Diocese of Pittsburgh Girls Basketball 2023-2024 Season
Rules and Code of Conduct

Jump to: Code of Conduct

Rules

1. Before Play Begins

A complete players roster must be signed by the pastor or principal and mailed to the Diocesan Basketball Coordinators no later than November 01, 2023:

  • Send Varsity rosters to: Chris Vallecorsa, 1149 Oglethorpe Ave., Pgh PA 15201
  • Send JV rosters to: Pat Greb, 536 Old Farm Road, Pgh., PA 15234

2.League Fees

  1. Varsity League fee is assessed at $75.00 per team, and should be made payable and sent no later than November 1, 2023 to:
    Chris Vallecorsa
    1149 Oglethorpe Ave.
    Pittsburgh, Pa. 15201-2152.
  2. Junior Varsity League fee is assessed at $75.00 per team, and should be made payable and sent no later than November 1, 2023 to:
    Pat Greb
    536 Old Farm Road
    Pittsburgh, PA 15234

3. Eligibility

  1. Varsity - 8th grade students and under.
    JV - 6th grade students and under.
  2. No player can be 15 years of age for Varsity and 13 years of age for JV before October 1, 2023. (Request exceptions through appeal to the League Director.)
  3. Each player must be enrolled in a Catholic Elementry School.
  4. Players cannot play on high school junior varsity teams. (Or any other team's roster.)
  5. If a school does not have enough players to field a Varsity or JV team and wants to merge with another school in the same situation, the schools must:
    • Have written permission from both school's principals sent to the League Director before the players are added to the school's roster.
    • A school can only add 2 but no more than 3 players from the second school.
    • If a school decides to merge players from another school, the league will count both school's 7th and 8th grade girls to determine the class for the merged schools, i.e., Class A or Class B.

4. Equipment

  1. Players must have numbered jerseys of the same color. (There shall be no penalty for illegal numbers or different style shorts of the same color.)
  2. The Home Team must provide the time clock and should have a back-up clock available.
  3. Clocks are to be operated by adults where possible. An adult shall be considered a high school sophomore or above. (After the start of the game, no protest will be honored regarding the qualifications of the clock operator.)
  4. The Home Team will keep the official clock and official book.
  5. The Home Team will make space available for the opponents next to the official clock and book.

5. New Players

New players may be added to the roster by notifying the League Director by phone and a confirming email.

6. Games

  1. All games being played on weekdays (M-F) should not start before 6:00 PM or after 8:30 PM
  2. Sunday games cannot begin before 1:00 PM
  3. Multiple games (JV and Varsity) are to be scheduled at one (1) hour and fifteen (15) minute intervals. However, if the JV game ends early the Varsity game should begin 15 minutes after the end of the JV game.
  4. League games or playoff games take precedence over tournament games.
  5. All games must be played by February 10, 2024.

7. Girl's Varsity and JV Grade School Basketball Rules

Note - New (PIAA) Rule for 2023-2024:
     Former Rule for fouls was: One and One free throws begininning with the 7th foul in each half
     Eliminate the One and One for common fouls and: 
     New Rule: Bonus of 2 free throws awarded for a common foul beginning with the teams 5th foul in each quarter
                       Reset the fouls at the end of each quarter.

Official High School Basketball Rules shall apply (PIAA) with the following exceptions:

