USQ Update

Policy Reminders for Official Events

by US Quidditch | December 9, 2016

Photo by: Monica Wheeler Photography

Requirements for official matches

The full list of the requirements for official matches is available here. (TDs are strongly advised to read the entirety of the Gameplay Policies & Forms page prior to hosting any official matches.)

1. The game or tournament must be submitted to the USQ events calendar at least two weeks before the event.

Once an event has been successfully submitted to the USQ events calendar, it will show up under the user's "My Events" tab on their dashboard as "Pending." If a user tries to submit an event but does not see it as "Pending," it has not been successfully submitted.

USQ approves events twice a week. Once an event has been submitted to the calendar, USQ emails event admins and TDs letting them know their event is approved. The email also includes a list of important event policies, such as TD certification. It also encourages events to apply for sanctioning.

2. Participating teams must submit their rosters at least 24 hours in advance.

If a technical problem with the USQ website prevents a team from submitting a roster, or if there is an issue adding any players to the roster, they should email events@usquidditch.org immediately (before the 24 hour cutoff)  with details of the problem. Once the roster freezes 24 hours before the event, no player may participate in the event if they are not listed on the roster.

3. USQ member IDs must be checked against the rosters before the game starts (in the case of tournaments, before the first game starts).

If a player does not have their USQ ID, a state issued photo ID may be used instead. Players can also pull up the Membership page of their USQ dashboard on a smartphone or laptop, and show the photo on that page to the Tournament Director.

4. A certified head referee must be paid $15 and a certified lead assistant referee must be paid $10 to adjudicate the game. If the snitch runner for the game is certified, the snitch must also be paid $8.

If a head referee or snitch runner is taking a field test under the supervision of a USQ referee/snitch proctor, that match may be counted as official. Tournament directors interested in hosting field testing at their tournament must email Membership Director Eric Schnier at membership@usquidditch.org. Payment for the match must be given to the referee proctor ($15) or to the snitch proctor ($8), rather than to the individual taking the field test. (Lead assistant refs should still be paid directly.)

To view the list of currently certified head referees, click here. USQ is working on adding lead assistant referees to that database. In the meantime, TDs and teams can email membership@usquidditch.org to check on the status of lead assistant referees or snitch runners.

5. There must be a nonplaying certified athletic trainer or EMT available on site at all times.

At least one medic (a certified athletic trainer or a certified EMT) must be available at all times to serve as the designated and dedicated medic for the tournament. "Dedicated" means that the person must knowingly and actively be serving solely in this capacity during the time they are expected to be the medic (e.g. not playing, not refereeing, not volunteering, not TDing, etc.)

6. Each team must have a certified coach present during the match.

If an individual plays for one team and coaches for another, they must be present with the team they coach for in the player area during official games for that team. In the event that both teams attend the same event, coaching must always take priority to competing as a player when an official game is involved. The exception is if the two teams are competing against each other. In that instance, a coach may compete as a player so long as they immediately sub out and report to the team they coach for if there are any injuries or disciplinary issues they need to address in their role as coach.

To view the status of a team’s coach, view the database listed on this page.

7. A certified tournament director must organize and be present at the event.

As stated on the Gameplay policies page linked above, “For tournaments with four or fewer teams, the certified tournament director who is organizing the event may also have another role at the event (e.g. player, referee, coach, etc.). For tournaments with five or more teams, the certified TD must be a dedicated TD who does not have any other role at the event. The exception to this is at tournaments that are co-organized by multiple certified TDs who have each been heavily involved in the planning of the event. In this case, only one of these TDs must be a dedicated TD at any given time.” At no time are both/all TDs permitted to be occupying other non-TD roles simultaneously.

Ranked Games policy

This requirement, listed here, states “For any tournament to have ranked games, all games in the tournament between two USQ official teams must be ranked, and this must be announced by the organizers before registration.” Unofficial teams and official teams may compete against each other at the same tournament. However, if a pair of officials team play against each other once officially at an event than all other games between those two teams must be official. TDs who have questions on how to best plan their gameplay schedule so that it complies with the policy should email events@usquidditch.org.

