THE ANNUAL CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN LOFTERS is staged each August and consists entirely of a "one and done" knockout tournament comprised of sixty-four teams created from scratch each year. It takes place entirely at a single site over the course of eleven consecutive days, beginning on a Thursday, ending on a Sunday. Doing away entirely with the concept of a regular season, Loft creates a festival atmosphere rare in sports.
Any American city which meets a minimum population requirement and has the proper basic practice facilities can enter itself into the annual election lottery. No city with a population larger than 50,000 may enter the lottery. The lottery is held sixty days after the end of the previous tournament, with one team awarded per state. A supplemental lottery awards fourteen more teams.
Lofters are not part of their teams beyond each annual tournament. Ten days after the lottery selections assign teams to the states, new open tryouts are held around the country, with the top 448 players chosen to participate in the tournament and assigned randomly to each team. Open tryouts last ten days. A.A.L. Coaches are also assigned randomly.
Names of teams are taken solely from the cities they represent; to accentuate regional identities, no team is given an official nickname. Uniforms consist of single-color short-sleeved shirts, shorts, and black shoes, with no patterns, designs, or player names allowed. Even team colors are assigned randomly. In the event that two teams with similar colors face each other, one will wear a lighter-shaded uniform.
Lofters are only paid a per diem for their work from the time they are assigned to a team through the final day of the Loft tournament. No player may be paid more than any other.
The schedule of the annual tournament is as follows:
Days one through four, Thursday through Sunday: 8 games played per day, 32 total, to reduce the field to 32 teams.
Days five through eight, Monday through Thursday: 4 games played per day, 16 total, to reduce the field to 16 teams
Day nine, Friday: 8 games played, 16 teams, to reduce the field to 8 teams
Day ten, Saturday: 4 games played, 8 teams, to reduce the field to 4 teams
Day eleven, Sunday: 3 games played, 4 teams, to crown the champion
No game ever begins after 8 p.m. EST, so that no fans of any age will ever have to miss its completion.
The stadium site is divided into two equal halves; when fans purchase tickets, they must choose which side of the stadium to watch from, with the goal being to sit like-minded fans with each other.
1. The Team, Field, and Ball
Loft is played between two teams, each with a total roster of seven players, on a field roughly 70 yards long and 30 yards wide. The ball is approximately the size and weight of a regulation volleyball. The field consists mostly of wide patches of grass, called loft lines, broken up by areas of packed dirt.
The game is decided when one team wins four of a possible seven rounds. Each round is divided into three playing stages.
In the first stage of each round, five players take the field for each side:
Three advancers or three obstructors, according to which team is granted possession of the ball. Possession alternates with each play.
One banker. The banker is confined to the longer of the two vertical stripes at the far end of the field. His goal is to catch balls struck toward him by an advancer.
One fenceman. The fenceman is confined to the shorter of the two vertical stripes at the far end of the field. His goal is to keep the banker from catching the ball.
There are only two available players on the bench for each game, rounding out the roster. No coaches of any kind are allowed on the field or the sidelines, nor may they contact their players during the game. An impartial equipment and medical staff are assigned for each contest.
For each game, a coin toss decides which team is said to be "home" and which is the "visiting" team.
This set of rules uses as examples the two competitors from the 2012 Loft Championship game: TLO (The Lofters of) Temple and TLO (The Lofters of) Barnstable.
TLO Temple (home)
Starter: Miguel Tuerrera
Starter: Benny Toms
Starter: Gary Dell'Ardo
Banker: Kelvin Morrow
Fenceman: Benedict Jones
Reserve: Stuart Larchmont
Reserve: William Lennon
TLO Barnstable (visitors)
Starter: Harrison Julian
Starter: Conor Lindensmith
Starter: Paul Rupp
Banker: Derek Canton
Fenceman: S.K. Spungen
Reserve: Dave Punter
Reserve: Christian Pruitt
Both teams get five chances, or plays, to bank points during stage one of each round. Banking points is different than scoring them; a banked point is not yet part of a team's score. Banked points, also called potentials, are accumulated during stage one, then converted into actual points, also called reals, during stage two.
With the ball in play, a team's advancers can bank points in two ways: either by striking the ball with the hand or kicking it to their banker standing in the banker's stripe, or by striking the ball with the hand or kicking it so that it makes contact with an obstructor. The obstructors' goal is to impede the advancers from getting into good scoring position to deliver the ball to their banker, and also, to a lesser extent, to try to draw attacking throws from the advancers.
A play begins with the receiving team's three advancers standing within five feet of their own back-line, which is an imaginary vertical line connecting the four ends of the outermost loft lines. They must stand within a grass loft line when play begins. The three obstructors stand inside loft lines within five feet of their own back-line on the opposite side of the field. Both fencemen stand within their respective stripes, and both bankers stand within theirs.
During stage one game play, neither advancers nor obstructors may step outside the field's wide grass loft-lines into any area of packed dirt.
A) THE TRIGGER KICK
Temple has been named the home team for today's game. When the referee's whistle is first blown, their fenceman, Benedict Jones, kicks the ball into play from the trigger point in the center of the fenceman's stripe where it sits in a fixed position. His goal is to kick the ball so that it lands on its first bounce inside the target circle at the opposite end of the field. If it does, the ball is in play and must be struck with the hand or kicked by a Barnstable advancer before it hits the ground a second time. By landing the ball inside the target circle, Jones has achieved a graze; this means that on subsequent plays, he is free to kick the ball from the trigger point to a much wider area. Then, if any of his stage one kicks strike in bounds and bounce a second time with no advancers able to keep it in play, he has achieved a pierce and the play is over.
