TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR CERTIFICATION

• Job DescriptionHosting a Sanctioned USAV Tournament within the North Texas Region

Host Club

Tournament Director

Site Directors

Head Referees

Referees

Coaches and Registered Adults

Participants

Spectators

Vendors

Sites/Facilities

• Job Descriptions Tournament DirectorThe jobs of a Tournament Director are at the discretion of the host Club.

The Tournament Director is Ultimately responsible for:

• Building the Pools and Brackets• Importing the teams into Pools according to region rules• Managing Pool Conflicts• Fixing Pool and Bracket issues as they arise during the event• Working with the region, site directors, head referees, and

facilities to ensure a smooth event

The host Club may also ask the Tournament Director to:

• Request sanctioning and officials, hire site directors and head referees, reserve facilities, and communicate with the region

• Take entries and manage V-Star registrations• Coordinate Awards and T-shirts• Create and manage the budget (including entry fees, refunds, and

vendor payments)• Make the final decision on any other issues that may arise (i.e.

weather, ejections, rejections, etc.)

Each tournament shall designate a Tournament Director (TD). The TD is an employee/contractor of the club who is responsible for the scheduling and running of the event. This may be multiple people, but ultimately one person shall have the designation. Any TD for any event in the NTR must be certified TD according to NTR. A list of certified TD can be found on the region website.

• Job Descriptions

Site DirectorThere must be a Site Director at each site who is responsible for conducting the tournament in accordance with USAV/NTR policies. They must be registered USAV members and have cleared the background screen, SafeSport training and are certified NTR Site Directors. A list of Certified Site Directors can be found on the NTR website. A TD (tournament director) may also be a Site Director.

• Job Description

• SanctioningSanctioned Tournaments The JUNIOR sanctioned indoor season begins the first eligible date of sanctioned tryouts and ends at the conclusion of the USA Volleyball Junior National Championships. During this period, all tournaments conducted by NTR clubs must be sanctioned by the North Texas Region and conducted in accordance with region tournament guidelines. During the sanctioned season, all teams must abide by the current USA Volleyball uniform rules.

Sanctioning Process Sanctioned tournaments shall be requested by any club registered within NTR. The request must come from the club director. The club director is ultimately responsible for any financial obligations and rule compliance. Any penalties associated with a sanctioned event shall be issued to the club director. Only a club director in good standing and currently having teams participating in the NTR shall be eligible to host sanctioned tournaments. Club Directors must submit an “Application for Sanction” form to the Region by the 3rd. Tuesday of August. All applications will be accepted provided that the hosting club meets all region requirements to run a tournament and is not under any penalty for other rules violations such that the number of tournaments they are allowed to run is limited. Tournaments without officials are not subject to the Sanction Application deadline.

Each tournament location shall designate a Site Director (SD). The SD is an employee/contractor of the club who is responsible for scheduling officials, adjusting pools and brackets as needed during event per the TD, and supplying the logistical items for running a tournament site within the guidelines of NTR policies. Any SD for any event in NTR must be certified SD according to NTR. A list of certified SD can be found on the region website.

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the EventPeople to Contact Before the Event

• The Region Staff• Executive Director• Referee Coordinator

• Site Directors• Head Referee• Facility Owners• Team Club Directors

• Wave Requests• Pending and Dropped Teams

V-Star

• Teams that are Registered• Who has and has not Paid• How Many Teams per Age Group• Teams that have Dropped• Time Stamps

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

• The entry deadline for a JUNIOR INDOOR tournament is twenty-one (21) days.

• An entry received after this date will be accepted at the discretion tournament director.

• A $25 late entry fee must be paid by any team that enters a tournament after the deadline. All late fees will be handled by the tournament and the team directly.

• Tournament director reserves the right to refuse entries and cancel/combine classifications with less than four entries at any time after the entry deadline.

• In the event that more entries are received than space is available, teams will be accepted on a first come first serve basis based on date received. In the case that multiple team registrations are received on the same date and exceed available space, acceptance is at the discretion of the tournament director.