  1. Clock
    1. Varsity - Six (6) minute periods.
    2. JV - Eight (8) minute periods using a running clock that stops on all fouls and time outs. The last 2 minutes of the 4th quarter, the clock stops on all whistles, and continues into overtime.
    3. Overtime is three (3) minutes.
  2. Floors are to be played as they are.
  3. An official leather ball will be used in all league games. Note: the circumference of the ball should be within a minimum of 28 1/2 inched to a maximum of 29 inches. The weight of the ball should be within a minimum of 18 ounces to a maximum of 20 ounces.
  4. Two certified officials are assigned to each game. However, the game may be played as a league game with only one certified official if both coaches agree before the game starts. A game will be forfeited if the attending official(s) is not certified.
  5. A female chaperon must be present with the team at all games and in locker rooms. Teams are not permitted in locker rooms without a female chaperon. The Home Team is responsible for compliance.
  6. Uniforms must be same color (including under-shirts & spandex) for the entire team.
  7. The Home Team is responsible for:
    1. Appointing a building official for each game
    2. Crowd control - The Home Team must remove a disruptive person that is requested by referee.
    3. Referee safety. The Home Team is responsible to ensure that the referees have the ability to enter and exit the gym without interference from fans, coaches, players, etc. (Note: failure to adhere to this rule will be reported to the League Director and can result in a closed gym for future games.)
  8. Practice shall not begin before October 15, 2023.
  9. A team shall play no more than 40 games (including tournaments games) and Diocesan Playoffs.
  10. A team is permitted to play only one game each day. A player is allowed to play four quarters of organized basketball in one day, with overtimes considered part of the fourth quarter. Note: Anytime played in a quarter counts as 1 quarter. (Exception: class "B", players are permitted to play a total of 6 quarters.) Exceptions can be requested in writing and section representatives and schools will be notified as to exceptions which would be an additional 2 quarters.
  11. A student transferring from one Catholic school to another is not eligible to play basketball for the remainder of the school year unless parents change residence. Transfers from a public school to a Catholic school will be approved by a committee of section representatives selected by the League Director, and a decision rendered within ten days.
  12. Schools with large numbers of students may field two teams on both JV and Varsity. However, each team will be in a different section and the 2nd team's games will be exhibition only.  The 2nd teams will not be eligible to win the section (regardless of their win/loss record) and the 2nd team will not be eligible to participate in the Diocesan playoffs.  In addition, their games within the section will not have an effect on the record of the other teams in the section.
    In addition a school’s 2nd team will not count to determine playoff spots.  For example:  7 regular teams and 1 2nd team would equal a 7 team section not a 8 team section.
  13. The rule requiring coaches to remain seated during play is  Head coaches only are permitted to STAND-IN-PLACE in front of their chair/bench seat for the purpose of coaching their team only.  If a coach is assessed a technical foul he or she will lose all STAND-IN-PLACE privileges and must remain seated.  If a 2nd technical foul is assessed the coach will be removed from the gym.
  14. Proven violation of the above rules will result in the immediate termination of the coach for that basketball season.

8. Officials and Fees

  1. Distribute official fees before the Varsity game.
  2. A representative of the school should greet the officials at the door, and introduce the building official. (Note: If problems occur during the game the officials will advise the building official)
  3. Fees:
    1. $45.00 per official for 1 game, 2 officials ($90.00)
    2. $90.00 per official for 2 games, 2 officials ($180.00)
    3. $68.00 for 1 official for 1 game
    4. $135.00 for 1 official for 2 games 
  4. The Home Team must notify Chris Vallecorsa (Varsity) or Pat Greb (JV) immediately if the game was not filled by two certified officials.
  5. Officials for all league games (Section, Tiebreaker and Playoff games) will be assigned by Katie Foley, 412-445-7785 [c], (cafoley630@aol.com) the Grade School Scheduler from the Pittsburgh Chapter of Women's Basketball Officials. All of these official's assignments are to be reported to the League Directors, using the Game Change Request Form, these changes will then be reported to Katie Foley for assigning.  St. Monica, Butler Catholic, Our Lady of Fatima, Mary of Nazareth,  St. Gregory, Sts. Peter & Paul and JFK teams will assign through their local official's chapter. NOTE: If your school schedules exhibition or tournament games, and you need officials,  you should contact Katie Foley (412-445-7785) directly to schedule officials.

9. Cancellations

Chris Vallecorsa (Varsity), or Pat Greb (JV) must be notified.

  1. Inclement weather: Games may be canceled by either coaches request.  Proposal for cancellations must be made 2 hours before game time the day of the game for weather reasons only. (Direct contact only. You must contact either Chris Vallecorsa or Pat Greb personally. Phone messages as well as emails are not acceptable.) Referees will receive their FULL fee if not notified 2 hours prior to the game. 
  2. All other cancellations: the Home team will use the game change form that will provide the cancellation of referees. Referees will receive their FULL fee if not notified 4 hours prior to the game.
  3. No scheduled games may be canceled on the basis of sickness unless the entire school is closed because of widespread illness.
  4. Cancellation make-up games - Both teams must agree as soon as possible after the cancellation (preferably on the day of cancellation) so a new game can be set and referees notified; but no longer than one (1) week. After one (1) week there can be a forfeiture of league games.

10. Forfeit

  1. A game is subject to forfeiture if a team has not taken the floor within one-half (1/2) hour after the scheduled time.
  2. If a team refuses to play or complete a league game that game becomes a forfeit for that team. The team that refused to play or continue playing will be barred immediately from the league for that season and will lose playoff eligibility for that season. Repeated forfeits may result in the team not being eligible to participate in the league for future seasons.

