USAPA Sanctioning Requirements for Tournaments

Revised March 5, 2012

1. Sanctioned tournaments may advertise that they are sanctioned by the USAPA only after their sanctioning requests have been approved by the USAPA Tournament Chairman and the sanction/insurance fee listed on the main tournament page has been paid. The logo on the left may be used in your literature and on any website that advertises the tournament. The logo that is on the home page of the USAPA website may not be used for that purpose.

2. The USAPA Tournament Chairman must approve all sanctioning requests. Previous tournament experience will be taken into account in determining tournament sanctioning.

• If the Tournament Chairman assigns a tier level to your tournament and the sanction/insurance fee has been paid, then medal-winning USAPA members will be guaranteed at least the number of points for that tier level if there is at least one more competitor in the event than the number of awards given. See the guidelines for assigning tier levels.
• After a tournament is completed, the tier level may be raised if warranted by the results, but it will never be lowered.

Tip : Document your efforts to gain sanctioning. If your tournament is not sanctioned this year, it may well be sanctioned next year if results are submitted and all USAPA rules are followed.

3. Sanctioned tournaments allow USAPA members who are medal winners to receive Tournament Points for approved events in that tournament.

4. A sanctioned tournament must meet the following requirements:

• The Tournament Director or sponsoring club must request sanctioning at least 60 days prior to the scheduled tournament, although earlier notification is recommended.
• Note: The USAPA will advertise the tournament on the schedule page of the USAPA website and will add the words "USAPA Sanctioned (Tier #)" and display the sanctioning logo after the approval process is complete and the sanction/insurance fee has been paid. If the tier level has been assigned, but the fee has not been paid, the page will list the tournament as "Sanction Pending" with the assigned tier level. The pending sanction will be withdrawn and no sanctioning and no insurance coverage will take place unless the sanction/insurance fee is received within 10 days of the tournament.
• A Sanctioned Tournament should have approximately 40 or more players to be eligible for continued sanctioning the following year. Other factors will also be considered such as expected growth for the following year and the number of players per event.
• The tournament should be open to all players who meet the general requirements of any tournament, such as age or ability level.
• A player's age in a sanctioned tournament will be determined by the player's age on December 31. An exception will be made if a state senior games organization mandates a different date in their tournament. (added 3-5-12 for consistency with the tournament points document)
• Entries may be limited by geographical locations such as city, county, regional, or state residency.
• Draw sizes in events may also be limited because of court availability, but must take entrants in the order they are received. No preference can be given to any player or group of players in any tournament.
• Restrictions on tournament entries will be judged on a case-by-case basis and can result in your tournament's ineligibility for Tournament Points or placement in a lower tier.
• Sanctioning will not be approved for club tournaments, housing area tournaments, or similar tournaments that are open only to a relatively small group of people.
• The tournament director must follow all USAPA/IFP Official Tournament Rules; the most current version of these rules will be posted on the IFP website at http://ipickleball.org/rules/pbrules-ifp.pdf.
• The tournament director must have USAPA membership forms available and agree to sign up players who wish to join the USAPA or renew their memberships. New memberships and membership renewals along with their checks must be sent to the USAPA, PO Box 7354, Surprise, AZ 85374.
• The tournament director must use USAPA-approved software or report the results using the USAPA Results Reporting Form. The USAPA provides tournament management software that includes all required reporting information. A link to the Results Reporting Form is located on the Sanctioning page. Within one week of the end of a tournament, results must be submitted. The USAPA software posts this automatically, but an email is necessary to to advise the committee the results are complete and ready to be used for Tournament Points input. This information must include USAPA member numbers. USAPA member numbers must be provided to ensure accurate identification. The newest USAPA tournament software has an entry field for this number. Address, telephone and email information are no longer required.
• It is the responsibility of the Tournament Director to be certain that players are competing in the correct event based on age or rating. Allowing ineligible players to compete in a bracket impacts the awarding of points. Questions about combining brackets can be addressed to the Tournament Points Chair. If any players join or renew USAPA membership at your tournament, please let us know. Tournament points cannot be awarded until membership in the USAPA is confirmed.
• A player's rating or skill level is not required, but is helpful. The ratings for many USAPA members are already in the USAPA rating system at http://www.usapa.org/ratings/. This is most important for skill-level tournaments. Ratings are also important because they are used to seed players within events. If a player is not rated they can self-rate. Tournament Directors may also assign a player's rating based on their observation of the player's abilities or based on the Rating Descriptions on the USAPA website. At the end of the tournament, the tournament director is encouraged to submit ratings for USAPA members not previously rated or for players whose ratings should be changed. This information helps to establish initial ratings and to correct inaccurate ratings.

5. USAPA-sanctioned tournaments are insured by a General Liability Policy and Participant Accident Policy. Details are here. The insurance is automatic if the tournament has been sanctioned. Click here to request a certificate for proof of insurance if it is required by the owner of the venue. The certificate should be requested at least 30 days before the start of the tournament. A certificate will be issued after receipt of the sanction/insurance fee.

6. See the Tournament Points System to identify the tournament tier levels and the number of points awarded to medal winners of the events.