Until Jones achieves a graze, Barnstable's advancers are under no obligation to make a play on any of his kicks and they may, if they choose, simply let the ball go out of play, making him kick again.
STRATEGY:
The sooner Jones achieves a graze, the better. This means that he is free to launch his next kicks to parts of the field where it will be more difficult for Barnstable's advancers to put the ball into play, aiming especially between them.
Serving the ball so that it falls within the target circle requires loft and accuracy and is about as difficult as making a 50 yard field goal in football. The faraway position of the target circle on the field ensures that the trigger kick won't have much velocity and will be relatively easy for an advancer to handle the ball when it strikes there. But when a graze is achieved and Jones is then free to kick the ball to a vastly wider area, he can apply more power and willful direction to his kick, which makes it more difficult for an advancer to strike it where and how he wishes. Jones' ultimate goal is to kick the ball with such speed and accuracy that no advancer can handle it successfully, ending the play outright, leaving the advancers no chance to score.
At no point during a game of Loft can the ball be allowed to bounce more than once. If the ball ever bounces more than once before a player touches it, the play is over.
After Jones has achieved a graze, his subsequent kicks must cross the field's midpoint before the first bounce. A pierce is achieved if the ball either bounces twice inside the field of play or bounces once and goes out of play. After a graze, one of Barnstable's advancers may stand anywhere inside the loft lines behind the field's midpoint in order to be better positioned for a possible short kick, while the other two advancers must still begin play within five feet of their own back-line. If Jones kicks the ball out of play, he must kick again with Barnstable awarded a single potential.
If Jones is not able to achieve a single graze over the course of five kicks, he must leave the field immediately upon the errant fifth kick and a stay off the field for the duration of the play.
As soon as Jones kicks the ball, the advancers and obstructors are free to move. Temple's obstructors will start moving toward the opposite end of the field while Barnstable's advancers will slowly work their way forward, trying to control the ball. All players are initially confined to the grass loft lines as they move; if any advancer steps outside a loft line onto the dirt, the play is blown dead and considered over, while if an obstructor steps outside a loft line, play continues but with the advancers immediately being awarded one potential. If a player is forcibly knocked off a loft line, there is no penalty as long as he returns to it at his exit point. A penalty kick or even an ejection may be given if an obstructor willfully leaves a loft line to make a play on a ball.
The home team always kicks to the visitors to begin stages one.
B) THE ADVANCE
Barnstable's advancers are said to be on the advance as soon as one of them touches Jones' incoming kick. Barnstable's goal is to work the ball up the field, setting up a scoring opportunity.
Barnstable may advance the ball by either striking it with the hand or kicking it. Players will almost always choose the former, as it gives them much more control of their strike. An advancer may not catch, hold, or palm the ball; the play is blown dead and considered over if he does so. Generally, the ball will be struck with the base of the wrist or the fist so as to get the strongest strike possible. Incidental contact with other parts of the body is acceptable.
During the advance, the ball must bounce once and only once before it is struck by another advancer. If Barnstable allows the ball to bounce twice, the play is considered over. No advancer may touch the ball again after striking it until another advancer has touched it.
Because of an opportunity for Temple's obstructors which is put into effect upon Barnstable's fifth strike of the ball (see section D), Barnstable will want to send it toward their banker on that key fifth strike if possible. The length of the field and the five-strike limit will normally cause the advancers to run at top speed throughout the play in order to get the ball as close as possible to their banker's stripe.
The only time an advancer may step outside a loft line is when he is knocked out of it or his momentum carries him beyond the line after striking the ball toward his banker.
STRATEGY:
Advancing demands speed, great precision, and an ingrained knowledge of the field's dimensions and lines. The length of the field and the five-strike limit requires advancers to sometimes strike the ball high so as to allow their teammates to get into position to receive it, but accuracy is also a key. Evading the obstructors by choosing indirect routes along loft lines that run vertically or diagonally will slow the advancers down, but these routes are often necessary to avoid tangling with obstructors; an advancer will especially want to fake out an obstructor when receiving the fourth strike of the ball, when he needs to send it toward his banker and wants as much clear space around himself as he can get.
Every glance downward by a player to make sure that he or she is staying within a loft line means a break in concentration, so a professional lofter will have spent untold hours running patterns and counting steps to memorize their dimensions and make them second nature. And the best players will be ambidextrous so as to make a play on the ball from any angle.
C) THE OBSTRUCTORS
Temple's three obstructors try to impede the progress of the Barnstable advancers by using their bodies as obstacles. No Temple obstructor may initiate contact against an advancer, even to hand-check, while an advancer may push or shove any obstructor at will as long as his contact is confined to the obstructor's chest, arms, and shoulders. If an obstructor ever initiates contact against an advancer, the whistle is blown and the Barnstable advancer in question is allowed a penalty kick toward the banker's stripe from the spot of the foul (see section F). The only time an obstructor may aggressively go after an advancer is when executing a rolling tackle (see section D).
