USQ Rules Team has temporarily suspended, effective immediately, the implementation of the score cap endgame released in USQ Rulebook 2022 for a set score modified from last year (set score +60 and flag worth 35). 

Description of different endgames:

• Score cap: Ruleset where a flag catch potentially ends the game.
  • At 20 minutes, a score cap is established. Catching the flag awards points and ends the game if the catching team is in the lead after flag points are awarded. 
  • If, after catching the flag, a team is still losing OR the flag runner evades capture continuously, teams may also continue to score quadball points until the cap is reached to avoid unending games. 
• Set score: Ruleset where a certain amount of points being reached/ exceeded ends the game. 
  • At 20 minutes, a set score is established. Any combination of quadball points and/or flag catch may be used to reach this set score. Once the set score is reached/ exceeded, the leading team wins. 

Update for USQ RULEBOOK 2022:

• Endgame (multiple sections): At the 20 minute intermission, a set score of the leading score +60 will be established, before the flag runner enters the field. Catching the flag will be worth 35 points. When the set score is met/exceeded, the leading team will be declared the victor.
  • This reversion was made after multiple direct conversations and communications between USQ staff and leaderships of member teams.
  • Primary reasons discussed Wednesday, September 14 regarding this reversion was the lateness of the release of USQ Rulebook 2022's changes and the impact on (primarily collegiate) teams who started recruitment and training and have never played a version of the game where a catch can end the game. 
  • After a vote was conducted by the team on Wednesday, September 14, tournament directors, playing teams, and head referees taking part in official events the weekend of September 17 were informed. Tournaments for playtesting during the 2022-23 were also confirmed to be included in this announcement
  • NOTE: A separate Google form endgame survey was circulated through the community by some community members. We understand that some stakeholders mistakenly believed this to be an attempt by USQ to garner additional feedback regarding the endgame. While we appreciate the attempt by community members to gain feedback, we were unable to use the results of this feedback in our decision. 
  • While we on the rules team believe that a number of scenarios within which a catch ends the game have been researched under former rulesets, we plan to use this temporary suspension to continue to playtest this ruleset. 
  • Planned places to playtest:
    • Open Division at USQ Cup 
    • Great Value Tournament- Southwest
    • Unofficial games at Keystone Classic- MidAtlantic
    • Unofficial Games at NJ Round Robin Freshman Fly- NorthEast
  • We are open to more places willing to field test. If you are hosting an event where you would be willing to playtest, please email rules@usquadball.org.

Other changes made in the release of USQ Rulebook 2022 will remain. 

PROCESS and TEAM

The rules team is composed of: Ashley Dolan, Clay Dockery, Sarah Kneiling, Ricky Nelson, Christopher LeCompte, Matt Melton, Miles Travis, Danika Liou, Michael Clark-Polner (non-voting), and Christian Barnes. 

The rulebook suggestion form will reopen again in February 2023 and remain open until the end of the season for the next rules adjustment process. Anyone is invited to submit suggestions for future editions of the USQ rulebook.

USQ is still recruiting for additional rules coordinators, which is a year-round volunteer role on the rules team. More information is available here. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis. 

USQ Rules Team meets regularly to discuss changes proposed within USQ and from the rulebook suggestion form. Changes are made primarily for three reasons: player safety, to improve previous rules that may have been difficult to understand or difficult to call, and to increase the quality of gameplay.

The Rules Team is split into 3 groups:

1. Rules Committee: Meets during the spring of the season to discuss changes to potentially be made to the next iteration of the rulebook. Evaluates submissions from the rules suggestion form, in addition to feedback submitted by community members, especially from USQ Cup. 
2. Rules Team: Works on implementation of rules and adjustments to rulebook wording to tighten technicalities. 
3. Rules Feedback Committee: This group is meant to review rules changes for understandability and provide additional voices to the rules process. They will receive embargoed information about potential new rules and provide feedback before they are implemented into the rulebook. We seek to increase this committee in the 2022-23 season. 

Continued feedback will still be gathered on the following for future rulebooks:

1. Possession clock: To be playtested at the Open Division at USQ Cup 2023 in April
   1. Rule: A set amount of time for each possession/drive. Once the time limit is reached, there will be a turnover to the opposing team.
2. Seeker swats: Canada Quidditch has enacted this rule change, and we will see how it affects their game before deciding whether to adapt it into USQ’s rulebook
   1. Rule: Seeker ability to swat bludgers to be added into the game
3. Gender rule: Conversation on changes to the rulebook regarding the rulebook will continue in spring 2023, after the collection of census data collected from the new membership platform.
   1. Rule: Establishing a set number of representatives as the maximum for any sole gender by a team’s members on pitch.

QUESTIONS?

Email rules@usquadball.org.

Interested in joining any of our rules team or to provide feedback? Email christian.barnes@usquadball.org or volunteer@usquadball.org.