Tournament fees for non-regional championship events will be set by the tournament director. The JUNIOR INDOOR recommended tournament fee is a maximum of $195 (guaranteed 6 sets) or $220.00 (guaranteed 8 sets) for a one-day event and $325.00 (guaranteed 8 sets) or $360.00 (guaranteed 10) for a 2-day event.

Fees

Entrants

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

Merging Tournaments

Refunds• Requests for a full refund of a JUNIOR INDOOR tournament entry fee will be honored if received by

noon on the Monday three weeks prior to the event (19 Days).

• Any team that drops from a Junior tournament after Monday at noon three weeks (19 days) prior and prior to Monday at noon two weeks (12 days) prior to the event will be entitled to a 50% refund.

• Any team that drops from a junior tournament after noon on Monday two weeks (12 days) prior to the event will not be entitled to a refund.

• Any team that drops from a tournament after Thursday at noon or does not show up for a tournament will be assessed a $150.00 fine. The fine must be paid within fourteen (14) days or the club cannot participate in any other region sanctioned event. The fine is to be paid to the region and the region will reallocate the funds to the tournament host club.

Seeding Tournament directors conducting JUNIOR INDOOR events must use the Region Rankings (VStar) to seed teams but tournament directors are allowed to adjust for pool conflicts. The top half of the field shall not be adjusted for pool conflicts. The third quarter of the field (usually the 3 seeds) shall not be adjusted such that they are moved out of the third quarter of the field. Bracket seeding in tournaments should be done such that teams that played against each other in pool play do not play each other again until the bracket finals. The team finishing lower in pool play should be the team whose seed in the bracket is adjusted to accommodate this format. In cases where more than two teams from a pool make the same bracket, the top two teams from the pool should be the teams that are separated in the bracket.

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

PRE-TOURNAMENT DISCLOSURE There are several pieces of information that must be disclosed by a TD by posting to a website or using the region registration system. A tournament director must disclose and post to the website the teams in their event and in which division they are playing no later than the day before the entry deadline. A tournament director who is deciding to cancel an event or division within an event must cancel that event/division no later than the Tuesday prior to the event. Age group site, time and location information must be posted on the individual tournament websites by the Tuesday prior to the event.

TOURNAMENT EQUIPMENT For the tournament entry fee charged, the host will provide:

1. One suitable game ball per court

2. Properly marked courts and clearly displayed schedules for pool play and playoffs with officiating assignments

3. Equipment designed for volleyball use and properly padded; including net supports, cables and referee platform.

4. Appropriate awards.

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

• Week of the Event

Printing

Communication

Awards and T-Shirts

• The Region Staff• Executive Director• Referee Coordinator

• Site Directors• Head Referee• Facility Owners• Team Club Directors

• Wave Requests• Pending and Dropped Teams

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

• Week of the Event

• During the Event

Weather From time to time, bad weather will interfere with the running of an event in the NTR. When such cases occur, it is recommended that the TD contact the region and follow these guidelines. These are the only conditions that shall be considered grounds for cancellation of events or matches and grounds for refusal to participate on the part of vendors and teams: Severe Thunderstorms, Ice Storms, Flash Flooding, or Tornado Watches/Warnings, predicted Icy Conditions. If one of these situations arises in the county of an event location, it is at the discretion of the TD what course of action to take. It is not necessary to have a universal policy; each facility should be considered individually for the purposed of making a decision. However, the decision at a particular facility should be consistently applied to all matches, pools, and brackets. For example, a match may be cancelled at Regionals at one site, and the tournament may continue at a different site. But if one match is cancelled at Regionals at the Region Facility, then all subsequent matches are to be cancelled at the Region Facility for that day. In the case of a predictive condition, a tournament may move the start time of a tournament back provided that it could still run its course and finish before the curfew. In these situations, an email is to be sent out to the participating clubs no later than 12 hours prior to the original start time. In the case of weather that arises after the tournament has started or weather that is predicted after the event has started, several factors must be taken into account. If it is deemed by the TD that it is unsafe to continue, then it is permissible to cancel any number of matches. If pool play is cancelled before the fourth match of pool play is completed in all pools, then it is recommended that the tournament be cancelled. If the fourth match of pool play has been completed in all pools, then pool play may continue on the next day followed by a truncated single elimination bracket. If any part of bracket play is cancelled, then the tournament will be considered finished and all teams in each tier shall be considered tied for the place represented by the last fully completed tier of the bracket. A partial refund shall be given to all teams based on the number of matches short of the guaranteed match total that team missed. The refunded amount shall be $15 a match. The only exception to this is teams who submitted in writing that they were not attending the tournament due to weather even though the tournament had not been cancelled. These teams shall receive no refund, but should not be subjected to penalties. Referees whose match total was reduced due to a cancellation of matches shall be paid for the matches that they did work and shall be awarded a $5 a match stipend for the number of matches they would have worked based on the schedule created by the head referee/site director. Referees who chose not to attend an event that was not cancelled are not owed this stipend. Facilities and host clubs should negotiate among themselves what is a fair payout for partial usage due to weather.

