TOURNAMENT RULES

Effective 8/1/2011

General
Tournament Directors, Employees, any Sponsors or Promoters of the tournament shall not be responsible for expenses incurred by a team or club if the tournament is canceled in whole or in part. All decisions of the referee are final and binding. Copa Cabana Beach Soccer Tournament and Beach Soccer Promotions LLC. , reserve the right to decide on all matters relative to the tournament rules and safety issues and all decisions are final.

NO PROTESTS ARE ALLOWED
In the event of inclement weather, the Tournament Director may reschedule a match, change division structure, reduce match duration or cancel a match.

Registration
Teams are allowed to register 12 players to cover injuries sickness and availability of players for both days. Only 10 players or less are allowed to be suited up for each game in accordance with FIFA rules. A minimum of three (3) female players shall be included on each coed team roster, two (2) of which shall be on the field at all times during the match. Players must be listed on the roster one week prior to the tournament to be eligible to play; no additions are permitted for injuries, late arrivals, and other commitments.

 Players must be listed on the roster at registration check-in time to be eligible to play, no additions or changes are allowed. All players must play on the teams as listed at registration, no player is allowed to play on more than one team, and if a player is found to be in violation of this rule the match will be forfeited. A player wishing to play in the Adult Bracket only, may compete on more than one adult team. The Tournament Scheduler cannot give special scheduling consideration to such circumstances if a conflict arises due to a player who is registered on more than one adult team when the teams are scheduled to play simultaneous games.

Players must be born during or after the year indicated by the oldest player in their age group division. Age grouping is based on the age of a player prior to August-1 for the previous year. Age grouping is based on the year starting on August-1 through July-31.

For example if the oldest player on the team is 15 years old on or before July 31^st of the previous year, the team would play in the U-16 bracket for any beach soccer tournament prior to August 1^st this calendar year. Note from August 1^st on, in the current year players will play in the next higher bracket from the prior year, be extremely cautious when registering for tournaments in August to enter in the correct bracket. Brackets are by one year intervals, however the Tournament Director may combine age brackets.

Refunds/Cancellation
No Refunds or Cancellations allowed. Teams that drop will forfeit their entire entry fee.
In case the tournament is cancelled due to forces outside of the tournament's control, i.e. an Act of God, at least $50 of the tournament fee per team will be withheld each refund.

Start of Play
Coaches shall ensure that all players are on scene a minimum of forty five (45) minutes before a scheduled match.

A team which cannot field three (3) players at the scheduled start time plus ten (10) minutes shall forfeit the match. The team forfeiting shall be declared the loser by a score of 3 goals to none.

If no referee is present within ten (10) minutes of the scheduled start time, the match will be rescheduled unless both teams agree to proceed. If the match proceeds, the score shall stand as played without protest.

If the game is started 10 minutes late only two periods will be played.

Tournament Standings
Bracket standings to determine quarter-finalist/semi-finalists/finalists will be based on the following:

WIN - 3 PTS, TIE - 1 PT, LOSS - 0 PTS
Total points ties will be resolved by the following tie-breakers, in order:

Head to Head of two teams tied where applicable (disregard if more than two teams tied)

 Team with the least goals allowed

Team with the highest (positive) goal differential

If still tied, both teams will proceed to an available field at the Tournament Director’s discretion and determine winner by kicks from the penalty mark. (See the Rules of the Game document for tie breaker format).

Tournament Overtime

Ties in preliminary games will remain a tie. For quarter-final, semi-final and final matches, ties will be resolved in accordance with the Rules of the Game (See the Rules of the Game document for tie breaker format)

Forfeits
Forfeits cause gross inconvenience to opponents and disruptions of schedule. Accordingly, forfeiting teams will be precluded from competition in semifinal and final matches, unless specifically authorized by the Tournament Director. Teams in the Adult brackets contemplating the use of players on more than one team must understand that it is possible both teams may be in action at the same time.

» View the Laws of the Game