USQ Update

Tournament Director Certification for 2018-19 Season

by US Quidditch | June 25, 2018

Update on August 1, 2018

The training video for the 2018-19 season is now available here. All TDs interested in taking the assessment must fill out the form here prior to attempting the assessment. Those who were certified in the 2017-18 season have been sent an email with instructions on how to recertify.  

Created in the 2014-15 season, USQ's Tournament Director certification program works to ensure that all official events meet USQ requirements for safety and gameplay, that tournament directors are aware of the resources available to them, and that events meet the league's quality standard. Every official event must be organized by someone who has received USQ tournament director certification.

The TD certification process for the 2018-19 season will be the same as the 2017-18 season, and consists of three steps.

1. Sign up for the program.
2. Watch the TD certification training video. The new training video will be available on August 1, 2018.
3. Take and pass the TD Certification Assessment.

All TDs wishing to be certified must watch the training video in full before they attempt the assessment. TDs who were certified in the 2017-18 season may take the TD Certification assessment one time without watching the video until August 31. Those TDs must use an access code that will be emailed out on August 1.

As with previous seasons, TDs must receive a perfect score of 100% on the assessment in order to pass. Also, if a candidate does not pass the assessment, they must wait a full 24 hours before reattempting the exam. Please note that USQ's cheating policy applies to the TD Certification Assessment.

The requirements for TDs at USQ official and/or sanctioned events are changing for next season. For tournaments with four or fewer team, the requirement is staying the same, and those events may continue to use a certified TD who has another role during the tournament (e.g. player, referee, coach, etc.).

For tournaments with five or more teams, there must be at least one certified TD who serves exclusively in that role (as a dedicated TD) for the entire duration of the event. This is a change from last season, when the individual serving as the dedicated TD could change throughout the tournament. Additional certified TDs are still encouraged to assist with planning and running the tournament on-site. In the event of an on-site emergency that would require the dedicated TD to leave the tournament, that individual may be replaced by another certified TD who would then take over the role of dedicated TD. This change is being made to ensure that all USQ policies and best practices for tournaments are being consistently followed on-site..

Also, tournaments using three or more pitches must have an additional certified TD involved with the planning of the event. This individual does not need to be another dedicated TD during the event, but they do need to complete TD certification prior to the deadline. They are permitted to hold another role during the tournament.

To assist with policy compliance, TDs will be asked to include the following additional information when they submit an event to the USQ calendar:

• How many pitches they plan on using
• Who is the primary TD, if there is more than one
• Who will be serving as the dedicated TD(s) on-site
• Link to the tournament’s Facebook event (if applicable)

Please note that the primary TD involved with a USQ official and/or sanctioned event must be certified at the time the event is submitted to the USQ calendar. All TDs involved with a USQ official and/or sanctioned event must be certified by the calendar submission deadline, which is one week before the event. Exceptions to this policy may be made in the case of an emergency.

TDs running USQ official events are encouraged to set up a pre-event interview with USQ’s TD support team. We recommend that this interview take place two to four weeks before the event.

For questions, please contact tdcertification@usquidditch.org.