logo UREC HOME UA HOME Facilities Mission Staement

Horseshoes Rules

Intramural Sports General Information

The Intramural Sports Office is located in the atrium of the Student Recreation Center.
Office Hours:  Monday - Friday 10:00 AM - 4:30 PM

Phone Numbers: 
205-348-8055
205-348-3906
Rain Hotline: 205-348-2708

Email address:imsports@bama.ua.edu


Rule 1: Eligibility

Article 1: Participation
Participation is limited to currently enrolled, fee-paying students, faculty, and full-time staff.

Article 2: Action Cards
Participants must have a valid Action Card in order to participate in Intramural events. The card must be presented to the Intramural staff member at the time of the event.

Rule 2: Teams

Section 1: Players
Players can compete on only one (1) team, regardless of league classification.

Section 2: Number of Players
Horseshoe doubles teams shall consist of only two (2) players. No additional substitutes are permitted. Two (2) players must be present to begin a match.

Rule 3: Equipment

Section 1: Player’s Equipment
All players must wear shoes. Sandals and flip-flops are also permitted.

Section 2: Game Equipment
Horseshoes will be provided by the Intramural Sports staff at the match site. Teams must use the equipment provided by Intramural Sports.

Rule 4: Rules and Regulations

Section 1: Conduct of Players
No contestant shall make any remarks or utter any sound within the hearing of his/her opponent, nor make any movement that does or might interfere with the opponents' playing. The penalty for violation of this rule shall be the declaring as foul both shoes pitched or to be pitched by the offender in the inning complained. No contestant shall walk across to the opposite stake and examine the position of his opponent's shoe before making his/her first or final pitch.

Section 2: The Foul Lines
The outer edges of the pitcher's box shall be known as foul lines.

 

Section 3: Position of Players
In delivering the shoe into the opposite pitcher's box a contestant may stand anywhere inside of the foul lines. Each player, when not pitching, must remain outside and back of the pitcher's box until his/her opponent has finished pitching.

Section 4: The First Pitch
At the beginning of a game, the contestants shall decide who shall have the first pitch by the toss of a shoe or coin. The winner shall have the choice of first pitch or follow. At the beginning of successive games between the same players, the loser of the preceding game shall have the first pitch.

Section 5: Pitched Shoe
The shoe is pitched when it leaves the player's hand.

Section 6: Broken Shoes
If a shoe strikes in fair territory and is broken into separate parts, it shall be removed and the contestant entitled to pitch another shoe in its place.

Section 7: Foul Shoes
The following are examples of foul shoes:

  1. A shoe pitched while the player is standing outside the foul line is foul.
  2. If a shoe first strikes outside of the foul lines before entering the pitcher's box, it is a foul.

Foul shoes shall be removed from the pitcher's box at the request of the opponent. A foul shall not be scored or credited.

Section 8: Interfering with Pitched Shoes
No contestant shall touch his/her own or his/her opponent's shoes after they have been pitched, until the final decision has been rendered as to the scoring values of the shoes.
Failure to comply with this rule shall result in both shoes of the offender being declared foul and his/her opponent being entitled to as many points as the position of his/her shoes at the peg should warrant.

Section 9: Definition of a "Ringer"
A ringer shall be a shoe that encircles the stake far enough to permit a straight edge to touch both heel calks simultaneously without touching the stake.

Section 10: Knocked off and Knocked on Ringers
Whenever a player knocks off his/her own or opponent's ringer, such knocked off ringers lose their scoring value. If a player knocks on one of his/her opponent's shoes from a non-ringer position to a ringer position, the changed shoe has scoring value and credit for a ringer for its owner.

Section 11: Moved Pitched Shoes
When a thrown shoe moves a shoe already at the stake, all shoes are counted in their new positions.

Section 12: Regulation Games
The regulation game shall consist of 21 points. Each game is divided into innings and each inning constitutes the pitching of four shoes, the two players each pitching two shoes. An official contest between two players shall consist of best two (2) out of three (3) games. Shorter matches are allowed if both participants agree prior to starting.

Section 13: Scoring Points
The scoring of the shoes shall go as follows:

  1. All shoes shall be within six inches of the stake to score.
  2. Closest shoe to stake scores 1 point
  3. Two shoes closer than opponent’s scores 2 points
  4. One Ringer scores 3 points
  5. Two Ringers score 6 points
  6. One Ringer and closest shoe of same player scores 4 points
  7. If a contestant shall have two ringers and his opponent one, the player having two ringers shall score 3 points.

Section 14: Cancelled Points

  1. All equals count as ties and no points are scored.
  2. In case each contestant has a ringer the next closest shoe, In within six inches of stake, shall score.
  3. If each contestant has a double ringer both double ringers are cancelled and no points scored.
  4. In case there is a tie of all four shoes as four ringers or all four shoes are equal distances from the stake, no score shall be recorded and the contestant who pitched last is entitled to pitch first on the next throw.
  5. Any shoes leaning against the stake in a tilted position shall not have advantage over a shoe lying flat on the ground and against the stake. All such shoes are ties.

Section 15: Announcing Scores
All shoes shall be scored and announced only in their final position after all shoes have been pitched. In all games, the player scoring the points shall call the result.

Rule 5: Sportsmanship

Sportsmanship is an important part of intramural sports. Any player who uses foul language, violently protests a call, or curses an staff member, will be removed from the game and will automatically be suspended from his/her team's next game. In addition, he/she will have to meet with the Coordinator of Intramural Sports during office hours (Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) before he/she is eligible to participate again. Any player who touches an official or staff member will be placed on suspension from all Intramural activities for a minimum period of one calendar year from the time of the incident.