Handbook

Purpose

The MIT Intramural Sports Program involves thousands of students, both undergraduate and graduate, as well as alumni, faculty, staff, and spouse, in a wide variety of sports. Quite large in scope, the program offers competition in more than twenty sports. To ensure every student a chance for participation, each sport consists of leagues of varying skill levels. One of the main goals of the program is to provide students the opportunity for recreation as an outlet from academic endeavors. Students play a significant role in the administration of the Intramural Program. The Intramural Executive Committee makes policy and disciplinary decisions, student sport managers organize leagues, and other students officiate games. While some of these positions are paid, many require students to volunteer their time. Without the efforts and support of these students, the MIT Intramural Sports Program would suffer significantly.

The goal of this handbook is

1. to provide all students with the information necessary to become an active participant in the intramural sports program, and
2. to provide a set of rules in order to function efficiently and fairly and
3. describe volunteer and paid roles for students interested in becoming more involved. The Intramural Executive Committee encourages all students to take advantage of the opportunities for fun, recreation and friendly competition available through participation in the MIT Intramural Sports Program

Facilities

• Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center: Administrative offices, cardiovascular equipment, free weight area, cardio theater, sports medicine, 50­ meter pool, 25­yard instructional pool, six international size squash courts, multi-activity court for basketball, floor hockey, indoor soccer, volleyball, badminton and general exercise, membership desks and equipment desk.
• DuPont Athletic Center: Locker facilities and equipment desk, rifle and pistol ranges, nautilus, four squash courts, one handball court and rooms for fencing, wrestling and general exercises.
• Johnson Athletic Center: First floor – hockey rink, second floor – 200 ­meter synthetic track and multipurpose infield.
• Rockwell Cage: Three basketball courts, or five volleyball courts, or eight badminton courts.
• DuPont Gymnasium: Two basketball/volleyball courts and gymnastic equipment.
• Briggs Field: 23 acres for football, track, soccer, rugby, softball, kickball and ultimate Frisbee.
• B. Carr Indoor Tennis Bubble: Four indoor and twelve outdoor tennis courts.

Scope

• Each team and participant, in any intramural sport, is responsible for the general rules and regulations contained herein.
• Playing rules for each sport will be determined by the manager of that sport, subject to review by the Executive Committee.
• Any questions concerning these rules should be referred to the Sport Manager, Intramural Council Chairperson or Intramural Manager in order to obtain clarification and ruling prior to participation.

Additional Resources

• All registration information will be available on the intramural website: intramurals.mit.edu
• The IM Office, located on the second floor of the Zesiger Center, is open most business days until 5:00PM
• Players interested in participation should contact their organization’s Athletics Chairperson or any Sport Manager, who will assist them in finding a team, subject to eligibility rules