11. Protests

  1. All protests are to be submitted in writing by the coach to the League Director (Chris Vallecorsa for Varsity or Pat Greb for JV).
  2. All protests must be accompanied by a $50.00 fee. The fee will be returned if the protest is upheld.
  3. The protesting coach must notify the official and opposing coach at the point of discussion with his/her intention to protest. Officials must sign the book noting the reason for the protest, and list the game time remaining.
  4. No protests on "Judgment Calls" by officials.
  5. Time allowed for filing protests:
    1. On player eligibility - until end of season.
    2. On game itself - within three (3) days.
  6. The League Director will appoint a Protest Board consisting of coaches, Athletic Director, section representatives and referees.

12. Play-Offs

  1. Details of playoffs to be worked out by Chris Vallecorsa and Pat Greb.
  2. Eligibility:
    1. Class A:
      1. TO BE DETERMINED
    2. Class B:
      1. TO BE DETERMINED
  3. In the event of a tie for section champion:
    1. A playoff game will determine section champion or ranking.
    2. Site and specifics of tie breaker games to be determined by League Director.
    3. A coin toss will determine official book if a section representative is not present.
    4. See playoff letter for further details.

13. Trophies

  1. Only one set of individual trophies awarded.
  2. Section Champion - One (1) team trophy and 12 Individual trophies.
  3. See Girl’s Playoff letter for additional information.

 

Rules updated Saturday, January 06, 2024, 4:53:56 PM

 

Conduct

1. Offensive Actions

No coach or player is to:

  1. Refuse to abide by official’s decision or use profane language or gestures which results in a technical foul. This will result in a written report and be submitted to League Director by the game officials. The League Director will call the coach on the first occurrence to discuss the coaches behavior and on the second the League Director will notify the school’s principal.
  2. Exhibit objectionable behavior, (e.g. throwing equipment or any other forceful action).
  3. Verbally abuse an official for any real or imagined unjust decision or judgment, or verbally abuse a Player, Opposing Coach, or Spectator.
  4. Physically touching, pushing, shoving, striking, or threatening to strike an Official, Coach, or Spectator.
  5. Physically attacking any player.

For any of the above occurrences, a written report will be submitted to the League Director by the game officials, Athletic Director, or coach. Once this report is received, the school’s principal will be notified by the League Director.

2. Penalties

Penalties for the above Offensive Actions include:

  • Violation of Articles A, B or C - one (1) to five (5) game suspension. No one may serve as a coach in a different class (varsity or junior varsity) of the same sport while under suspension. Nor are they permitted access to gym facilities. (NOTE: Clarification of the above suspensions: one (1) technical foul - League Director will contact offending coach to give warning. Two (2) technical fouls which result in a coach being ejected from a game/gym - Penalty as follows: 1st offense is a one (1) league game suspension with letters being sent to School's principal and Pittsburgh Diocese; 2nd offense is a five (5) league game suspension; 3rd offense is a one (1) calendar year suspension. If a person coaches both JV and Varsity teams the suspension goes for both teams.)
  • Violation of Articles D by a coach or player - suspension of offending coach or player for one full calendar year.
  • Violation of Article E by a player - suspension for 3 to 5 games accompanied by a letter defining the meaning of sportsmanship as well as an apology to team member and offended individual that is to be sent to their school’s principal, and copies sent to offended individual and League Coordinator.
  • If suspended coaches or players disregard stated penalties, when properly notified by the League Director, the team is to be permanently suspended from league competition for one full calendar year beginning immediately after the violation.
  • If necessary, suspensions will carry over into the next season.

3. Use of Tobacco, Alcohol or Illegal Drugs

Smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages and using illegal drugs are strictly forbidden and are grounds for immediate termination.

4. Parent or Fan Behavior

  1. Any parent or fan whose behavior is deemed objectionable (i.e. offenses similar in nature to those in the coaches and players code of conduct) by any game official, pastor, school principal, or appointed person in authority at that event, should be asked to leave the premises. The Pastor/Athletic Director/Coach/Principal of the school(s) involved should then make a further determination as to whether or not the individual(s) should be banned from additional games. (Severe situations).
  2. If objectionable parent or fan behavior becomes a continuing occurrence it can result in the league director having the offending team(s) conducting their games with a closed gym. This means that only team members, their coaches, and school officials are permitted on the premises.

Code of Conduct updated Monday, October 02, 2023, 1:27:58 PM

Complaints - Any complaint against a school, coach, fan or official is to be written and forwarded to the Diocesan Athletic Director only after exhausting all local attempts to solve the problem.













Copyright © 2024 2BadCats.com