STRATEGY:
In Loft, the obstructor's role is often one of total sacrifice. While he cannot initiate contact against an advancer, he must endure constant aggressive force. An obstructor will spend a great deal of time being knocked to the ground during the game. His very patience and resiliency is a skill in itself---obstructors are also referred to as "batteries" for the way they store the pain they endure. Because players will be both advancers and obstructors during the game, the urge for payback when the ball changes possession will be strong indeed.
There is still much skill to be used on defense: a player must know just when and how to impede an advancer's progress so as to slow his opponent down, and an obstructor can also change the outcome of a play through sliding tackles, intercepting the ball (during stage two), and drawing direct strikes from the advancers (see section D).
D) INTERPLAY
The play proceeds with the Barnstable advancers striking the ball, moving it forward, and the Temple obstructors trying to impede them. While the ball may bounce anywhere in bounds, the advancers and obstructors are initially restricted to the grass loft lines.
Upon the fifth offensive strike of the ball, the three Temple obstructors are freed from the loft line restrictions and can run anywhere they wish, short-cutting their way to the ball or to the Barnstable advancers. For this reason, an advancer will always aim for the fifth strike to be the one that is sent toward his banker standing in the banker's stripe. The advancers may actually strike the ball as many times as they wish before attempting to bank potentials, but once the obstructors are loosed from the loft lines, it is very difficult to maintain possession of the ball.
The Barnstable advancers can bank potentials without sending the ball toward their banker by striking a Temple obstructor with it. This is done by kicking or striking the ball at any spot on the obstructor's body except his head. If the ball hits the obstructor legally, one potential is banked for Barnstable and the play is over. If, however, Barnstable strikes the ball at a Temple obstructor who can successfully catch it, the obstructor is allowed a penalty kick toward his own banker (see section F).
STRATEGY:
The advancers must be able to judge during the progression of the play whether they've worked the ball well enough to send the ball toward their banker or whether they should try for a single potential by striking an obstructor with the ball. An obstructor, then, must always be on guard against this possibility. An obstructor who guards his man too closely opens himself up to the possibility of being struck. A clever obstructor can make himself seem unprepared to evade an offensive strike while in reality anticipating it and angling his body at the last second to dodge the ball or actually catch it, ending the play. Catching the ball requires incredibly fast reflexes, as the strike will almost always come from close range.
The ultimate obstructor plays so well that the advancers will neither be able to keep the ball alive nor get a good shot at striking him.
A ball which just barely brushes a player's body without noticeably deviating from its path might not be considered as having struck him; it is the referee's decision to make. If an obstructor is struck in the head due to a reckless strike on the part of an advancer, the referee may award the obstructor a penalty kick from the spot of the foul.
If a Temple obstructor tries to catch a strike but fails, he is considered struck and Barnstable is awarded one potential.
There is one aggressive maneuver which a Temple obstructor may legally make against a Barnstable advancer. He can, at any time, attempt a rolling tackle of the player who is in the process of receiving the ball after a strike. This rolling tackle may only be attempted when the Barnstable advancer is facing the obstructor. The Temple obstructor's entire body must be on the ground as he rolls lengthwise toward the advancer, and he cannot rise until he is completely clear of him. An illegal rolling tackle is punishable by immediately awarding the advancers a penalty kick.
STRATEGY:
The rolling tackle is a powerful but risky tool for an obstructor, and is all about timing. He achieves a perfect tackle by dropping on his side on a dead run and rolling directly at the advancer's legs. If he goes into a rolling tackle too early, he runs the risk of the advancer leaping out of the way while striking the ball downwards at the prone obstructor, banking an easy potential. Mostly an obstructor will err on the side of being late with his tackle; if it is well done he can either take the advancer down or cause him to leap clear, slowing him somewhat and perhaps disrupting his strike. An overly aggressive tackle can result in a damaging foul, but even without a foul it can take an obstructor too much out of the play if he is not quick to get to his feet again. He must also make sure that the ball can only realistically be played by the advancer whom he targets with his tackle; taking out an advancer who is not in the process of receiving a strike results in a penalty kick as well. The sliding tackle is another test of the obstructor's stamina, as he will want to hit the ground hard and fast to make the tackle as swift and clean as possible.
If the advancers haven't gotten into good scoring position on the field by the fifth strike, they're in trouble. When the obstructors are loosed from their loft lines, they can get to the advancers very quickly to disrupt their strikes.
E) SENDING THE BALL TO THE BANKER
During play, Barnstable's banker, Derek Canton, who is standing in the banker's stripe, will want to keep moving so as to make sure he is in the best possible position to receive a ball struck toward him, while Temple's fenceman, Benedict Jones, will want to move as well so as to be in the best spot to defend against the scoring strike. Barnstable's advancers may try to send the ball to Canton at any time regardless of how many strikes they have completed. Canton may not step beyond the two white lines marked inside his stripe until the ball is struck to him. Breaking too early may cause the play to be blown dead.
If the ball is struck by Barnstable and caught by Canton inside his stripe, Barnstable banks 2 potentials. If the ball is caught by Canton off a kicked ball rather than one struck with the hand, Barnstable banks 5 potentials. A five point score is referred to as a noble.
Temple's fenceman and the obstructors may attempt to block or catch a ball sent to the banker, but again, any sort of contact on the advancer results in a penalty kick. When a Barnstable advancer attempts a noble, the defending fenceman and obstructors are not allowed to use their hands or arms to attempt to touch, strike, or catch the kick.
