When does FPF run seasons?
FPF currently offers three seasons:
- a WINTER season that runs from the second week of January until the first week of April.
- a SPRING season that runs from the second week of May until the first week of August.
- A FALL season with a different extended tournament format, called the ‘FPF Cup’, that runs from September to end of November.
When can I register for each season?
WHEN REGISTRATIONS ARE OPEN AND ONGOING FOR A GIVEN SEASON, A GREEN TEXT BOX WILL BE VISIBLE IN THE ‘SIGN UP’ MENU, READING ‘REGISTRATION OPEN’.
- The Winter season registrations open on November 1st.
- The Spring season registrations open on April 1st.
- The Fall Season FPF Cup registrations open on August 1st.
Teams can register directly on our website by filling out the registration form when the link is active. Once submitted, FPF will contact the captain to confirm receipt of the registration. All teams are then asked to submit the team’s deposit before a set date. The minimum deposit amount is normally $1000, and is usually due 3-4 weeks before the start of the season. If a team has yet to pay its deposit, we unfortunately cannot include them in the schedule. All deposits are non-refundable.
Can I register as an individual if I don’t have my own team or am unable to join one?
Yes. As of the 2018 Winter season, FPF will begin accepting individual registrations. Players looking to join the league as one or with one or two friends will be able to sign up through our ‘individual registration’ form that can be accessed in the ‘SIGN UP’ menu. Players will then be given a set date to come to the field and participate in an evaluation session where they will be assigned a rating. Once confirmed, and paid, the players will all placed on either an existing team’s roster, or a team made up entirely of new players.
Please note that players signing up as individuals will be asked to pay their full registration fees prior to their placement on a team.
The other option made available to players who are interested in joining an existing team is our ‘FREE AGENCY’ section, also found under the ‘SIGN UP’ menu. Here individuals can post their name and contact info at any point before or during a season, as well as a brief summary outlining their experience. Captains will then have the opportunity to contact them directly. From what we’ve seen, Free Agents who post during registration periods have the best chance of being recruited by a team. It is also possible for a group of individuals or team to post in the free agency section, inversely, recruiting individuals to join their team.
How many players are required on a roster?
FPF games are played using a 6 on 6 format. We recommend a roster be made up of an absolute minimum of eight players and no more than twelve. We would advise new teams to aim for a roster size between 8-12 players. Factors to consider when building a team are: how reliable are the players on your roster, how much playing time they expect, and what their individual budget is- you can either build a bigger or smaller team. Keep in mind however that injuries do occur during the season, and smaller rosters are sometimes left playing with six or even five players in the postseason due to a lack of playoff eligible players.
Is there are maximum number of spares/subs we can use; do they have to pay?
Teams can use as many substitutes as they’d like over the course of the season. Although we encourage teams to try to use the same player(s) multiple times to earn them playoff eligibility.
[players need to play a minimum of regular season games to be considered eligible for the respective playoff season]
FPF does not charge substitutes anything to play- it is your choice on whether or not you wish to charge substitutes.
There is no special roster rule for substitutes; they are still limited to a maximum of three active rosters at one time, and cannot play on two teams in the same division.
What days of the week are games played, and are specific days tied to specific divisions?
FPF holds games almost every day of the week.
Unlike many other sports leagues, FPF does not tie a specific division to a specific day of the week (e.g Thursday night Division 2 League) because we’ve seen that teams often sacrifice playing in the right caliber in order to play on a specific day, even if the skill level is not the best fit. We do everything in our power to maintain the integrity of each division’s caliber.
Instead we give teams the opportunity to communicate which days work best for them, and by through our automated scheduling program, we are consistently able to build as ideal a schedule as possible.
Because our divisions are quite large compared to other sports leagues (as many as 32 teams), there are enough teams for us to group together those with similar preferences and schedule them against each other to satisfy their requests.
That said, some of our smaller divisions such as co-ed and 35+ are tied to one specific night/location as of right now.
Recently, however, we have had games on the following nights:
Winter: Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Spring: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday
Fall: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday
How do I register a team?
Once the registration banner for the upcoming season is visible and registrations are open, you can click on the ‘REGISTER’ link and fill out the form.
TAB 1- requires the team captain’s information; including email address, phone number and home address. The team name is also required here. A team can always change their team name once they’ve registered so don’t worry if you haven’t decided on a team name.
TAB 2- On the second tab of the registration form, the team captain is required to enter the team roster into our database by searching, selecting and adding each individual player to the registration table below the search bar.