Announcement of any cancellations should be submitted in writing to the club director’s email

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

• Week of the Event

• During the Event

1. Only registered USAV members may participate in the tournament.

2. Only facilities sanctioned by the region for competition may be used for the event. A list of sanctioned facilities and details concerning them can be found on the NTR website.

3. Teams may only participate in Divisions that match their team classification or higher division.

4. Approved volleyballs; score sheets; libero tracking sheets and lineup sheets must be used. (These can be downloaded at the NTR website)

5. Tournament directors must be registered members of the North Texas Region and be affiliated with a Region club from the previous and current year to be able to host a sanctioned tournament.

6. No site director is allowed to coach or officiate at any time while they are serving as the site director.

Tournament Rules

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

• Week of the Event

• During the Event

No Shows (see Pools)

Trouble Makers

Site Directors and Head Referees

The Event facility must have its own liquor license and insurance which should be properly posted. Junior Participants must be provided an entrance and exit from the playing facility that does not require them to walk through an area where alcohol is sold and consumed. This entrance and exit needs to be made available through the entire junior volleyball event.

No alcohol is permitted in the area where the junior event is being held. The area includes the playing and spectator area around the courts. Junior Participants must be provided a designated bathroom that allows them to use the restroom without having to enter into an area where alcohol is being sold or consumed.

In the event that a Junior Event and Adult Event are being held, Adult participants can consume alcohol in a designated area (patio, cabana, etc.) that must be roped off and clearly indicated that no junior players are allowed. The Junior Event and Adult Event should be separated as much as possible. Alcohol should never enter the Junior Event area.

Alcohol Policy

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

• Week of the Event

• During the Event

• After the Event

Posting Results• V Star• Website

Paying Vendors• Sanction Fees• Referees• Site Directors• Head Referees• Sites• Other Vendors

POST TOURNAMENT REQUIREMENTS: Tournament Director deadlines for submitting tournament information to the Region office:

1. Results from a tournament are to be posted by the tournament director on the region website no later than 72 hours after the tournament.

2. Sanction fees are to be paid to the NTR Region office no later than 7 days after the event. Junior indoor tournament sanction fees are as follows: $7.50 per team for a one-day event, $15.00 for two-day/multi-day events and $20.00 for bid tournaments. Junior Outdoor sanction fees are as follows: $2.50/player, with a $75 minimum for a one-day event and $3.50/player, with a $125 minimum for a two- day event.

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

• Week of the Event

• During the Event

• After the Event

• Pools

Sizes

Seeding

In the NTR, the only acceptable pool sizes for fields of 7 or more teams are 3, 4, and 5.

