NBL FAQs

For Jnr NBL, matches shall commence no earlier than 11am on a Saturday or Sunday, and no later than 6pm on a Saturday or 5pm on a Sunday.

In addition, times should mean that no junior team gets home later than 10pm on a Saturday or 9pm on a Sunday.

Weekday game times must be agreed by both teams and are subject to Basketball England approval.

Exceptions to this are triple header matches, where earlier tip times may be proposed by mutual consent and subject to approval by Basketball England. Any tip times outside these rules requires special authorisation from Basketball England.

If you want to apply for this, please email [email protected] with the subject line ‘Application for special authorisation for tip time’

For NBL and WNBL, matches shall commence no earlier than 1pm and no later than 8pm on a Saturday and no earlier than 1pm and no later than 5pm on a Sunday.

In addition, normally, no team shall be required to undertake a weekend fixture that does not enable its players to arrive back at their home base/meeting place by midnight on Sunday, unless otherwise agreed.

Weekday games must commence between 7.30pm and 8pm.

Exceptions to this are triple header matches and televised matches, where alternative tip times may be proposed by mutual consent and subject to approval by Basketball England.

If you want to apply for this, please email [email protected] with the subject line ‘Application for special authorisation for tip time’

Yes with mutual agreement with your opposition.

The away team must be allowed a minimum of 15 minutes warm up time.

All games need to be confirmed up to two weeks prior to the game. If this doesn’t happen, it doesn’t mean it isn’t going ahead, just that this process hasn’t been followed.

Both teams can confirm a game to take place, please see below the regulation on this matter:

22.6

The home team must confirm all details with the away team at least two weeks before the match and the away team must acknowledge such confirmation.

If confirmation hasn’t been received by the away team in under two weeks prior to the fixture, the game will still go ahead and the away team must make contact with the home team to establish if the details of the fixture is per the Basketball England Website (after 31st August).

If the game was to be postponed it must be mutually agreed in line with regulation 23.4.

We require you field a minimum of 8 players to compete in a game.

The maximum number of players per team in a game is 12.

You can update results and game information using the Basketball England Membership Portal.

Click here to sign in.

If you fail to input your results and top scorers (top scorers are for NBL and WNBL only, not Jnr. NBL), you may be liable for a fine in line with the National League regulations.

Rearranging/changing individual games should be carried out by teams within the portal. Changes will only update online once accepted by both teams. Teams requesting changes should email the opposition to notify them of the request.

Changes to NBL fixtures should be completed by 12 September. Changes completed after that date will have the standard fixture change administration fee applied.

The most up-to-date NBL, WNBL and Jnr. NBL fixtures can be found here. 

To change a fixture:

• Fixture changes must be approved by both your team and your opponent’s team.
• Fixtures can be changed through the Basketball England Membership Portal.There must be a good reason for your fixture change in order for us to approve it. In such cases, where a change is approved, the club responsible for the change shall be liable to pay an administrative charge of £15.00 for each match changed and/or rearranged. This fee goes up to £35 after 7 days without payment.

Fixture change guide

In order to agree a fixture change via the portal:

Ensure the opposition is notified via email and agree the change informally before heading to the portal. Once agreed follow the process:

From the manage club page click Competitions:

Then click games:

Adjust the view club games slider:

Choose the game that you wish to adjust and hit view:

Hit game change request:

Adjust the game details and hit request change:

Notify the club that you have put the change through. Once the opposition accept the change, the website will be updated with the new details.

This depends on how long you have to go before the game takes place.

Guidance is given for different time frames below, and please read our National League Regulations for full details of the regulations surrounding postponements.

Failure to follow these processes and the National League Regulations can result in fines, games awarded to opponents and/or league point deductions.

• If the postponement is more than 72 hours before the game is due to tip off, you MUST:
• Inform your opponent immediately to arrange postponement and/or agree on a rearranged date
• In the case of Jnr. NBL games, contact your officials to let them know of the postponement. For NBL and WNBL games, we will notify the officials once informed of the postponement.
• Follow our fixture change process (detailed in the FAQ answers above). There is a charge of £15 (raising to £35) for each game changed. The exceptions to this are if the venue cancelled for reasons out of your control, or you had to cancel due to adverse weather conditions, unforeseen road closures or unforeseen breakdowns. Evidence for these reasons is required.
• Agree a date for the rescheduled match with your opponent within 14 days of the cancellation.
  
  
• If the cancellation is less than 72 hours but more than 24 hours before the game is due to tip off, you MUST:
• Inform your opponent as soon as possible and email [email protected] to let us know about the postponement. Your postponement will be referred to the Competition Review Panel and you may be charged, your game awarded to your opponent and/or league points deducted.
• The exceptions to this are if the venue cancelled for reasons out of your control, or you had to cancel due to adverse weather conditions, unforeseen road closures or unforeseen breakdowns. Evidence for these reasons is required.
• In the case of Jnr. NBL games, contact your officials to let them know of the postponement. For NBL and WNBL games, we will notify the officials if informed before 5pm on the Friday for a weekend game. If the notification comes after 5pm on a Friday before a weekend game, it is your responsibility to notify officials.
• Agree a date for the rescheduled match with your opponent within 14 days of the cancellation.
  
  
• If the cancellation is less than 24 hours before the game is due to tip off, you MUST:
• Inform your opponent as soon as possible and email [email protected] to let us know about the postponement. Your postponement will be referred to the Competition Review Panel and you may be charged, your game awarded to your opponent and/or league points deducted.
• The exceptions to this are if the venue cancelled for reasons out of your control, or you had to cancel due to adverse weather conditions, unforeseen road closures or unforeseen breakdowns. Evidence for these reasons is required.
• For ALL types of games, contact your officials to let them know of the postponement. If any officials have already started to travel, the home team will pay these expenses.
• Agree a date for the rescheduled match with your opponent within 14 days of the cancellation.

Yes, if your fixture was postponed or cancelled less than 72 hours before tip off, you can make a claim of up to £75.00 for an NBL or WNBL fixture and £50.00 for a Jnr. NBL fixture, covering facility hire and travel expenses.

You must provide evidence such as receipts or bookings to claim and you must submit your claim no more than seven days after the game was due to take place.

The amount awarded is at the discretion of Basketball England and the compensation will be deducted from the fine issued by Basketball England, and will only be compensated once the fine has been paid in full from the offending team.

The full process for making claims is outlined in our National League Regulations.

This depends on how long you have to go before the game takes place.

Guidance is given for different time frames below, and please read our National League Regulations for full details of the regulations surrounding postponements.

Failure to follow these processes and the National League Regulations can result in fines, games awarded to opponents and/or league point deductions.

• If the postponement is more than 72 hours before the game is due to tip off, you MUST:
• Inform your opponent immediately to arrange postponement and/or agree on a rearranged date
• In the case of Jnr. NBL games, contact your officials to let them know of the postponement. For NBL and WNBL games, we will notify the officials once informed of the postponement.
• Follow our fixture change process (detailed in the FAQ answers above). There is a charge of £15 (raising to £35) for each game changed. The exceptions to this are if the venue cancelled for reasons out of your control, or you had to cancel due to adverse weather conditions, unforeseen road closures or unforeseen breakdowns. Evidence for these reasons is required.
• Agree a date for the rescheduled match with your opponent within 14 days of the cancellation.
  
  
• If the cancellation is less than 72 hours but more than 24 hours before the game is due to tip off, you MUST:
• Inform your opponent as soon as possible and email [email protected] to let us know about the postponement. Your postponement will be referred to the Competition Review Panel and you may be charged, your game awarded to your opponent and/or league points deducted.
• The exceptions to this are if the venue cancelled for reasons out of your control, or you had to cancel due to adverse weather conditions, unforeseen road closures or unforeseen breakdowns. Evidence for these reasons is required.
• In the case of Jnr. NBL games, contact your officials to let them know of the postponement. For NBL and WNBL games, we will notify the officials if informed before 5pm on the Friday for a weekend game. If the notification comes after 5pm on a Friday before a weekend game, it is your responsibility to notify officials.
• Agree a date for the rescheduled match with your opponent within 14 days of the cancellation.
  
