RAILBELT
FOOTBALL CONFERENCE
BY-LAWS

Updated By Laws: 9/2014

Article I: PURPOSE

  1. To act as the governing body for the Northern Light/Railbelt Football Conference
  2. To allow member schools and individual athletes to participate and receive recognition.
  3. To insure that safety procedures are enforced for the protection of all participants.

Article II: MEMBER SCHOOLS

ColonyHigh SchoolKnights

LathropHigh SchoolMalamutes

Palmer High SchoolMoose

WasillaHigh SchoolWarriors

WestValleyHigh SchoolWolf Pack

Article III: OFFICERS

The Railbelt By-laws will be the governing body of the Railbelt Football Conference.

Article IV: BY-LAWS

Section 1: Season

The Alaska School Activities Association shall establish the starting and ending dates for football.

Section 2: Play

Beginning with the 2007-2008 football season, JV games will be played by all Railbelt Conference schools that have 35 or more football players listed on the ASAA eligibility form that all schools must submit to ASAA prior to the first game of the football season.

If a team does not play a JV game the following will be put into affect for the offending school and the fine will go to the school deprived of the game to make up for lost revenue. Fines must be paid within two weeks of violation by the offending school.

Offenses are cumulative for each school as long as they are a member of the Railbelt Conference.

Railbelt consequences for by law violation of JV football games to be played.

First Offense$500

Second Offense$1000

Third Offense$2000

Fourth & subsequentdoubles from previous offense

Section 3: Quarter Rule

Upon a region’s request to the Executive Director, a school may have its players participate in six (6) quarters of play per week, except that a kicking specialist may play in up to eight quarters per week, providing that in four (4) quarters the player does no more than kick.

Section 4: Team Structure

Varsity teams shall consist of player’s grades 9-12

Junior Varsity teams shall consist of player’s grades 9-11

“C” teams shall consist of player’s grades 9-10

Schools with no varsity may play seniors at the JV level until a varsity program is in place.

Section 5: Home and Away

Home teams shall wear DARK or colored jerseys and are responsible for reporting stats for that game for both teams.

Visiting teams shall wear WHITE or light jerseys. Conflicts in jersey colors are to be resolved by mutual consent of the administration of the two schools involved.

Section 6: Footballs

The official football for Conference Football shall be any football that meets National Federation specifications and standards.

Section 7: Railbelt Championships (TIE BREAKERS # 4 AND #5 ARE ADDITIONS)

The Railbelt Football Championship is to be determined by the Conference win-loss record. Tie breaking procedures for seeding purposes in the playoffs and declaring a conference winner will be as follows:

  1. Record in Conference
  2. Head to Head
  3. Common Opponents in and out of Conference
  4. Point differential (scored – allowed) in games between the tied schools
  5. Fewest points allowed in games between the tied teams
  6. Fewest points allowed in Conference

Tie breakers will be run through numbers 1-4. Once a single team breaks the tie process and is declared the winner the tie breaking process goes back to the start and the process begins until the tie with the second and third teams is broken.

Play-Off Sites:Seeding for Quarter Final Games-

4th place Cook Inlet plays @ 1st place Railbelt

3rd place Cook Inlet plays @ 2nd place Railbelt

4th place Railbelt plays @ 1st place Cook Inlet

3rd place Railbelt plats @ 2nd place Cook Inlet

Section 8: State Championship

See ASAA wording

Section 9: Continued Season

See ASAA wording, “Last Contest”

Section 10: Hosting Events

ITEM 1: Game days may be either Fridays or Saturdays. Twilight games and night games may be held when possible and at mutual consent of both teams.

ITEM 2: Medical personnel (EMT’s, Paramedics, doctor) must be present during all football games.

ITEM 3: Crowd control is the responsibility of the host school. Spectators will not interfere with coaches or officials.

ITEM 4:No restrictions on filming football games by any school at any game.

ITEM 5: Facilities or areas are to be provided for coaching staffs and film crew of the teams playing. Provisions will be made for radio, press, and PA personnel.

ITEM 6: There will be a PA announcer at all varsity games.

ITEM 7: Only certified officials shall be contracted to officiate any football game.

