The Vermont Principals Association
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2023-2024 BASKETBALL GUIDE

(Google Doc Version 23-24)

The VPA Basketball Committee will develop and edit guidelines and establish practices to promote the best interest of member schools and students in the sport of basketball. The Committee will recommend policies for season and tournament participation, establish tournament dates and sites, and govern the events.

Volunteer V.P.A. member principals and athletic directors will be selected to represent various division-size schools and regional districts of the state.

As of 2012, all paid and volunteer coaches must complete the NFHS Concussion Education course before the first day of practice.

Rule Changes and Points of Emphasis for 2023-24

High school basketball teams will shoot two free throws for common fouls when in the “bonus.” This change to Rule 4-8-1 eliminates the one-and-one scenario and sets new foul limits each quarter for awarding the bonus free throw.

  • In addition to awarding two foul shots for all common fouls, teams will reach the bonus when their opponent commits five fouls in each quarter and team fouls will reset at the end of each quarter. Previously, teams were awarded the one-and-one bonus when their opponents committed seven fouls in a half and two foul shots when 10 fouls were committed each half.

Rule 3-5-6 addresses undershirts and allows teams to wear a single solid color or solid black for visiting teams with dark jerseys. This provides an opportunity for schools with hard-to-find colors to have all players wear a black undershirt.

Rule 9-3-3 was amended to allow a player to step out of bounds and return to the court if the player gains no advantage. A player is penalized only if, after returning inbounds, the player is the first to touch the ball or avoids a violation.

The throw-in procedure for front-court violations was simplified in Rules 7-5-2 through 7-5-5. When the ball is in team control in the offensive team’s frontcourt and the defensive team commits a violation, a common foul prior to the bonus, or the ball becomes dead, the corresponding throw-in by the offensive team will be at one of four designated spots determined by where the infraction took place. The designated spots are either the nearest 28-foot mark along each sideline or the nearest spot 3 feet outside the lane line on the end line. The one exception is when the defensive team causes a ball to be out of bounds, the throw-in shall be the spot where the ball went out of bounds.

Regular Season:

  1. Official National Federation rules will be used during the regular and tournament season.
  1. Winter Season – The winter season for girls’ & boys’ basketball shall open on November 27, 2023. Games may begin on December 8, 2023
  1. Pre-Game Warm Ups: In order to allow for standardization and consistency around the state, pre-game warm-ups will be 15 minutes for both JV and Varsity games. It is important for host schools to allow a 15-minute warm-up time for the first game even if the bus is late. Visiting schools should be respectful of gym and time schedules and, if late, get players changed and on the court quickly.
  1. Scrimmages are not counted.  The maximum number of scrimmages allowed is 4. During tournament time only schools in the tournament may scrimmage.
  1. MOUTHGUARDS are recommended.
  1. If a school receives more than two ejections, by coaches or players during the regular season and/or tournament, the coach, AD, and/or principal will be required to meet with the Activities Standards Committee before being allowed in to continue in the tournament.
  1. The coaching box is 28′ from the end line.

Tournament Information 

  1. Selection Procedure:
    1. Teams must file an application with the V.P.A. (ScoreBookLive)
    2. Teams must play in the division for which they have been classified by the Activities Standards Committee according to policy.  
  1. All regular season games played away from the home court will be awarded “away points” in the index system for seeding to the VPA Tournament.  When completing the application, under the space marked Place, use H for Home Games, and A for Away games. The winning school is responsible for making sure the score is entered correctly.
  1. FOR (Boys): FINAL APPLICATIONS MUST BE ELECTRONICALLY FILED NO LATER THAN 8:00 A.M. (February 18, 2024)  PLEASE LIST THE ENTIRE SEASON’S SCHEDULE WITH RECORD AND INDEX POINT TOTALS ON THE APPLICATION.
  1. Applications to the tournament are compiled from Scorebook Live. Teams must notify the VPA if they are not entering the tournament. 
  • The regular season ends (on February 24, 2024) for girls and (on February 17, 2024) for boys. 
  • Only the first three games between the same opponents will be counted. 
  1. Recommended starting time for tournament games 

Evening, single game: Start at 7:00 P.M.

*Afternoon, single game: Start at 2:00 P.M.

*Afternoon, double-header: Start at 1:00 P.M., 2nd game approximately 3:00 P.M.