  
• If the cancellation is less than 24 hours before the game is due to tip off, you MUST:
• Inform your opponent as soon as possible and email [email protected] to let us know about the postponement. Your postponement will be referred to the Competition Review Panel and you may be charged, your game awarded to your opponent and/or league points deducted.
• The exceptions to this are if the venue cancelled for reasons out of your control, or you had to cancel due to adverse weather conditions, unforeseen road closures or unforeseen breakdowns. Evidence for these reasons is required.
• For ALL types of games, contact your officials to let them know of the postponement. If any officials have already started to travel, the home team will pay these expenses.
• Agree a date for the rescheduled match with your opponent within 14 days of the cancellation.

Guidance is given below, please read our National League Regulations for full details of the regulations surrounding postponements.

In the case of road delays or breakdowns, Basketball England may ask for confirmation or proof of the travel that was intended, type of vehicle used, and details of the breakdown, including any roadside assistance.

Failure to obtain this evidence or to follow the guidance below or National League Regulations may result in fines, awarding of games to your opponent, and/or league point deductions.

If you are the HOME TEAM and you cannot make a game due to extreme weather conditions, a breakdown or road delays, you MUST:

• Inform your opponent as soon as possible and email [email protected] as soon as possible to let us know about the situation.
• Contact your officials to let them know of the situation. If any officials have already started to travel, the home team will pay these travel expenses.
• Agree a date for the rescheduled match with your opponent within 14 days of the cancellation.
• Cover the costs of court hire when the match is rearranged.

If you are the AWAY TEAM and you cannot make a game due to extreme weather conditions, a breakdown or road delays, you MUST:

• Inform your opponent as soon as possible and email [email protected] as soon as possible to let us know about the situation.
• Agree a date for the rescheduled match with your opponent within 14 days of the cancellation.
• Cover the costs of court hire when the match is rearranged.
• Be aware that if you forfeit the game, the home club may make a compensation claim to cover cancelled facilities.

You must contact Basketball England immediately at [email protected] about the dispute and we will resolve this within seven days.

We may ask for evidence to confirm a valid reason for postponement, such as breakdown, road delays or venue cancellation.

In the event that, within fourteen days of the date of the original match postponement, two clubs fail to reach an agreement as to when a match shall take place, Basketball England may specify the date and time of the match and the team responsible for the postponement shall be liable to pay the relevant administrative charge set out in the National League Regulations.

For games where Basketball England appoints your officials, please follow our instructions on using the WhosTheRef system here.

The process when undertaking officiating appointments is that we try to limit the amount of instances where referees have to officiate two games in a day.

The reason for this is that officiating performance can suffer in the second game due to physical and mental fatigue, and this doubling up also takes opportunities away for other referees to receive senior NBL and WNBL appointments.

Whilst we appreciate clubs' financial concerns regarding the cost of having four referees as opposed to two, we believe the trade off to this is better service, increased exposure and experience and higher levels of officiating overall.

Please contact [email protected] to request a list of officials, or alternatively request to speak to the Delivery Team-Infrastructure by calling 0300 600 1170.

The following regulations from the Rules and Regulations and apply to late or absent referees and table officials:

44 Failure to Arrive / Delay

44.1 All Match Officials must ensure that they are present at the venue 1 hour prior to the scheduled tip off time and ensure that they are present on the playing court 20 minutes prior to the scheduled tip off time.

44.2 If the Referee and/or Umpire has failed to arrive at the appointed venue 45 minutes before the scheduled Tip off time, and no communication has been received by the Commissioner or the match organisers as to the reason for late arrival, the Commissioner/Referee and organisers shall take the following steps to ensure that a substitute official is found in order that the Match can take place:

44.2.1 where another suitably qualified referee is at the venue or in the immediate vicinity, inform such person that their services may be required; or

44.2.2 if there are no suitably qualified referees available, decide who shall be the second official; or

44.2.3 if it is the Referee who has failed to arrive, the Umpire shall become the Referee and the substitute official will be the Umpire; or

44.2.4 If no substitute official can be located, and taking into account the principle that all Matches are to be played, the Match shall go ahead with the sole Match Official in total charge.

