Tournament Rules based on Carolina Field Owners Association (CFOA)

CAROLINA FIELD OWNERS ASSOCIATION

2005 Official CFOA Rules

1 FIELDS

1.0 FIELD STANDARDS

1.01 All game fields shall be free from anything that would pose an unnecessary risk to players, including cliffs, areas with jagged rock. etc.

1.02 Both players and judges should be able to move freely on game fields, and game fields should not contain significant wet or swamp areas, dense undergrowth and the like to impede free movement thereon.

1.03 All field borders will be free of doglegs, and no section of border will be constructed in such a manner that allows players to shoot over a boundary and back onto the playing field.

1.04 Five and three player fields will consist of three flag stations, two team flag stations and a center flag station. The center flag will be placed at mid field, in such a manner as to assure that players equally fast can reach the center flag station from either team flag station in the same amount of time.

1.05 Taking into account terrain, cover, ability to move, fire lanes and topography, game fields shall be balanced so that the better and more talented of two teams will usually win starting the game from either team flag station.

1.06 There shall be a minimum of no less than FOUR playing fields per tournament.

1.07 Game fields shall be a minimum of 79ft wide by 164 ft long (standard 5 man sup'air dimensions) OR 12,000 sq ft. of in play area.

1.08 All 5 man fields shall consist of a minimum of 19 bunkers per field (standard 5 man sup'air field).

1.09 A BUNKER is defined by the following minimum standards: 3ft X 4ft OR 12 square feet, whichever is applicable. All Bunkers shall be free from holes or voids through which a player can shoot or be shot. All bunkers shall be adequately secured in a stationary position so as to withstand a reasonable amount of force and remain in place. A bunker shall be arranged on the playing field in such a manner to be playable from both the left-hand and right-hand sides.

1.1 FIELD STAFFING

1.10 Each five player game field shall be staffed by a minimum of 5 field judges (preferably 6, including the ultimate judge).

1.11 There shall be a minimum of one chrono judge for each 5 player game field.

1.12 In a 5 player game, among the 5 judges per field (minimum) there must be at least 3 Amateur level players. The other 2 judges may be Novice level players. No Rookie level players will be permitted to judge any CFOA event.

2.0 OFFICIATING STANDARDS

2.01 All judges shall be thoroughly familiar with the rules and regulations contained herein and shall put forth their best efforts in discharging their duties as judges.

2.02 All judges shall perform their obligations and shall make decisions in a totally unbiased manner. If any judge is found to have been bias in his judging activities for or against any team, such person shall be dropped from the judging team for the remainder of the tournament. That incident will also be sent to the CFOA Executive Committee.

2.03 Radios may be used by the judging staff for communication with each other.

2.04 Judges will wear shirts and pants of bright colors that will distinguish the judges from the players. Ultimate judges will wear shirts that indicate their status on the game field.

2.05 Clerical or mathematical errors may be corrected at any time prior to the start of the finals.

2.06 Hosting Fields shall submit to the CFOA Executive Committee a list of teams and its members chosen referee their event for approval of eligibility no less than 60 days prior to the event.

2.1 INFORMATION

2.07 Flag stations for all rounds will be determined by coin toss prior to the start of the game.

2.08 Judges will not provide information to teams regarding the location of flag stations, terrain, boundaries, game time, or progress of a game during the game except with respect to safety concerns.

2.09 Judges will not, through action or inaction, deliberately reveal or conceal the locations or actions of players during the course of a game. Judges will not impede the progress of the game.

2.2 GAME CONTROLS

2.10 Starting procedures will be standardized at every hosting site. Players will place their gun barrels on some portion of the starting station. Players may turn their bodies including their faces in any direction that the player chooses. All forms of starting stations shall be in bounds and in play.

2.11 The ultimate judge on the field will begin a game by giving a ten second warning so that each team may hear clearly such warning. The ultimate judge will give such warning with a countdown of "Three, two, one, ten seconds." Thereafter, the game will start by the ultimate judge shouting so that each team may hear, by radio or otherwise, either, "Game on." or "Go, go, go."

2.12 A game will end only by the head judge on the field announcing, "Game over."

2.13 In the event of an emergency situation, the judge discovering the emergency will request that all judges immediately cause all action to stop. Game time will also be halted for the duration of the emergency.

GAME STRUCTURE

3.0 SCORING

3.01 Scoring for five-player games will be conducted on a 60 point system and will be awarded as follows:
(i) a team will be awarded 2 points for every player on the opposing team eliminated;
(ii) a team will be awarded 1 point for every player on such team not eliminated:
(iii) a team will be awarded 10 points if it pulls the center flag first; and
(iv) a team will be awarded 35 points when the flag is hung in its opponent's  flag station.

3.02 Points are awarded at the conclusion of the game by the ultimate Judge.

3.03 Elimination points will be awarded to the opposing team for every opponent removed from the field during play for the game. A player may be removed from the field for any valid hit, obvious or not obvious to the player eliminated, the surrender or voluntary exit from the field pursuant to which the player acknowledges that he has a hit by indicating his elimination, any erroneous elimination by an official, even though it may later be determined that the call was not valid, for placing any part of his body or anything he is wearing or carrying out of bounds, concealment of an armband or acting in any other manner indicating elimination, abandonment of equipment (moving at least five feet away from such equipment), except pods used to carry paint, or squeegees, being outside the flag station at the start of the game, or delaying taking the field after being told to do so by the ultimate judge.

3.04 A first flag pull occurs when a player not eliminated physically grabs the center flag, in a five player game, before a player from the other team manages to do the same. Only one team in a game may earn first flag pull points.

3.05 Flag hang points are awarded when a player breaks the plane of a flag station with a flag. Flag hangs may be awarded in conjunction with or independently of first flag pulls. Flag hangs are only awarded in a five man game when a flag is hung in the opponents_ flag station. Flag hangs may be awarded to the team that is not in possession of the flag when it is hung, since it is the flag and the station that it is hung in that determines the points awarded and to whom. Flag hangs will not be immediately awarded upon the flag breaking the boundary plane of a flag station, The status of the flag carrying player will first be verified and before a flag hang is considered to be official. The time that the flag carrier breaks the plane of the flag station with the flag will be recorded by the flag field judge, and should that player be determined to be live after being checked by the field flag judge, the hang will be announced and the game will have ended as of the time that such player broke the plane of the flag station.

3.1 TIME AND START

3.06 A five player game will end at the earliest of:
(i) a successful flag hang,
(ii) the elimination of all players on the game field, or
(iii) 7 minutes after the start of the game.

3.07 Each team is expected to report to the game field at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the game.

3.08 Players are responsible for removing old hits or bringing the same to the attention of a field judge so that it may be dealt with in a manner that would not result in it resulting in an elimination of a player.

3.09 Players are not allowed to bring tools or other prohibited equipment onto the game field. Presence of such equipment may result in a penalty and disciplinary proceedings against the offending player and/or team.

3.11 Each player will be given an armband in a distinctive team color and will wear the same on his left arm.

3.12 Players must have their gun barrel touching the starting station in their flag station prior to the start of the game. Any player that doesn't have his/her barrel touching the starting station at the start of the game is subject to be eliminated.

3.13 When the teams are assembled at their respective flag stations, the ultimate judge will give a ten second warning countdown, as in, "Three, two, one, ten seconds." Such countdown will be heard by both teams. Ten seconds later the ultimate judge will announce the start of the game, heard by both teams, by shouting, "Go, go, go." The game will begin on that signal.

3.2 PRE GAME CHRONOGRAPHING

3.21 All teams will be afforded the opportunity to chronograph their equipment before going on the field to play. It is each team's responsibility to ensure that it's players are under 300 fps. There will not be a mandatory pre-game chronographing of each team. Players will be chronied during the game. Any player found to be shooting over 300 fps but not over 305 fps will be afforded a second chance and will be re-chronied. If that player is still shooting over 300 fps on the re-chrony, he/she will be eliminated from play. Any player found to be shooting 306 fps or more will be eliminated without any second chances.

3.22 Only Radar chronographs will be used for an official game chronograph. Multiple chronographs may be designated for each playing field so that in the event that a chronograph is not working, one which was available to the teams can be substituted. Players should be afforded every opportunity to chrony on and off the field using the same Radar Chronograph.

3.23 The chrono judge may inspect a marker for the following:
(1) the presence of foreign matter in the barrel, feed port or loader;
(2) tightness of screws, barrel, tank and other working parts which can increase or decrease velocity;
(3) presence of valves or expansion chambers which can be turned on or off; all valves will be placed in the fully open position;
(4) presence of external velocity adjusters which are not covered or fixed in place; and
(5) any other device, part or item which would enable a player to increase the muzzle velocity of the marker on the game field without resorting to the use of tools.

3.3 ARMBANDS

3.31 Armbands shall be worn on the left arm.

3.4 FLAGS

3.41 Flags are to be hung so that the lowest reachable point on the flag is within the grasp of the smallest players on the field. Minimum reach being around 5 foot from its hanging place.

3.42 Game flags shall be secured in such a manner as to prevent the game flag from being shot down.

3.5 NUMBER OF GAMES

3.51 Five player amateur, novice and rookie teams will play six preliminary round games. Such games will be played against teams within the defined grouping of such team.

3.52 Teams will qualify for the semifinals by finishing the preliminaries with one of the top 8 scores for that division.

3.53 All Divisions including Amateur, Novice and Rookie divisions will hold round robin semifinals. Teams will be seeded 1 through 8 based on their final totals in the preliminaries. After the seeding of all semi-finalists, game brackets shall be set as follows: Bracket 1: Seeds #1, #8, #4, and #5. Bracket 2: Seeds #2, #7, #3, and #6. Cumulative scores will determine the finishing order for finals.