Bankers and fencemen are given credit for making a catch if they secure the ball before landing a single foot outside their stripe. The play is dead when the ball is either caught, missed, or dropped.
STRATEGY:
The advancers will always be thinking about setting up the key fifth strike. If the ball is sent too short, too long, or otherwise off target to an advancer, his send to the banker will be more difficult. On the other hand, if an advancer has to play a ball with his back to the obstructor, it does by rule prevent a sliding tackle from being made.
Although the shortest path to the banker is from the middle of the field, the advancers may want to work the ball toward the edges of the field to get a better angle into him. The banker's stripe is longer than the fenceman's stripe, which means that an advancer has a chance to get the ball to the banker on a clearer line if he makes his send from one of the corners. The fenceman would be physically prevented from reaching the ball then, although he is free to leap out of his stripe to deflect the ball, knock it down, or catch it.
The fenceman must always be aware of the movements of the banker behind him. The banker will want to move left and right constantly to fake the fenceman out if possible and get a clear line between himself and the advancer trying to send the ball into him. Either player is free to leap out of his stripe; as soon as any part of his body touches the dirt area outside the stripe, though, he is considered to be out of bounds and he can have no further influence on the play.
The distance between the banker's stripe and the fenceman's stripe is such that a good amount of loft is necessary to send the ball over the reach of the fenceman unless the advancer attempts to send the ball to the banker on a hard, forceful low line. In Loft it is not uncommon to see a fenceman and banker leap at the same time for a send, almost colliding in the no-man's-land between their stripes.
The ultimate play for the advancers is a ball successfully kicked to the banker instead of struck with the hand. Worth five points, the noble is a difficult, ambitious, but potentially game-saving play.
If Temple fenceman Benedict Jones, on defense, can take control of a ball sent to the banker by catching it or blocking it, he has the chance to score 2 potentials by throwing the ball down the field to his own banker, Kelvin Morrow. As soon as Jones touches the ball, Morrow is released from his stripe on the other end of the field and allowed to run forward, freed from any movement restrictions. If he can catch Jones' throw (which must be released within ten seconds) before it strikes the ground, Temple banks 2 potentials. Barnstable may not impede the Morrow in any way. If any sort of contact is made, even incidental, he is given a penalty kick at the spot of the foul. Barnstable may, however, attempt to knock the ball away from Morrow before it gets to him, and if they intercept it, they are given a penalty kick from that spot. Jones' throw cannot be impeded by the Barnstable banker in front of him.
STRATEGY:
It is always better for an advancer to send a ball long than short because of the fenceman's ability to put a short send back into play for a possible 2-potential score. Upon collecting the ball, the fenceman will have to be quick with his throw downfield to his rushing banker, who must be alert and ready to run to find a clear space between the opposing players. Throwing the ball downfield after a short send requires power and accuracy and is yet another skill that must be mastered by a fenceman.
Sometimes, a team ahead on the scoreboard which catches a short send might just want to hold onto the ball and decline to throw it into play, lest they have the ball intercepted, leading to a penalty kick for the other team.
A play is fully resolved when the advancing team, in this case Barnstable, makes either a successful or unsuccessful send, is unable to keep the ball in play, achieves a pierce, commits a play-ending foul, or is awarded a penalty kick (see section F). After a play is resolved, Barnstable's fenceman, S.K. Spungen, will kick the ball to Temple, with advancers becoming obstructors and vice versa, until each team has had a chance for five advancing plays.
If both teams have scored the same number of potentials after five plays, a sixth play is added for each, followed by a seventh if necessary, et cetera, until one or both teams has banked more potentials than the other. The home team will always get the last chance to bank potentials.
F) PENALTY KICKS
Play is blown dead for some fouls in stage one and a penalty kick is awarded to the fouled player. The ball is placed at the spot of the foul for most offenses, such as aggressive or unnecessary contact, delay of game, illegal rolling tackles, and striking a player in the head with the ball. For example, let's say Barnstable advancer Paul Rupp was fouled by Temple obstructor Benny Toms during play. Paul Rupp sets the ball down and kicks it toward his banker, Derek Canton, with no obstructors involved in the play and with an extreme restriction placed on the defending fenceman, Benedict Jones: he must stand in place before the ball is kicked, and can take just two steps afterward, able to only dive or leap in any direction upon the second step. Canton, having set his position first, must also stand in place until the ball is kicked, but after that, he is free to move anywhere inside his stripe. If Canton catches the ball inside his stripe during stage one, 2 potentials are awarded.
The spot of a penalty kick changes when the referee judges any foul to have been flagrant. In this case, the ball is placed anywhere inside the target circle closest to the banker's stripe. If the referee judges that a team has committed an intentional foul in order to limit the opponent's scoring opportunities on the last play of stage one or two, he may award a team a penalty kick plus require the opposing fenceman to kick the ball off again so that they may have an additional advancing play.
A team fouled in the act of attempting a noble is awarded 5 potentials if their penalty kick is successfully converted.
A penalty kick is also awarded if a team achieves an interception off a short send.
If a team's fenceman has been sent off the field because of an inability to land his trigger kicks inside the target circle, he is not eligible to defend on penalty kicks.