1. List the teams in the field in descending order by VStar rank/points.

2. Determine the number of Pools needed in the tournament.

Use the formula: Total Teams / 4

a) If the number is divisible by 4 then that is the number of pools

b) If the number is not, then subtract the nearest divisible number of teams

i. If there is 1 team remaining then you will have 3 Pools of 3

ii. If there are 2 teams remaining then you will have 2 Pools of 3

iii. If there are 3 teams remaining then you will have 1 Pool of 3

c) Remove the number of teams in the pools of 3 and repeat step a

d) Add the number of pools of 4 and pools of 3 and that is the total number of pools

e) The 3 team pools will be pools 1-3 as needed.

3. The team with the lowest rank/highest points is the 1 Seed in Pool 1

4. The next team on the list is the 1 seed in Pool 2

5. When you get to the last pool in the tournament, the next team on the list becomes the

2 seed in that pool and you repeat the process moving up the pools. When you reach

Pool 1, add the next team on the list as seed 3 and continue to move down.

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

• Week of the Event

• During the Event

• After the Event

• Pools

Conflicts

2 Sets to 25

Schedule

Tournament directors conducting JUNIOR INDOOR events must use the Region Rankings (VStar) to seed teams but tournament directors are allowed to adjust for pool conflicts. The top half of the field shall not be adjusted for pool conflicts. The third quarter of the field (usually the 3 seeds) shall not be adjusted such that they are moved out of the third quarter of the field.

Time Allotments

Two 25pt Sets 50 Minutes

2/3 25pt Sets 1 Hour 5 Minutes

One 15pt Set 20 Minutes

One 25pt Set 26 Minutes

Three 25pt Sets 1 Hour 15 MinutesPool Schedules

Round 3 Team Pool 4 Team Pool 5 Team Pool (2 Courts)

1 1 v 3 (ref 2) 1 v 3 (ref 2) 1 v 5 and 2 v 4 (ref 3)

2 2 v 3 (ref 1) 2 v 4 (ref 1) 1 v 4 and 2 v 3 (ref 5)

3 1 v 2 (ref 3) 1 v 4 (ref 3) ½ hour break

4 2 v 3 (ref 1) 1 v 3 and 4 v 5 (ref 2)

5 3 v 4 (ref 2) 2 v 5 and 3 v 4 (ref 1)

6 1 v 2 (ref 4) ½ hour break

7 1 v 2 and 3 v 5 (ref 4)

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

• Week of the Event

• During the Event

• After the Event

• Pools

Curfew

All Tournaments shall observe the competition curfew for tournament play. Curfew for play on Friday and Saturday tournament play is 9:00pm. The latest match shall be scheduled to start no later than 9:00p. Curfew for Sunday through Thursday tournament play is 8:00pm. The latest match shall be scheduled to start no later than 8:00p.

Teams failing to honor their officiating or other commitment for a tournament will be fined $25.00 per position per match provided the Tournament Director and/or Head Referee report the violation promptly to the Region Executive Director or his/her designee. The fine must be paid within 14 days or the club cannot participate in any other region sanctioned event.

Failure to honor officiating commitments is defined as failing to meet the following requirements:

1. The officiating team must provide a certified second referee, a certified scorer, a libero tracker, and two line judges.

2. Only certified Referees and Scorers, or “In-Process” Referees and Scorer candidates, may officiate in sanctioned tournaments. JUNIOR referees and scorers may officiate in junior events if they become qualified by attending an NTR officiating clinic each year. For tournaments that provide paid officials, the second referee provided by a team for their officiating duties shall be either a certified second referee who is on the roster of the officiating team as a coach or any registered and certified member of USAV who has cleared the background screen procedure. Adult members with affiliation with a Junior club who attend an NTR clinic become qualified to officiate in Junior events only. To become an in-process or certified official, adults must be regular members.

