Westchester/Putnam County CYO Basketball Rules for 2023-2024

The Westchester/Putnam CYO Basketball Rules below override, clarify, or are in addition to the general Archdiocese of NY CYO Basketball Rules, during the WPCYO Season. RED items were added for the 2023-2024 season.

Download 2023-2024 Play Rules Here

1. PRESSING RULE:

Teams may use front court press only under these conditions:

For all 6th, 7th and 8th grade teams, if the court has the 3 point line, then the game must be played with the 3 point shot.

3. BALL SIZE:

4. FOUL LINE:

5. FOUL BONUS:

Bonus situation begins with the 5th team foul, There are always two free throws. The team fouls reset to zero after every quarter. The team fouls do not reset after the 4th quarter into an overtime quarter. All substitutions should be made after the first foul shot.

Players may step in on the release of the foul shot for ALL divisions. (Revised July 2015)

For HS games only: Break times after Q1 and Q3 are purely administrative to reset the clock, adjust the scorebook and for substitutions. Otherwise, teams need to be ready to play on the referee whistle.

A 3-minute overtime to break a tied score will be used by all age groups. Additional overtimes will be used as needed until a winner is determined.

In addition to the Archdiocese CYO Code of Conduct, the WPCYO HS Code of Conduct and Penalties will be enforced.

Regarding physical abuse of any CYO participant – players, volunteers, or officials - we have a zero- tolerance policy. Any player ejected from a game because of fighting or other physical altercations will be suspended from the next THREE games and may be subject to additional penalties at the discretion of the County Commissioner(s), including expulsion from CYO.

·         Opposing coaches are asked to communicate with each other in keeping the score respectable in unbalanced games. The table below outlines the allowed victory margin:

·         Each Parish Coordinator is responsible to make sure his/her coaches. or another volunteer update results for Home games on the WPCYO website within 24 hours after a game is played.

·         Exact scores should be reported. In previous years, CYO game scores were reported as a 2 for

a Win and a 0 for a Loss. This change is being made to better monitor scores and assist in creating balanced Divisions. Point spread will not be used to break ties or determine standings. Our general CYO philosophy is retained: Emphasis rests not on the number of games won or lost, but on the participants' attitude in victory or defeat. Learning how to lose is just as important as learning how to win. Learning how to win graciously is more important than winning itself.

·         In ALL cases where the final score differential exceeds the victory margin limit, the Coordinator of the winning team MUST send to your Regional Commissioner an explanation.

·         If the point differential in the final score is much greater than the limit set above, the game may result in a forfeit.

Four timeouts per team per game are allowed.

Up to two coaches ONLY may sit on the bench.

·         C Orange Division is for more competitive C teams and will be eligible for season-end playoffs.

·         C Blue Division is for less competitive C teams and/or ones with a .5 or lower record in a C Division in the previous season. Teams in this division will not be eligible for season-end playoffs.

·         Please see the update CYONY Eligibility Rules located on cyony.org. If no program or team exists in a parish, the player may participate on a team of an adjoining parish with authorization from the CYO County Commissioners/Director. Catholic players will not be counted as an exception on the assigned team. The Parish Coordinator must contact the County Commissioners/Director, and the player can only be assigned to a team in a neighboring parish by the County Commissioners/Director.

·         Any WPCYO League Team that does not meet the CYO NY Eligibility Rule of no more than 3 non- parishioners or players who do not attend the Parish school, is considered a Center Team.

·         CYO Coordinators must inform their WPCYO Commissioner if any of their registered Teams are Center Teams

·         CYO Coordinators should contact their WPCYO Commissioner if uncertain of Center Team status.

·         CYO Rosters will be reviewed/verified for Center Team status

·         Center Teams are ineligible for Playoffs.

13.  PLAYOFFS:

·         Any team with two forfeits during the season will be ineligible for playoffs.

·         All team fees must be paid before a team is eligible for playoffs.

14.  MOVING TO NEW DIVISION:

·         Please see the updated WPCYO Eligibility Rules located on wpcyo.net

15.  OFFICIALS

Official Fees per game:

·         Each team (Home and Away) will pay one official

·         A Parish Coordinator should contact their Supervisor of Officials to discuss a problem involving an official at the parish’s gym.

·         No official can work more than 4 games at your gymnasium.

·         Please make sure to have the officials sign their full name in the scorebook. All Supervisors of Officials have been notified of this requirement.

16. GAME CANCELLATIONS:

Games Cancellation due to reasonable reasons must be called in to your Official Supervisor by 7pm on the Wednesday preceding a weekend game, or by 7pm on the day 3 days prior to a weekday games.  If this procedure is not followed, the team cancelling is at risk of forfeit and both Official Fees must be paid by the cancelling team. 

Reasonable cancellation reasons include unplanned circumstances such as loss of gym time due to maintenance/repairs, school or parish events that require use of a gym, and community/family emergencies.  The following are not acceptable cancellation reasons: a team has a game in an outside league which conflicts with the CYO schedule, missing players due to vacations/parties, and other personal reasons.

The following was adopted at the WPCYO Coordinators Meeting on Sept 13, 2016:  Due to some parishes that are paying rental fees for gym use - If a team forfeits a game, they are not only responsible for both the ref fees, but also an additional $75.00 if the parish has gym fees to pay.

·        Inclement Weather:

Safety is our primary concern. Games can be cancelled by either team, without forfeit or referee fees, if the weather prevents safe travel. The Coordinator for each team should be involved in any game cancellation. No team is required to travel to any game, if the team does not want to risk going out in bad weather. Weather cancellations should be made within 2 hours of game time, to give teams and referees enough notice.

·         If the HOME Team cancels, the HOME Coordinator must notify the AWAY Team Coordinator

·         If the AWAY Team cancels, the AWAY Team Coordinator must notify the HOME Team Coordinator

·         For any cancelled game, the HOME Team Coordinator must notify:

·         Officials

·         WPCYO Scheduler at [email protected], so the game will be put into cancelled status on the website schedule and affected Coordinators automatically notified by email. 

17.  HIGH SCHOOL PLAYER CYO ELIGIBILITY: 

The Westchester/Putnam CYO High School League is open to Boys and Girls in grades 9 to 12. The only exception is Boys that play on their High School Varsity Team are not eligible, this does not include a HS Boys Varsity B Team. If a Boy is brought up to Varsity after the regular season, for post-season play only, he may continue to play on his HS CYO Team. If a Boy is brought up to Varsity during the regular season, and plays in any regular-season game, he is no longer eligible to play on a HS CYO Team. The NY Archdiocese limit on the number of non-parishioners per team applies to HS.

Players on any Boys and Girls High School Varsity team who have participated in any league or non-league game, are ineligible to participate in CYO leagues grades 8 and below.