G) PURGE NOBLES
If a team is down by so many points late in stage one that even a noble will not help them, they may attempt a purge noble. This is achieved if an advancer can successfully kick the ball directly off the trigger kick to his banker. If the banker catches it within his stripe, both teams lose all their potentials, making the score 0-0.
STRATEGY:
If they're so far behind on potentials that a purge noble must be tried, a team will want to play at least two of their advancers farther up the field so that the trigger kick won't create too long a purge noble attempt. The opposing fenceman may just want to try to float the trigger kick over their heads in this case.
H) GAME FLOW
When a play is resolved, both teams have ten seconds to set themselves for the next play from the time the referee hands the ball to the fenceman for the next kick. At the ten second mark, the fenceman is free to set the ball on the trigger point and kick it. Players performing a trigger kick or penalty kick have no more than ten seconds from the time they are handed the ball by the referee to do so.
Each team is given just one opportunity during the game to stop play for a time out. Otherwise, play may stop only if a player is injured. Any delay of game is penalized by awarding a penalty kick to the opposing team.
STRATEGY:
Along with the barring of coaches from the field of play during the game, the near elimination of time outs demands that players of Loft make every single one of the most important strategic decisions themselves on the fly. Also, the rapid, uninterrupted play and small roster size demand that players be in top-flight shape, pushing on through minor injuries and exhaustion. Loft is designed to be a true test of intelligence and physical endurance.
3. Game play: Stage Two
Going into stage two, the team which banked the greater number of potentials during stage one will be given a chance to convert them into actual points (reals). The other team has the total number of potentials they banked during stage one subtracted from the leading team's total. This is the number of points available for conversion in stage two. The leading team will either convert them all or lose them all. For example, if Barnstable scored 8 potentials during stage one to Temple's 5, Barnstable enters stage two attempting to convert 3 total potentials into reals.
Barnstable will get up to five chances, or plays, to convert their potentials. Two Barnstable advancers and their banker face off against a lone Temple obstructor and a fenceman. The bankers and fencemen assume their regular positions on the field, but both advancers must stand beside their fenceman on the stripe itself. The lone obstructor stands within the far target circle.
A) THE TRIGGER KICK
Barnstable will receive the Temple fenceman's kick to begin the first play. Temple's fenceman, Benedict Jones, places the ball on the trigger point. As in stage one, he kicks the ball toward the opposite end of the field, but now his goal is to merely have the ball bounce within the target box as opposed to the target circle. The target box is the general square area between a target circle and the closest banker's stripe. If the ball strikes outside this area, the play is blown dead and Jones must kick again, with a restriction placed upon his team for the ensuing play: neither the Temple obstructor nor Jones himself may use his hands to touch, strike, or catch the ball. This strips Temple of both defensive effectiveness and the ability to intercept the ball (See section D). If Jones misses the target circle again during the same play, his obstructor-in this case, Benny Toms---is removed from the field entirely for the duration of the play. If Jones fails a third consecutive time, Barnstable is simply given a penalty kick from the target circle.
If Jones' kick does land within the target box, the ball is in play. As soon as he kicks the ball, the two Barnstable advancers are free to move swiftly down the field in order to receive their own fenceman's ensuing strike. Upon leaving the fenceman's stripe, they must immediately confine themselves to the loft lines and may not initially step outside of them.
Unlike in stage one, the single obstructor is never confined to the loft lines. He may roam freely, beginning to move as soon as the trigger kick lands.
STRATEGY:
The kicking fenceman has a more spacious target to kick to during stage two, and it is not very difficult to hit it to get the ball safely into play. However, if he wants to make it at all difficult for the opposing fenceman to strike the ball toward his advancers, he will have to take a bit of a risk by aiming it to the left or right of the fenceman, making him move swiftly in reaction and giving him less control over his own strike. The kicking fenceman's normal chances of landing the ball inside the stage two target box are about ninety percent. Playing conservatively means leaving very little risk of missing the box and having the no-hands restriction imposed. Trying to work the ball toward the edges of the box means possibly suffering that restriction (or a much stronger one if he misses a second or even third time) or, conversely, making the ball very difficult for the opposing fenceman to strike with accuracy. It's all up to the kicking fenceman to decide how ambitious he wants to be.
B) THE ADVANCE
The receiving Barnstable fenceman, S.K. Spungen, free to leave his stripe and move forward to make a play on the ball as soon as it is kicked, must let the ball bounce once and only once before he strikes the ball downfield toward his running advancers, Conor Lindensmith and Paul Rupp. Their goal is to get down the field to receive Spungen's ensuing strike so that they can catch the ball to set up a conversion kick toward their banker, Derek Canton.
Spungen strikes the ball a single time according to the rules of stage one, choosing either Rupp or Lindensmith to receive the strike. One of the two must then catch Spungen's strike on a single bounce to be eligible to take a conversion kick. The ball must bounce once and only once before it can be caught.
The job of Benny Toms, the lone Barnstable obstructor, is to impede either Rupp or Lindensmith as they try to catch the ball. While he may not cause contact with either man, as is the case in stage one, he is now free to catch the ball as well---and he does not have to wait for the ball to bounce to try to intercept it. An advancer and obstructor have an equal right to catch the ball in stage two, but neither may initiate even incidental contact. Only the natural contact of two players simultaneously going for a free ball is allowed. If one player or another is judged to have caused unnecessary or excessive contact, a team is awarded a penalty kick.
