FCBL Rules

Player Eligibility

1. Residency - All players participating on a Fairfield County Basketball League (FCBL) team must reside in the boundaries of the town represented by that team, or they must be a student in the public school system of that town.

"Cut" player exception: If a player is "cut" from his home town team, that player can play for another FCBL program. The FCBL Division Director would need to be notified of any player using this Residency rule exception, and a written excusal of that player will be required from his home town program.

2. Grade/Age - A player's division eligibility will be determined first by his or her grade and then by birth date. Proof of age is required with the team roster. Please refer to the table below:

                       For the 2009-20010 Season

3. Grade-Age Exception - If a player who is in a given grade was born before the date above, and not before 1 year earlier than the above date, he or she is eligible to play on a team in that division as a "Grade-Age' exception. Grade-Age exceptions require proof of grade  with the birth certificate and team roster application. There can be no more than three grade-age exceptions per team. Anyone born prior to 1 year before the given date cut off is not eligible.

4. Gender - A player must play on a team with their gender. If no team exists in their town of residence, they can apply for a residential exception to play on a neighboring town's team.

5. Participation - A player must play in 75% of the league games to be eligible for the playoffs, unless they have been injured or are rostered alternates replacing injured players. All long term injuries and replacements must be registered with the league officials.

6. Rostered Players Only - Only players that were included and approved on the team's pre-season League roster can participate in League regular season and tournament games. (However, the League chooses to have no policy over who plays in Non-League games).

7. Team Photo Requirement (for Boys teams only)
Each boys team is required to submit to a League Photo Id Coordinator (PIC), preferrably by email attachment, a digital team photo of their team, with the players' being identified by name in an accompanying caption note. Those names will be matched to the team's League Roster.

The deadline for this submission is prior to the team's first League game played in the season. If a team has not submitted this photo prior to their third League  game,  they will forfeit every League game that is played from that point on until the photo is submitted.

A partial team photo can be submitted, with subsequent individual photos being submitted at a later date for any players missing in the original team photo. However, those missing players will not be allowed to play in a League game until their photos have been submitted

These team photos will be redistributed to the team managements of every opposing team in the Division. The opponents will be encouraged to print those photos and bring them to any League and FCBL Tournament game.

If there is any dispute as to the legitmacy of a player, i.e., if its unclear whether that player is in the official team photo,  a game ref should be notified. This ref will be interviewed by League officials, in any follow-up investigation.

A disputed player will be allowed to participate in the game. However, if it is later found that the player was illegal, that League game will be forfeited and the offending team's management will be seriously reprimanded by the League.