The Pembina Trails Athletic Association (PTAA) bylaws state that at the grade 7 level students will play equal time. As this level is the transition year from Friendship Tournaments at grade 6 the PTAA felt it was important to ease the journey and keep the general philosophy of equal playing time intact yet provide more opportunities for competitive play.

The PTAA bylaws further state that at the grade 8 and 9 levels students should play in every game, with the amount of playing time being significant. The playing time of each player is at the discretion of the coach who may determine that extenuating circumstances (e.g. behaviour, attendance etc.) may affect a player's playing time. This statement is the one that is often open to interpretation so I will clarify.

“Significant” implies that, although the playing time for each athlete may not be equal, once a game is completed each player should feel as though they had contributed to the outcome. It would also mean that each player would play in some sort of rotation and not merely when the outcome of a game has been decided (i.e. playing in the last minute of a game when the point spread is too large to be overcome by either team).