Rules of play

The rules used at the BULA & WFDF 2015 World Championships of Beach Ultimate shall be the current edition of the rules on the dates of play. The current rules can be found here.

Spirit of the Game (SotG)

As Beach Ultimate is a self-refereed sport, playing with Spirit of the Game, and adhering to the WFDF code of conduct, is essential.

Players have the responsibility to know the rules and it is expected that all players follow the WFDF rules accreditation requirements. This means that all players have passed the Basic Rules test on the WFDF website and at least 50% of players on each team have successfully passed the Advanced Rules quiz. More info on rules accreditation.

Naturally, celebrating the unique existence of Spirit of the Game is important. As such an award is given to one team in each division that had the highest average score. Scores are given by the other teams using the 2014 WFDF & BULA SotG Scoring System.

Spirit Captains

Each team will need to assign a Spirit of the Game Captain. The tasks of the Spirit Captain are only undertaken when they are off the field. The Spirit Captain is responsible to:

  • Get player agreement on a SOTG score given to the other teams at the end of each day
  • Hand in the SOTG scores to the WCBU Spirit Director at the end of the day
  • Liaise with the WCBU Spirit Director if any SOTG issues arises
  • Communicate with other Spirit Captains if needed

It is practical that all representatives speak English whenever possible and it is recommended that this person not the same person as the regular captain.

Guidelines on how to be a good Spirit Captain

Player eligibility

For a player to be registered to represent a national team, it is necessary that he/she complies with the national team eligibility requirements as set out below:

Divisions

  1. Open Division: Available to all male and female players.
  2. Women’s Division: Available only to female players.
  3. 3/2 Mixed Division: Available to male and female players
  4. Open Master Division: Available for male and female players who reach at least their 33rd birthday during the calendar year in which the tournament begins. (i.e. born in or before 1982)
  5. Mixed Master Division (3/2): Available for male and female players who reach at least their 33rd birthday during the calendar year in which the tournament begins. (i.e. born in or before 1982)
  6. Women’s Master Division: Available for all female players who reach at least their 30th birthday during the calendar year in which the tournament begins. (i.e. born in or before 1985)
  7. GrandMaster Division: Available for male and female players who reach at least their 40th birthdays during the calendar year in which the tournament begins. (i.e. born in or before 1975)

Choice of divisions

If a player qualifies for more than one division, he/she shall choose which division he/she shall compete in prior to the start of play, and shall not compete in any other division throughout the duration of the tournament.

Citizenship

Players can automatically qualify for participation if:

  • They own a passport or equivalent legal document issued by the country’s government; or
  • If they have moved to the country at least four years prior to the start date of the event and spent more than 75% of those four years in the country.

Each team can put up to 3 players on their roster that are deemed to be “Resident non-citizens”. These players:

  • own a legal certificate of permanent residency issued by the country’s government; or
  • moved to the country at least 20 months prior to the start date of the event and spent more than 75% of those 20 months in the country.
Ultimate Community member

Each team can field one player that is deemed to be an “Ultimate Community Member”, if a player is considered to be a significant part of that Country’s ultimate community, but doesn’t fall under the above categories. This choice is at the discretion of the country’s National Association and following may be taken into account in making this decision:

  • Residency history in that Country
  • Participation in that Country’s ultimate events, especially national championships
  • Past representation on National Teams
  • Participation in the development of ultimate in the Country

The reasoning shall be provided along with the remaining registration information.

Small Ultimate Community

A country which fulfills the following criteria will be considered a small Ultimate community:

  • A maximum of 300 Ultimate players are registered with the National WFDF member (Ultimate Federation, Flying Disc Federation or similar).
  • The country has been a WFDF Member for less than 16 years.

Teams from small Ultimate communities will be allowed to add one extra Resident Non- Citizen or Ultimate Community Member to their Roster.

Uniforms

Shorts

All players in a team shall wear shirts that match in color and design in each game. Teams shall have available a light colored and separate dark colored set of team shirts. The shirts shall be numbered with Arabic integral numerals in the range 0-99, with unique numbers for each player of the team. The numbers should be sewn or printed on the backs of the shirts and should be a minimum of 20 centimeters high and 5 centimeters wide (8 inches by 2 inches). They should be located so that they are completely visible and have a sufficient difference in color to the shirt material to allow easy reading. Individual players must use the same shirt numbers throughout the tournament and the number should correspond with the information added to FFindr to help with the gathering of playing data.

Shorts / Skirts

All players in a team shall wear shorts/shirts matching in color and design in all games. Shorts/skirts may have numbers sewn or printed on the front left leg of the shorts. The numbering should match that of the player’s shirt. In the mixed and mixed masters divisions female skirts shall match their male teammate’s shorts design and color.

Sponsorship logos and emblems

Teams may display sponsor’s logos or emblems on their shirts, shorts/skirts, hats, etc. Each participating team retains the sole commercial rights to their uniforms. However, the following restrictions apply to sponsor’s logos and emblems.

Sponsors logos or emblems should be neatly sewn or printed onto uniforms. They should also leave enough of the original shirt uncovered to enable to distinguish the actual color of the uniform from any direction.

In some countries the advertising of various products such as tobacco and alcohol are prohibited by law. Teams entering into sponsorship arrangements are expected to be aware of any such restrictions in the host country. Please contact the TD for advice on sponsorship and any potential restrictions. The TD will contact team representatives to make clear any restrictions