If Spungen's strike is not caught by either player before it bounces twice, the play is dead and there is no ensuing conversion kick; the next play then begins with Temple's next trigger kick. If, however, the ball is secured by either Lindensmith or Rupp before it bounces twice, he is entitled to a conversion kick toward his banker from the spot of the catch (see section C).
If an advancer bobbles the ball before catching it, the spot of the conversion kick is marked from where he first touched the ball.
STRATEGY:
Because of the length of the field and the necessity of getting the ball relatively close to the banker's stripe to give a conversion kick toward Derek Canton a chance for success, Rupp and Lindensmith will have to run at top speed from the second the ball is kicked from the trigger point. Confined to the loft lines, they will want to run different routes downfield to confuse Benny Toms. The required single bounce they must allow before catching the ball gives Toms, who has no such restriction, the opportunity to make more of a play on it.
Toms will quickly have to commit to one advancer or the other in pursuit of making a play on the ball. While Benedict Jones' kick is airborne, he must quickly determine its impending placement. If Jones was able to kick the ball well, it will cause S.K. Spungen to move left or right on the ball, making it difficult to send the ensuing strike where he would prefer and letting Toms better anticipate which direction it will travel. This might also cause Rupp and Lindensmith to alter their routes to help Spungen's efforts.
Spungen will want to strike the ball far, but not too far: a ball caught at the far edge of the loft lines, near the back-line, places the ball so close to the Temple fenceman that it will be a great challenge for an advancer to then kick the ball over his reach toward Derek Canton. The ideal position for a conversion kick is near the corners of the field because the angle of the kick will take the opposing fenceman more out of play.
Sending the ball far downfield toward one of the advancers so that it can be caught while they remain inside the loft lines requires power and finesse. The game's most soaring lofts come during stage two. To evade the lone obstructor, Benny Toms, S.K. Spungen will want to lead either Rupp or Lindensmith as much as possible, or else project the ball with great force to get it there quickly. If the ball is not caught on the first play of five, or the second, the advancers may have to become more conservative and focus more on just getting the ball caught on a shorter strike rather than getting into the ideal conversion kick position. The greatest blow to a team there can be is to lose all their potentials because of an inability to deliver a conversion kick to the banker.
C) CONVERSION KICKS
Let us assume that advancer Paul Rupp has caught Spungen's strike. Upon securing the ball, he has ten seconds to set the ball on the field and kick it, with the goal being the same as in stage one: to have Derek Canton catch it within the banker's stripe. Benny Toms may not impede the kick in any way. Only Benedict Jones may from the fenceman's stripe.
The play is blown dead and considered over if the conversion kick to Canton is not caught before hitting the ground. A new play begins with Barnstable kicking the ball to Temple.
STRATEGY:
Because Rupp only has ten seconds in which to set the ball down and try the conversion kick, Canton must immediately begin to maneuver into position along the banker's stripe. Benedict Jones will try to keep pace with him, not allowing a direct line between Canton and Rupp. Depending on the spot of the ball and the angle, the shot will either be a floater over Jones' reach, a hard shot designed to get past him with sheer force, or, if the angle allows, a simpler kick with Jones unable to make a play on the ball because of good positioning set up by the preceding catch. One of Loft's most dramatic plays comes when the conversion kicker, left with the ball too close to the fenceman, has to fake him out with deception and quick maneuvering of the banker before firing the ball in low and fast, counting on the banker to make a tough catch---sometimes a diving one.
D) INTERCEPTIONS
If Temple's Benny Toms should intercept S.K. Spungen's strike to his advancer, he is given a penalty kick from the spot of the interception. If the penalty kick is successful, Barnstable loses all their potentials, reducing the game score to 0-0. In this case, the game proceeds directly to stage three with both teams needing to dodge to decide the winner of the round (see Stage Three rules, section A).
STRATEGY:
Because an intercepted strike might award such a high prize to Temple, Rupp and Lindensmith will want to split far apart during the play so as to make Toms have to travel the farthest distance possible to have a chance to deflect or catch the ball. However, because of the way the loft lines are arranged, moving toward the outer edges of the field will slow the advancers down in their forward rush, causing them to have to make a longer conversion kick toward their banker.
E) SCORING
A team trying to convert its potentials into reals, in this case Barnstable, is given up to five plays to do so. If Barnstable's banker catches a conversion kick or a penalty kick inside his stripe, the potentials they banked in stage one become reals, having been successfully converted.
Temple then has one last chance to take away those reals to reduce the score to 0-0 heading into stage three. Possession changes and now Barnstable will kick to Temple instead with two Temple advancers and their banker facing off against a lone Barnstable obstructor and a fenceman. But instead of trying to catch a strike from their banker to set up a conversion kick, Temple must score a noble by kicking the ball on a single bounce to their banker. Only by scoring a noble can they take away Barnstable's reals. As in stage one, an attempted noble cuts off the obstructor's and fenceman's ability to use their arms or hands. As soon as an advancer touches the ball with his foot, the noble is said to be in action.
If a noble is accomplished, stage two ends immediately, and the game proceeds directly to stage three with both teams needing to dodge to decide the winner of the round (see Stage Three rules, section A).
If Barnstable converted their potentials on their first play, Temple gets five chances to score a noble; if they converted on the second play, Temple gets four; if on the third, Temple gets three; if on the fourth, Temple gets two; if on the fifth, Temple gets one chance.
