High Kick

The Rules of High Kick:

• Teams receive 2 points for scoring the ball (a soccer ball) through an upright goal, and 3 points for scoring the ball from behind the 3-point line
• No players are allowed to touch the ball with their hands, except for goalies
• The upright goal is defended by a trampoline-goalie, who uses a goalie-only trampoline located in his or her team’s end zone. The goalie is allowed to leave the end zone (High Kick’s version of ‘pulling your goalie’), but no players other than the goalie are allowed into the end zone, with the exception of offence-only ‘High Kickers’
• The offence-only High Kickers must remain in their team’s offensive-zone end zone at all times, and are only allowed to touch the ball when they are airborne. If the ball touches the ground in the end zone, it is an out-of-bounds
• In the 1st Quarter of the game, there are no High Kickers playing. In the 2nd Quarter, there is one High Kicker per team, who is allowed to move back and forth between the three High Kicker trampolines. In the 3rd Quarter, there are two High Kickers, who are allowed to move back and forth between trampolines. And in the 4th Quarter, all three High Kickers play.
• Teams receive 1 point when a High Kicker scores a goal. (High Kickers, in addition to being able to score 1 point airborne goals, are also very useful in obstructing the goalie’s vision in order to make it easier for teammates to score 2 and 3 point goals).
• Teams also receive 1 point for hitting any part of the goal post, including the pole that holds up the goal. (For example, if you fake a shot to get the goalie to jump in the air, you can then score a 1-point goal by sniping the goal post below the airborne goalie).
• Overtime is first-goal-wins, but no High Kickers are allowed to play in it, and the goal cannot be a 1-pointer
• Penalties result in hockey-style power plays
• Free kicks and corner kicks are soccer-style
• Each quarter is 15 minutes long. 5 minute breaks between quarters, 20 minute halftime break, for a total of ∼1.5 hours.
• Trampoline-goalies are allowed to ‘run’ up the pole that holds up the upright goal as they jump, but are not allowed to hang from or sit on the goal post in order to stay up in the air longer than gravity allows
• For reasons of safety, High Kickers are not allowed to stand next to the goalie-only trampoline, and the goalie is not allowed to stand next to the High Kicker trampolines. The end zone as a whole is separated from the rest of the playing field by a short (perhaps 1-foot-high), soft barrier
• Also for reasons of safety, the goal post may be well-padded
• Players, including trampoliners, can make player substitutions ‘on the fly’, hockey-style, as well as during stoppages of play. Players are also allowed to swap positions: a player is allowed to be a goalie, a High Kicker, and a normal player all in a single game
• Coaches have one timeout and one coach’s challenge per game. Commercials and advertisements are not allowed
• The dimensions of the field, and the height and diameter of the goal posts, and the number of players allowed on the field at a given time, are allowed to differ from one venue to the next. Let a thousand flowers bloom. Within reason. (No actual flowers are allowed on the playing field..)
• If playing on a smaller field – futsal-style High Kick – the game is allowed to be played without any High Kickers, or with only a single High Kicker. In futsal-style High Kick, header goals are worth 1 point
• In Major League High Kick, all of the league’s team rosters simultaneously reset every seven years: all new rosters are drafted, in one big league-wide fantasy-style draft. This takes place either in Las Vegas or Vatican City
• Finally, most importantly, when a fan catches a ball, they get to keep it