7 on 7 tips

Wear a Visor, talk like a douche, say RPO 75 times per conversation. Oh don't forget everytime a kid catches a touch down say loudly as possible "I taught him that"

These are pretty standard, though there are some tweeks based on each particular setting.  The obvious changes that might be seen are length of game, overtimes, and the 'sack' clock.


FIELD:

The playing field will be 40 yards in length, plus a 10 yard end zone.



BALL:

Teams will use their own football. Should be appropriate size for high school.



TIME: 25 minute games with a running clock.



Each team will have one 60 second time-out per half (In case of injury the clock will stop at the discretion of the referee. Any stoppage by the referee will require the injured player to leave the field for a single play).

**IF time runs out and the team in possession has the opportunity to tie or win and is inside the 20-yard line, they maintain possession until they score or turn the ball over.



If a team commits a penalty in the last 2 minutes of a game the clock will stop, and not start until the following snap.



A 25-second play clock is in effect, and begins on the referees whistle after the ball is spotted.



POSSESSION OF THE BALL:

Possession will be decided by a coin toss. All possessions start at the 40-yard line to start a half, or after a turnover on downs. Intercepted balls will be placed at the 30-yard line.



PLAY:

Play is limited to seven on seven.



Coaches are allowed in the huddle, but must stay out of the defensive secondary when the ball is snapped. No more than 2 coaches in the huddle.



Any offensive player not in the play must be back at least 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Any defensive player not in a play must stand on the sideline.



Included in the offense’s seven must be a center. Once the ball is lifted off the ground or snapping tee the play clock begins.



Offense must be lined up in a legal formation. Everyone is eligible to receive passes, except the center.

Teams can run draw plays between the tackles, but not from the 10-yard line and in.



Running Backs must release from the offensive guard position on out. No releasing over the center’s path.



No fumbles, or stripping. The ball is dead if it touches the ground and the offense retains possession. If an offensive player attempts to lateral a ball, and it’s intercepted by a defensive player, then possession goes to the defensive team at the 30 yard line.



Play ends with one hand touch below the neck.



Regular substitution rules apply. There is no mandatory playing time.



The QB has 4 seconds to release the ball or it is blown dead and a 5 yard sack is incurred. There is no rushing the QB.



No RB passes.



No shovel passes. Passes between the tackle box must be caught in front of the line of scrimmage. Swing passes behind the line of scrimmage are allowed.



Only one first down per series is possible, achieved when reaching the 20-yard line within 3 downs. Once a team is inside the 20 yard line they have 4 downs to score.



The game cannot end on a defensive penalty, unless the offense declines it.



SCORING:

Touchdown scores 6 points

1 extra point by passing from the 5 yard line

2 extra points by passing from the 10 yard line



OVERTIME

A tiebreaker will occur, with a flip of a coin to determine possession. After a 2-minute break, the teams will each have 4 plays to score from the 20-yard line, until the tie is broken.



PENALTIES:

All penalties will be enforced. Emphasis is placed on pass interference, holding, unnecessary roughness, and unsportsmanlike conduct.



No blocking, or screening of opponents.



Only one bump is allowed off the line, and all bump and run must be executed with hands. No forearms or shoulders allowed. Safety is of utmost importance during the contest.



This is a minimal-contact game and any flagrant contact is cause for immediate ejection. As always any unsportsmanlike conduct is also cause for ejection. The referees’ decision is final on all plays, there will be no tolerance for arguing, and only a coach may ask for a rule clarification. Coaches control profanity, and are expected to eliminate profanity on their team.



Offensive Penalties:

Blocking or Holding: 10 yards from spot of foul and replay the down.

Illegal Motion: 5 yard penalty and replay the down.

Offensive Pass Interference: 10 yard penalty

Delay of Game: 5 yards penalty. In the last 2 minutes of a game the clock will be stopped.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct: 15 yard penalty, and possible ejection

Defensive penalties:

Holding/Illegal Bump: 10 yard penalty

Offsides: 5 yards penalty

Pass Interference: 10 yard penalty

Unsportsmanlike Conduct: 15 yard penalty, and possible ejection



BLOOD RULE: If and when an official observes that a player is bleeding, has an open wound,

or has an excessive amount of blood on his or her uniform, the player will be directed to leave

the game. The injured player is not to return until the bleeding has stopped, the open wound is

covered, and excessively bloody uniform is changed.



Players must wear mouth pieces during play. (Some tournaments may require helmets in certain divisions)



PROTEST: Protest must be made verbally with the tournament Official by the offended team at the time of play. No judgment calls can be protested, only misinterpretation of the rules.



Coaches:

1. Make sure you maintain control over your team’s parents. Be proactive and take care of the problem before it escalates.

2. Officials call the penalties and run the clock…not teams or coaches.

3. Please pick up trash at the end of your game.



Tournament rules may be changed at any time if problems arise due to concerns with safety conditions, sportsmanship, or any other unforeseen issues.

I knew this all wouldn't cut and paste well, but I stuck it on here anyway, it has the brackets and pools.


Pool A: Fields 1 & 2 Pool B: Fields 3 & 4 Pool C: Fields 5 & 6

1A 2A 3A

1B 2B 3B

1C 2C 3C

1D 2D 3D

1E 2E 3E

Field 1 Field 2 Field 3 Field 4 Field 5 Field 6

9:00 1a vs 1b 1c vs 1d 2a vs 2b 2c vs 2d 3a vs 3b 3c vs 3d

9:30 1a vs 1e 1b vs 1c 2a vs 2e 2b vs 2c 3a vs 3e 3b vs 3c

10:00 1a vs 1d 1e vs 1b 2a vs 2d 2e vs 2b 3a vs 3d 3e vs 3b

10:30 1a vs 1c 1d vs 1e 2a vs 2c 2d vs 2e 3a vs 3c 3d vs 3e

11:00 1b vs 1d 1e vs 1c 2b vs 2d 2e vs 2c 3b vs 3d 3e vs 3c

12:30

1:00

Notes:

*There will be no coaches meeting. Tried to get teams traveling the furthest, starting the latest. Contact me with any questions.

