FIELD HOCKEY (Senior AA & AAA)
A. League Registration
a) Any school with 250 or fewer girls in grades 11 and 12 is a AA school. Any school with 250 or more girls in grades 11 and 12 is a AAA school.
b) All teams wishing to participate fully in the league should where possible declare their intention to play before the end of the prior school year, and must declare their intention to be included in the league by the Monday after school starts. The commissioner will not include a team in the league unless he/she has received confirmation.
c) A team that does not declare by the first Monday but declares by the FALL BCSS deadline may participate in playoffs leading to Valleys, but must arrange exhibition games separate from the league schedule.
B. Player Eligibility
1. As per BCSS guidelines
C. Rules and Regulations
1. The league will follow the current year's BCSSGFHA guidelines.
2. A 5-goal lead on an opponent will be the maximum counted for Playoff
or Valley Championships seeding consideration.
3. Length of Games: 30 minute halves for league and Playoffs.
4. League format: The league format will be arranged by the commissioner. It will be based on:
a) The number of teams in the Okanagan that have declared their
participation in the league as of the second Monday after Labour Day
b) The number of games outside of their zones and school-size
category teams are willing to play
c) The availability of playable surfaces.
5. Once games are scheduled, two teams may change game dates by mutual agreement if bussing problems, etc. occur. The team originally scheduled to host must let the commissioner know when and where the rescheduled game will be played. If a game cannot be rescheduled, the team that cannot play the scheduled game will concede 3 points to the other team.
6. The host team's coach is responsible for sending the results of each home game to the Valley Commissioner. Please report scores promptly!
7. Results will be scored as follows:
WIN = 3 points TIE = 1 point LOSS = 0 points
If two teams are tied in points at the season's end, break the tie as follows: as per BCSSGFHA guidelines.
D. Umpires
1) League Play: the host school should provide 2 competent umpires.
2) Playoffs and Valley Championships: The host school is responsible for engaging experienced umpires. The umpires must be approved by the Commissioner. If the Playoffs and Valley Championships are held at Mission Turf, and no host school declares itself, the Commissioner will be responsible for engaging umpires.
E. OVSAA Playoffs – Valley Championships
1) Only teams registered with BC School Sports are eligible to compete in the OVSAA playoffs.
2) Playoff format will be determined based on the OVSAA constitution and the number of teams registered with BCSS.
3) The OVSAA Champion will qualify for the Provincial Championships. The second place team may also receive a berth; this berth will be awarded by the Provincial Tournament Committee as a full berth or a Wild Card berth.
4) Playoffs can be hosted on either grass or artificial turf provided that the grass host can provide a well-maintained, playable grass surface.
5) Playoffs will follow the BCSSGFHA Championships Technical Regulations. The Commissioner will distribute the regulations to coaches.
6) As per OVSAA constitution the cost of the OVSAA championships will be shared equally among all the teams in the championship tournament.
7) During the league, teams are awarded points for AA/AAA games and Exhibition games. The AA and AAA teams will be ranked based on their standings at end of league play into AA and AAA pools which will be used to determine seeding towards the OVSAA championship playoffs.
8) At the end of league play, but more than one week before the AA Provincial Championships begin, the top AA/AAA teams will meet in a single knockoff playoff format to determine the OVSAA Championships.
9) The Schedule for the OVSAA playoffs will be as follows: (This is based on 4 teams in each Tier, if there are 5 teams in each Tier #5 will not make playoffs as per OVSAA constitution, if there are 6 then #1 and 2 get a bye to the semifinals) This can be done in one day for both AA and AAA OVSAA championships or on 2 separate days.
Joint AA/AAA Playoff Schedule:
Game 1 - 9:00 am AA #1 v #4
Game 2 - 10:30 am AA #2 v #3
Game 3 - Noon AAA #1 v #4
Game 4 - 1:30 pm AAA #2 v #3
Break
Game 5 - 4:00 pm AA Winner Game 1 v Winner game 2
Winner OVSAA AA Champion and Okanagan Provincial Berth #1
Loser - OVSAA Runner up and/or Okanagan Provincial Berth #2 or Wild Card Berth
Game 6 - 5:30 pm AAA Winner Game 3 v Winner game 4
Winner - OVSAA AAA Champion and Okanagan Provincial Berth #1
Loser - OVSAA Runner up and/or Okanagan Provincial Berth #2 or Wild Card Berth
Separate AA/AAA Playoff Schedules:
4 Team Playoff Schedule
Game 1 10 am #1 v #4
Game 2 1130 am #2 v #3
Game 3 230 pm Loser G#1 v Loser G#2 3rd/4th
Game 4 4 pm Winner G#1 v Winner G#2 1st/2nd
6 Team Playoff Schedule
Game 1 9 am #3 v #6
Game 2 1030 am #4 v #5
Break
Game 3 1 pm #2 v Winner G1
Game 4 230 pm #1 v Winner G2
Break
Game 5 6 pm Winner Game 3 v Winner game 4
Winner OVSAA Champion and Okanagan Provincial Berth #1
Loser OVSAA Runner up and/or Okanagan Provincial Berth #2 or Wild Card Berth
F) Situations not dealt with here, or in the OVSAA Constitution or in the BCSSGFHA rules shall be decided by the Commissioner.
Rotation:
AAA—Valleys to be held at M15 in Kelowna
AA—decision on valley championship location will depend on registration numbers from year to year in each zone