NPPL Rulebook - Top Changes for 2008

The NPPL Steering Committee met in Las Vegas, NV February 8 - 10, 2008 to cover policies and rules for the 2008 season.

Below is a list of some of the key changes you will see in the 2008 NPPL Rulebook.

Paintball Field Layouts
The field layouts will be released for each event at least 3 weeks prior to the event. The league will be using 3 Field Layouts at each event in 2008, replicating the Center Court and Field 2 layouts on Fields 4 and 5 when there are 5 fields, and replicating the Field 3 layout on Field 6 when there are 6 fields. Two new bunkers have been added to the NPPL Field Layouts for 2008; the Cake and the Maya. To see these new bunkers, visit the Field Layout section of http://www.nppl.com/.

Paintball Game Clock
This year the league will be incorporating a game clock on Center Court. The clock will start at 07:10 with horns sounding at 07:00 and 00:00 to start and stop play. If the clock is well received, we may add clocks to other fields.

Paintball Team Draws
The League has placed a new rule and chart into the 2008 rulebook showing how the team draws will be handled for the 2008 season. The system has not changed, but the league is publishing this so that teams have a better understanding of the system.

Re-Hanging the Flag
The Steering Committee has voted on changing the re-hang rule from past years. Now, if a dirty hang occurs (the player hanging the flag is found to have a hit on him/her), the proper penalties will be assessed and if there are enough players remaining, the flag must be ran back by a live player and re-hung. The player will then pull the flag and brought back to his/her flag station for a clean hang.

Suspensions
After each event, the league will be updating "The Suspension List" on www.NPPL.com. This list will include the details surrounding any suspensions issued throughout the season including the name of the recipient, and how many games are left for the penalty to be served. In addition, the Steering Committee has issued a new rule stating the Head Referee on each field may issue a (1) game suspension instead of a larger suspension for infractions the he/she deems not as severe under the rules of the NPPL 08' Rulebook.

Penalty Flags
To better alert the audience of when a penalty has been called, Referees will now throw a flag up into the air when the penalty takes place.

Paintball Format Changes
The Steering Committee and NPPL Annual Meeting attendees requested for no changes to be made to the 7-man format used in the NPPL Super 7 World Series.

For more rule modifications/changes please review the 2008 NPPL Rulebook. The entire rulebook will be released on http://www.nppl.com/ this week. Should you have any questions regarding the rules, please email Rules@nppl.com