Administrators

1. Director of Athletics / Department Head
   • The Director of Athletics shall have oversight of all intramural policies and activities and may change or suspend intramural activities at any time with or without notice.
   • The Director of Athletics shall be responsible for selecting the Intramural Manager and Administrative Assistant.
2. Intramural Manager
   • The Intramural Manager will have oversight of all intramural policies and activities.
   • The Intramural Manager, in conjunction with the Executive Committee, shall be responsible for hiring all Sport Managers.
   • The Intramural Manager shall be responsible for supervising the activities of the Executive Committee and Sport Managers.
3. Administrative Assistant
   • The Administrative Assistant shall be responsible for assisting the Intramural Manager in processing all payments; for overseeing payment of managers, referees, and executive Committee members as well as for performing any additional tasks assigned by the Intramural Manager or Director of Athletics.
   • The Administrative Assistant shall serve as a liaison between the Intramural Office and the offices of DAPER facilities and CAC scheduling.
4. DAPER Facilities Staff
   • Facilities Staff members shall assist the Intramural Office in scheduling intramural matches and activities.
   • Facilities Staff may suspend, relocate, or terminate any intramural match due to unusual circumstances or observance of any violation of intramural policies, including teams playing without a reservation, or the consumption or possession of drugs or alcohol.
5. Executive Committee
   • The Executive Committee shall be comprised of five individuals. It shall have the authority and responsibility to oversee Sport Managers, handle protests and forfeits, and ensure that the program runs smoothly.
   • President
     • The President shall be responsible for organizing Executive Committee, Intramural Council, Sport Manager meetings and Affiliation Group meetings.
     • The President shall serve as an ex­officio, voting member on the DAPER Advisory Board.
   • Vice President
     • The Vice President shall be responsible for assisting the President and shall replace the President in the event of any necessary circumstances.
     • The Vice President shall serve as an ex­officio, voting member on the DAPER Advisory Board.
   • Publicity Chair
     • The Publicity Chair is responsible for publicizing and promoting intramural awareness both within the intramural community and inside the MIT community at large. This includes but is not limited to organizing intramural sports Orientation and CPW events and looking for and creating other opportunities on campus to promote intramural sports.
   • Members­ at ­Large
     • Three Members ­at­ Large shall be elected to serve on the committee.
     • Members ­at­ Large shall be responsible for assisting the President and Vice President.
6. Intramural Council (Athletics Chairpersons)
   • Each Full and Provisional Affiliation (see Section III) shall select one voting representative to serve as representatives (“Athletics Chairpersons”) to the Intramural Council; a second, non­voting member may also be selected.
   • Athletics Chairpersons, or a proxy, are responsible for attending all Intramural Council meetings.
   • The Intramural Council shall have four meetings during the academic year.
   • Affiliation Meetings – held during the second week of September / February
   • General Meetings – held during the first week of November / April
   • The Intramural Council shall be responsible for election of the Executive Committee during the Spring Affiliation Meeting.
   • The Athletics Chairpersons mailing list (im-­athchairs@mit.edu) shall be reserved for voting and non­voting Athletics Chairpersons, the Executive Committee, Sport Managers, and Administrators.
   • Athletics Chairpersons are responsible for attending the affiliation meetings for their group, selecting a Sport Captain for each team, and ensuring that the Captain is aware of all relevant policies within this handbook.
7. Sport Managers: Managers are responsible for:
   • Planning and organizing the sport’s season
   • Supplying an Announcement to the IM Office detailing the deadlines and requirements for participating in the sport
   • Scheduling all games and obtaining referees
   • Regularly updating the IM Manager and Executive Committee of all changes
   • Attending Intramural Council meetings while their sport is in season
   • Keeping schedules, referee assignments, and league standings updated and posting or distributing them in an appropriate manner to the Captains and Executive Committee
   • Notifying teams of forfeits as they occur
   • Submitting fine cards in a timely manner
   • Submitting a written report to the IM Manager within one month of the completion of the season
   • Attending the Pre­Season Manager Meeting with the IM Executive Committee and IM Manager.
   • Sport Managers shall be paid for time spent in the performance of their duties.
8. Sport Captains
   • Each intramural team must have one member designated as its Captain.
   • Sport Captains are responsible for all actions of his/her team, both on and off the field.
   • Sport Captains serve as a liaison between the team, the Sport Manager, and officials.
   • Sport Captains should be familiar with the policies outlined this Handbook, regardless of their teams’ Affiliation Status.
   • Sport Captains should communicate with other captains and the Sport Manager to prevent forfeits and/or no-shows

Definition

1. Teams may be registered by any group of eligible students who wish to compete as a team in intramural sports (e.g. a dorm, hall, fraternity, sorority, social group, academic department)
2. “Affiliation” shall refer to any group that attains or had attained “Full Affiliation” or “Provisional Affiliation” status. (See below for Affiliation descriptions).

