TROGDOR
The Official NTL Rules
Trogdor is a sport that was created in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 2003. Although it may be played at any time of the year, it is usually played during the winter months. If one were to give a very brief description of the game, it would be "soccer, with a football, with physical contact". But this definition does not really do it justice, as it goes much, much deeper than that.
A traditional game of Trogdor is played with either five or seven people. Two opposing teams consisting of two or three people each (teams must have equal amounts of players), as well as one Dungeon Keeper. It is played on a regular sized soccer/football field, using a soccer net as the goal. It uses a standard sized NFL style football. Your main objective is to beat the other team by scoring more trogdors than they do. You must try to score on the Dungeon Keeper, by kicking the football into the net. You can hit it into the net using any part of your body except for your hands/arms. A goal is called a trogdor. An assist on a trogdor is called a bloogden. There can be a maximum of two bloogdens on each trogdor. The bloogdens work much the same way that hockey distributes assists for their goals.
There are four positions that can be played, namely Fetcher, Tate, Dungeon Keeper and sometimes Defendor. The Dungeon Keeper is there to attempt to save the ball from going into the net. In order for someone to score a trogdor, they must get the ball past the Dungeon Keeper, and get it to cross completely over the goal-line. The Fetcher is the person who primarily serves the ball, and they are also usually the playmakers. They are the ones that will chase the ball down if play starts drifting away from the net. The Tate usually stays near the net, and will try to get open, clear the opposing players near the net, or attempt to steal a goal from the opposing team. The terms of Fetcher and Tate are used somewhat losely, as they more or less just try to define a player's usual duties, and playing style. A person is not required to be classified as either position, or stay as either (as opposed to Dungeon Keepers and Defendors, that are both set positions and must maintain their roles throughout the game). Defendors are not usually used. If there are more than five people present, the extra players are distributed evenly onto the two teams (the maximum number a team can reach for regular season games is four people each). However, if there is an odd number of players, rather than create an unfair advantage for one team, the final person takes the position of Defendor, in which they are on the Dungeon Keeper's "team", trying to prevent both teams from scoring. If a trogdor is scored off of the Defendor, then the last player to have touched the ball before him will receive credit for the trogdor.
During official Playoff or Tournament games (such as Le Trog, or the Louis Riel Classic), the standard number of players is three per team. No Defendors are allowed to play in such games.
There are no offsides or anything of that sort (other than the Illegal Procedure call while serving). So this means that you can "steal" trogdors from the other team, or even your teammate(s). The last person to touch the ball before it goes into the net is credited with the point. This means that if it is on it's way into the net, and you happen to touch it before it goes in, that's a trogdor for you. Actually, that would officially be marked down in the statistics as a Stolen Trogdor.
The event that starts off many plays is called the serve. The Fetcher steps into the Service Box (which is just an approximate area based on a distance from the net. the distance will vary depending on the size of the net) and puts their arm up in the air. That means that they are ready to serve the ball. They must then wait for everyone else to put their arms up. The Fetcher serving must wait until an arm is up from every other player including the Dungeon Keeper, but not including anyone currently in the penalty box, or the Defendor. This is simply to ensure that everyone is ready, and aware of the serve about to take place. If someone should choose not to raise their arm for whatever reason (being too cold, or just being too lazy), they may "verbally raise their arm". They must say something like "My arm is up", or something of that nature, loudly, and clearly, so that everyone may hear. As soon as everyone's arms are raised, they may then proceed to kick the ball. The ball must touch the ground at some point during the serve. The team that is kicking the serve may be positioned however they would like (except for the server, who must be at the service box, or behind it). The defending team are confined to a distance of the halfway point from the net to the Service Box, with the exception of one player. One player may choose to block the shot, and may be as close as one meter to the ball upon service.
There are three main strategies you might want to accomplish on the serve. These include the Ace, a direct pass to a teammate, or bringing the ball up slowly on your own (usually only used on the Power-play or if you're Short-handed). Most of the time, the server will simply attempt the ace.
