by rephrasing 6.4.4:
OLD: Whenever the game needs to be resumed without penalizing one of
the teams, this is done with a bully.
NEW: To resume the game without penalizing one of the teams, a bully
can be used.
D) 6.4.4) There is no good reason why a bully is executed "near" a
corner mark and not "at" a corner mark.
OLD: Exception: Within the goal area, the bully is always executed
near one of the corner marks.
NEW: Exception: Within the goal area, the bully is executed at the
closest corner mark.
For consistency, use exactly the same phrase in 6.4.1 as well:
OLD: the free shot is done from the closest corner mark
NEW: the free shot is executed at the closest corner mark
E) Inconsistency in 6.5.1 Game Duration: Until a few years ago, the
duration of the game was defined as 20 minutes. Then, the definition
was removed to give the organizer more flexibility. Nevertheless, we
still have the duration of the extended time defined as 5 minutes.
For consistency, this time should be flexible as well.
OLD: If [...] a decision is necessary, play is continued for ten more
minutes: five-minute break and change sides, five minutes of play,
change sides without a break and five more minutes of play ...
NEW: If [...] a decision is necessary, play is continued with
extended time.
F) 6.5.8 Ball Out Of Bounds
Unfortunately, some referees do not stop the game if the ball leaves
the field but soon bounces back into the field. This needs to be
clarified in the rulebook.
Also, a corner shot is not an independent penalty. It's only a
special form of the free shot. This is explained explicitly in 6.4.1.
Therefore, it is not necessary to mention the corner shot again in
6.5.8.
OLD: If the ball leaves the field, the team opposite to that of the
player who last touched it gets a free shot or a corner shot,
depending where the ball went out...
NEW: If the ball leaves the field, the game is interrupted
immediately (even if the ball comes back in). The team opposite to
that of the player who last touched it gets a free shot.
G) 6.6.3 SUB (Stick Under Bike) and 6.6.4 SIB (Stick In Bike)
These rules both contain redundant text. The distinction between a
free shot and a 6.5 m is already explained in 6.4.1 and 6.4.2.
Intentional Fouls are already covered in 6.4.5. Therefore, these
rules can be simplified:
OLD:
6.6.3: A player who holds his or her stick in a way that someone else
rides over or against it is committing a foul, regardless of
intention. According to the situation the player who was “subbed” is
given either a free shot or a 6.5 m.
6.6.4: If a stick gets into the spokes of an opponent, the holder of
the stick is committing a foul regardless of intention. According to
the situation the player who was “sibbed” is given a free shot or a
6.5 m.
NEW:
6.6.3: A player who holds his or her stick in a way that someone else
rides over or against it is committing a foul.
6.6.4: If a stick gets into the spokes of an opponent, the holder of
the stick is committing a foul.
H) 6.6.6 Intentional Fouls
This section can be deleted completely because this has already been
described in 6.4.5 (Penalty Box).
TODO: remove 6.6.6
I) Section 6.4 already defines what penalty is used in what case. There
is no need to repeat this elsewhere. Rule 6.8.1 (Throwing Sticks) can
be simplified:
OLD: A player who intentionally drops or throws his or her stick is
sent off the field for at least 2 minutes, at the discretion of the
Referee (8.6.6). Also, the opposing team gets a 6.5 m.
NEW: A player must not intentionally drop or throw his or her stick.
J) The current rules use the term "bully". However, what is actually
meant is a "face-off". See wikipedia for details:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face-off#Field_hockey
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face-off
Note, however, that in German the word "bully" is correct:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bully_%28Sport%29
TODO: Change the word "bully" to "face-off" everywhere in the rules.
Body
(see above for details)
References
Discussion
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Votes on this proposal:
6 out of 7 voting members have voted.
Agree: 5, Disagree: 1, Abstain: 0.