3.54 If there are less than eight teams in a classification (Amateur, Novice, Rookie), there will be no semifinal round and the top four teams will qualify and play in the final round.

3.55 Teams will qualify for the finals by finishing the semifinals with one of the two highest scores for that bracket within that division.

3.56 All Divisions including Amateur, Novice and Rookie divisions will hold round robin finals. Cumulative scores will determine the finishing order for finals.

3.57 Team positions at the end of a days play are determined by total points earned by the teams that day.

3.58 In case of a tie score among teams such tie will be broken first by head to head competition, winner of such contest advancing. If the tie remains after such tie breaking determination, the tie shall be broken by the preliminary round scores, the team with the greatest score in the preliminary round advancing. If the tie remains after such tie breaking determination, the tie shall be broken by the eliminations scored for the teams in the preliminaries, the team with the most eliminations against all preliminary opponents advancing. If the tie among teams remains after such tie breaking determination, the tie shall be broken by the eliminations scored against the teams in the preliminaries, the team with fewest eliminations against (team that lost the fewest players overall against all preliminary opponents) in such round advancing. If the tie among teams remains after such tie breaking determination, the tie shall be broken by a one game
playoff.

3.6 SEEDING & SEED POINT DISTRIBUTION

3.61 Five player team seed points are earned as follows:
(1) 100 points for first place;
(2) 97 points for second place;
(3) 94 points for third place;
(4) 91 points for fourth place;
(5) 88 points for fifth place;
(6) 85 points for sixth place;
there will be a 3 point decline in points per place of finish as in this example. Minimum points awarded will be 10. Amateur, Novice and Rookie divisions will carry their own seed point standings.

3.62 Any team that elects to change their status from novice to amateur will be allowed to keep a percentage of the seed points earned up to that point. The percentage of points kept will be determined by when the team elects to move up.
(1) After the first event: 85%
(2) After the second event: 70%
(3) After the third event: 55%
(4) After the fourth event: 40%
(5) After the fifth event: 25%
(6) After the sixth event: 10%

3.63 Amateur teams may not drop down to the novice division at any time.

3.64 Teams will be awarded seed points for judging CFOA tournaments. These points will be issued at the end of the listed event, provided that such team fulfills its obligations as a judging team. All referring teams that fulfill their obligations will receive the maximum amount of seed points (100) for the event they referee. In order for referring teams to fulfill their obligations they must; 1) have a minimum of 5 refs from their team, 2) ref until the event is completed. Any referring team that has 4 refs, may only receive a maximum of 80 seed points. Less than 4 refs from any referring team will cause a forfeiture of referring seed points for that event. If a team referees a second event for the season, they will receive an average of all events held, minus their referring seed points for the first event judged.

3.65 To maintain seed points, a team must have no less than three players off of its original CFOA series roster. Less than 3 of the teams original roster members constitutes a different team, which in turn will carry separate seed points.

3.66 Any team that decides to change names in the middle of the series will not be allowed to keep and carry over the seed points from the original name to the new name.

3.67 In the event of a tie between teams after final seed points are awarded for the season. If this tie conflicts with any End of Season prizes or awards from the CFOA, there will be a one game playoff between the teams to immediately dissolve the tie. The one game playoff will be played prior to The End of Season Awards Ceremony.

3.68 Seed points from seven events will be added together in order to achieve the final total score. Teams electing to play all eight CFOA events will have their lowest score dropped. Teams playing seven events or less will stand on all posted scores.

INFORMATION

4.01 The tournament host will supply tournament information, including information concerning entry fee, an itinerary and schedule of events including time and place for the rules meeting and the captains meeting, hotel information, a waiver and roster form and the CFOA rules, to any team having entered the competition in need of the same.

4.02 A rules meeting will be held in conjunction with the captains meeting of each competition. The purpose of this meeting is for the judging staff to answer questions concerning these rules.

4.03 A captains meeting will be held on the morning of the competition. The purpose of this meeting is to provide information to the captains of the teams attending concerning the organization, administration and non-field rules and regulations governing the tournaments.

4.04 A complete schedule for preliminary round play, consisting of each teams opponents, the fields it will play on, and its scheduled game times will be distributed during the morning of the beginning of the competition and, thereafter, posted on the scoreboard.

4.05 All playing fields will be available for review by any team competing in the event for at least four daylight hours prior to the first day of play thereon.

4.06 Teams may examine the fields and or conduct any activity to prepare for tournament play. No team or member thereof shall in any way alter any playing field.

4.07 Registration for all CFOA events will end at 6pm on the evening preceding the event.. There will be no late fees charged to any team. Only teams registered by 6pm on Saturday evening will be playing ball on Sunday morning. Registration for all teams will include team name, playing status, and full payment. Waivers may be turned in on Sunday morning prior to the start of the event.

4.08 For the 2003 season the CFOA will return to inter-divisional play, Novice and Amateur teams will play each other in the preliminary rounds. Rookie teams will only play other Rookie teams.

4.09 In order to determine pairings, the CFOA will rank teams in the Amateur and Novice divisions based on the teams previous performance. For the season opener, all rankings will be based off of the 2002 final standings. Any team that is unranked will be ranked alphabetically.

EQUIPMENT

5.0 CLOTHING

5.01 Players may wear any suitable apparel except sleeveless or tank-top style shirts. Short sleeves and shorts are acceptable.

5.02 Players may not wear excessive amounts of clothing in order to create padding.

5.03 Players must wear pants or shirts or jackets that fit well. Players may not wear oversized clothing.

5.04 Players may not wear jackets and or pants, which are made out of highly absorbent material, such as felt or fleece, or of a highly padded or slick nature, such as nylon or rubber. If a player is found to be wearing such material then he will be required to obtain and wear suitable replacement clothing.

5.05 Players may wear a single pair of gloves, with or without full fingers. Gloves may be padded.

5.06 Players may wear nylon neck protection of a single layer.

5.07 Any decisions regarding clothing issues not covered in this section, are left to the discretion of the Ultimate Referee.

5.1 PROTECTIVE GEAR

5.11 Players must wear goggles manufactured for use in paintball games in good repair and with lenses that are not damaged. These goggles must meet or exceed ASTM Standards.

5.12 Players must wear full-face protection as it comes from the manufacturer in it's original form.

5.13 Players must wear ear protection that is part of the goggle system that was made by the manufacturer for that goggle system.

5.14 Players may wear forearm and elbow protection, provided that the padding on such protection has not been modified from the manufactures original form. Such protection may be worn over or under clothing.

5.15 Players may wear shin and knee protection, provided that the padding has not been modified for the manufactures original form. Such protection may be worn over or under clothing.

5.16 Male players may wear groin protection and female players may wear breast protection.

5.2 MARKERS

5.21 Players may use a single, 68 caliber, pump or semi automatic paintball marker, which consists of a single barrel, a single trigger, gravity feed style magazine or a force feed style magazine. Double action triggers are prohibited. A paintball marker capable of firing in full auto mode shall be rendered incapable of firing in such mode in such a manner that a player may not readily change the marker back to full auto mode during a game and such that the modification is readily visible to the judges.

5.22 All markers with any form of external velocity adjusters must be modified in such a way that the velocity adjuster is not readily accessible during the course of the game. Depending upon make or model of the markers, some may require beaver tails and / or tournament caps or may require multiple tournament caps. All regulators require tournament caps such that they can not be adjusted without a tool with the gun gassed or degassed.

5.23 Markers may fire at any rate of fire, and may shoot any number of paintballs, provided that no more than one burst of gas is delivered down the barrel as each pull of the trigger occurs. Turbo modes of fire will not be allowed. Full autos and zip or burst modes of fire are not allowed.

5.23.1 All markers are subject to inspection at any time during a CFOA Tournament, provided that the markers are taken for inspection prior to such tournament's completion, and the team of any player found to be using a marker in violation of this Rule 5.2 shall have all points amassed up to the point of such discovery removed and such player will no longer be allowed to continue to participate in the Tournament.

5.24 Gun barrels may be equipped with porting, slots, rifling, but may not have a sound suppressor attached or integral to the construction of the barrel. Only one barrel will be allowed on the field.

5.25 Magazines may use gravity feed, or force feed style loaders/feed systems.

5.26 Players may wear a remote tank hook-up. The remote line may not be worn underneath clothing.

5.27 Players may not use cloth, neoprene, or other material to cover the paint loaders on the marker. Cloth and neoprene tanks covers will be allowed on nitrogen and HPA tanks.

5.28 Barrel condoms OR barrel blocking devices are required at all times except on the field or the target range. Squeegees do not qualify as a barrel blocking device.

5.3 OTHER EQUIPMENT

5.31 Players may carry any number of pouches, clips or loaders.

5.32 Vests and pouches may not be constructed in such a fashion that they constitute padding.

5.33 Players may carry multiple squeegees and or swabs. Players may carry anti-fog cloths or spray.

5.34 Players may carry extra constant air tanks.

5.4 PROHIBITED EQUIPMENT

5.41 Prohibited equipment includes listening devices, communication devices and any form of electronic surveillance device, incendiary devices, smoke producing devices, paint which is toxic and not biodegradable and paint which has a shell, fill or both altered or augmented in any way.

5.42 Anything not specified in Sections 5.01 through 5.34, inclusive as permitted shall be prohibited unless allowed by the ultimate judge.

5.5 POSSESSION AND EXCHANGE

5.51 Two live players may exchange equipment.

5.52 Players who are eliminated must exit the field with all equipment they were carrying when they were eliminated.

5.53 Players must carry all paint, gas and equipment to be used during the course of the game on their person at the start of the game.

TEAMS

6.0 ROSTERS

6.01 Five player teams may have up to 8 players on their roster, but may field a maximum of 5 in any one game.

6.02 No player may appear on more than one five player team roster per tournament.

6.03 Team rosters for the up coming tournament will only be accepted after all fees have been paid in full. Hosting fields can refuse entry to any team that has an unsettled balance.

6.04 All teams must submit complete rosters prior to play.

6.05 To qualify as the same team, a team must have no less than three of its original roster members from its first date of play in the CFOA 2003 season.

6.06 Any team that keeps its lineup in tact but chooses to change names in mid-season will not carry seed points from the old name to the new name.

6.07 Novice teams may roster one (1) amateur player on a novice roster.

6.08 Amateur teams may roster one (1) professional player on an amateur roster.

6.09 Rookie Division teams may not have any member(s) with more than four tournaments as a novice player(s).

6.1 FEES

6.11 AMATEUR DIVISION - Entrance fees for the 2003 Season are set at $275.00. Entry fee breakdown: $175.00 entry fee + $50.00 per team all day air + $50.00 for the end of season cash purse for each AMATEUR team.

6.12 NOVICE DIVISION - Entrance fees for the 2003 Season are set at $225.00. Entry fee breakdown: $175.00 entry fee + $50.00 per team all day air for each NOVICE team.

6.13 ROOKIE DIVISION - Entrance fees for the 2003 Season are set at $175.00. Entry fee breakdown: $125.00 entry fee + $50.00 per team all day air for each ROOKIE team.

6.14 Amateur teams will be paying an extra $50.00 on top of their entry and air fees. This $50.00 will be put into a cash purse to be split using the following percentages; 1st - 50%, 2nd - 35%, 3rd - 15%. This cash purse will be awarded at the conclusion of 2003 CFOA season finale during the awards ceremony.

CHRONOGRAPHING

7.0 GAME CHRONOGRAPHING

7.01 Chronographing on the field may be done at any time at the discretion of any field judge to determine if a marker's muzzle velocity has risen above legal limits. Judges will seek to perform on the field chronographing in a manner which least interferes with play.

7.02 Players with markers chronoed on the field during a game at 301 to 305 feet per second will receive a second chance and be re-chronied. If that player is still over 300 fps on the second attempt then he/she will be eliminated from play.

7.03 Markers which are shooting over 305 feet per second during in-game chronographing will be eliminated from play.

7.04 Players who are observed adjusting on their marker during the course of a game, with the exception of cleaning paint out of barrels, loaders or feed ports, changing constant air tanks can be immediately removed from play.

GAME PROCEDURES

8.0 GAME TIMES & COMPLETION

8.01 When the game time has expired or a flag judge declares a flag hanger clean and the hang completed, the ultimate judge will communicate to all judges the "Game over" call.

8.02 Official game time will be kept by the ultimate judge or a field judge appointed thereby. In the event that a game is to be, interrupted, because of a medical emergency, or otherwise, he will mark the time or cause the field judge appointed thereby to keep the official game time to mark the time. The ultimate judge will restart the game and the time will begin by a ten second warning followed by the game on signal. Time will begin to run upon such restart.

8.1 CHECKOUT PROCEDURES

8.11 Players that are eliminated, immediately upon elimination, must exit the field by the most direct route or as directed by a field judge.

8.12 All live players at the end of a game must present themselves to a field judge at the exit point for inspection. At this time a field judge will inspect the player for hits and if any are found, the ultimate judge will be notified and proper penalties will be assessed.

8.13 Players may not re-enter the playing field without the, permission of a field judge.

8.2 GAME ENDING PROCEDURES

8.21 Games will end upon a successful flag hang, the elimination of all players on the field or the elapse of time.

8.22 At least one field judge will be assigned to inspect live players exiting the field at the assigned exit point at game's end.

8.3 FORFEITS

8.31 A forfeit will be declared for each game that a team fails to report in a timely fashion for its pre-game chronographing, or for any game in which a team refuses to take the field, as long as its opponent is willing to and/or does take the field. In the event that both teams fail to show for a game or both teams are unwilling to take the field, both teams will have forfeited that game.

8.32 Any team which is scheduled to oppose a team that has forfeited a game will receive 48 points or the average of all their games in that round which ever is higher and the forfeited team will receive zero points for that game, unless the opposing team also forfeited that game, in which case both teams will receive zero points for that game.

8.33 Once a forfeit has been declared, the forfeited game will not be rescheduled and the score will stand.

8.4. GAME STOPPAGES

8.41 Game stoppages will only occur in case of an emergency, dangerous weather conditions, other "acts of God" or a physical altercation on the game field.

8.42 Only the ultimate judge may declare the game stopped.

8.43 All field judges will note the locations of the players at the time that the game is stopped. Once the game has been stopped, the field judges will insure that players remain in those locations. Judges will check all players and will remove any players who are eliminated prior to the game being stopped. Judges will confer to review the sequence of events prior to the game stoppage. If penalties need be assessed, they will be so assessed at such time. Players with hits may be reinstated into the game if the field judges determine, in their discretion that a player was eliminated as a direct result of illegal actions which led directly to the game stoppage. Once the condition causing the game stoppage has abated or been resolved all the live players and flags are placed in proper positions by the field judges, the ultimate judge will restart the game.

