Rules & Regulations

The numbers of teams in the GJ Blackout organization depends on the level of commitment from volunteer coaches and players. There may be one or more teams and ideally there are teams representing high school, 8th grade, 7th grade and 6th grade. However, there may be more than one team for each grade or no teams for a certain grade. It is common to have a younger player playing up on an older team such as a 7th grader playing on the 8th grade team. Each team should have at least 8 players and ideally should have 10 or more players. GJ Blackout may decide to have an invitation only type of selection for the teams or there may be tryouts depending on the situation. The administration of GJ Blackout reserves the right to deny any player to be on the team for any reason.

Each team should have one head coach and one or more assistant coaches. The coach is required to fill out an application and undergo a criminal background check. The administration of GJ Blackout has the right to deny anyone the right to be involved with a team, such as coaching the team, for any reason.

Practice times, sites of practices and frequency of practices are primarily the decision of the administration and coaches of the individual teams. Finding gym time at times can be a challenge. Practices generally occur two to three times per week but may be less or more frequent. Players are expected to be at every practice and on time for the practices. If a player will be late or cannot attend practice, the player or parents must contact the coach before the practice.

GJ Blackout participates in tournaments throughout Western Colorado and may also participate in other tournaments that are in places such as Denver, Colorado Springs, Utah or other sites. Occasionally, single games may be played such as a round robin format type of situation. Scrimmages will be held throughout the season. Players are expected to be at every game and tournament. If they cannot be there for any reason, they must contact the coach of the team in a timely manner. Each game or tournament may have different rules but the majority of the games will consist of two 20 minutes halves. If necessary, there is usually one overtime period and if the game is still tied the second overtime period is usually treated as a sudden death with the first team scoring winning the game. Some tournaments may require a team representative to either run the scoreboard or to manage the scorebook. In this instance, a parent will be asked to volunteer to perform one of these duties. There are no specific rules for the amount of playing time a player gets in the games. The coach of the team has the only say in who plays and how much playing time an individual player receives. However, GJ Blackout’s primary philosophy is to develop individual player skills and every player on the team should be contributing to the team in some way.

It is the coaches or team volunteer’s responsibility to collect all the fees from the parents as needed. In addition, each coach or team volunteer is responsible for ensuring their respective team is signed up in a timely manner for the tournaments or games.

Coaches are required to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner at all times. The administration of GJ Blackout will monitor the coach’s behavior and can dismiss a coach from the team if it is deemed the behavior is inappropriate (mental, physical or verbal). Coaches who receive two or more technical fouls over the course of two consecutive games or are ejected from a single game will be required to discuss the situation with GJ Blackout administration. GJ Blackout could then take the necessary action such as suspension or dismissal depending on the situation and explanation. GJ Blackout demands a certain level of conduct from all coaches, players and fans participating in the organization. The following penalties will be assessed during all games:

Any coach, player or fan ejected from the game by the official or gym supervisor must leave the gym immediately and will not be allowed back into gym until he/she has met with the GJ Blackout administration.
Any player, coach or fan involved in any altercation, including both physical and verbal, or involved with the destruction of property will have to discuss the situation with GJ Blackout administration. Each team is responsible for any damages caused by any member of its team.
There is a zero tolerance for drug and alcohol use during any game or practice. Anyone found in violation of this policy will be dismissed from the team.

GJ Blackout has a zero-tolerance policy for any sexual abuse or molestation. Sexual abuse takes the form of inappropriate sexual contact or interaction for the gratification of the actor. If a player, parent, coach or other person believes that an assault has occurred, they should call law enforcement. The incident should also be reported to the GJ Blackout administration. If a child is the victim, appropriate family members of the victim must be notified immediately of the incident. Every allegation should be taken seriously. Once the allegation is reported, the GJ Blackout administration and other staff such as coaches and volunteers will cooperate fully with the investigators and law enforcement. GJ Blackout reserves the right to suspend or dismiss the suspect under question. For coaches and other parent volunteers, it is important to avoid situations where they are left alone with a single player. Always have another player, coach or other individual present in the general vicinity and in viewing and hearing distance when having any type of interaction with a player.