Definition of "Vicinity" of the ball
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14B.8 Fouls
14B.8.1 General Considerations All players must take care not to endanger others. The game is non-contact: the opponents and their unicycles may not be touched. The players must take care not to hit an opponent with their stick, especially after a shot. Only in the vicinity of the ball may a player touch an opponent’s stick with their stick to block them. However, this contact may not be hard. It is illegal to turn the blade of the stick upside down in order to hook into an opponent’s stick. Raising the opponent’s stick is allowed in principle, if not done using exaggerated roughness. If the opponent’s stick is raised to a high stick (see section 14B.10.4), it is always considered exaggerated roughness. Intentional delay of the game is not permitted.
In my experience I have had two interpretations of what "vicinity" of the ball means.
1. Closest player on a team to the ball
2. Ball is close enough to a player that the player could touch the ball if they moved their stick to it
Interpretation 1 often results in Red Player hacking Blue Players stick as Blue Player rides to try and collect the ball OR Red player hacking Blue Players stick as Blue player rides past him to try and get to another Red Player who has the ball perhaps 10m away.
In my opinion, hitting the stick of an opponent who cannot reach the ball (the ball is outside the radius of their body+stick length ~2m) can have only one aim, to disrupt the opponents riding to stop them getting close enough to reach the ball.
Hitting the stick of an opponent who can reach the ball with their stick (the ball is inside the radius of their body+stick length) often means that you are doing it where an opponent is trying to pass/control/shoot the ball and hitting their stick at the opportune moment can disrupt the swing/stickwork and result in them missing the ball and you taking it.
If the main aim of hitting an opponents stick is to disrupt their riding then I think this ends up being a safety issue and is not different from causing contact to disrupt the oppositions riding. In both situations you are trying to force the player to fall off/correct their balance in response to your interference and therefore it is not the same as hitting someones stick when they are about to shoot/pass/stickwork.
I think the wording of "vicinity of the ball" should be tightened so it is less up to individual interpretation. I believe most refs currently rule something similar to what I am proposing but you shouldn't need to take part in a regular league to interpret the rulebook correctly.
I propose the radius of the stick around the body should count as the vicinity.
Change to the game from altering wording in this way: Players will not be able to ride alongside opponents hacking each others sticks for 10m until they reach the ball.
Pros: More clear interpretation, marginally improved safety
Cons: Players wont be able to hit the stick off an opposing player as he rides past towards their team-mate
Comment
"Vicinity of the ball" means indeed of the "ball" and not of a "rider or player". I understand under "vicinity" a radius approximately maximum length of a stick around the current location of the ball. It is anyway only an assumption of the general rule "the opponents and their unicycles may not be touched."
Comment
I don't think there's an issue with this rule.
Steve, the vicinity of the ball is your interpretation 2, not interpretation 1. As you said, hitting another players stick is a safety issue, and there isn't really much point in this except knocking another player off their balance. Within that rule, a player may not hit another player's stick if they are not within the vicinity of the ball.
I think your proposal needs sharpening a little, as there's no mention of the ball. With no mention of the ball, anyone could be hitting anyone's stick anywhere on the court as long as they're within the radius of their stick.
If we do want to change 'vicinity' for something clearer, maybe: the radius of the stick at arm's length to the ball.
This would, of course, be the call of a referee, as some of us have little t-rex arms.
Comment
Sorry I worded my first post badly.
I am not actually suggesting "radius of the stick around the body should" wording be used as an official proposal. I am just trying to ascertain if people agree that a player should have to be within stick distance of a ball before they can have their stick hit. The suggestion did mean radius of the stick at arms length to the ball.
The definition of vicinity is "the area near or surrounding a particular place." With that definition interpretation 1 (closest to the ball) can still be justified by a referee. If we agree that number 1 is not appropriate to rule because it provides unnecessary risk with no benefit to game play then the wording should be improved.
Comment
"Little t-rex arms" or the arms of elastic girl, no referee will be able to measure this distance on spot, it will be more his interpretation of the situation. We should give a help or guideline.
What do you think about "Only in the vicinity (as maximum arm´s length + average stick length) of the ball. ...".
Comment
I think saying something along the lines of "Only in the vicinity of the ball (defined as the ball within the radius of the maximum arm length + stick)
I didn't really change much from yours Herbert
Comment
Summary
14B.8 Fouls Only in the vicinity of the ball may a player touch an opponent’s stick with their stick to block them.
Discussion 1: What is vicinity?
Consensus is that vicinity counts as when you could reach the ball with your stick?
Specific wording?
14B.8.1 General Considerations All players must take care not to endanger others. The game is non-contact: the opponents and their unicycles may not be touched. The players must take care not to hit an opponent with their stick, especially after a shot. Only in the vicinity of the ball (defined as the ball within the radius of the maximum arm length plus stick) may a player touch an opponent’s stick with their stick to block them. However, this contact may not be hard. It is illegal to turn the blade of the stick upside down in order to hook into an opponent’s stick. Raising the opponent’s stick is allowed in principle, if not done using exaggerated roughness. If the opponent’s stick is raised to a high stick (see section 14B.10.4), it is always considered exaggerated roughness. Intentional delay of the game is not permitted.
Comment
Yeah, seems consensus is that vicinity is when you can hit the ball with your stick. This also make sense in that we make it clear that you shouldn't just hit the other stick to annoy your opponent but only do it specifically to get to the ball. This is similar to how other contact is currently being judged (or not judged).
Comment
I will create a proposal from this soon
Comment
Sorry for the missing feedbacks from my side. In general I like to precise rules and give guidelines to the referees as long as they do not complicate the rulebook too much. In this case I agree with the proposal.