Promotion

1. An independent group that is represented at the semester’s Affiliation Meeting shall gain Provisional status for the subsequent semester.
2. A Provisional Affiliation that is represented at the semester’s Affiliation Meeting shall gain Full status for the subsequent semester; a Provisional Affiliation that is not represented at this meeting shall be relegated to the status of an Independent Team.
3. All Full Affiliations must attend each semester’s Affiliation Meeting. Any affiliation that is not represented at this meeting shall be relegated to the status of a Provisional Team.
4. Any outstanding fines/fees charged to an Affiliation shall remain attributed to that group even if it should fall to Independent Status and regain Affiliation status.
5. Any affiliations that fail to pay outstanding fines/fees will not be able register additional teams and may have its status revoked by the Executive Committee.

Full Affiliations

1. Full Affiliations are required to attend all Intramural Council meetings. (see Section II.D)
   • Failure to attend an Affiliation Meeting will result in relegating their affiliation status to Provisional.
   • Failure to attend a General Meeting will result in a $15 fine.

Provisional Affiliations

1. Provisional Affiliations are required to attend all Intramural Council meetings. (see Section II.D)
   • Failure to attend an Affiliation Meeting will result in loss of affiliation status.
   • Failure to attend a General Meeting will result in a $15 fine.

Independent Teams

1. Teams or groups electing not to be a part of the Intramural Council shall be known as “Independent Teams.”

Registration Fees

Certain sports have registration fees. These non­refundable costs must be paid under Section D.

• Hockey teams must post a $200 registration fee for the winter season and a $100 registration fee for the IAP season.
• Air Pistol teams must post a $25 registration fee per semester.
• Officiated sports leagues must post a registration fee (cost varies; see IMLeagues.com prior to registration).

Forfeit Fines

The fine system is used to penalize teams for not showing up for scheduled matches. For teams that do not follow the reschedule procedure (see sport rules) and/or do not show up for a scheduled match, they will be subjected to a forfeit fine. (see IV.1) With proper notification that a team can’t make a match, the Sport Manager can attempt to reschedule the match at a later point provided that facility space is available.

Common Forfeit Policy:

• If the minimum number of players are not present by game time, the other team has the option of calling a forfeit on that team OR waiting 10 minutes.
• If a team does not have the minimum number of players by 10 minutes past the scheduled game start, it counts as a forfeit.
• The penalties associated with a forfeit can be avoided by communicating to the sport manager and opposing captain that you will not be able to field a team.  Further advance notice reduces the penalty, as it gives the manager a better opportunity to use that field/court time for other games:
  • More than 72 hour advance notice results in no penalty.  We will try our best to reschedule the game but are limited by facility space. If the game cannot be rescheduled, it will not count towards your record.
  • 24 – 72 hour notice results in loss if game cannot be rescheduled (but no fine)
  • Less than 24 hour notice results in forfeit and fine

Forfeit fine structure:

1. First Infraction: $25
2. Second Infraction: $50
3. Dropping out of league (once games have been scheduled): $75
   • Dropping out of the league once games has been scheduled impacts the entire league: Teams who had games scheduled, have lost the opportunity to play, and the Sport Manager will have to dedicate additional time in an effort to reschedule games.

Referee Assignments

Most sports do not have trained, paid referees at games. When referees are present, the Sport Manager will create a schedule for referees or have referees share their availability to create a schedule.

Some leagues decide to have captains/volunteers referee. This will be decided upon at the captain’s meeting. Fines are in place in order to hold teams accountable to their assignments

1. First infraction: $20
2. Second infraction: $35
3. Each subsequent infraction: $50 each

Registration

1. Team captains must register their team on IMLeagues.com. Each team member must add him/herself to the team through IMLeagues.com.
2. Players must be registered prior to the start of the game in order to be eligible.
3. All teams must pay a team fee if required.
4. All teams must ensure that they have no outstanding fines or fees (see Section IV)
5. After registration, Sport Captains will be notified if they have outstanding costs
6. If any fees or fines are outstanding after 72 hours, teams may be removed at the discretion of the Sport Manager and Administrative Assistant

