Ultimate KanJam

Ultimate KanJam is a hybrid of Ultimate and KanJam (a.k.a. Kan-Jam, Kan Jam, and Kanjam) and incorporates some aspects of handball and soccer. Two teams compete with each other, each team having at least 3 players each. The object of the game is for a fielders to advance across a court so that they can throw the disc into or at the KanJam can with or without deflection by the deflector (see *Scoring).

Ultimate KanJam Association (UKJA) Rules
''Drafted by John Buterbaugh on February 4, 2012. Last modified on June 15, 2015. Sources of most rules for UKJA are USA Ultimate - 11th edition rules (30 pages) and KanJam - 2011 rules (4 pages). A predecessor of UKJA rules is Ultimate KanJam - 2004 rules(1 page).''

Equipment and Court Dimensions
One KanJam can will be placed on the ground beneath the hoop on each side of a basketball court. Players will use a KanJam frisbee as the disc. The court is 94' by 50' (4700 ft2) and the shortest distance from the endline to the three-point line is 69'. Everything inside the three-point line (19'9" away from the can) and the endline acts as a crease; this crease is approximately 700 ft2. The area outside the sidelines is called "the sidelines" and the area outside the endlines is called the "outzone." See this image here.

Offense and Fielding
A team is restricted to 2-5 fielders and 1 deflector at once. Each team will designate one member to compete in Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine which team gets the first possession. The team that wins Rock, Paper, Scissors may choose to take the first possession or defer. To start the game, one player throws in the disc from his or her opponent's outzone to a teammate in the midfield with "no press." "No press" in UKJA rules means that defenders must stand at least an arm's length away from the thrower on an inbounds pass. Additionally, no player other than the inbound thrower and the deflectors may stand in the creases or the outzones after the inbound thrower has thrown in the disc. No thrower must keep a pivot foot exclusively in the midfield until they release the disc, but any fielder may stand in or run through the sidelines in addition to the midfield. Passers can only release the disc with their hands; any other kind of release results in a turnover regardless of whether the disc is caught by another player. Receivers may catch the disc using any part of their bodies, as long as the receivers can establish control of the disc with their hands. If the receiver was already running, he or she is limited to two steps to maintain control of the disc and slow down to a stop. A receiver who uses more than two steps to maintain control of the disc will be assessed with a turnover.

The offense advances the disc up the field until a fielder gets into a good scoring position. This may be near the crease line or it may be very far away, depending on the throwing skills of said fielder. The deflector, meanwhile, is restricted to the crease during gameplay. If the offense throws the disc into the ground or the basketball backboard system or commits a crease violation, the offense is assessed with a turnover. The defense plays the disc from where it dropped or stopped. If the disc landed out of bounds, the disc is played from inbounds nearest to where the disc landed. If the disc landed in the crease, the disc may then and only then be played from the crease.

Scoring
A fielder becomes a thrower when he or she attempts to score. The fielder must throw the disc from outside the crease (or "deflector's circle") to the deflector who may use any part of his body to deflect the disc into or at the can as long as the contact with the disc is brief and singular (see *Deflection). If the thrower does not score, the offense is assessed with an SNC and loses possession.


 * 1 point for a deflected hit at the can (dinger) - includes deflected shots that went into the can but came out of a slot or the top regardless of whether the can fell; includes deflected shots that stayed on the top, in the tabs, or in the slot for more than five seconds; includes deflected shots that went into the can but the can fell and more than half of the disc fell out of the top.


 * 2 points for an undeflected hit at the can (deuce) - includes undeflected shots that went into the can but out of the slot or the top regardless of whether the can fell; includes undeflected shots that stayed on the top, in the tabs, or in the slot for more than five seconds; includes deflected shots that went into the can but the can fell and less than half of the disc fell out of the top. Once a shot hits at the can for 2 points, the deflector cannot modify the number of points made on that play.


 * 3 points for a deflected throw into the can (bucket) - includes deflected shots that went into the can but the can fell and less than half of the disc fell out of the top.


 * 6 points for an undeflected throw into the can (chog/slot) - includes undeflected shots that went into the can but the can fell and less than half of the disc fell out of the top.

Deflection
A legal deflection results in points as seen above. According to KanJam.com, illegal deflections include "catching, throwing, lifting the disc, stopping the disc in mid air to cause it to fall straight down, palming of the disc to control its flight, pulling the disc, pushing the disc, double hitting the disc, and any other action taken that controls the disc in any way." An illegal deflection results in no points, and possession is given to the defense, which plays the disc from the sideline behind the deflector.

Defense
There are at least two defenders and one deflector (who is prohibited from marking or blocking.) A defender may only touch the disc when none of the offensive players have control of the disc. A marker is a defender within three meters of a passer's pivot. If a defender successfully blocks or intercepts a pass or throw and his team has not committed a foul or a crease violation, the defense takes possession.

Fouls
An offended player must call his or her own foul immediately after an offense and the foul stands if the offending player does not contest it. If a defender fouls on a thrower during a shot attempt, the thrower attempts a penalty shot at the crease line for points regardless of whether the thrower scored points during the foul. Should the offense commit a foul, they lose possession.

Time
No team may call timeout except when an injury occurs or when a foul is committed against them. Should the offense exceed maintain possession for 30 seconds without scoring, they will lose possession. Should a player control the disc for 10 seconds without passing or scoring, the offense loses possession. A regulation game is played for two 30-minute halves. If there is a tie at the end of regulation, a five-minute overtime period ensues. If the first overtime results in a tie, another five-minute overtime period ensues. If the second overtime results in a tie, five penalty shots ensue. If the five penalty shots result in a tie, each team will alternate penalty shots until one team leads after an equal number of turns.

Substitution
A team can either make substitutions during the break or on the fly during gameplay. To do a substitution on the fly, a player without the disc runs into the sideline and taps the hand of his or her substitute. The substitute then progresses into the midfield to play. For a deflector and a fielder to trade spots, the deflector must move to the crease line, tap the hand of the fielder in question, and then progress into the midfield. If the substitution process takes so long that it creates an unfair advantage, the penalty is a turnover for the offense or the loss of the next possession for the defense.

Exhibition Matches
Three 20-minute exhibition matches were played at the Austin Park basketball courts in Skaneateles, New York on June 11, 2012 between 3 and 4:30 pm. The first match can be watched here. One 45-minute exhibition match was played in the same venue on June 3, 2013 from 3:15 to 4 pm. Another exhibition game is planned for June 2015 in the same venue.



Other rules from Ultimate KanJam can be found on these pages: USA Ultimate - 11th edition rules and KanJam - 2011 rules. A source of some of the rules is here: Ultimate KanJam - 2004 rules.