Team Referee Responsibilities

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

• Week of the Event

• During the Event

• After the Event

• Pools

Pool Example

Pool 1 NTR Regional Championships Sets Point Finish18 & Under Open Chris Mares Auditorium Won Lost Differential Place

1. The Ryders 181 6 0 2. Bluebonnets 18 Black 4 2 3. 18 Southland Spikers 1 3

4. Gamer 18-2 1 3 Day/Time 8:00 AM ASAP ASAP ASAP ASAP ASAP

Work Team (2) (1) (3) (1) (2) (4)Match 1 vs 3 2 vs 4 1 vs 4 2 vs 3 3 vs 4 1 vs 2

Score-Game 1 25 15 25 21 25 20 25 15 25 22 25 22 Score-Game 2 25 12 25 18 25 16 25 14 23 25 25 10

12

+55+14-43-26 3

4

Point Differential = Total Points Scored [By You] – Total Points Scored [By Your Opponents]

Point Ratio/Percentage = Total Points Scored [By You] / Total Points Scored [By Your Opponents]

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

• Week of the Event

• During the Event

• After the Event

• Pools

Pool Example

Pool 1 NTR Regional Championships Sets Point Finish18 & Under Open Chris Mares Auditorium Won Lost Ratio Place

1. The Ryders 181 6 0 2. Bluebonnets 18 Black 4 2 3. 18 Southland Spikers 1 3

4. Gamer 18-2 1 3 Day/Time 8:00 AM ASAP ASAP ASAP ASAP ASAP

Work Team (2) (1) (3) (1) (2) (4)Match 1 vs 3 2 vs 4 1 vs 4 2 vs 3 3 vs 4 1 vs 2

Score-Game 1 25 15 25 21 25 20 25 15 25 22 25 22 Score-Game 2 25 12 25 18 25 16 25 14 23 25 25 10

12

1.5781.1180.7070.797 3

4

Point Differential = Total Points Scored [By You] – Total Points Scored [By Your Opponents]

Point Ratio/Percentage = Total Points Scored [By You] / Total Points Scored [By Your Opponents]

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

• Week of the Event

• During the Event

• After the Event

• Pools

No ShowsBefore the first round of pool play begins, the site director should check with each court to ensure that each team from the pool that has a first match responsibility is present.

If a team is not present, it does not necessarily mean that are not coming. If the missing team does not have a responsibility until the second pool match, then it is possible that they were simply planning on showing up later. If the team is the first ref team, they may be showing up later than teams that are playing.

If it a team with a first match responsibility is not present twenty minutes prior to the first match then the Site Director should contact the Tournament Director to get contact information for that team and attempt to contact them.

If it becomes apparent that a team is indeed not going to show up for the event, the decision to adjust pools must be made before the first set of the first match is completed.When this decision is made pools and pool schedules will need to be adjusted.

The easiest solution, if the pool was a four team pool, is to make the pool a three team pool. Should the no show leave you with a pool of two, you can move a team out of a four team pool to make two three team pools or you can move the teams in the abandoned pool into two three team pools to make two four team pools.

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

• Week of the Event

• During the Event

• After the Event

• Pools

If there are 2 teams tied for 2nd Place:If one of the teams won the majority of head to head sets in pool play, that team will get the higher finish.If the teams split in the pool, there will be a one set playoff to 25 pts. The team who won the pool will officiate.

If there are 2 teams tied for 1st or 3rd:

The team that won the majority of head to head sets in pool play will be the higher finisher. If they split, then the team with the best point differential will be the higher finisher. There will not be a tie breaking set played.

If there are 3 teams tied for 1st place:The teams will be ranked by point differential. The first ranked team will finish first and referee one set to 25 pts involving the 2nd ranked team and the 3rd ranked team.

If there are 3 teams tied for 2nd place:The teams will be ranked by point differential. The 1st ranked team will referee 1 set to 25 involving the 2nd ranked team and the 3rd ranked team. The winner of that set will play 1 set to 25 vs. the 1st ranked team with the loser refereeing and being the 4 th place team of that pool. The winner of the 2nd set will be the 2nd place finishing team and the loser will be the 3rd Place team of that pool.

If a team will be eliminated from the Championship division, there will be playoff sets played (with the one exception of a two way tie). If they will not be eliminated, point differential will be used to determine finishes.

NOTES: All point differentials will be for the entire pool, not the head to head match.

A tournament may choose to use point percentage in place of point differential.