If the Barnstable advancers, through their five plays, are unable in stage two to make a successful conversion kick to their banker, they lose all of the potentials they banked in stage one, reducing the score to 0-0. The game then proceeds to stage three with both teams needing to dodge to decide the winner of the round (see Stage Three rules, section A).
Interceptions achieved when a team must try for a noble in stage two have no value beyond ending the play outright.
4. Game play: Stage Three
No matter what the score of the round is entering stage three, it is this stage that decides the round's winner.
The rules of stage three change depending on which round is being played. In a non-deciding round (that is, a round which cannot be the final one of the game), there is a three minute break before the stage begins during which the team which trails on the scoreboard decides which of its players will act as the dodger, attempting to evade the opponent's strikes for a preset amount of time. In rounds which might be the last of the game, one team will choose which player from the opposing side they wish to have act as the dodger. They may name any player on the roster as long as that player has not been removed for injury reasons.
STRATEGY:
The selection of the dodger in deciding rounds can come off as an overt criticism of an opponent's skill, as it is obviously to a team's advantage to select the player they think is least capable of the athletic maneuvering necessary in stage three. Their announcement to the referee amounts to a public statement that they believe they know who the least agile---or perhaps the most exhausted or injured---player is. This rule also demands that every player on a team possess a good amount of athletic ability, because anyone can be forced to dodge.
A) THE PLAY
The dodger's objective in stage three is to evade the opponent's strikes for a duration equal to the number of reals the opposing team has scored, multiplied by fifteen seconds. For example, if Barnstable scored three reals in round two, the Temple dodger must successfully avoid being struck by the ball for forty-five seconds. If he can accomplish this, Temple wins the entire round. If he fails, the round is over and Barnstable wins it.
STRATEGY:
The difficulty of the dodge ensures that a team will always try to score more potentials than their opponent in stage one and do everything they can to convert them to reals in stage two so as to force their opponent to dodge.
The dodger will face three obstructors, who may stand anywhere on the field they wish. The dodger places the ball on either trigger point to kick it off. His kick must land in play beyond midfield. His goal is to kick the ball so that it is difficult for the obstructors to handle.
Just as in stage one, the opposing players must strike the ball with their hands or kick it. They may let the ball bounce no more than once, as usual, but in stage three they may also strike it before it hits the ground if they wish. If they are unable to keep the ball in play, the play is blown dead and the clock stops when the ball goes out of bounds or is touched by an obstructor, and the dodger re-kicks the ball from the trigger point.
The obstructors' lone goal is to work the ball between them and strike the dodger with it. Both the obstructors and the dodger may move anywhere during stage three as long as they do not step outside the field of play. The ball is considered to have struck a dodger if the ball's contact with his body visibly re-directs its path. A ball which just barely brushes a dodger's arm without deviating from its path at all, for example, may not be considered as having struck him.
The dodger may not catch a struck ball during phase three. All his efforts must be devoted toward outright evasion. If he should ever step outside the field of play during his dodge time, he is ruled to have been struck by the ball.
Game play is continuous in stage three for the duration of the time on the clock unless the ball bounces twice, or another foul is committed, or the dodger is struck with the ball. Fouls by the obstructors include palming or catching the ball, letting the ball bounce twice, or impeding the dodger in any way. After a penalty, the play is blown dead, the clock stops, and the dodger re-kicks the ball from the trigger point.
The dodger may not initiate contact with any obstructor, and vice versa. If the dodger is judged to be the aggressor, thirty seconds are added to the time he must evade the strikes of the defense, after which he must kick the ball into play again from the trigger point. If an obstructor impedes a dodger in any way during stage three, the dodging team automatically wins the round.
STRATEGY:
The dodger will initially try to rely on his kicking skills to make the ball difficult for the obstructors to handle off the trigger kick. They will try to triangulate and slowly trap the dodger, engaging in occasional strong, swift strikes to hit him with the ball. The harder the strike, however, the more difficult it will be for a fellow obstructor to strike the ball again safely before it gets past him, so all players must be in good position before one of them decides to strike the ball hard at the dodger. No longer having to allow the ball to bounce before it is struck, the obstructors can also use the element of surprise to help their attack.
If the teams are tied 0-0 entering stage three, there will be two dodge sets, with the team whose dodger evades the defensive strikes for the longest period of time winning the round. The visiting team always dodges first.
5. Other rules
Before the trailing team's dodger takes the field in a round which, if lost by that team, means the loss of the entire game, the team may choose, if they feel their dodger does not have a realistic chance to evade the opponent's strikes for the length of time needed to win the round, to instead invoke the prayer rule. Instead of attempting to evade strikes, the dodger will attempt to catch and hold a single free kick from a teammate while a lone obstructor attempts to break up the play using brute force.
The "prayer" begins with the dodger standing on either fenceman's stripe. His teammate places the ball at any point inside the target circle closest to his dodger. The lone obstructor then sets himself at the halfway point between them.
When the referee gives the signal, the kicker kicks the ball toward the dodger. As soon as the kicker moves, the obstructor is free to charge the dodger, who, confined to the fenceman's stripe, will attempt to catch and hold onto the ball while the charging obstructor is free to drive his body into him at full speed for a single blow, even if the ball has not yet arrived. He may not make contact above the dodger's shoulders and he may not use his head or legs to make contact with the dodger, nor may he slap or punch the dodger. He is, however, permitted to wrap his arms around the man or push them forward in a single motion, or make a direct play on the ball itself. No matter how he chooses to make contact with the dodger, he is limited to a single hit and cannot continue aggressive contact beyond what the momentum of the impact creates.
