Outdoor League Rules

TUC games follow USAU 2024-2025 Official Rules of Ultimate, with a few exceptions. Time permitting (time caps are in place in some games), all TUC games are to 17 points (as opposed to USAU rules which are to 15 points). You must win by 2 or first to 19 if necessary. Furthermore, each team is allowed 2 timeouts per game in TUC Summer League and there is no overtime or universe point timeouts (as opposed to USAU rules which allow a timeout for overtime). NO timeout can be called with less than 5 minutes remaining in the game. If a timeout is called during this period the offending team will charge a turnover and lose possession of the disc.

NEW: Discussions regarding contested calls should be limited to no more than 30 seconds. If consensus between both parties is not achieved, then the disc will automatically return to the player who most recently had undisputed possession of the disc. This rule has been enacted to help ensure disputes are dealt with in a timely fashion, and to prevent teams from purposely delaying the game.

Also, beginning in 2013 the USAU implemented a new 'Contact Rule' which was experimental at the time, but has more formally been adopted by USAU and Ultimate Canada. The Contact Rule is considered a formal rule for TUC league:

Contact Call - If contact occurs between the thrower and marker that would constitute a foul under XVI.H.3.a but the thrower does not release the disc, "contact" may be called. Play does not stop and the marker resumes the stall count at "one". Other than resetting the stall count to "one" after the first instance, the "contact" call is treated as any other marking violation. The marker may contest the "contact" call by calling "violation", which stops play. If the thrower calls "contact" after beginning the throwing motion and subsequently releases the disc, it is treated as if the thrower called "foul".

All TUC outdoor leagues (unless otherwise specified) are 4-3 mixed gender. Teams are encouraged to play both lineups - 4 open-matching & 3 female-matching or 3 open-matching & 4 female-matching. TUC uses ‘endzone sets’, where one endzone is selected at the start of the game, and whichever team starts from that endzone gets to choose the ratio (make sure to switch the endzone at half time to account for weather, etc). TUC will no longer be using ‘offence sets’ (where the pulling team must match the receiving team's ratio).  All players, whether regular players or substitute players, must be registered and paid TUC members before stepping onto the fields. To help introduce new players to Ultimate and to accommodate visitors from out-of-town, there are monthly membership options available.

In an attempt to make all games competitive and minimize the number of blow-outs, teams are initially seeded and then the ratings ladder system is used for shuffling the teams throughout the season. League conveners will take last year's record into account when determining the initial seeding of teams. Teams can also rank themselves by previous seasons played with TUC (i.e. division, past ladder ranking, or playoff results), by level of play in other leagues, or by collaborative skill level of its players. The ratings system ranks all teams initially from 1 to 50 (or however many teams are in that league) and then teams move up and down the ladder based on the team they play, who wins, and the rankings of each team. For more information contact your League Convenor.

To address the problem of late start and finish times, teams are expected to adhere to the following policies.

  • The first team to arrive at the game venue should immediately set up the field.
  • All regular scheduled grass games should start between 6:30 pm and 6:45 pm, but ideally by 6:45 pm (except in extraordinary circumstances). If your opponent cannot put a team on the line by 7:00 pm (i.e. minimum of 6 with at most 4 of each gender), your team should start counting points at the rate of 1 point every 5 minutes until the game begins. If both teams are late, both teams should count points against each other. Counting points for lateness is at the discretion of the team captain.
    As the season winds down in mid-August, games should start at 6:30 pm to maximize game time as darkness settles in earlier.
  • Some games on turf may be scheduled for a later time slot (i.e. 8:00 pm or 9:00 pm, limited number per team during the season). These games should start and finish by the indicated times on your schedule. The same rule above applies to teams who are late.
  • Time Caps will be indicated on your game schedule. When you reach this time, you should complete the current point and immediately end your game (tie scores are acceptable). If it gets too dark to play before your scheduled end time, please for your own safety stop playing your game. Time caps at turf fields must be respected. There may be other teams or user groups who have access to the field after your game; or lights may turn off.

If you are thinking of becoming a team captain or are already a team captain, visit our Captains Roles & Duties page. If you have any questions contact your League Convenor.