Eligibility

1. All players must be:
   • A regular undergraduate or regular graduate student. A regular student is a student working toward an MIT degree and registered during the most recent Registration Day. First term registration covers IAP and terminates on the day before Registration Day of the second term.
   • A cross­-registered undergraduate student (Wellesley)
   • A member of the Staff, Faculty, Instructors, Lecturers, Post Doc’s, or Alumni
   • An alumnus who is a member of the MIT Club of Boston who has received the appropriate permission to use MIT’s athletic facilities.
   • A member of the MIT staff, if (s)he is a member of either an all staff team or a member of an academic department’s team. One all staff team will be permitted to enter in each league.
   • A spouse of any of the aforementioned eligible players.
2. Unless otherwise stated by sport-specific rules, a person shall only be eligible for the highest league offered in a sport if he/she:
   • • Is a member of a corresponding intercollegiate team. A person is a member of a team if he/she has satisfied one of the following during the past calendar year:
     • Has participated in at least one game or scrimmage for the team;
     • Is working out regularly with an intercollegiate team, i.e., is receiving coaching and/or uses facilities during intercollegiate practice; or
     • Is on a team roster.
3. Is a professional in that intramural sport as defined by NCAA and ECAC rules subject to interpretation by the IM Executive Committee
4. Is a paid coach or instructor for that sport
5. Is currently on a roster or attending practice with any club team or in any other league in that sport which makes use of the MIT facilities, such as the club teams of volleyball, water polo, hockey, Frisbee, graduate soccer, badminton and table tennis. Some sports allow a limited number of club members so be sure to check with a particular sports manager if there is any question about a player’s eligibility.
6. Alumni teams will only be allowed to enter where room within a sport permits, at the discretion of the manager. One particular organization of alumni cannot field more than one team in any given sport.
7. A player may play for only one team in any league.

Changes

1. A player shall be ineligible to compete for a team unless he is currently on the roster for that team. If a person plays for a team for which he is ineligible, the Sport Manager must suspend the player for the remainder of the sport season, from all teams in that sport.
2. Rosters may be changed by submitting the changes to the Sport Manager before the playoff schedule for the sport is released.
3. A player who has participated in a scheduled contest may be transferred only once to a team from a lower league to a higher league or vice versa. The transfer must be in writing, addressed to the appropriate sport manager, prior to playing for the new team.

Violations

If an ineligible player participates in an intramural contest:

1. The violating team will forfeit the game to its opponent and a forfeit fine will be assessed. If it is a playoff game, the team shall be disqualified.
2. He/she shall be declared ineligible to play that sport for the remainder of the season.
3. At the discretion of the Executive Committee, additional action may be taken.
4. An ineligible player (as defined by Section B.2, who would otherwise be eligible to Section B.1) may be allowed to participate by mutual consent of both teams.
5. Once consent is granted, the outcome of the game will stand regardless of player eligibility. It is thus not recommended to grant consent unless it is mutually beneficial to both teams.
6. A protest of this rule must be filed with 72 hours of the match, or, in the case of playoffs, prior to the start of the advancing team’s next match.

Injuries

1. If a participant gets injured during competition, a person on-scene must contact a Z-Center staff member. If necessary, call an ambulance.
2. Other available medical resources on camps are:
   • MIT Medical: http://medweb.mit.edu  Urgent Care is open every day from 7am-11pm.  This should not be used in lieu of emergency services, but it’s probably the quickest way to get connected to a medical professional in a non-emergency situation.
   • MIT Together: http://together.mit.edu This site connects you to a variety of resources, both academically related and personally related.
3. Injuries must be reported by the participant or another person on-scene by completing the Injury Report Form.

During an injury please let the front desk staff know an injury has occurred.  They will then contact the building supervisor to come and assess the situation.  If needed an ambulance can be called.

Once those steps have been taken please report any and all injuries with this Intramural Injury Report Form.

The Manager of Intramurals at MIT will be in touch with the student to check up on their recovery.

