Rules & Notes

2026 USAWP rules apply.

• 18U and 16U: 7 minute quarters, 30-second shot clock.
• 14U and 12U: 6 minute quarters, 30-second shot clock.
• 2 minutes between quarters, 3 minutes at half.
• All athletes and coaches must be current members of USAWP. Roster and ID checks are conducted prior to each game.

• 18s and 16s – two 1-minute time outs, which can be taken at any time.
• 14s and 12s – one 1-minute time out and one 30-second time out, which can be taken at any time.

• All games must have an outcome. Ties go directly to a shootout.
• The first team listed wears white caps and starts to the left of the scorer’s table.

• Regulation win – 4 points
• Shootout win – 3 points
• Shootout loss – 2 points
• Regulation loss – 1 point
• Forfeit – 0 points

Forfeits incur a $100 per game fine when notice comes 3 or more days before the scheduled game, and $200 per game when notice comes less than 3 days before.

A brutality call results in a penalty throw and a 4-minute exclusion. The player is out for the remainder of that game and the next game, per USAWP rules.

• A second brutality in the same season: out for the next 3 games.
• A third brutality: suspended for the remainder of the season, including Super Finals.

Teams may appeal a call with video evidence submitted to the FWPL committee. The committee can determine that the act was not called correctly, and the punishment can be removed or lessened.

In the Girls’ Fall League a brutality carries a longer suspension. See that league’s page for its rules.

Club transfers. At the start of each season, players who have changed clubs do not need to comply with the sit-out period. A player who transfers after league play has started must sit out of Futures competition for 30 days from when an email is sent to the league director. The club the athlete is leaving may waive the sit-out period.

Send transfer requests to the director for that league: [email protected] for SoCal, [email protected] for NorCal.

Protests. Protests must be filed at the time of the error or at the next stoppage of play (after a goal, timeout or quarter break). Write out the protest and submit it to the site host, who consults the officials on site, the league head official and the league director. A protest about an adverse course condition must be filed before the game starts.

The league sends out the electronic score sheet file for each event.

Seeding for the Final Tournament is based on results from the regular season tournaments, using the points above.

If the point totals of two teams are the same, head-to-head competition determines the higher seed. If those teams are tied head-to-head, the goal differential in their games is used. If that is the same, fewest goals allowed between their contests with each other is used. If still tied, goals scored is used, and if still tied, the team that won most recently is seeded higher.

If a team forfeited a game during the regular season, that team is eliminated from tie-breaker consideration and is seeded lowest among the tied teams.

If more than two teams are tied in points, goal differential amongst the tied teams serves as the tiebreaker until only two teams remain. The final two teams use their head-to-head results to break the tie. If the top two teams based on goal differential are tied, the tie is broken with their head-to-head result. If the goal differential among all tied teams is the same, fewest goals allowed in the games amongst the tied teams is used until only two remain. If that is also tied, a coin flip determines the highest seed and the remaining two teams use the two-team tie-breaker above.

Each division recognises an MVP, a Best Goalie and a Best Coach.