We’re ready for a return (of sorts…)!

Much as we’d love to burst straight back into regular Ballers action, it’s extremely unlikely that we will be able to return in full anytime soon as social distancing measures quite rightly remain in place. But with the government now confirming that up to 6 people can engage in sporting activity as long as social distancing is observed, we have an opportunity to get the lads back out on the pitch. Here’s our plan, now with updated and confirmed rules following our first trial game…

Essentially it’s 3-a-side, socially distant longies!

Basic rules:

3-a-side

Each team remains in their own half and is responsible for maintaining the required social distance between themselves.

One team kicks off from anywhere within the blue goal area, and the restart after a goal is also from the blue goal area.

You have three touches to get the ball into the opposition half, preferably via a shot at goal, and a 7 second limit to get your shot away from the time of the first touch.

No goalkeepers, and no players can go in the blue areas by the goal to block a shot (see pitch layout below). If a player blocks a shot in this area a goal is given, regardless of whether the shot is on target. The same rules apply if you block a shot with your hand. You can go in the blue area when the ball is in your half of the pitch.

To maintain social distancing rules, only one player can defend on the edge of your own area within the width of the goal (you can’t line up all three players in a line blocking the goal!). All other players must be at least 2m away

No player can go into the area 1m either side of the halfway line

If the ball goes out of play behind the goal the play restarts with a kick in from within the blue area – this counts as the first touch of this ‘play’

If the ball goes out of play at the side of the pitch, a kick in is taken from the place where the ball went out – this counts as the first touch of this ‘play’

If you block a shot and the ball goes out of play, the block counts as the first touch of the three you have to get the ball back into the opposition half, the kick in would be the second, making the third touch the one that would have to be your shot at goal. The 7 second count to get your shot away would stop when the ball is out of play, and restart when the kick in is taken.

The below ruling has been replaced by the following rule (we’re leaving it in there so you can see what we have changed!):

Each team has 15 ‘plays’ per half, so 30 attempts to score across the whole game (this number will be reviewed before we start in full, as we want to ensure that everyone gets a reasonable amount of playing time, but the games will have to be shorter to hopefully fit more in!)

Each half will be 19 minutes long (in a fast paced game each team could have as many as 50 shots on goal in this time), and each team will have the same number of plays per half, meaning if you kick off a half you will face the final shot of the half. You have 7 seconds from the time of your first touch to get your shot away. That time clock stops if the ball goes out of play (ie, if you block a shot and it goes out for a kick in). We will run a multi-ball system, so teams will be expected to get the ball back in play as quickly as possible to avoid any time wasting. If you take too long the referee reserves the right to give the ball back to your opposition.

If you fail to get the ball back into the opposition half within the three touches or the 7 seconds, the opposition restart the game from their blue area.

For a very brief example of how games are going to work, check out the below video!