Rule 3 · USPA Rulebook 2026
Substitutes
When a player may be replaced, how the replacement affects the team's handicap, and the special case after a Penalty 7.
Between periods
Unlimited substitutions shall be permitted at the end of any period, except as provided in Rule 21.d relating to an injured player.
During a period
A substitution may be made at any time during a game if a member of a team is, for any reason, unable to finish the game, or at the end of any period if a member of a team has been unable to play during the earlier stages of the game, except as provided in Rule 21.d relating to an injured player. In the event of an injury substitution during a period, the team may elect to make a double substitution, replacing the injured player and one other with eligible substitutes.
A player is delayed in arriving for a game. He calls ahead and authorizes his groom (an eligible player with a current handicap) to start in his place. The player arrives two minutes into the second period. The player may enter the game at the end of the period and complete the game. Three minutes into the first period a player requests a time out when the ball is out of play. The player advises the Umpire that he is unable to continue. The Umpire must assume the player is injured or ill and permit up to 10 minutes for a substitute to enter the game. If the player quits without notifying the Umpire, play will resume, and no time out allowed. A player who leaves the game due to exhaustion, and is replaced by a qualified substitute, recovers and wishes to return half-way through the fourth period. This substitution is permitted but may not take place until the end of the period because the player being replaced is able to continue. Team Red with a 12-goal team, loses an 8-goaler to injury. As no 8-goal substitute is available, the Red Captain orders the 2-goal Red #1 to leave the game and wishes to substitute two 5-goal players. The team handicap remains 12 goals. The double substitution is allowed. Red #2 is injured in the 2nd period and leaves the game. The game is restarted after 10 minutes without a substitute and Red shorthanded. Midway through the 3rd period a substitute is found for Red #2. The substitute may enter the game at any time, even though play is in progress, because the position is open. Blue #2, a 4-goal player, is knocked out of the game and replaced by a 2-goal player. Midway through the following period another 4-goal player is found. The new player may replace the 2-goal player but only at the end of the period.
Eligibility of substitutes
In all cases of substitution, the substitute(s) must be eligible to play in the game and the team’s aggregate handicap after the substitution may not exceed the upper aggregate handicap limit specified for the event; however, the team’s aggregate handicap may be below the lower aggregate handicap limit specified for the event.
Any substitute during a game must have been eligible to start the game registration fee paid, handicap in order, etc. and the team must remain qualified under the upper handicap limit of the event. The team may, in case of a substitution, continue to play if it does not meet the lower limit of the event.
Team Blue, in a 4-8 goal tournament, loses its 6-goal player to injury. The only player available, who is not already on a team in the tournament, is a 1 goal player. The team, rather than continue with 3 players, is allowed the substitution, even though the team is now a 3-goal team.
Highest handicap counts
The highest team handicap on the field at any time in the game shall be counted for the entire game.
Team Blue enters a tournament with an 8-goal team. Early in their first game, Blue #4, a 5-goaler, is injured and replaced by a 4-goaler. Team Blue, even though now 7 goals, must play as 8 for the balance of the game. Team Red enters an 8-goal tournament with a 7-goal team. Late in the game, Red’s 4-goaler is injured and the only available substitute is a 5-goaler. Red can make the substitution but will have to take one goal off of the scoreboard as Red is now an 8-goal team.
Playing on with three
In the event a player is removed from the game due to inability to continue or by disqualification and no qualified alternate is available or permitted, the team shall continue to play; no change in handicap shall be made, and the team will remain qualified.
Team Red, an 8-goal team, loses its -1 goal player to injury. No alternate is available. Team Red may continue the game with 3 players even though they are on the field handicap is now 9 goals. There is no handicap goal awarded to the Blue Team.
After a Penalty 7
In the event a player or players are removed from a game due to a Penalty 7, both teams may substitute the remaining players in accordance with conditions listed above, except that neither team’s aggregate handicap on the field, plus goals received by handicap, may exceed the higher handicapped team’s handicap following the enactment of the Penalty 7. After enactment of the Penalty 7, and the teams are reduced to three players per team, the injured player may not re-enter the game at any time.
Team Red enters a 12-goal tournament with a 6, a 4, and two 1-goalers. Team Blue has a 12-goal team that consists of a 5, a 4, a 2, and a 1 goal player. Team Red loses the 6-goal player to injury as a result of a foul by Blue Team and a Penalty 7 is awarded. As no substitute, or combination of substitutes, is available, the Red Captain requests permission from the Umpires to remove a player from the Blue Team. Since there is no player whose handicap is nearest above that of the disabled player, the Red Captain chooses to remove the Blue #3, whose handicap is 5 goals. Play will continue for the remainder of the game with 3 on a side, leaving the Red’s Team aggregate handicap at 6 goals and the Blue’s Team aggregate handicap at 7 goals. Subsequent substitutions by either must not exceed an aggregate team handicap of 7 goals. Team Red enters a 10-goal team in a 12-goal tournament. The Blue Team, a 12-goal team, loses their Blue #3 (a 7-goaler) to an injury as the result of a foul and the Umpires exact a Penalty 7. The Blue Team, unable to find a suitable substitute, designates a 5-goaler to be removed from the Red Team, making both team handicaps 5 goals. However, Red had received 2 goals by handicap at the beginning of the game. Thus, Red’s handicap is considered to be 7 goals and Blue may substitute to that level.
Under this Rule, players may enter the game freely between periods of a game. Players may only be replaced during a period if a player is declared unable to continue. If a game is stopped because of an injury, double substitutions in any combination may be made as long as the players are individually eligible and the team remains eligible. After a Penalty 7 removal, the injured player may not return, and the teams must play with three players per side for the remainder of the game. The uninjured player removed from the game as a result of Penalty 7 will remain qualified as a substitute.