ITEM 8: The gathering and compilation of game statistics is the responsibility of both teams for their own use. The responsibility for reporting game results and statistics to the press rests with home team. The home team shall also provide statistics to the visiting team if requested.

ITEM 9: Gate charge for visiting non-playing conference teams shall be $1.00.

ITEM 10:With the exception of Juneau, the home and visiting teams will mutually agree upon gate revenue distribution. Juneau does not split the gate with visiting schools. When Juneau travels for play-off games the gate is split per ASAA

Section 11: Scheduling

ITEM 1: A rotation will be set up so all teams have 3 home games and 3 away games. Alternating home and away with each school every other year.

ITEM 2:The year Juneau plays 2 Fairbanks teams the games will be scheduled back to back before school start to allow for only one trip.

ITEM 3:Juneau will schedule games for Friday nights. Saturday night games may be scheduled in special circumstances.

ITEM 4:When teams travel to Juneau, Juneau will provide:

  • 38 tickets for regular season games (JV & Varsity)
  • 20 tickets for Varsity only game.
  • 30 tickets for playoff games
  • housing (group or individual homes) at no expense to visiting teams
  • transportation to and from the airport, game and housing. If a practice is requested Juneau will do its best to provide transportation.
  • a pre-game meal for up to 40 players and coaches. Over 40 will cost $10 per person.

ITEM 5:Travel will be booked by Juneau. Names are needed within 30 days of travel. Name changes will be handled by Juneau.

ITEM 6:When Juneau travels to Fairbanks or the Valley the host school will provide group housing.

ITEM 7:Scheduling guidelines will be reviewed every two years or upon request of any member school. Reviews should be requested when new schools join, programs are added or dropped, or for economic perils.

Section 12: Conference Awards

An All-Conference team of 35 first team and 20 second team players shall be chosen at the end of the season by the following procedure:

ITEM 1:First Team and Second Team All-Conference selections for both offense and defense will be recognized
ITEM 2:Due to the high cost of travel the All-Conference selection will be done via conference call with all schools. The All Conference selection will be conducted the week following the regular season. It is suggested that the coaches gather at one site in Fairbanks and in the MatsuValley to keep the cost to a minimum. HostSchool responsibility shall be rotated yearly. The host school will determine date and location of the All-Conference conference call.

2009 – North Pole

2010 – Colony

2011 – Lathrop

2012 – Palmer

2013 – Juneau

2014 – WestValley

2015 – Wasilla

2016 – North Pole

ITEM 3:All-Conference Positions are completely up to the coaches of the players respective schools.

ITEM 4:The number of all-conference spots will be determined by the order of finish in conference play as follows:

First Place in Conference: 8 First Team /6 Second Team /7 Honorable Mention (21/26)

Second Place in Conference: 7 First Team /6 Second Team /7 Honorable Mention (20/26)

Third Place in Conference: 6 First Team /6 Second Team / 6 Honorable Mention (18/26)

Fourth Place in Conference: 5 First Team /6 Second Team / 6 Honorable Mention (17/26)

Fifth Place in Conference: 4 First Team /5 Second Team /5 Honorable Mention (14/26)

Sixth Place in Conference: 3 First Team /5 Second Team /5 Honorable Mention (13/26)

Seventh Place in Conference: 2 First Team /5 Second Team / 5 Honorable Mention (12/26)

35 on First Team / 39 on Second Team /41 Honorable Mention

To Clarify: There is NO VOTING or Nomination process on the all-conference selections. The head coach or representative selects his players and positions. A single player may take two of a team’s spots on opposite side of the ball or special teams if a coach so chooses.

ITEM 5: The coaches will vote for:

Offensive Player of the Year

Defensive Player of the Year

Lineman of the Year

Utility Player of the Year

Assistant Coach of the Year

Coach of the Year

ITEM 6 Voting process: Nominations, discussion, and voting for the honors listed

above will be done at the meeting. Each school gets one vote with no

restrictions on who they vote for. (They may vote for their own)

ITEM 7:A total of 35 patches designating FIRST TEAM selections will be awarded. The Host school for all conference selection will order the 35 patches. The cost of the awards will be divided between all participating teams.

Suggested Vendor:

The Neff Company

Box 218

Greenville, Ohio 45331

513-547-0125

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