HOW TO SANCTION?

A major role of each state affiliate is to coordinate a balanced tournament schedule of sanctioned events in their respective states. Only the state president or respective state sanctioning chairman can sanction events at the state level. Clubs, tournament directors and racquetball programmers interested in hosting a sanctioned event must contact their state association to sanction their events through USA Racquetball. Click here for a list of state contacts.

Sanction a standard tournament 2 days or longer =$75.

Sanction a one day shootout = $35.

Sanction a league = $25. All players not currently USA Racquetball members must purchase $5 league membership.

Sanctioning Your Event – Step by Step – Start to finish

Step 1:

• Request to be a tournament director through your member profile.
• Contact your state director to let them know you are interested in running a tournament.
• Upon approval of your tournament director request, you can then begin the sanctioning process, by creating your Director Control Panel. This will warehouse all events that you create.

Step 2:

• Through your member profile (which has now been updated to show you as a tournament director) select events and then click “sanction event for self”.
• Input all required information (dates, city, etc.) for request.*
• Upon approval of your event by the state, payment will be required to complete the process.

*- Keep in mind each state has a different set of rules or guidelines that a sanctioned event must meet. Be sure

your event meets these standards before submitting for approval.

Step 3:

• Once payment is complete you must activate your event (different than setup).
• A green box will appear in your membership profile as well as in your email inbox via an email.
• Click on the link in the green box on your profile or in your email to set up your tournament name, venue, and login information for the tournament.*

*- The login information will always remain in your director control panel.

Step 4:

• Immediately upon activation and setup of your event, you will be able to manage the following online benefits and services:

o Verify that all players are members of USAR

o Rank all players for seeding using national rankings

o Access ranking/competition history for all players

o Utilize the National Tournament Program

o Communicate to potential participants via email, twitter & Facebook

o Communicate with entrants to provide updates.

o Utilize the Electronic Scorecard system

Step 5:

• At the close of the event the following requirements must be fulfilled in the allotted time frame.

o Submit event memberships with required payment – mail or online within 14 calendar days

o Submit event match results – online ONLY within 30 calendar days*

o In order to submit results, all participants must be current members of USAR

• The submission of results is done through the event page under the “setup” tab and selecting “activate results”. Then click the link that reads “submit results to USA Racquetball”.

*- If you elect to mail the match results in to USAR for a national staff member to enter, an additional $100 fee must be paid to USAR to input results.

Special Provisions & Processing Requirements

• Completed tournament draw sheets for each division and a tournament roster of names are required to process the official results into the ranking system if you are mailing them into the national office.

• Tournament rosters & results containing the names of expired or non-members cannot be entered and will be returned to the state association or event director for follow-up membership processing and collection of payment.

• All event cancellations must be done prior to the start date and must be communicated to USA Racquetball. peggine@usra.org

Sanctioned Tournament Kits

Each sanctioned event can order any of these items from the national office 21 days prior to the start of the event and only after the event has been approved.

• Issues of RACQUETBALL Magazine
• Membership Applications
• List of approved eye guards
• Incident Forms
• Safety Guidelines

To order your Tournament Kit, use the Tournament Kit Request form found at 

. Special needs? Contact Peggine@usra.org

Please note that some state associations allow you to order balls or other equipment through them for having a sanctioned event, so ask your state director what additional items you may receive.

Sanctioning Benefits

Upon approval of the sanctioning form, the national office will provide the tournament director with the following:

• Online access to the membership database for download of mailing labels for states in your region;
• Online exclusive tournament manager to build your roster of participants, capture members into the roster, schedule your event, and submit results electronically;
• Online verification of membership status of event participants;
• Online submission of new and renewing memberships on a secure server;
• Online search capability for obtaining state rankings by division to assist with tournament seeding;
• $5,000,000 General Aggregate per event liability coverage;
• Secondary accident medical insurance for all current licensed members;
• With sufficient advance notice the sanctioned event will be listed in the tournament calendar of RACQUETBALL Magazine – observe deadlines listed in each issue of the magazine;
• The sanctioned event will be listed in the Online tournament scheduler;
• Weekend exclusivity as defined by the state association;
• Assistance and support from the state association;
• Opportunity for players to earn state, regional, and national ranking positions;
  
  Important Note: All new and renewing members should be informed that a portion of their membership fee remains with the state association to assist with promotional efforts aimed at competitive, recreational, and beginning players alike.

Event Scheduling Tips & Planning

• The state association serves as the sanctioning body for all events held in their state, including regional and master’s events. National Associations may apply for sanctioning through the USAR but all efforts will be made to coordinate all events through the state association.
• The event will be of high quality and uphold standards as set forth by the state association and national governing body.
• Identify the events for the calendar year that have requested sanctioning in advance.
• Coordinate with club tournament directors to set available weekends and schedule events accordingly.
• As a state association, you may only request sanctioning for events that will be hosted and held in your state.
• Assure that all USAR rules and sanctioning guidelines, as established by your state, will be adhered to and followed.

All participants in a USAR sanctioned event must be current members of USA Racquetball. To avoid confusion, only a valid membership card, membership confirmation, or bona-fide receipt of membership is valid for proof of membership. There are no "one time" waivers, reduced fees, or special promotions that substitute for a full dues paying member.