*Evening, double-header: Start at (6:00) P.M., 2nd game approximately (8:00) P.M. *Subject to change by agreement with tournament hosts.

If for any reason a starting time is changed, approval must be granted by the Executive Director in advance of any public announcement. If local conditions demand a change in starting time, approval must be granted by the observers on the spot.  Care and caution must be taken in changing at any time, especially when teams have to travel.  Starting times should never be made earlier unless an adequate announcement has been given.  In general, the higher-paired team will play the second game during all two-game events. This practice may be varied upon special request from far distant schools competing on school nights.

  1. Sites and officials for all games will be assigned through the V.P.A. office by the Basketball Committee. The higher paired team will be the host for play down and quarterfinals if the gym is suitable.
    1. Suitable floors must be a wood surface, 84′ x 50′ minimum.  Waivers may be granted if a written request to the VPA office is made prior to (January 30, 2023).  A sub-committee has been established to hear appeals.
    2. The VPA Basketball Committee has voted not to approve the following courts: Peoples
  1. After the tournament pairings and sites of the semi-final and final games have been officially announced, none of the competing teams may practice or scrimmage on these courts.  Any violation of this regulation will mean immediate disqualification for the remainder of the tournament.

(Tournament sites refer to Barre Auditorium and UVM).

  1. Through the quarter-finals, with prior arrangements made the day before, participating teams may request a minimum of 15 minutes of floor time to be completed 40 minutes before game time. The Athletic Director needs to communicate their school’s request to the home team. Half-time may be up to 15 minutes in length (semi-finals and finals at Barre and UVM).
  1. Play Down Dates:

Boys:  February 20 and 21, 2024

Girls: February 27 and February 28, 2024

Quarter Finals:

Boys: February 23 and 24, 2024

Girls: March 1-2, 2024

Semi-Finals:

Boys: Monday, February 26 2024 (D1@TBD)

           Monday, February 26 – Thurs.February 29, 2024 (D2/3/4 @ Barre Auditorium)

Girls:   Sunday, March 3, 2024 (D1 @TBD) (D2/3/4 @ Barre Auditorium)

Championships:

Boys:(D1 @ TBD) (D2/3/4 @ Barre Auditorium) Potentially 2/29

Girls:   Thursday, March 7, 2024 (D1 @ UVM)

           Saturday, March 9, 2024 (D2/3/4 @ Barre Auditorium)

Playdown and quarter-final dates are subject to change by the VPA.

Every attempt will be made to develop tournament dates and sites well in advance, but with the understanding due to circumstances beyond the control of the Vermont Principals’ Association, such tournament dates and sites may be subject to change and/or tournament games may be in conflict if a school has more than one team participating in post-season play.

Application for admission to a tournament is made with the understanding that if selected for a tournament, the team will participate in said tournament under the conditions as stated above.

  1. SIZE OF SQUAD: Each team will be allowed to dress a maximum of fifteen (15) players for any contest. Schools must adhere to the social distancing guidelines for all non-playing athletes and coaches.
  1. The higher paired team will be designated at the time of the pairings, and will be the home team.  The rule book indicates an official uniform.  In our tournament, the higher-paired team will wear the white uniform and will be designated as the home team and the visiting team will wear the colored uniform.  In the event there is not enough contrast in the color of the uniforms between the two teams, the referee is directed to INSTRUCT THE VISITING TEAM TO APPEAR ON THE FLOOR WITH BIBS IN A COLOR CONTRASTING TO THEIR UNIFORM AND NUMBERED.  The higher-paired team will wear the light-colored jersey throughout the tournament.  Teams maintain the original seed throughout the entire tournament.
  1. The game ball will be furnished by the host school for playdowns and quarter-finals. Spalding will be the tournament ball in 2023-2023 for each game in the tournament. 
  1. The principal of the participating school is responsible for the knowledge and implementation of crowd control procedures for spectators from that school.  He/she should report their presence to the Tournament or Site Director.
  1. Tournament Awards: In the State Finals, winners in each division will receive a trophy emblematic of the championship of their division.  The finalists in each division will receive a plaque. In the finals, the game balls will be presented to the coaches of the winning teams. 20 individual awards will be given to the teams in the finals.
  1. Play Down Dates: