Rules & Regulations – Blue and Gold Hockey Sevens

Rules

The Council of the Royal College Hockey Club shall seed all teams participating at the tournament.
Only students who are eligible to be in School and who are Under 19 years of age as at 01.01.2023 are allowed to take part. (Those born on or after 1^st January 2004)
Each team shall register 09 (nine) players in the respective entry form, which should be duly certified by the Master-in-Charge of Hockey and the Principal.
Each team shall provide a clean hockey ball (white) in good condition for each of its matches.
Each team shall be uniformly clad and play in the respective colours as declared. In the event of a clash of colours, a toss of a coin will decide which team shall play in white or coloured. Shirts/Jerseys MUST BE NUMBERED with the GoalKeeper’s number appearing on both front and back. The Goal Keeper’s Shirt/Jersey colour must not clash with his team and opponent team colours. Schools failing to comply with these instructions will be debarred from participating in the match concerned and will be disqualified from the tournament.
The tournament will be conducted as per the rules of the F.I.H.
The tournament shall be conducted on a League and Knock out basis and on the regulations set out by the Organizing Committee.
If a team having entered the tournament fails to turn up or conceded to walk over at any stage of the tournament, all matches played by that team will be declared null and void and the team will not be allowed to further participate in the tournament. Teams not punctual shall be disqualified from the entire tournament. ALL TEAMS MUST BE READY TO PLAY AT ANYTIME.
The officiating Umpires’ would be from the Umpires Panel of the Sri Lanka Hockey Federation.
A) The matches in all aspects shall be under the jurisdiction of the Organizing Committee.

B) Any protest shall be made in writing and shall be handed over to the Secretary, Royal College Hockey Club, within 10 minutes of the completion of the respective match together with a protest fee of Rs.1000/-, which will be refunded if the protest is upheld. The Organizing Committee shall sit on judgment.

Lunch will be provided by the Organizers to all participating teams and their respective officials on the 1^st day of the tournament (12^Th August 2023) and on 2^nd day (13^th August 2023) for all teams that qualifies for Pre-Quarter Finals.

Accommodation will be provided to all outstation teams on request on Friday 11^th and Saturday 12^th August only.

Any matter not covered by the above conditions shall be referred to the Organizing Committee whose decision shall be the final and conclusive.

Regulations

1. Playing Rules

Normal rules pertaining to the game shall be enforced with the under-mentioned exceptions:

Teams & Duration

Not more than seven (07) players shall form a team
Minimum Time – Two periods of seven (07) minutes each way with an interval of one (01) minute in all league matches. Two periods of ten (10) minutes each way with an interval of two (02) minutes in a knockout tournament, including the final
Timings of matches may change depending on the time constraints.
Rolling Substitution is allowed for all matches

Penalty Corners

Not more than Three (03) defenders on the goal line (including the Goal Keeper)

2. Plan of Tournament

For the purpose of this tournament, the participating teams will be divided into groups depending on the number of entries
The tournament will be conducted in two parts
- Part 1 – League (Group Leadership)
- Part 2 – Knockout

Part 1 – League (Group Leadership)

Teams in each group will play each other once
In the event of there being only two teams in the Group, the two shall play each other twice
Classification in each Group is obtained by the award of:
- 03 Points to the Winner – 0 Points to the Looser
- 01 Point each in the case of a Draw in each match
The placing in each group shall be determined by the MATCH POINTS on the above basis
If teams obtain the same number of match points, the placing shall be decided as follows:
- Firstly by Goal Average, i.e. “Goals for” less “Goals against”
  A positive goal difference always takes precedence over a negative one
- Secondly, if teams still tie, the placing shall be decided by the number of Goals For.
- THIRDLY if teams still tie, the placing shall be decided by a series of penalty strokes competition. (Three strokes per team) and still if it is a tie the winner shall be decided on a SINGLE SERIES OF STROKES, until the tie is broken.

Part 2 – Knockout

The game in this part shall be played on a Knockout basis among the leaders and the teams placed second in each group will be drawn into two halves or any other basis, which will be termed as Pre-Quarter- Finals
Byes may be drawn as required
In the event of a draw in the Knockout tournament, the winner shall be decided by a series of penalty stroke competitions. (Three strokes per team) and still, if it is a tie the winner shall be decided on a SINGLE SERIES OF PENALTY STROKES until the tie is broken (No extra time)
In the event of a draw in the Final, two periods of extra time of five (05) minutes each way without an interval shall be played. Extra time may be reduced or eliminated in order to complete the final. If there is no result after extra time, the winner shall be decided by a penalty stroke competition. (Three strokes per team) and still, if it is a tie the winner shall be decided on a SINGLE SERIES OF PENALTY STROKES until the tie is broken
The winners of the Pre-Quarter Finals will advance to the Cup and Plate Championship while the losers of the above will play for the bowl championship

For any matter not covered by the above regulations, the decision of the Organization Committee shall be final and conclusive.

Note: The tournament will be conducted on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th August 2023 commencing at 7.30 a.m on both days at the Royal College Grounds, Reid Avenue, Colombo 7.

All captains, coaches, and teachers in charge should be present for the meeting conducted by the organizing committee at 7.00 a.m prior to the opening of the tournament on Saturday 12th August 2023.