As we all know, the weather is unpredictable and we seem to get heavy downpours more regularly now and sometimes these can cause roof leaks at venues. Here is our tried and tested guidance for such eventualities.

Safety always comes first — but keep play flowing where possible!

1. Offside

A player can now go offside to retrieve the ball for the sole purpose of setting a sanction or action. This only relates the player who is taking the free pass/penalty pass.

2. Requirements for scoring a goal

If the whistle to end a period of play or hold time is blown after the ball has left the hands of the GS or GA and the shot is successful, the goal is scored.

3. Throw in

A player taking a throw in no longer has to wait for all players to be on court. However, should a player still wait for all players to be on court, please be aware of the held ball rule and if over 3 seconds then the throw in would be reversed and awarded to the opposing team.

4. Toss up removal

The toss up rule has been removed. In the event that in previous situation where a toss up would have taken place, possession will be given to the team who previously had possession before the infringement occurred. For example, if there was a simultaneous breaking and one of the players caught or touched the ball, possession would be awarded to the team that had that centre pass.

5. Centre pass

You must call out at each centre pass which team is taking the next centre pass.

A centre pass will be ruled not to have been taken if:

• The ball is still in the Centre’s hands and no player from that team has been penalised
• The ball is knocked out of the Centre’s hands by an opponent
• Any infringement by the opposing team has been penalised and the sanction has not been taken

6. Game management

Although at Netball Fun League it is very rare to have to implement game management we want to clarify that cautions are no longer part of the game management process. However, we would still advise Netball Fun League umpires to actively use the Stage 1 & 2 below:

Stage 1: Proactive advice; a player is provided with specific feedback to change their behaviour (ie. Persistent contact/ obstruction)

Stage 2: If the proactive advice is not taken on board, you can advance and / or escalate a sanction; a sanction can be advanced up to half a third (this may be to inside the goal circle if the infringement was in the goal third) and/or a free pass escalated to a penalty pass. The infringing player is required to stand out of play at the new position or the edge of an area if this is offside to their playing position.