New OT Rules

[Mark Padgett]

OK - seriously now (for a change), our local kids rec league plays no overtimes in 3rd and 4th grade games. If it's tied at the end of regulation, it's a tie. In 5th through HS, we play a single two minute OT. If it's still tied, then it's a tie. One of the main reasons for this is the time constraints. We only have the gyms for so long each game day, and we have to be out at the indicated time. We usually play 6, 7 or 8 consecutive games on Saturdays and 3 or 4 on Friday nights and if they don't start on time, we have to make some kind of an adjustment later, such as cutting the times inbetween games (the preferred method but sometimes that's not available to do), cutting halftimes (but they're only 3 minutes anyway), cutting the number of timeouts or even shortening the game (a last resort).

If we're not out of the gym buy the designated time, the school custodian must report that to the school district and we can end up paying a fine. Also, in some of the gyms, another group (the local "competitive" organization) comes in right after us and they don't like to have to delay their starting times.