How To Sanction

USA Racquetball Sanctioning Guidelines

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.

The cost to sanction a Tournament/Multi-Day event is $100 and must be paid prior to your event. A $50 refund can be earned after meeting all requirements at the conclusion of the event. The cost to sanction a One Day Event/Shootout is $50. A $25 refund can be earned after meeting all requirements at the conclusion of the event. NOTE: This fee should be paid a minimum of 21-days prior to the event to give the USAR and State Organizations adequate and ample time for your events to receive full sanctioning benefits and sufficient promotions.

Sanctioning Your Event – Step by Step – Start to finish

Step 1:

The state president or sanctioning chairman can log onto the tournament scheduler to list their sanctioned event a minimum of 21 days prior to the first day of the tournament to give the USAR & your State Organization adequate and ample time for your event to receive full sanctioning benefits and sufficient promotions. Only an authorized member of a state association may file requests for event sanctioning.

Step 2:

Complete all the required information including the name of the event, dates, host club, contact name, telephone number, e-mail address, etc. and submit credit card payment of $100/$50 online.

Mail the completed sanction form, with payment, to the national office in sufficient time to be received six weeks prior to the event or a minimum of 21-days.

Step3:

Click "submit" to send your event to a pending file which will be activated by the national office who will update your tournament from "pending" to "approved" on a daily basis.

Step 4:

Immediately upon approval of your event you will be able to manage the following Online benefits and services:

Download mailing addresses in your region
Verify that all players are members
Rank all players for seeding
Access ranking/competition history of all players
Utilize the National Tournament Management System

Step 5:

At the close of the event the following requirements must be fulfilled - - no later than 14 days after the event has concluded - - to receive the full refund of $50 or $25:

Submit event roster – mail or online
Submit event match results - online only
Submit event memberships with required payment – mail or online

The $50/$25 refund will be forfeited if you do not use one of the three online systems that will be made available to you or your state association representative to electronically submit the match results.

If you elect to mail the match results into USA Racquetball for a national staff member to enter, the $50/$25 refund cannot be obtained.

Step 6:

When all requirements have been fulfilled (within the two-week period following the event) a refund will be issued.

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 Advantage Tech 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.

Sanctioned Tournament Kits

Each event that receives approval for sanctioning will receive a UPS shipment of the following items 7-12 days prior to the event:

10/15 issues of RACQUETBALL
4 copies of current rulebook
25 membership applications
List of approved eye guards
Membership benefits brochure
Guidelines for using the Online system
Guidelines for reporting results electronically

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 (R2Sports) 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.
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 USRA rules and sanctioning guidelines, as established by your state, will be adhered to and followed

All participants in a USRA 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.