Kick or Treat Soccer Tournament

Official Tournament Rules

The Kick or Treat Soccer Tournament is a recreational soccer event designed to promote fun, sportsmanship, community involvement, and healthy competition. Costumes are encouraged, but they are not required.

Tournament officials reserve the right to interpret and enforce all rules to ensure safe and fair play.

1. Team Rosters

• Teams may have a maximum roster of five players.

• Teams may play with as few as three players.

• No players may be added after the team’s first game.

• Players may participate on only one team per division.

2. Players on the Field

• Games are played four versus four.

• Goalkeepers are not permitted.

• Unlimited substitutions are allowed during stoppages of play with referee approval.



3. Age Divisions

• A team’s age division will be determined by the oldest player listed on its roster.

• Younger players may play in an older division, but older players may not play in a younger division.

• Age divisions may be combined when necessary to create complete and competitive tournament brackets.

• Tournament officials will make all final decisions regarding division and bracket placement.

4. Equipment and Costumes

• Shin guards are mandatory.

• Teams should wear matching shirts, jerseys, or coordinated costumes.

• Metal cleats are prohibited.

• Jewelry must be removed before play.

• Costumes may not include masks, hard accessories, loose capes, handheld items, or anything that could create a safety hazard.

• Referees and tournament officials may require any unsafe costume piece to be removed before a player participates.

5. Field Dimensions

• Fields will be approximately 40 yards long by 25 yards wide.

• Goals will be approximately four feet high by six feet wide.

Match Rules

6. Game Length

• Each game will be 20 minutes.

• Games will use a running clock.

• There will be no halftime.

• Tournament officials may shorten games when necessary due to weather, field conditions, or scheduling delays.

7. Kickoffs

• Opposing players must remain at least five yards away from the ball.

• Goals may not be scored directly from a kickoff.

8. Offsides

• There are no offsides.

9. Scoring

• Goals must be scored from the offensive half of the field.

• Goals may not be scored directly from a kickoff.

• Goals may be scored directly from a corner kick.

10. Out of Bounds

• When the ball crosses the sideline, play will restart with an indirect kick from the point where the ball left the field.

• Opposing players must remain at least five yards away.

• Goal kicks may be taken from anywhere along the defensive end line.

• Goals cannont be scored from a kick in. Only from a corner kick.

11. Goal Area and No Goalie Rule

• Players may not intentionally stand directly in front of the goal and act as a goalkeeper.

• Players may run through the goal area while actively participating in play.

• Repeated violations may result in a warning or an opposing tiebreaker kick from the quarter field mark.

Fouls and Penalties

12. Fouls

The following actions are prohibited:

• Slide tackling

• Tripping

• Pushing

• Holding

• Dangerous play

• Charging

• Intentional handballs

Referees may award a penalty kick when a foul prevents a clear scoring opportunity or creates a significant advantage.

13. Headers

• Headers are prohibited in 12 and younger.

• Play will restart with an indirect kick for the opposing team.

14. Penalty Kicks

• Penalty kicks awarded during regulation will be taken from midfield.

• All other players must remain behind midfield until the kick is taken.

• The ball becomes dead when its forward motion ends.

• If the kick does not result in a goal, play will restart with an indirect kick for the shooting team from midfield.

Sportsmanship

15. Conduct

Players, coaches, and spectators are expected to demonstrate good sportsmanship at all times.

Unsportsmanlike conduct includes:

• Fighting

• Threatening behavior

• Abusive language

• Harassment

• Arguing with referees

• Excessive taunting

• Deliberately running up the score

Tournament officials may issue warnings, remove individuals, or disqualify teams when necessary.

16. Ejections

Any player, coach, or spectator ejected from a game may receive an additional suspension at the discretion of tournament officials.

Tournament Format

17. Seeding Round

• Each team will play two seeding games.

• Seeding results will determine placement in the championship bracket.

• After the seeding round, teams will advance to a single elimination championship bracket.

18. Bracket Placement

Teams will be placed into the single elimination championship bracket based on the results of their two preliminary games.

If two or more teams have identical records and points, bracket placement will be determined in the following order:

1. Head to head result

2. Goal differential, with a maximum of plus five per game

3. Goals scored

4. Fewest goals allowed

5. Coin toss

No game will end in a tie. A coin toss will only be used to determine bracket placement when all other criteria remain equal.



19. Mercy Rule

• When a team leads by six goals, that team must remove one player from the field.

• The player may return when the lead is reduced to fewer than six goals.

Tied Games

20. Quarter Field Kick Tiebreaker

Games will not end in a tie.

If the score is tied at the end of regulation:

• Each rostered player will take one kick from the quarter field mark toward an empty goal.

• The quarter field mark will be approximately one quarter of the field’s length from the goal line.

• No goalkeeper or defensive player will be permitted.

• Teams will alternate kicks.

• Each player must take one kick before any player may kick a second time.

• The team scoring the most goals after every eligible player has kicked will win.

• If the teams have different roster sizes, the team with fewer players will repeat its original kicking order until both teams have taken the same number of kicks.

• If the score remains tied after the opening round, the tiebreaker will continue in sudden death.

• During sudden death, each team will take one kick per round.

• If one team scores and the other team misses during the same round, the game is over.

• Teams must continue using the same player rotation throughout sudden death.

• Tiebreaker goals will not be included in the game’s goal differential or total goals scored.

Forfeits

21. Arrival Time

• Teams should report to their assigned field at least five minutes before their scheduled game.

• Game time is forfeit time unless otherwise determined by tournament officials.

• Teams should be prepared to begin immediately when the previous game concludes.

Weather Policy

232. Inclement Weather

Tournament officials reserve the right to:

• Delay games

• Shorten games

• Reschedule games

• Move games to alternate fields

• Cancel portions of the tournament when conditions become unsafe

Player safety will always take priority over tournament completion.

Referee Authority

23. Final Decisions

Referee decisions are final.

Tournament officials reserve the right to interpret, modify, and enforce these rules as necessary to ensure fair play, player safety, and the successful operation of the Kick or Treat Soccer Tournament.