*Game time is a continous 22 minutes. NO TIME OUTS until the Semi Finals and Finals. See rules.

*Games will start every 30 minutes, so hustle if you change fields. I tried to limit travel, but there are a lot of teams.

*Tournament is single elimination. Teams who lose in Round 1 will be scheduled a 7th consolation game.

*Tournament will begin at 2:00. We will have an FCA devotion at 1:30. Please have teams in the game bleachers.

*We tried to avoid 3 in a row if possible. Please check the schedule for mistakes.

*Be Aware of Severe Weather Plan.

*Concession Stand will be open.

*We will feed the two teams playing for the Championship.

*Lineman Event will begin at 9:30 and Last untill 1:00.

*Please have fun, respect each other and the school grounds, get better.

A vs B A vs E A vs D A vs C B vs D

C vs D B vs C E vs B D vs E E vs C

B Off D off C off B Off A off

Tournament Begins

Pool A Pool B Pool C

Lunch after your 4th pool game.

FCA Devotion / Seeding in the Stadium - 10 Mins.

Since we don't do any competitive 7-7, how do you handle a team like us who runs a 3-5-3 do you allow it or does the team have to run a different scheme?

When we ran the Stack, we told our opponents that we would have 8 guys on the field, but that one would take 3 steps to the LOS and stop. Opponents had no problem with this, but officials penalized us (after I told them what we were doing) first three plays
of 7 on 7.

When your QB completes a pass, compliment him with the phrase "nice ball"...

You can also use statements like "route integrity" and refer to your plays as "concepts"...

Defensively, 2-man works good, since the QB can't run, you can also double cover WR's with the deep safeties...

Treating every game like you're playing for a State Championship shows other coaches your passion for the game as well, and will garner you great respect from the coaching community... 

Who runs RPOs at 7 on 7?

I disagree...

A huge part of having 8 guys standing is the deception and all that - it also allows for you to use your angles better to cover guys... having him kneel presnap loses that...

You just need to make a rule that they must immediately move to the LOS and kneel without touching any offesnive players... if they disrupt their path or touch them it is a penalty...

This has been something I always thought would be interesting to try to implement in 7-on-7: the amount of time the QB has to release the ball should be directly related to the amount of men the defense keeps in coverage.


So if the defense drops 7 the QB has 4 seconds,

drop 8 then 5 seconds

drop 6 then 3.5 seconds

Or something of that ilk. I get that would be difficult on the refs to implement (unless someone wanted to make an addition to one of those auto clocks that some tournaments use when the ball is snapped) but I think it could help chase us out of all the 2-man that is being run, and give teams an incentive to run different types of coverages allowing people to get more looks.

Of course, if we really wanted to get complex you could add an extra 1/2 second if the offense chooses to keep a RB or TE in to block, but I think I'm already getting too complex.

Inevitably a 7-7 thread delves into why folks hate it.  It's not real football, and I don't think anyone has every claimed that it is.  I don't 'love' it, but it's as close to the real thing that we can do in the off season.  In SC we can have 10 padded days for a spring practice, but no scrimmages.  We can't go a summer camp, we can't have padded practices until the season starts.  

tentboy if you're going to host teams and run the tourney yourself, some of these have already been mentioned:
- Water, plenty of water and ice and have it in multiple locations
- Have a trainer on hand for the bumps and bruises that will some along
- Have the rules spelled out before hand, decide on those issues that can cause issues and stick to the rules
---- also decide up front if this is for a trophy or for funsies and state that upfront
---- The biggest complaint you'll have is over time.  The time for the QB to throw or be 'sacked', the 25 second for huddles,  and the time clock itself.  Just go ahead and be ready for it.
- Refs are always a good thing, especially if you're doing this for a trophy
- Have a tournament director that is not a coach to handle issues and keep things moving along.  It just makes things a lot smoother.
- Also you need workers to refill water/ice, police the trash, run errands/fetch stuff, etc.... A lot of people have their OL/DL work
- Clocks.  It's great when you have a clock on each field.  If not, make sure everyone knows where the official clock is being kept
- Air horns.  These can signal the "ready to play" for each game segment.  2-3 short blasts might mean 'game start in 1 minutes' 1 long blast means 'game begins', etc....
----- PA system and announcer is even better 
- If you're doing it for a trophy, you'll need to keep score.  Have a notebook at each field that records the games for that field and have the coach sign off on the final after every game.  Also have a central location that keeps track of scores and team's records.  
- You probably already have it, but have an emergency/storm plan and make sure everyone knows what it is (another reason to have a tourney director)
- Tents.  Lots of tents for the workers.
- Spectators.  You need to plan for where they are expected to be or not be.  Especially if you're doing this on a field that doesn't have clearly defined viewing areas like practice fields.  You might need to rope off certain areas.
- Food.  If you feed the players/participants you have to have a plan for how you're going to handle it.
- Bathrooms
- Video.  Are you going to allow it or not.

The best way to do 7-on-7 is to get with a team(s) that you know the coach, program, etc...and do it on your own. You both know your expectations, what your trying to accomplish, etc...to make it worth your while. And you won't have anyone arguing if the QB timer is too much time or too little time...