8.44 In the event of an emergency, dangerous weather conditions, other "acts of God" that would cause a CFOA Tournament to be stopped before the completion of the event, the final results for each division will be taken from last completed round... i.e. event stops in the middle of the 3rd round of the semi-finals, final scores would be taken from the last completed round (2nd round of the Semis). Should an event end during, but without completing the semi-finals, when the last completed round is determined, the top 2 scores from each bracket will be advanced as if going to the finals. From this point, final standings will be determined.

PAINTCHECKS

9.0 WHEN PERFORMED

9.01 Paintchecks are performed by judges for the purpose of determining if a paintball has broken on and marked a player.

9.02 Paintchecks are performed by a judge when the judge has observed a player taking fire, when fire is directed into an area occupied by a player that the judge cannot directly observe, when the physical location that a paintball may have broken on is not visible to the judge, or when the judge is directed to do so by another judge.

9.03 Judges may, but are under no obligation to, make a paintcheck after a player has requested one.

9.1. NEUTRALITY

9.11 Judges will make every effort to perform a paintcheck without calling a player neutral. However, a judge, at his discretion, may declare a player neutral.

9.12 No flag carrier will ever be stopped and declared neutral for the purposes of performing a paintcheck.

9.13 A judge calling a player neutral will indicate the same to all players on the field by standing over the player, shouing, "Neutral." and holding his arms above his head or waiving them.

9.14 A player declared neutral cannot be eliminated from the game or moved on, either by opposing team members or his own teammates, while in the state of neutrality.

9.15 A judge may move a neutral player's equipment and or request that such player expose additional areas for examination.

9.16 Players not declared neutral may be eliminated while being checked.

9.2 FLAG CARRIERS

9.21 When a player carrying a flag breaks the plane of the flag station boundary, the flag judge will signal "time" and the player carrying the flag is immediately declared neutral.

9.22 The flag carrier will be subjected to a paintcheck immediately upon being declared neutral.

9.23 If the flag carrier is clean, the flag judge will declare "Game over" to the ultimate judge who will then announce the completion of the game. If the flag carrier is found to be eliminated after hanging the flag, then the flag will be returned to the point at which that player pulled it. Then the official time will be restarted in a similar manner to game starting procedure and the game will resume until time elapses or all players are eliminated.

ELIMINATIONS

10.0 OBVIOUS HITS

10.01 Obvious hits are those which impact and break on easily observable places on the body or equipment being carried or those that have been felt by the player. A judge will determine whether a player felt a hit by where that paintball impacted his body and whether he reacted upon being hit.

10.02 Players who are hit in an obvious location are expected to immediately signal their elimination by announcing "HIT" or "OUT" at the time of such eliminations.

10.03 Such players must then remove their armbands, barrel plug and hold the marker in the air above the head and exit the field immediately by the most direct route or upon the instructions of a field judge, if given.

10.04 Players who are hit in obvious locations which are easily verifiable by such players may not call for a paintcheck. Calling for a paintcheck under such circumstances constitutes continuing to play on.

10.05 Players who are in motion while hit in obvious locations which are easily verifiable will immediately turn their motion away from the opposition, and stop.

10.06 Players with obvious hits in areas which are not easily verifiable, such as the back, may continue to play, but must immediately call on a teammate who can easily verify whether or not the paintball broke to indicate whether or not such player was eliminated. The teammate must respond immediately, and if the hit player was eliminated, he must cease play, signal his elimination and exit the field pursuant to the provisions of this Section :10.0. Failure to call on such teammate for verification or failure of such teammate to respond immediately,. constitutes playing on by the hit player. If no such teammate is available for verification, such player may continue to play, but must immediately call for a paintcheck by a field judge. Failure to call for such a paintcheck immediately will constitute playing on by such player.

10.1 UNOBVIOUS HITS

10.11 Un-obvious hits are those which impact and break on players or equipment in those areas defined as being not easily observable and those which players receiving the same give no indication of knowledge of them having occurred.

10.12 Players with un-obvious hits will be eliminated but will not be penalized.

10.13 Should a player with an un-obvious hit become aware, through his own actions or through information provided by teammates, that he has been validly marked, such hit at such time shall then be deemed to constitute and shall constitute an obvious hit.

10.2 ELIMINATIONS

10.21 A player is eliminated if a paintball shot by a live member of the opposing team or such player's team strikes that player or anything he is wearing or carrying and such paintball breaks upon the object struck. If the paintball strikes the player or anything he is wearing or carrying but does not break and leave a mark, such player is not eliminated. If a player is hit and marked by a paintball shot by an eliminated member of the opposing team or such player's team, such player is not eliminated. If a paintball strikes another object first and breaks upon that object before marking a player or anything he is wearing or carrying, such player is not eliminated. If a judge does not see a paintball shot by a live member of the opposing team or a player's team strike that player or another object, but that player has paint on himself or anything he is wearing or carrying that resembles A hit, such player may be eliminated by such judge. Generally, if the paint marking is reasonably solid and at least the size of a quarter, it will be considered a valid hit. If two opposing players are hit and marked, as provided in this Section :10.21, simultaneously, or if the judges cannot determine which player was hit and marked first, both players will be eliminated. Judges may wipe splatter or non valid hits off a player at the time they are inspected. If a judge observes a direct hit that marks a player, such player will be eliminated regardless of the size of the paint splat.

10.22 Players will be eliminated if any part of their bodies or anything that they are wearing or carrying breaks the plane separating the field from the out-of-bounds area. Such elimination will take place immediately upon the breaking of such plane. Judges, in their discretion, may warn players, once and only once, if they are getting too close to the boundary line of the field.

10.23 Players that are found with tools or other prohibited equipment on the field or those working on their markers in violation of the provisions specified in Section 7.04 hereof will be immediately eliminated.

10.24 Players that separate from any piece of equipment or clothing that they brought onto the game field by more than 5 feet, except squeegies, rags, or pods used in holding paintballs will be immediately eliminated.

10.25 Players that take action which would cause members of the opposing team to reasonably believe that such players have been eliminated, including but not limited to calling himself out or hit, hiding the armbands, holding the markers in positions above the shoulders, placing objects in the barrels of the markers and carrying them in view of members of the opposing teams or walking in groups of eliminated players, will be eliminated.

10.26 Players whose markers shoot on the field in excess of 300 feet per second will be eliminated in accordance with the provisions of Section 7.02 & 7.03 hereof.

10.27 Eliminated players will surrender their armbands to the closest judge and exit the field immediately or at a judge's direction.

10.28 Players may be eliminated for false starts or leaving the starting station before the signal to "GO" or start.

FLAGS

11.0 FLAG CARRIERS

11.01 Players carrying flags must carry them in full view. Players cannot attempt to hide or disguise the flag in any way.

11.02 Flags may be passed from live players to live players.

11.03 A player eliminated while in possession of a flag will hang the flag on the nearest obstacle in plain sight and immediately leave the field.

11.1 FLAG HANGS

11.11 When a player breaks the plane of a teams flag station with the flag in a five player game, the flag judge immediately calls time and the time of the call is recorded. The flag judge then paintchecks the flag carrier.

11.12 If the flag carrier breaking the plane of a flag station as specified in Section 11.11 hereof is found to have a hit on him, the flag judge will radio his counterpart at the opposition flag station to re-hang the flag. The replacement flag will be immediately hung in the center flag station and the game will be restarted.

11.13 If the flag carrier breaking the plane of his opponents flag station with the flag is found not to have a hit on him, then the hang will be successful and the game will be declared over as of the time the flag carrier broke the plane.

11.14 If the flag carrier makes the mistake of hanging the game flag at his own starting station, flag hang points will be awarded to that games opponent.

PENALTIES

12.0 PLAYING ON

12.01 Playing on entails continuing to act as a player in the game after being eliminated. Playing on includes, but is not limited to, Continuing to fire or otherwise engage the Opposition, continuing to move, except with respect to exiting the field by the most direct route or at the direction of a judge, talking, signaling or otherwise communicating. either to a judge. opposing players or teammates, except that a player may say, "I'm hit." or, "Out." or something to that effect once, impeding the progress of opposition players or a judge, hampering a judge in making a paintcheck or a call, discharging or degassing the marker or providing teammates with paintballs or equipment. The penalty for playing on is the removal of a teammate in a one-for-one call, unless, in the judges opinion, such playing on has materially influenced the course of the game, giving the offending player's team an advantage, in which case the penalty for playing on is the removal of two teammates in a two-for-one call.

12.1 WIPING

12.11 Wiping is defined as the active and deliberate removal of paint by a player in order to avoid an elimination or avoid a judge's call.

12.12 Wiping is penalized by the immediate removal of the player from the game and the simultaneous removal
of three additional players from the same team.

12.2 FREIGHT TRAINING

12.21 Freight training is the act of utilizing multiple players who move and act in such a manner so that the lead players after being marked and eliminated impede or prevent the timely elimination of other players in the train.

12.22 Judges will allow a freight train to continue, but will remove one player for each instance of continuing to play by any of the freight-training players. When the freight train stops, the players who took multiple hits will also be removed from play.

12.3 INTERFERENCE

12.31 Spectators may be allowed to observe games and the activities on a field but may not (i) issue instructions to players on the field. (ii) make comments about play which are likely to be heard by players on the field, (iii) have guns in their possession, or (iv) otherwise interfere with play in any manner whatsoever.

12.32 Team members and associates of the competing teams who interfere or communicate with the play of that game will immediately receive a penalty as if a player "played on" on the field and will result in the removal of one or more players from the associated team.

12.4 ASSESSMENT OF PENALTIES

12.41 Judges must assess the penalty proscribed for playing on or wiping.

12.42 Only ultimate judges may assess penalties that remove points earned on the field.

12.43 Judges will issue verbal warnings for the following infractions:
(1) First offense failure to observe a neutral call.
(2) Failure to use a barrel blocking device.
(3) First offense abuse of calling for paintchecks.
(4) First offense on the use of inappropriate language.
(5) First offense on false or early starts.

12.44 Judges will eliminate players for the following infractions:
(1) Second offense failure to observe a neutral call.
(2) Second offense abuse of calling for paintchecks.
(3) Second offense on the use of inappropriate language.
(4) Aggressive movement during a neutral call within 60 feet of neutral player.
(5) A player going out of bounds or moving the boundary tape.
(6) A player hit in an unobvious location.
(7) A player having tools on the field.
(8) Being more than 5 feet from the flag station at the start of the game.
(9) Failure to wear goggles.
(10) Using a marker with muzzle velocity above 300fps and below 305

12.45 Assessment of the one-for-one rule (the removal of the player committing the infraction, and a teammate) will take place for the following infractions:
(2) Freight training, applied for each infraction.
(3) Continuing to play, hit in an obvious location.
(4) Reentering field after elimination.
(5) Interference during the course of a game by a person affiliated with the team, not playing in the game.
(6) Playing on.
(7) Engaging in physical contact with another person on the field in a hostile manner.
(8) Using a marker with muzzle velocity above 305fps.

12.46 Assessment of the two-for-one rule (the removal of the player committing the infraction and two teammates) will take place for the following infractions:
(1) Continuing to play, hit in an obvious location, which results in an alteration of the course of the game.
(2) Use of a marker, firing in a prohibited mode.

12.47 Assessment of the three-for-one rule (the removal of the player committing the infraction and three teammates) will take place for the following infractions:
(1) Wiping
(2) Shooting after acknowledging your elimination or from the dead box.

12.48 Assessment of point penalties will take place for the following infractions:
(1) Checking in as a live player at the end of a game with a hit in an unobvious location is a 10 point penalty.
(2) Checking in as a live player at the end of a game with a hit in an obvious location is a 50 point penalty.

12.5 ADDITIONAL PENALTIES

12.51 An Ultimate judge may assess additional one-for-one penalties during the game or successive 10 point penalties off of the field for the following infractions:
(1) Each time a player fails to obey a judge's instructions.
(2) Fighting or other hostile contact.

12.52 If a penalty is called that results in the removal of the last player from a team, the other team will be
awarded the flag hang automatically.

12.53 Assessments of one-for-one, two-for-one, and three-for-one penalties when no live players are left will result in the following penalty points being assessed against the offending team:
(1) 12 point penalty in lieu of a one-for-one penalty.
(2) 18 point penalty in lieu of a two-for-one penalty.
(3) 24 point penalty in lieu of a three-for-one penalty.

12.54 A player prohibited from a playing on a team, because his name appears on another team's roster, or otherwise will cause the forfeiture of all the games of such team.

12.55 Any team that intentionally gives up points to its opponent will be disqualified from the tournament and all members of the team playing at the time of the infraction shall be suspended for life from playing in any sanctioned CFOA event.

12.56 Any team that plots with opponents to set scores will be disqualified from the tournament and all members of the team playing at the time of the infraction shall be suspended for life from playing in any sanctioned CFOA event.

12.57 Referee's calls during a game will stand and cannot be changed after a game except in extreme situations with the overall Ultimate Judge's approval.

12.58 The penalty for a player modifying a field starting three days prior to the start of play or during the tournament days will be suspension from that tournament.

12.59 Any player who intentionally slams/spikes a marker will be disqualified for the remainder of the event and will be accessed a 50 point penalty. The offending player's team will finish that event playing short-handed with only 4 players on the field, regardless of the number of players on their team roster. Any player who commits a second offense of slamming/spiking a marker will be disqualified for the remainder of the season.

MISCELLANEOUS

13.0 DECORUM

13.01 Teams and players thereon attending an CFOA sanctioned tournament shall refrain from wearing or otherwise displaying offensive pictures, words or logos at the site where the tournament is taking place.

13.02 Teams and players thereon attending an CFOA sanctioned tournament shall refrain from engaging in any conduct that would bring the CFOA, the tournament, the promoter or any sponsor into disrepute, including, but not limited to, the trashing of hotel rooms, the discharge of loaded markers in un-goggled trafficked areas, the willful destruction of private property, engaging in physical altercations, except in defense of one's person against an unprovoked aggressor, or the commission of a criminal act.

13.03 All teams shall adhere to the administrative rules and regulations promulgated by the promoter of the tournament with respect thereto.

13.04 All teams shall police and dispose of all trash generated thereby within the parking area, the staging area and/or the compound.

13.05 Any person or team that fails to adhere to the rules and regulations specified in this Section 13.0 shall be prohibited from competing in an CFOA sanctioned event for a period of one year from the date of the infraction.