44.3 Should both Match Officials fail to arrive, the Commissioner (if present) and the Court Manager will follow Regulations 44.2.1 to 44.2.4 (inclusive) as far as possible, in order for the Match to take place.

44.4 The Commissioner and the Team Representatives, having been informed that one or both of the floor officials are on their way and that they will arrive before the scheduled Tip off time will decide, bearing in mind the distance being travelled by the absent Match Official(s), whether they will be allowed to officiate.

44.5 Once a Match Official is substituted, this shall not normally be changed, even if the designated Match Official(s) arrives. The same two Match Officials shall continue throughout the Match. The Commissioner/Referee shall have discretion to dis-apply this Regulation 44.5 in exceptional circumstances.

44.6 In accordance with the rules of the Match, all Table Officials must be present at the scorer's table 30 minutes prior to the start of the Match. If a Table Official is not present at the scorer's table 30 minutes prior to the scheduled Tip off time without prior communication as to the reason for the delay (travel delay/unforeseen circumstances), the Commissioner or Court Manager should take the necessary steps to appoint suitable replacements.

44.7 If a Table Official has failed to arrive 20 minutes before the scheduled starting time, and if no communication has been received by the organisers the following procedure should be adopted:

44.7.1 If another suitably qualified table official is at the venue or in the immediate vicinity he/she shall be informed that their services may be required;

44.7.2 If there is no suitably qualified Table Official available, the Commissioner, in consultation with the Referee shall decide who shall be the replacement Table Official;

44.7.3 If the Table Official fails to arrive by the time the Referee signals three minutes, then the substitute official will be the timekeeper; or

44.7.4 Once the Table Official is substituted this shall not normally be changed, even if the designated Table Official(s) arrives.

44.8 In the event of injury to or illness of a Match Official during the course of a Match, the Commissioner and/or Referee may appoint a substitute at their discretion in accordance with the procedure set out in Regulation 44.2.1 to 44.2.4 (inclusive) above.

Yes, all match officials must be registered with Basketball England to officiate a game, and suitably qualified.

Alongside this, they must also hold the correct licence to allow them to officiate games at the correct level.

For more information on this, please consult the officiating FAQs by clicking here.

Referees in National Competitions (NBL, WNBL, Jnr. NBL) must wear the official Basketball England referee uniform, and table officials must wear either the official Basketball England table official uniform or a plain red top.

Links to purchase official Basketball England referee and table official uniforms can be found in the Basketball England shop here.

In a usual senior game, the player will be asked to leave the court and possible the venue. For an Under 18, safeguarding this player should be the top priority.

If the parent/guardian(s) of the player are in attendance, then responsibility for the welfare of the player should transfer to them and they should remove the player from the court.

If the parent/guardian(s) are not in attendance, then the responsibility for the player is with their team who should supervise the player who has been ejected until the parent/guardian(s) arrives to collect them.

The person who holds responsibility for the player must hold an enhanced DBS check and have undergone safeguarding training. This could be the Assistant Coach, Team Manager, or Team Follower (whomever they see fit).

If there is only a Head Coach in attendance at the game, then discussions must be had with the officials and the opposing team to agree that the player stays on the bench or side-line.

The safety of Under 18 players is paramount and must be put first in any decision made.

The priority here is the safety of the players.

At no point should U18 players be left in the venue without any adult supervision.

If the coach needs to leave then the assistant coach, team manager/follower or responsible adult (who holds an enhanced DBS check and safeguarding training) should be nominated to look after the players until they have all left/been picked up by their parent/guardian(s).

Each team member shall wear a shirt numbered on the front and back with plain numbers, of a solid colour contrasting with the colour of the shirt.

The numbers shall be clearly visible and teams can use numbers 0, 00 and from 1 to 99.

Our NBL competition rules are in line with FIBA Official Rules of Basketball.

38.5

Players shall not wear equipment (objects) that may cause injury to other players.