1. Current official rules (as designated by the sport manager and modified to comply with intramural play) will apply to all contests and will be used to settle all disputes. Rules can be found on intramurals.mit.edu.
2. Only the team Captain may enter into a discussion with an official concerning an official’s ruling. This must be done in a sportsmanlike fashion; otherwise, the captain risks a game suspension.
3. In the event that the team against whom the decision was made still disputes the ruling made by the official, the game may be played under protest from the point of dispute. Only a disputed rules interpretation may be used as grounds for such a protest. The team Captain must inform the official at the time of the dispute that his team will continue to play the game under protest.
4. All protests must be filed in writing with the Sport Manager or Executive Committee within 72 hours after the contest in question by the offended team’s Captain or Athletics Chairperson. Exception: If new evidence is discovered, eligibility protest may be filed with the Executive Committee at the time during the season (the season ends 72 hours after the final game).
5. The Executive Committee and Intramural Manager shall hear and judge all protests. They will hear all pleas for rule revisions, for judgment on playing field disputes, for transfer for personnel from one roster to another and for any other justifiable cause. No member shall vote on a protest involving his/her own group or organization.

1. A game official may eject a player, coach, or spectator from a game in compliance with the sport’s rules (Rule V, Section A) or for unsportsmanlike conduct. The game may be forfeited if, after the official notifies the team captain, the ejected person fails to leave the playing area.
2. The following are evidences of poor sportsmanship:
   • Excessive arguing, derogatory or abusive remarks, or profanity toward an opponent or official will result in ejection from the game and suspension for the following game.
   • Any flagrant unsportsmanlike contact with an opponent during a game will result in ejection from the game and suspension for the season.
   • Any unsportsmanlike intentional physical contact with an opponent outside the context of the game (i.e., player coming off the bench or sideline) will result in ejection from the game and suspension for the sport season.
   • Threatening, shoving, striking, or attempting to strike a game official, or any action, the intent of which is to physically injure an official or opponent, will result in ejection from the game, and suspension from the intramural program for the remainder of the school year.
   • Proper sportsmanship is expected of all teams at all times. Attire and/or behavior that is, implies, or contains inappropriate, offensive, disrespectful, threatening or vulgar themes, actions, language, images, or symbols, will not be permitted within DAPER facilities. Individuals found with inappropriate attire can be denied participation in DAPER sponsored programs and events.  Staff decisions regarding attire policy enforcement are final. Refer to MIT’s Mind and Hand Book’s section on Harassment, Freedom of Expression, and Institute Expectations of Student Behavior and Integrity for further elaboration of standards and expectations.
3. A player ejected from a game under Section B is automatically suspended from the next scheduled game. A player ejected under Section B, Part 2, 3, 4 or 5 will be required to appear before the Executive Committee before further participation will be allowed. Spectators involved in fights will also be subject to Executive Committee actions.
4. A player ejected from two games during a contact sport season or one game in a non­contact sport season will become ineligible to compete in that sport for the remainder of the season; he/she will also be brought before the Executive Committee and a further step may be taken and his/her team/organization may incur an additional fine based upon the severity of the incident.
5. A team is responsible for the conduct of its players, coaches, and spectators. Persistent unsportsmanlike conduct by a team or spectator may result in the suspension of that team from further participation in the intramural program for the season.
6. Referees must report in writing any ejection to the sport manager within 24 hours to the Sport Manager.
7. The Executive Committee or Manager of Intramurals may take further action under any of the above rules, including additional fines, permanently barring a player from participating in the Intramural Program, or actions against an entire team.

Unless the Sport Manager requests special conditions, the following guidelines will be used in all IM sports for determining qualifications for playoffs:

1. Divisional games only will be used in scoring.
2. Failure to officiate assigned “required referee” slots may jeopardize playoff participation.
3. Points will be given as follows:
   • (a) two points for a win
   • (b) one point for a tie
   • (c) no points for a loss.
4. Tie breakers:
   • Total points
   • Head-­to-­head result
   • Goal differential (in case of less common scoring system, the manager will determine the method of goal scoring)
   • Goals for/Goals against
   • Coin toss