SLO Friendly Rules & Regulations

The purpose of the SLO Friendly is to provide the opportunity for all players to enjoy a great day playing soccer. It must be understood by all players and spectators that this is not a competitive tournament and should not be treated as such. There will be no team standings or trophies issued. Therefore, participants with the "winning at all costs" attitude should seriously consider another tournament.

The SLO Friendly is designed as a recreational tournament. To help facilitate this purpose, individuals, as well as teams, will be allowed to register. The tournament director will organize teams based on certain factors in an attempt to create evenly matched teams. 

If your team has jerseys, feel free to bring them. If not, bring a light and a dark top. In the event of both teams having the same color jersey, the second team on the schedule will be required to use an alternate color.

I. The SLO Friendly has adopted a recreational format and as such, has special rules as follows:

1. Referee calls are final; dissension will not be tolerated.
2. All yellow-carded players must sit out a minimum of 5 minutes (they may be replaced).
3. All red-carded players must leave the premises immediately and will automatically miss the next game. Players who receive more than two red-cards in the SLO Friendly  will permanently be banned. No protests of this rule will be allowed.
4. The SLO Friendly has the option to prohibit any individual from playing in the tournament — regardless of previous disciplinary actions.
5. Only registered players are allowed to play. Registered players are those whose names appear on the roster.
6. If a team is short-handed players, in the spirit of recreational soccer, players from the opposing team may play for the short-handed team. If there are no volunteers or both teams are short-handed, then the short-handed team may use Ringers. A Ringer is any SLO Friendly registered player. Team members from the two scheduled teams always have precedence over Ringers when substituting. 
7. Shin-guards are mandatory equipment for all players. Non-standard equipment that is considered dangerous to other players will not be allowed (i.e. helmets, casts, etc.)
8. No slide tackling is allowed.
9. Always give the goalie the benefit of the doubt on 50/50 balls!
10. Any ball you kick out of bounds, you are responsible for chasing immediately following the play.

II. The SLO Friendly  has adopted a 8 on 8 format and as such, has special rules as follows:

1. There are no strict offside violations. If the referee feels that an individual is excessively "cherry-picking", that individual may be called for an offside violation.
2. All throw-ins are to be taken as kick-ins from within 1 yard of the touchline (either on or off the field).
3. Game start and other restarts (second half, after goals, and goal kicks) will be started by the goalkeeper either throwing the ball or kicking the ball from his/her area. As soon as the ball clears the penalty area, it is in play.
4. The ball is not allowed to cross the midfield line without first bouncing (on the field or another player) on goal kicks (by anyone) or whenever the goalkeeper plays the ball with his/her hands. (Penalty: indirect free kick at midfield.)
5. All fouls are restarted with an indirect kick by the fouled team. (Exception: penalty kicks that shall be taken from the 12 yard spot.)
6. Substitution is unlimited and is encouraged during the flow of play.
7. Game halves are to be 25 minutes. Half-times are to be 3 minutes or less.

III. The SLO Friendly has adopted a co-ed format and as such, has special rules as follows:

1. No team may have more than 5 men playing concurrently, unless agreed upon by both teams and the referee. There is no maximum number of women that can be on the field concurrently.