The Major League Quidditch Gameplay Department is excited to be working with US Quidditch’s Rulebook 8 for the 2015 season. The rulebook is by far the best our sport has seen to date, offering previously unprecedented levels of standardization and legislation for matches.

However, our league provides us with a unique opportunity to branch out in the realm of strategic application in a way never seen before, especially with the coaching staffs our teams have compiled. While we have no intention of making sweeping changes to the rulebook, we do intend to take advantage of amendments if and when we see it necessary.

The first, and likely most notable, of these changes is the addition of an oft-discussed concept: the timeout. Below is the full wording of the rules amendment, which will give each team a single, one-minute timeout per match to call within the first 17 minutes of gameplay. The rule will be implemented for the entirety of the MLQ season. We are excited to see how teams apply these timeouts and hope you are as well. See you on the pitch!

– MLQ Gameplay Department

9. League-Specific Rulebook Amendments – MLQ

9.1. TIMEOUTS
9.1.1. Timeouts are stoppages in play and of game time specifically requested by an individual player or coach.

9.1.1.1. Calling a legal timeout:
A. Each team receives one, one-minute timeout per game.
B. A team may only request a timeout during the first 17 minutes of game time.
i. The timekeeper must announce the 17-minute mark of game time so both teams and the referee are informed that timeouts may no longer be called.
C. A team’s timeout must be requested by the keeper on the pitch or the team’s coach or captain for the game.
i. No other players, substitutes, or team officials may request a timeout.
D. A timeout may only be requested while the keeper of the team requesting the timeout has possession of the quaffle in the team’s own keeper zone and has immunity.

Penalty: Yellow: Any illegal attempt to call a timeout (already used, after the seeker floor, not in the keeper zone) will result in a yellow card for the team’s designated coach. If the coach is non-playing, or simply not on the pitch, a player on the pitch must be put in the penalty box.

9.1.1.2. Timeout procedure
The keeper on the pitch, coach, or captain of a team must request that the head referee call timeout by verbalizing the term “TIMEOUT” and may also visually indicate the request by crossing both hands in a “T” signal.
i. This request is subject to all conditions of 9.1.1.1.
Upon receiving the request, the head referee:
i. Ensures that the team requesting the timeout meets all conditions of 9.1.1.1.
ii. Stops play by blowing the whistle in paired short blasts. All rules regarding stopping play in section 3.3. apply.
iii. The head referee may briefly delay the stoppage of play to allow any active beater play to resolve.
C. The head referee reports to the scorekeeper at the score table. At the score table:
i. The scorekeeper informs the head referee of the game time.
ii. The head referee notes which team has called the timeout.
D. The head referee announces:
i. The team which has called the timeout.
ii. The current game time.
iii. The timeout will last one minute from this announcement.
E. The head referee, with the scorekeeper, is responsible for timing the minute.
F. At the end of the minute, the head referee notifies both teams that they must return immediately to their brooms.
G. The players who were in active play at the time of the timeout must return immediately to their brooms and be ready to resume active play.
i. No substitutions are allowed during the timeout.
H. The head referee calls “Mount Up!”
i. The head referee resumes play by blowing one short whistle blast.

Penalty: Yellow: Any attempt to substitute during the timeout will result in a yellow card for the player who has entered the game illegally.