Rules

For those who have already played in the XOSO Social League here in Sacramento, the only rule changes you need to be aware of are in the next 3 sections. If you have never played kickball before or have not played the style played by XOSO, please see the section "Full Rules for Kickball" for the entire ruleset.

Ranking Points, and Team Composition:

League ranking points are individual. Whether your team wins or loses has little effect on your personal score unless you make mistakes or good plays that lead to this outcome. Be kind to your teammates.
Each team will be put together using Ranking Points to try to make all teams as even as possible for each mini-tournament. The first time you play, you will be assigned Ranking Points based on the opinions of a council of your peers. Your first time score will have no effect on your Ranking Points, which will be applied after your first mini-tournament.
As we may not always have ideal numbers for women and men/non-binary during the regular season, we will be overruling both the composition of fielding rules and the alternating kicking order. Feel free to play all players in the field and assign kicking order any way you would like. Kick in that order every time. For the finals, both will be enforced.
Finals will be the 8 highest ranked women and 12 highest ranked men/non-binary. Teams will be picked day of, schoolyard style. The highest ranked player will captain one team and pick first, the second highest ranked player will captain the other team and pick second.

Non-Standard Rules:

Do not intentionally drop fly balls for double plays. If the ref suspects that this has occurred, the correct call is that the kicker is out, and the runners stay where they are. (Also referred to as an In-Field Fly in baseball.)
Mercy rule will be 5 runs instead of 8. If losing by 10 points heading into the 5th inning, a team may vote to forfeit. If a majority would like to stop playing at that time, the game will be called. This will have no impact on anyone's individual scores.
If there are fewer than 8 players on each team, the "Backstop Rule" will be implemented. The Backstop Rule dictates that if a player has committed to running home and the ball is thrown from any fielder against the backstop prior to the runner touching the safety base at home, the runner is out. This will result in an immediate dead ball.
There will be no ties. If at the end of the last inning the game is tied, we will go into a kick-off.
1. During the kick-off, the away team will select one kicker. This kicker will have 1 kick to get as many bases as they can on a single plate appearance.
2. All members of the home team will field.
3. Repeat steps 1 & 2 with the home team kicking and the away team in the field.
4. If each team scores the same number of bases after step 3, repeat steps 1 through 3 until one team has scored more bases than another.
5. Which ever team scores the most bases will win the game.

Etiquette and Disciplinary Hearings:

Each game will be reffed by one of your peers. They may or may not also be participating in the mini-tournament, but will not be reffing their own games. Refs reserve the right to remove anyone from any given tournament at their discretion.
Play hard, play to win, but do not be rude or combative with the refs, your team mates, or your opponents.
If you argue with the ref's calls beyond simply expressing you disagree, you will be removed from that week's tournament. If you feel a call is incorrect, please approach the ref calmly and state what you think should have been called. The ref will ultimately make the decision, even if this makes you unhappy.
If you are removed from any given mini-tournament, a disciplinary hearing with a council of your peers will be held to determine the punishment. This can range from a short suspension to permanent removal from the league. You will be informed of the decision as soon as it is made.
If you sign up to attend and no-show, you may be suspended for up to two weekends.
All suspensions may be appealed by email at SacramentoKBScramble@gmail.com

Full rules for kickball

Field

The field is a standard Softball Field.
The pitching area is located directly between 1st and 3rd base.
The “Bunt” Line is indicated by the cones in a semicircle in front of home base.

Regulation Games

A regulation game consists of 7 innings, or 55 minutes.
The ref will call "Last Inning" heading into the last inning of play, be it the 7th inning or the last inning feasible due to time.

Fielding

Pitcher, Catcher, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, and 4 outfielders are the fielding positions. Outfields must start a plate appearance with both feet on the grass outside of the dirt field. Players may not advance in front of the 1st/3rd base diagonal before the ball is kicked. If a player does so and it results in an out, the kicker can re-kick if they choose to. If a team is short on players, defenders can be placed at any position on the field they would like.

Pitching / Catching

You must pitch underhand, overhand pitches do not count. The pitcher must stay at/behind the pitching line until the ball is kicked. Catcher must stay at least three feet behind home plate until the ball is kicked. There are no strikes or balls. After a kicker takes 5 pitches without seeing one they like, the ref should facilitate a conversation between kicker and pitcher so the kicker is being given pitches they like.

Kicking

You must kick at or behind home plate. You may bunt as long as the ball passes the “bunt” line (as indicated by the cones in a semicircle in front of home base); if it does not pass, it is foul. The ball cannot be fielded before it touches the “bunt” line. You will be out after a 3rd foul. There are no walks or strike outs.

Running

Runners need to stay in the baseline or they will be out and fielders must stay out of the baseline. Stealing or leading is not allowed. No diving or sliding at any base or it will be an automatic out. If a fielder interferes with a runner in the baseline, the runner safely advances to the base they were approaching. Fielders must lean out of the baseline when making a play on the bag. If a runner leads off a base before the ball is kicked they will be out. Runners have to run to the safe base at first and at home plate. When going to first, runners may choose to step on the bag if there is no play at first. Once the runner has crossed the halfway point (commit line) there will be a force out at home. No tag outs at home.

Runners may “tag up” by running back to third base after crossing the commit line. You may not hit a runner above the shoulders, if they are hit above the shoulders they will get a free base (beyond the base they were approaching). A runner may not intentionally use the head or neck to block a ball or they will be out. Any ties will go to the runner.

Tag ups: a runner may touch their original base after a kicked ball has been touched by the fielder to “tag up” and may try to run to the next base if they choose.

In the event that a ball travels out of bounds, "Time" is to be called by the ref, followed by "Out of bounds." In this case, a runner may go to the base they were approaching plus one extra base.

A kicker may opt to re-run the bases on a home run but only the kicker can re-run, not other players on base. If the kicker makes the turn from home towards first base it immediately becomes a force out at first base. If the kicker is out at any point on the second lap, the original run will score but the out will count. The kicker may choose to stop at any base on the re-run and play will proceed as normal.

Ball in Play

A ball is considered in play from the moment a ball is kicked until a fielder has the ball in control and in the vicinity of the pitchers mound. The ref will call "Time" when these conditions are met, ending play. A runner may proceed to the base they were running to if they have advanced past the halfway point, if not, they must return to the last base they crossed.

Foul Balls

A ball is considered foul when:

A kicked ball that enters foul territory and does not come back into fair territory before passing 1st or 3rd base.
A kicked ball contacts a fielder while the ball is in foul territory.
A ball is kicked in front of home plate.
A kicked ball does not pass the bunt line.
A kicked ball fielded before crossing the bunt line.
Any kicked ball that first contacts the field in foul territory beyond first or third base, if not touched by a fielder in fair territory.

Outs

An out occurs when:

A kicker kicks 3 foul balls during a single plate appearance.
A runner is touched by a ball while not touching base (excluding running through the safety base at 1st). Balls may be thrown at runners to accomplish this goal.
The ball is thrown to a fielder touching a base that a runner is forced to run to.
A kicked ball that is caught in the air. A ball may be touched by any number of fielders and will still be considered caught if a fielder maintains possession before the ball touches the ground.
Running to the non-safe home plate base.