An ace is scoring on the serve, completely untouched by anyone else, including the Dungeon Keeper. This is rarely done, and is the best thing that you can do in the entire game. If a team scores an ace, they will receive two points towards the score of the current game, as opposed to one point on regular trogdors. It will still only count as one trogdor in the stats for the individual who scored it (but will also be recorded as an ace).
To gain the opportunity to serve, one of two things must have happened to stop the previous play. Either the opposing team had scored against you, thus giving you possession of the ball, or the opposing team received a penalty call against them, thus ending the play. The exception to these, are when a team scores a G'day Lady. This is when someone scores a "header" (the ball goes into the net directly off of someone's head), with their hat off. They must have been wearing a hat, taken it off, be holding it in their hand, while scoring off of their head. They get a point, AND the following serve. The person that scored the G'Day Lady must be the one to take the following serve.
When a team starts on the Power Play (meaning a member of the opposing team has just been penalized), they are permitted to move up from the standard service box. The Power Play Service Box will be placed at the point of two thirds the distance of the Net and the standard Service Box. This can only be used on the first serve of each power play. In addition to the shortened serve, all members of the defending team must not be closer than half the distance of the Net and the Power Play Service Box. The team of Offense are permitted to be positioned wherever they want.
Kickoffs occur quite regularly in the game. This is when the Dungeon Keeper kicks the ball away from the net, impartially to the players. This happens at the very beginning of every game, whenever the Dungeon Keeper ceases play by making a save, holding onto the ball, or when the ball goes through the back or side of the net. It can also be done when a decision cannot be made over a trogdor. When two players on separate teams touch the ball at the same time, putting it in the net, and a decision cannot be made as to which team the trogdor will go to, it is ruled as "No Goal" (the Dungeon Keeper has the final say as to the outcome), and the kickoff then proceeds. Although called the "kickoff", most of the time the Dungeon Keeper usually chooses to simply throw it away instead. To commence a game, it must be a kick, all other times can be whatever the Dungeon Keeper would like to do.
Other than on the penalty kill, there is no set out-of-bounds anywhere, other than in the net (and excluding a delay of game penalty). If the ball happens to go into the back of the net, play will cease. Obviously, when a trogdor is scored, the play will be over. However, if the ball enters the net from either of the sides or from the back, that play will be over. It does not necessarily have to land inside the net, just pass through it. This is to help prevent incredibly easy scoring chances, by simply kicking the ball from behind, to an open player right in front of the net. The play will be assumed dead, and will cease immediately, unless the ball has traveled an obviously far distance from the net. The Dungeon Keeper may then call "Play-on!", and override the stoppage of play. If the play dies, a kickoff will follow.
While there is quite a bit of physical contact in the game, we try to restrict the amount of cheating, and injuries. The Dungeon Keeper is a very important figure of the game, because not only does he try to save the shots on the net, but he is also the referee, because he is impartial and not on either team. It is his responsibility to call penalties on any of the players for breaking any of the rules. This creates interesting situations, because the Dungeon Keeper must watch both the ball and the players at all times. There is somewhat of a mini-game where players will attempt to get away with as many infractions in a game as possible while the Dungeon Keeper is not looking.
There are two different types of penalties, Set Penalties, and Discretion Penalties. When you receive a set penalty, you receive a certain amount of penalty "minutes" along with it. The discretion penalties are up to the Dungeon Keeper's discretion as to how many penalty minutes you will receive for committing the penalizing act.
The already Set Penalties are as follows:
Hand Ball - 2 min. (touching the ball with your hands or arms. if your arms are at your sides, or are against your body, only below the elbow will be considered. otherwise it goes from fingers to shoulders.)
Hand Ball Protection - 1 min. (touching the ball with your hands or arms in self-defense to protect your face, crotch, etc.)