The following are not permitted:

• Finger, hand, wrist, elbow or forearm guards, helmets, casts or braces made of leather, plastic, pliable (soft) plastic, metal or any other hard substance, even if covered with soft padding.
• Objects that could cut or cause abrasions (fingernails must be closely cut).
• Hair accessories and jewelry

38.5.1

The following are permitted:

• Shoulder, upper arm, thigh or lower leg protective equipment if the material is sufficiently padded.
• Arm and leg compression sleeves.
• Headgear. It shall not cover any part of the face entirely or partially (eyes, nose, lips etc.) and shall not be dangerous to the player wearing it and/or to other players. The headgear shall not have opening/closing elements around the face and/or neck and shall not have any parts extruding from its surface.
• Knee braces if they are properly covered.
• Protector for an injured nose, even if made of a hard material.
• Non-coloured transparent mouth guard.
• Spectacles, if they do not pose a danger to other players.
• Wristbands and headbands, maximum of 10 cm wide textile material.
• Taping of arms, shoulders, legs etc.
• Ankle braces.

Licence cards be be viewed through the Basketball England Membership Portal.

Click here to sign in.

We need consent from the player before they can play for a new team.

A player needs to inform Basketball England directly of the club they wish to transfer to.

They can do this by either ringing us on 0300 600 1170 or emailing us at [email protected].

In the case of players under the age of 18, the player’s parent should do this on their behalf.

Once we have this permission from the player, they can request to leave their club and request to join the new club on the Basketball England Membership Portal.

FIBA regulations require that we undertake special processes around international basketball transfers.

These processes include obtaining a letter of clearance from the National Basketball Federation of the country where the player last played basketball.

We have to allow other federations at least seven working days to provide this letter of clearance.

Therefore the MINIMUM time between you registering an international player and them being licensed to play will be 10 working days.

FIBA regulations specify that players can only be licensed by one National Basketball Federation at a time.

Therefore, young players need to be fully informed of any situation which may restrict their ability to play basketball in their country of residency or birth, and show us they agree with any restrictions their registration may impose.

If they have played basketball abroad we may also need to contact the National Basketball Federation in the country they played in to obtain a letter of clearance.

We have to allow other federations at least seven working days to provide this letter of clearance.

These process take longer than a standard registration and therefore the MINIMUM time between you registering a junior player born outside the UK and them being licensed to play will be 10 working days.

If you have registered a player but they do not yet have a license number, there could be several reasons for this.

Please check the reasons below and follow the instructions if any apply to the player:

• We have not yet received payment for the player’s license.
  • To check this, look at the registration form the player is on, and check there is no outstanding balance. If you have paid via BACS and not sent us notification of payment to [email protected], we cannot guarantee that your payment will be updated on the system.
• We have not yet received valid ID for the player.
  • This could apply to us not having received any ID at all, the ID not matching the player’s registration details, or the ID not being valid.
• We have not yet received a self-declaration.
  • If a player has a connection with another country, whether through birth, residency or having played basketball there before, we may require a self-declaration that they want to play in this country and be licensed by Basketball England.
• We have not yet received international clearance from another National Basketball Federation.
  • If the player is not a UK national or has previously played in another country, we need to give the National Basketball Federation of their country of birth, or the country they previously played in, seven working days to provide a letter of clearance.
• The player was registered less than five working days before they need to play.
  • We cannot guarantee a completed registration and license for a game day if the registration of the player was made less than five working days prior to the game day.

For further information about registrations or to query a registration, please contact our customer service team on 0300 600 1170.

Please be aware that our customer service team cannot speed up or bypass mandatory processes such as international clearance or ID verification.

Yes you can.

If you are attending a game that involves parties that were involved within your disciplinary, it would be best to not attend the game with those parties involved.

If you intend to or know that that party are planning to attend, we strongly recommend the following action is taken:

• Do not approach any of the parties involved
• If any the parties involved in the disciplinary do approach yourself, politely remind them why you are at the game and remove yourself from the situation
• If remarks/comments are made, keep emotions out of your response. It is best to walk away and not say anything.
• Keep account of any comments made and any witness’ who can corroborate any statements made and send these into [email protected] with the topic relating to the case.

Insurance certificates are available for club admins through the Basketball England Membership Portal.

Click here to sign in.

A full list of fineable offences for the NBL, WNBL and Jnr. NBL competitions can be found in the National League Regulations.

NBL, WNBL and Jnr. NBL handbooks, plus the National League Regulations can all be found here.