If the dodger is able to hold on to the ball after contact, even if he is driven off the fenceman's stripe, his team wins the round and the game is over. If he cannot maintain possession of the ball and it strikes the ground, his team loses.
STRATEGY:
The prayer rule, rarely invoked by a team even on the brink of losing the game, requires a team's cruel decision to "sacrifice" its dodger to a brutal body blow in the hopes of salvaging a victory in a deciding round. While the odds of a dodger catching and holding onto the ball after vicious contact are often higher than the odds of evading a team's strikes for several minutes, the dodger is risking his entire body to the cause of the round. It is a last ditch play made by a desperate team, and a game which ends in a prayer is a game which ends in pain and a view of the stadium from the ground.
While the distance between the kicker and the dodger is such that a successful kick is not terribly difficult, the kicker will have to send the ball with a certain amount of velocity to make sure the dodger has the split second necessary to secure the ball and brace himself for the hit. Too soft a kick can result in the obstructor driving his body into the dodger before the ball even gets to the fenceman's stripe, while too hard a kick may be somewhat inaccurate and put the dodger's body in an awkward position---if he even has the fortitude to make the catch in the face of the charging opponent.
The opposing team always selects the dodger before the prayer rule is either invoked or not. The trailing team then makes the decision.
B) CLOSE CALLS
In Loft, there is no video review of any referee's call, nor any technology employed to help them. Their judgment is final. Loft accepts the fact that due to the speed of a professional sport, the difficulties for referees in getting perfect visual angles, and the very nature of any physical activity which requires extreme precision, there will always be "gray areas" in which close calls arise. If a referee has any doubt about which way a call should go, an instant judgment is made according to the play's essence rather than its sometimes indefinable "truth." The benefit of the doubt is always awarded to the player who makes an exceptional effort or displays superior skill on a play, while a close call that arises because of a player's inaccuracy or error will go against him. The game of Loft is designed to flow as uninterrupted as possible, and while referees may confer briefly about their decision-making, play will never be stopped because of close calls.
C) WEATHER
The entirety of the Loft tournament takes place in August so as to reduce the weather's effects on play, but games progress regardless of inclement weather if at all possible. The weather is recognized as a sometimes cruel random element of the game, but the sport of Loft fully accepts randomness and chance as part of the competition.
D) GAME PACE
Loft aims to be the fastest flowing sport in history; when a play is blown dead, referees are asked to immediately get the game going again, with tight time limits set on the setup of the ball after a whistle or any other sort of inactivity. The time between the final whistle of one stage and the first action of the next is no more than three minutes. The rapid pace of the game is designed to challenge the physical limits of the players and put their decision-making skills to the greatest test possible.
E) STATISTICS AND GAME REPORTS
One team's victory over another is expressed with first the round victory count and then the number of reals that team scored. For example, if TLO Barnstable defeats TLO Temple four rounds to two, and totals 23 reals, the final is expressed like so: Barnstable 4-2 (23) over Temple.
An advancer's statistics include potentials scored, assists made, points scored off striking obstructors, conversion and penalty kick success percentage, and stage two catch percentage.
An obstructor's statistics include tackles made, strikes broken up, points lost due to being struck, points lost due to penalties, interceptions made, and percentage of successful strikes against a dodger.
A banker's statistics include points scored, balls dropped, and short send success percentage.
A fenceman's statistics include trigger kick success percentage, pierce percentage, graze percentage, number of stages without a graze, short send success percentage, and strikes obstructed.
A dodger's statistics include evasion success percentage per dodge attempt, evasion success per obstructor strike, and percentage of times chosen to dodge as opposed to teammates.
Statistics are also kept for success when invoking the prayer rule.
Scoring Summary
STAGE ONE
Advancer strikes an obstructor with the ball: team is awarded 1 potential
After achieving a graze, the fenceman kicks the ball from the trigger point out of play or fails to trigger the ball beyond the midfield point: opposing team is awarded 1 potential
Obstructor steps outside a loft line: opposing team is awarded 1 potential and play continues
Banker catches a ball struck to him: team is awarded 2 potentials
Banker catches a ball struck to him via a kick: team is awarded 5 potentials
Banker catches a penalty kick: team is awarded 2 potentials
Banker catches a penalty kick after a foul committed in the act of attempting a noble: team is awarded 5 potentials
A fenceman throws a short send back into play down the field to his banker, who catches it before it hits the ground: team is awarded 2 potentials
STAGE TWO
The team attempting to convert their potentials makes a successful send to their banker via a conversion kick or penalty kick: the potentials immediately become reals
The team without potentials intercepts the ball and makes a successful send to their own banker via the ensuing penalty kick: the opponent loses all their potentials
Banker catches a ball struck to him via a kick: the team which has converted their potentials into reals loses them
STAGE THREE
Dodger evades the obstructors' strikes for the amount of dodge time set: his team wins the entire round.
Dodger is struck by the obstructors' strikes within the amount of dodge time set: the opposing team wins the entire round.
Dodger catches the ball after invoking the prayer rule: his team wins the game.