If a player exists in the database, he or she will appear in the search bar; you can select the player, and then you will see the player added in the team roster table. Repeat this process for each member of your team.
If a player does not exist in our database, you will see ‘Can’t find player’ and you will have the option to ‘add one’, click that link and you will be prompted to add him/her to the database manually. A new window will appear and you must enter the player’s first name, last name and base rating. Once you submit, the player will appear on the roster.
The base rating is tied to the division the player is making his/her debut in. The higher the division, the higher the introductory rating associated to it. (this information will be available)
At the bottom of the page, the system will automatically remove the option to select any division your team cannot register in due to a total team cap that is higher than the maximum amount permitted. (please note that when registering for the Fall Season FPF Cup, captains do not have the option to select a division).
TAB 3- The team captain is required to accept full responsibility for all unpaid fees. FPF does not deal with individual players for their payment. The team captain is solely responsible for all team fees.
TAB 4- Finally, a full recap and breakdown of the fees is listed, as well as the final roster submitted. If everything looks good, the team captain simply has to click ‘REGISTER’ and FPF will receive the team registration.
All further information (deposit dates, etc.) will then be communicated by email!
How does the player rating system rating work?
FPF utilises a player rating system that allocates a numerical value to each player in the league. The ratings are derived from the player’s statistical output over the course of the past three years (if applicable). The foundation of the program is a mathematical algorithm that takes into account the statistical output and the division in which it was attained- relative to all other players’ performances.
The objective of this system is to allocate a rating to each player, on a scale of 50 to 100, on both offense and defence. These ratings then work in conjunction with the other players on the same team roster to create a total team rating for both offence and defence. Each division has a set maximum allowance, and the team’s total will reflect which division(s) the proposed roster is permitted to participate in.
You’ll notice that the system only tabulates the top six offensive ratings for the offensive cap, and the top six defensive ratings for the defensive cap. (players in green are in the top six and included in the tabulation, players in red are not in the top six and are not included) The rationale behind using six players as opposed to more is some teams have very large rosters and some teams have very small rosters- if every player’s rating was included in the calculation, smaller rosters would gain an unfair advantage.
Other discussed formats were to use the average of all the players on the roster, rather than limiting it to the top six, but we figured teams would then be able to add multiple lower-rated players to fill out their rosters and bring down the average.
We feel that our current method is the fairest way to rate teams.
Please note that if a player does not play offence or defence, but has a rating that ends up in the top six of that same category, he will still count against the cap.
Some players have a second, QB-specific, offensive rating. This is to decipher between a player’s skill level as both a passer and a receiver, if he does- or intends to- do both in our league.
How do I know which division to register in if most, or all of us, are new players without ratings?
Unfortunately, we have no way of producing any type of fair rating for first-time members. Thus, new teams can technically register in any division they’d like.
What we encourage brand new teams to do is to send the league an email to set up a phone call, where a league representative can assess your experience and relative skill level and recommend which division would fit best.
If one or two of the team members have played in the league before, they usually have a good idea of what division would be the best fit based on their past experience.
Once a team’s first season is complete, each player will receive an FPF player rating along with every other player.
How do I pay the league?
Once a team registers for any season of FPF, the team captain will receive an email from a league representative detailing all the specific due dates and responsibilities for the upcoming season.
FPF offers teams three different options to pay their registration fees.
1) Interac email Money Transfers to info@flagplusfootball.com; team captains should send us the answer to their security question in a separate email.
2) Team captains can write a cheque to FPF, made out to ‘FlagPlus Football League’.
3) Team captains can pay cash, in person, at a scheduled ‘deposit date’ right around the time the deposits are due.
Teams must complete their payment by the end of the third week of the season. Teams who are late will be asked to clear their balance via credit card payment on our secure online portal.
Where do games take place?
The league utilizes several indoor facilities in and around the island of Montreal. For more information on each facility, please visit our Location. page.
Each season, set locations are offered on specific nights of the week. This information will always be available in the ‘SEASON INFO’ section during registrations. In addition, a detailed breakdown of the day/location/time combinations is sent to each captain prior to them filling out their preference form for any given season.
How much does it cost to register a team?
Prior to the start of each registration period, FPF announces the registration fees for the upcoming season. The primary variable that affects a change in price from one season to another is the rental rates charged by our facilities.
As reference, here were the full registration fees for the 2017 calendar year:
Winter: $1975.00
Spring: $1875.00
Fall FPF Cup: $1595.00
The FPF Team registration fees above include GST and PST totals, and referee fees.