Tie Breaking Procedures

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

• Week of the Event

• During the Event

• After the Event

• Pools

• Brackets

SeedingBrackets should be seeded in typical snaked seeding fashion. Thus, in a field of 16, 1 would play 16, 2 would play 15, and so on in the first round.

The winner of Pool 1 would be the 1 seed, the winner of Pool 2 would be the two seed and so on down the line.

Teams that finish second in pool should be switched seeds one spot to eliminate the possibility of any team facing a team from their pool before the finals of the bracket.

Scheduling

No team should have to play more than two matches in a row and no team should have to sit/ref more than twice in a row.

Most of the time, the loser of the match should ref the following match and the winner of the match should play their next match on the same court.

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

• Week of the Event

• During the Event

• After the Event

• Pools

• Brackets

Division: 19 & Under Gold 1st Pool 1Site: Dallas Convention Center M1Date: January 1 CT 1

8:00 AM M7 REF M5CT 1 2nd Pool 3 CT 1

11:00 AM 10:00 AM 2nd Pool 2

REF REF Loser of M5 Loser of M2 M9

2nd Pool 3 CT 1 M2 12:00 PM CT 1 9:00 AM

REF Loser of M1

1st Pool 4

REF Loser of M7 CHAMPION

1st Pool 3 M3 CT 2

9:00 AM M8 REF M6 CT 2 Loser of M4 CT 2

11:00 AM 10:00 AM 2nd Pool 4

REF REF Loser of M6 Loser of M3

2nd Pool 1 M4 CT 2 8:00 AM

REF2nd Pool 4

1st Pool 2

Indicates that you will referee a match before yours. Most losing teams will referee the match after theirs.

1st Pool 11st Pool 21st Pool 31st Pool 42nd Pool 42nd Pool 32nd Pool 22nd Pool 1

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

• Week of the Event

• During the Event

• After the Event

• Pools

• Brackets

• Handbook

Double-elimination indoor tournaments are not sanctioned because of the limited play potential for teams. Round-robin formats are approved. When round-robin competition is scheduled, three and four team pools are preferred; however maximum of five (5) teams will be accepted for each court.

For JUNIOR INDOOR tournaments, pool play may be either 2 sets or 2 out of 3 sets to 25 points, with the deciding set to 15 pts. Three team pools may play 3 sets to 25 points.

Unless otherwise approved, the minimum of the top two (2) teams in each pool will come out for playoffs. In any other circumstance, at least 50% of the teams in a pool must advance out of pool play to the top level bracket.

For JUNIOR INDOOR events, a minimum of 3 matches (or 6 sets) must be guaranteed for a one-day events and a minimum of 4 matches (or 8 sets) must be guaranteed for a two-day event. A “bye” in bracket constitutes a match or 2 sets towards the set minimum.

Matches will not be scheduled on a time basis after the first 2 matches of pool play. Matches must be started as soon as possible after completion of the preceding match. Teams must be aware that matches are scheduled in this manner.

• Job Description

• Sanctioning

• Before the Event

• Week of the Event

• During the Event

• After the Event

• Pools

• Brackets

• Handbook

Teams must be ready to play or officiate when their assigned matches are sequentially scheduled. Because of the variation of time for matches, a time schedule will not be posted.

If a lunch break is scheduled, it should be scheduled at the completion of a specific match. The time for the coin toss and start of warm-up for the first match after lunch must be clearly understood by teams and officials. If all teams in the affected pool agree, the lunch break may be waived.

Approved pool play formats have officiating assignments scheduled. If a team is officiating a match prior to playing the next match, the First Referee must give the team a reasonable amount of time to recover before having the coin toss and starting the warm-up period.

Warm-up periods for JUNIOR INDOOR events will be scheduled with teams on the court separately. Each team will have the court for two (2) minutes of shared ball handling, followed by four (4) minutes each of individual team warm-up, including serving. The serving team will have the court for the first warm-up period.

All tournament directors must make known and follow one of the two Region Tiebreaking Procedures as posted on the region website (to include which method, point differential or point percentage, is being used).