Some teams choose to get together to practice, but those are the minority. Xoso does not schedule practices or provide facilities/equipment for practices, but teams are welcome to arrange their own!
There will, unfortunately, be times when your team may be shorthanded and therefore at a disadvantage. We try to address that by adhering to a specific roster size, but there will always be a team who ends up with less players than others.
You may think that 7 or 8 men on a team is too many, but it's only too many if they all show up every week. Same goes for 10 players on a volleyball team, or 13 on a softball team. We have no way of knowing how many players will have perfect attendance when we form rosters, and we've found that usually 2-5 people on a team miss each week. Some teams may have everyone show up every week, while others may struggle to field a full team.
We have created our rules so that teams (extremely) rarely, have to forfeit.
The gender requirements are in place because our leagues are coed. They are not intended to be men's leagues or women's leagues, and we want to make sure the coed ratio and atmosphere is intact. A team should never have any incentive to encourage certain members or genders to not show up for an *important* game. This league is about having fun!
Depending on your attitude... angry looks from the other players, and very few friends! We do give out some small prize to the championship team, but it's hardly worth everyone else in the league thinking you're a jerk. So relax, make some new friends, and have fun.
The short answer... sometimes. We do our best to make the game fun, and we've added a No Sting league on Wednesday nights in Sacramento for players who want to dip their feet in and try it out.
It IS dodgeball, so there will be some players who throw harder than others, but we try to separate leagues by skill level for the enjoyment of everyone.
Many city leagues offer an opportunity to have "subs" on your roster. With Xoso, all players must be fully registered and paid players because we don't want to run into an issue with "ringers" in the future, not to mention insurance liability.
We are fully aware that things come up and not everyone can play each week. The size of our team rosters take this fact into account and our rules for each sport also enable a team to play shorthanded (to a point) without needing to forfeit.
Injured players may be replaced at no charge prior to the 3rd game of the season under the following regulations:
- The captain must notify the league immediately.
- The replacement player must submit registration info by email and sign a waiver before being eligible to play.
- The replacement player is a PERMANENT replacement. The injured player may not return until the following season.
- Any payment issues and money exchange must be determined between the injured player and the replacement player.
- The injured player must give their XOSO team shirt to the replacement player to wear during games. If the shirt doesn't fit, the replacement player may purchase a new shirt (if available) for $12.
A season is generally between 8-10 weeks long, roughly 8 games and one or two "bye" weeks. The exact number varies based on the number of teams in the league; we can never know for sure until registration has ended.
The final week may or may not include a mini-tournament or playoff to determine the champion.
