website to our partner site [[cross-tables.com]] on an hourly basis.
== Organizing Scheduling a Tournament ==
In order to organize have a tournamentsanctioned (added to the [[calendar]]of upcoming scheduled events), you must:
# be a NASPA member in good standing, with your membership paid up to the end of your planned event
# be [[director certification|certified]] as a [[tournament director]] or [[tournament coordinator]]
# contact the [[Tournament Committee]] at [mailto:naspa-tourney@yahoogroups.com naspa-tourney@yahoogroups.com] to request that your event be sanctioned and added to the [[calendar]]sanction, in advance of the deadlines listed below. The [[Media:Tournament_Listing_Information.pdf|tournament listing form]] may be used to gather information about your tournament for sanctioning. If your tournament will use the [[Collins]] lexicon, be sure to say so.
# ensure that a certified [[tournament director]] will be present throughout your event.
|
| Open Rated Tournament (ORT)
| Team Challenges or Championships (TCC)
| Local Club Tournament (LCT)
| Team Challenges or Championships (TCC)
|-
| Advance Notice/ Sanctioning
|colspan=2| 6 Weeks with no exceptions
| 10 Days with no exceptions
| 6 Weeks with no exceptions
|-
| Tournament Calendar Listing
|-
| Rating Method
|colspan=2| fully rated
| 1/3 rated
| fully rated
|-
| Frequency/ Geographic Restrictions
|colspan=2| ''Multiday tournaments:'' no other multiday event occurring within two weekends and 200 miles of your proposed tournament; no other one-day event on the same day as one of your tournament days.<br>''One-day tournaments:'' No other tournament on same day within 200 miles.<br>''Tours/cruises'' with similar itinerary need 90 day separation.<br>''Exception:'' If the organizers of conflicting tournaments mutually agree, NASPA will sanction both.
| Must be sponsored by a NASPA-sanctioned club. No more than one event per club, per month.
| ''Multiday tournaments:'' no other multiday event occurring within two weekends and 200 miles of your proposed tournament; no other one-day event on the same day as one of your tournament days.<br>''One-day tournaments:'' No other tournament on same day within 200 miles.<br>''Tours/cruises'' with similar itinerary need 90 day separation.<br>''Exception:'' If the organizers of conflicting tournaments mutually agree, NASPA will sanction both.
|-
| How Many Games?
|colspan=2| At least 4 games| At least 3 games| At least 4 games
|-
| How Many Players?
|colspan=3| At least 4 players in each division, at least 2 rated players in each division
|-
| Membership Requirements
|colspan=3| All players must be current NASPA members
|-
| Player Restrictions
| None permitted
| Entry restricted by club/region (for team challenge) or club/region/rating (for championship).
| None permitted
| Entry restricted by club/region (for team challenge) or club/region/rating (for championship).
|-
| Participation Fee
|colspan=3| $.50 per player per game
|-
| Examples
| [[Championships|National Scrabble Championship]], most tournaments
| Portland-Seattle Interclub Challenge, Texas State Championship, Can-Am, Kingston Cup
| One-day tournament that is created on short notice
| Portland-Seattle Interclub Challenge, Texas State Championship, Can-Am, Kingston Cup
|}
== Sanctioning Tournaments ==
The tournament and director running the tournament must satisfy the following conditions for ORT and TCC events:
* Multiday Tournament: No other multiday SCRABBLE game tournaments occurring within two weekends and 200 miles of your proposed [[Tournament venue|tournament]]. No other one-day tournament on the same day within 200 miles of your proposed [[Tournament venue|tournament]] (tours/cruises with similar itineraries need 90-day separation).
* One-day Tournament: No other tournament on same day within 200 miles.
* Exception: if the organizers of conflicting tournaments are agreeable, NASPA will sanction both.
** The term “200 miles” in tournament distance calculations shall mean 200 miles driving distance from venue address to venue address, as measured by Google Maps using the default driving directions. The Tournament Committee may consider appeals for exception in the event that Google Maps is shown to be in error, and may select an alternative mileage calculation tool should Google Maps be deemed unreliable.
* the application is submitted six weeks before the planned event
* the director’s membership expires after the end of the planned event
Local Club Tournaments (LCT), which are 1/3-rated, require advance sanctioning and will be listed in the calendar. LCT's have the same Player Participation fee as Open Rated Tournaments.
As of Jan 2010, NASPA is [[SOWPODS rating system | sanctioning and rating tournaments using the SOWPODS word list]] (now more commonly known as the Collins SCRABBLE Words, or CSW). If you would like your tournament to use CSW, please specify that when requesting sanctioning.
== Processing Memberships or Renewals ==
Directors: As players want to register for your tournament, you will need to check the [{{SERVER}}/cgi-bin/members.pl Membership Database] to be sure their NASPA membership is current.
All tournament players, whether a newbie or someone with a rating who hasn't joined NASPA yet, must join NASPA in order to play in your tournament. Here are some scenarios that might apply to your tournament:
1. You are gathering entries for your tournament and you look on cross-tables to see if they are members. [http://cross-tables.com/ Cross-tables] says "check with NASPA". You check on the [{{SERVER}}/cgi-bin/members.pl NASPA member database], accessible by clicking on "Member Search" on the sidebar. If they have a member number in the NASPA database, they are good to go. Occasionally a membership does not show up on Cross-tables right away but will already be listed on the NASPA database.
2. You are gathering entries for your tournament and you agree to let someone join NASPA at the door. If you know ahead of time that one or more people are going to do this, go to [{{SERVER}}/cgi-bin/services.pl Member Services] and click on the “Add New Member” button in the Director section. Fill out all the membership information and then choose “Payment with your next tournament’ participation fee” payment method. Your players’ memberships will be activated right away, and a charge will be placed on your [{{SERVER}}/cgi-bin/account.pl account] with NASPA, so that it will be totalled with your participation fee after your tournament.
3. You are checking in players the day of the tournament and you have a walk-in who is not a member.
Check to make sure that all of your players are listed on the NASPA site as members. Rating data will not be accepted if any players are not members. Ask nonmembers to fill out printed membership forms, then activate their memberships as in case 2 above. If you have players who say they have recently mailed membership checks to NASPA, do not pay that portion of the amount shown owing; it will be removed from your director account when their checks clear. If their checks do not clear, you will be liable for their membership fees and will not be able to run a tournament until we receive full payment.
By “director account” that simply means there will be a list of directors and what they owe for the new members and your “account balance” will go away once you have paid. This does not go on your credit card when you submit your results.
You also have the option of authorizing the membership monies to be charged to your credit card, which you might do to help a club member join NASPA when you do not have an upcoming tournament.
4. A In the above, the phrase “200 miles” in tournament entrant says he has joined NASPA. Ask what his membership number is. If it starts with AA followed distance calculations shall mean 200 miles’ driving distance fromvenue address to venue address, as measured by 6 digits, you're fairly sure he joined NASPA and not Google Maps usingthe NSAdefault driving directions. Occasionally people join The Tournament Committee mayconsider appeals for exception in the NSA thinking event that it will entitle them Google Maps isshown to play be in NASPA-rated tournamentserror, and may select an alternative mileage calculationtool should Google Maps be deemed unreliable.
== Web Coverage ==