Side/Underside of tape is in-bounds, but is it part of the playing field?

  • October 9, 2024 at 7:02 am #5925
    Will Chen
    Participant

    This is a nuanced question about whether the sides/underside of the tape is considered part of the playing field. The rules clearly state they are in-bounds, but don’t explicitly say that they are part of the playing field. This has ramifications when interacting with 11.3 and 11.4.2.

    Scenario: the tape is hovering in the air, perhaps there is a small dip in the sand under this particular portion of the tape. I catch the disc airborne, I then touch the side of the tape (without touching any sand), then I land out of bounds.

    Is my first contact the side of the tape? In which case, the catch stands. Or, is my first contact the out of bounds area, in which case the catch doesn’t stand.

    11.1.1. The area directly under the field tape is considered part of the playing field.
    11.1.2. The portion of the field tape facing upwards, the top, is not considered part of the playing field
    – contact with this part of the tape is considered contact with the out-of-bounds area.
    11.1.3. The rest of the field tape (the sides and portion facing the ground) is considered in-bounds.

    11.3. An offensive player who is not out-of-bounds is in-bounds.
    11.3.1. An airborne player retains their in-bounds/out-of-bounds status until that player contacts the
    playing field or the out-of-bounds area.
    11.3.2. A player who has caught the disc, who contacts the playing field and then contacts an out-of-bounds area, is still considered in-bounds, as long as they maintain the catch until they establish possession.

    11.4. The following are out-of-bounds turnovers, and no catch is deemed to have occurred:
    11.4.1. any part of an offensive receiver is out-of-bounds when they contact the disc; or
    11.4.2. after catching the disc while airborne, an offensive receiver’s first contact is out-of-bounds while
    still in contact with the disc.

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