Hand Ball Goal - 3 min. (using your hands or arms to score a goal or defend a goal)
Net Violation - 2 min. (stepping inside the goal)
Forced Net Violation - 1 min. (pushing someone into the goal)
On The Back - 2 min. added on (if you check, hit, punch, kick, push, etc., on the back side of someone, when they aren't looking, you get an added two minutes onto whatever it was that you did. example: if you shove someone from behind when they aren't looking, that's two minutes for roughing, plus two extra minutes, thus giving you a total of four penalty minutes)
Organized Crime - 2 min. added on (when it is obvious that two or more players actually conspire and think up a plan to do something to someone. this is added on to the time for whatever the actual act was)
Snow Balling - 2 min. (throwing loose snow, snowballs, kicking snow, face washes, etc.)
Diving - 1 min. (diving, falling, or acting like a penalty was committed to them, when it is untrue, or even just clearly unnecessary)
Sacking - 5 min. (kicking/punching/hitting someone in the crotch)
Delay of Game - 2 min. (when the ball gets kicked too far away, or just held when there is nobody chasing you, or when it is not needed)
Illegal Procedure - 1 min. (this has to do with the set-up for the serve. when the ball is not in the service box, or when not everyone's hands were up prior to the serve, or the ball does not touch the ground, or when a teammate is too close to the server, or when an opposing team member is closer to the ball than one meter [the opposing team's Fetcher is allowed to be up to one meter away, but that is the only person allowed to be near there, other than the designated server. all other players may be a maximum of half of the distance of the goal to the service box])
Declothing - 2 min. (taking an article of clothing off someone. example, grabbing someone's touque from their head to distract them.)
Mars Barring - 2 min. (using a foreign object to interfere in the game. examples: hitting someone with a frozen chocolate bar, or catching/throwing the ball with a hat.)
Penalty Kill Violation - 2 min. (kicking the ball past the Penalty Kill Line when shorthanded. the penalty kill line is located at the service box)
Fuzzying the Shirt - Game Ejection (if you have some sort of velcro or zipper, or something of that sort, and it happens to catch onto someone else's clothes, and pulls on some of the fabric, making it look "fuzzy", by an accident or not)
Fighting - Game Ejection (getting into a fight with another player or players)
Footwear Infraction - Game Ejection (wearing either cleats or steel-toed boots/shoes)
Sloppy Counts - 1 min. and player must restart the current minute that they were on (any miscounting offenses: slurring numbers, not counting to 60, etc)
Killing - Game Ejection (causing the death of someone, in any way)
Every other penalty is up to the Dungeon Keeper as to how long the time will be. The standard time is two minutes, but if it is less severe, it might be only one minute, or more severe, it may be 3 minutes, etc. There have been a few occasions where a five or even a ten minute penalty has been served. These are for extremely violent acts, or they can be a combination of several minor penalties added together.
The discretion penalties that can be called are as follows:
Tripping (tripping another player with their foot/leg)
Holding (holding or grabbing another player or their clothes, to slow down or stop their movement)
Kicking (kicking another player)
Hitting (punching another player, or hitting of any kind with their hand/arm)
Keeper Interference (making contact with the Dungeon Keeper hindering his performance, while he is inside his crease. when he is outside of his crease however, the Dungeon Keeper is fair-game for anything)
Unsportsmanlike Conduct (any sort of penalty that is committed in between plays)
Arguing (arguing with the Dungeon Keeper about a call made, or a call missed, or something of the sort)
Roughing (when it is obvious that some sort of foul had been committed upon another player, but cannot be distinguished as another official penalty, it is designated "roughing")
As soon as a penalty is called, the current play is immediately over. When you are called for a penalty, you must step into the back of the net, to keep yourself out of the way. You then count out how many "minutes" you were given, out loud, so everybody can hear you. You may not start counting until the opposing team serves the ball (as soon as the server's foot comes into contact with the ball). You may count as fast as you want, as long as you actually say each and every number clearly. So they are not actually penalty "minutes", considering for some people, they can get an entire penalty minute counted off in 20-30 seconds. You are permitted to count up to 60, and repeat for as many minutes as needed (as opposed to counting to 120 for a 2 minute call). When you are done counting, you may then leave the net, and continue with the on-going play, but you must yell "I'm out!", or something to that effect. If the opposing team scores while you are still in the serving your penalty, it is called a Power-Play Trogdor, and one minute is subtracted off of your remaining penalty time. So, if you had one minute, or less, you are out of the box automatically. If you had more than one minute, you simply subtract one minute from your remaining time. If your team scores while you are in the penalty box, it is called a Short-Handed Trogdor, and this does not affect your remaining time at all. If play is stopped for any reason, you must stop your counting as soon as play ceases. You must remain at the number you were at when the current play finished, until the next serve/kickoff.
