<SG6>
Retrieving Balls from the Pickup Zone. Once a Goal is scored, that Ball will fall through the Goal Wall and into the Pickup Zone. This rule also applies to Balls that land in the Pickup Zone without being scored. Once the Ball contacts the Floor of the Pickup Zone, a Loader may retrieve it. They may not reach into the Field until the Ball contacts the Floor. A Ball which has been Scored through a Target may not be used for additional scoring, Passing, or Switch Clearing until it is retrieved by a Loader and legally re-Loaded. Note: Although not explicitly required, it is highly recommended for Loaders to have a designated “staging location” to rest their hands while waiting for a Ball (such as the outside face of the Field Perimeter). This will help make it abundantly clear to the Head Referee that point A is not being Violated. If a Scored Ball gets stuck inside the Goal Wall structure after passing through a Target and does not make it to the Pickup Zone, a referee must free that Ball by carefully reaching into the Goal Wall as quickly as it is possible to safely do so. Balls that have not passed entirely through a Target should not be retrieved by a referee, although it is expected that they may fall into or out of the Goal Wall if an adjacent Scored Ball is removed. In most cases, a gentle nudge will be all that is needed to move the Scored Ball into the Pickup Zone. Extreme circumstances, such as interference with gameplay during this interaction, may warrant a Match replay at the Head Referee and Event Partner’s discretion (see <T7>).
Violation Notes:
Accidental Violations of point A, such as reaching over the Field but not touching a Ball, should be treated as warnings / Minor Violations. Egregious or repeated Violations that result in retrieving a Ball before it contacts the Floor of the Pickup Zone are inherently Score Affecting, and will escalate to a Major Violation at the Head Referee’s discretion. The intent of point B is to prevent Robots from retrieving Balls out of the Pickup Zone. Violations of this rule should be rare, as Robots should never be designed to do so.