Additional Policies for Teams

Proof of Enrollment

All players on college teams must have submitted proof of college enrollment to enrollment@usquidditch.org prior to playing in any official matches. (Proof of enrollment emails must be sent to this specific address.) TDs can check each player's enrollment status by following these steps on the USQ website:

1. When signed in to the USQ website as an event administrator, select "My Events" from the dashboard.

2. Select "Event Rosters" from the sidebar.

3. You can then download the rosters for your tournament and use a program like Excel to view the rosters. Next to each player's name, there will be a cell that says when the player is "enrolled" or "not-enrolled."

Since USQ verifies player enrollment manually, and this process can sometimes take a little time, if a player from a college team attempts to check in and is listed as "not-enrolled," they may play as normal if and only if they show you a copy of the email they have sent to enrollment@usquidditch.org with the verification of their enrollment. These players must show you the actual email they have sent to USQ, not just a copy of their schedule from their school website or other accepted form of enrollment verification.

Players on official community teams do not need to have any enrollment verification to play in official matches.

USQ is working this winter to be able to allow team administrators to also have access to view enrollment as well.

Team Referee Requirements

As listed on this page, teams must have the following certified officials on their team:

• At least two team members must certify as assistant referees.

• At least one different team member must certify as a snitch referee.

• At least two different team members must pass the head referee written test (after passing the AR and SR written tests) and purchase a USQ referee membership, in order to be certified as lead assistant referees.

Teams are required to finish their referee requirements, completed by five different

individuals, by October 15, 2016 or one month after they register (whichever comes later). If a team does not complete these requirements in the allotted time, the team will not be able to play in any official matches until it complies. If a team registers less than one month before their regional championship, these requirements must be completed at least three weeks before the tournament date, per the regional championship requirements outlined here.

Adult players may upgrade to a referee membership for $25. This membership, in addition to passing the required certification tests, will make one eligible for the certified lead assistant referee position at official matches, which has a compensation rate of $10/game.

For questions about referees, please contact Membership Director Eric Schnier at membership@usquidditch.org.

Event Sanctioning

US Quidditch is proud to offer event sanctioning to standardize tournament play and provide a higher standard of quality and safety for players nationwide. Benefits of sanctioning include marketing support from USQ, including use of press contacts to promote the event, assistance recruiting officials, a certificate of additional insured upon request, and financial support on a case-by-case basis.

Sanctioned events must meet certain criteria, and applications for sanctioning must be submitted no later than one month in advance of the event date, or no later than two months in advance if financial support is being requested. For more information about sanctioned events, please visit this page. Recent sanctioned events include Lone Star Invitational in Austin, Texas and Threaux Me Something Mister Quidditch Expeaux in New Orleans, Louisiana.

USQ Communication

Every TD receives an email from the USQ Events Director the week of their event, to update them on the status of competing teams’ coach certifications, referee requirements, and proof of enrollment (for applicable college teams). Additionally, the Events Director also emails every single team who is missing those requirements. TD's and team leaders should make sure that the email listed on their USQ account is one which they check most often. As an individual responsible for enforcing USQ policies at their event, the TD is expected to read these emails and act on them accordingly.

Failure to Abide by USQ Policies

Failure to abide by any of the above USQ policies, or any USQ policies in general, may result in one or more of the following as determined by USQ staff, primarily those in the Events Department and the Office of the Executive Director:

• Invalidation of entire event (no games may count as official or count towards season play requirements)

• Selective invalidation of matches

• Forfeits of specific games

• Suspension or revocation of TD’s certification

• Suspension of coach certification

• Player suspension

For questions about events or USQ policies, please contact Events Director Mary Kimball at events@usquidditch.org.