Another way of reducing your time is called Penalty Running. This is very rarely done. You wait inside the penalty box until play resumes, and proceed to run to the other side of the field. You must touch the goal, or goal line on the far side of the field, and then come back, and re-enter the penalty box. This will take off one minute of your time. You may not interfere in any way with the game during this (should you interfere with a play of somekind, you will receive an extra 2 minutes to your current penalty). You may still count out your minutes while running. This is only done when a player receives a very large amount of penalty minutes, as a way to work them off faster.
If you receive a game ejection, you must leave the game. Whether that means leaving the area, or simply just sitting off to the side for the remainder of it. Your team will play shorthanded for the rest of the entire game. You will receive an automatic 20 minutes added onto your statistics. As soon as the present game finishes, you may return to play for the next one, if it is so desired.
When you are killing a penalty (when you have a teammate in the penalty box, and trying to prevent the opposing team to score on you), the ball may not pass the Penalty Kill Line (which is the line at center-field), but may technically go as far as needed in any other direction, as long as there is an opponent in the vicinity. The Dungeon Keeper will keep close watch to make sure no delay of game penalty is needed.
If there is someone playing as a Defendor, he may assist the Dungeon Keeper by making some penalty calls. But they are limited to what they are able to call. They may call the Set Penalties as they see fit. Any Discretion Penalties are up to the Dungeon Keeper's discretion, but the Defendor may still call some. Should the Defendor call a discretion penalty, they may only make it for 1 minute. Nothing longer may be awarded in this category.
The Defendor may also have penalties called on themselves. However, since they are not really on any team, it would be useless for them to go into the penalty box. So if they were to do something illegal, they must stand in the goal, put their hands up on the crossbar of the net, and every other player may kick the ball at him from the power-play service box, once each. He may not move until everyone is finished. This is a rather harsh punishment, but it is an effective way of ensuring that the rules are followed.
Some additional statistics that you may receive are Don Zimmers, and Face Shots. Face Shots are pretty self-explanatory. If you get hit in the face with the ball, this is a face shot. A Don Zimmer is probably the best defensive statistic that you can receive, as well as the rarest to achieve. It is accomplished when an opposing player is running towards you, and you manage to put your hands on their head/shoulders, and push down. This will make them fall down, using their own momentum against them. It is hard to explain, but quite hilarious to watch.
To win a game, you must win by three points. That is called a score of +3. If your team was winning +1, and the other team scored, the score would now be at Even. If they were to continue, and score the next trogdor, the score would then be +1 for them. There is no set time limit for a game. The game goes on until one team gets to +3. There have been games that have lasted 3 minutes, or over an hour, and just about everything in between. In some instances, Sudden Death may be incorporated. For example, the game keeps going back and forth, and has been going on for a very long time, and everyone would like to finish it. As long as the score is Even or +1 for either team, sudden death may begin. Both teams must agree for this to carry out. The Dungeon Keeper will do a kickoff, and it is simply the next goal wins. This is rarely done, however. Once a game is completed, usually the teams are rearranged, and a new game will commence.
For more information on Trogdor, or The National Trogdor League, if you have any questions/comments, or would like to join the mailing list, contact bobshmoot@hotmail.com
