To assure maximum efficiency and consistency throughout USA Volleyball in the conduct of sanctioned  competition, as well as fair and equitable treatment of teams and players, USAVolleyball has established  guidelines. These guidelines shall be considered as the national minimum standard and shall be an integral  part of the sanction agreement with USAVolleyball and/or the Regional Volleyball Association.  

Not all organizations and facilities have the minimum resources available to continually meet these  minimum standards. In those cases, reasonable alternatives should be provided. The rules offer many  options to allow for a wide range of use.  

Bayou RVA Tournament Schedule and Sanctioning  

  1. The BayouRVA (i.e., The Region) only sanctions junior tournaments organized by a current adult member  in good standing of The Region and USAVolleyball for a minimum of two seasons.  a) Exception: Events originally operated by a member of The Region which has been sold or otherwise  to a non-region member (adopted by BRVA BOD June 2015)  
  2. Contact the regional office to help determine possible dates.  
    • There are no ‘protected’ dates; a tournament organizer may choose whatever date they feel best  for their event.  
  3. Submit a completed BayouRVA Tournament Sanction Application accompanied by the appropriate fee  to the regional office.  
    • The indoor sanction fee is $25 per court, up to a maximum of $150.
    • The outdoor sanction fee is $10 per court, up to a maximum of $50.
    • The fee is to be paid by check made out to Bayou RVA  
      • The event will not be placed on the Region Calendar until the Tournament Sanction form has  been received and the appropriate sanction fee paid.  
    • Upon receipt by the region office, a sanction may be granted to operate the event.  i) No event advertising or announcement is to include any association with The Region or  USAVolleyball until notified that the sanction has been granted.  
      • If the sanction is not granted or withdrawn before the event, the event owner may appeal the  decision to an Ad Hoc Committee comprised of three adult members of The Region.  iii) Should the event not be sanctioned by The Region, all sanction fees will be returned.  

Tournament Financials / Fees / Registration  

  1. The Region does not dictate to any event organizer what amount should be charged for entry fees to  their BayouRVA sanctioned event.  
    • Expense items to consider when deciding on what entry fee to charge: 
      • Facilities rental and equipment cost  
      • Game balls  
      • Officials’ expense  
      • Administrative (supplies, staff salary, promotion expenses)  
      • Awards  
      • Fees charged by similar events  
    • Income items to consider:  
      • Team entry fees  
      • Admission revenue  
      • Merchandise sales  
      • Concession sales  
      • Sponsorship  
      • Housing agreements 
    • Exorbitant entry fees may result in a lack of team entries. Conversely, minimal entry fees may  result in an inability to meet event expenses.  
    • A reasonable cancellation date should be established but tournament entry fees may be non refundable.  
  2. A sanctioned event by The Region may NOT exclude any other region ‘approved’ team for any reason  other than the division the team is registering for is full.  
    • Sanctioned events that did exclude other region teams from entering and subsequently accepted  another team for the same division may lose their sanction.  
  3. Tournament entry applications should require a Team Code as well as each participant’s USAV  Membership number.  
    • Only entries from USAV registered teams and members may be accepted.  
    • The Region does not dictate what type of team registration process must be used.  c) It is recommended the event use an event registration system that verifies USAV member eligibility  to participate.  
      • Should a registration method be used which does not verify each member’s eligibility to  participate, the event is responsible for acquiring and verifying each participant’s eligibility.  4) Entry deadlines no later than 2 weeks before play should be established  
    • Phone entries should not be accepted.  
    • A tournament entry deadline allows for more efficient scheduling of play and officials  c) A tournament entry deadline allows for participating teams to plan.  
    • The event may allow teams to enter after the deadline to complete a field or replace a team that  has canceled.  
      • A fair method for accepting teams should be published should the tournament be  oversubscribed (more entries than positions available).  
      • Criteria may include entry date, regional affiliation or registered level of play.  5) Teams should be notified of their status for the particular tournament as soon as the tournament  organizer(s) receive and accept the entry.  

Tournament / Event Administration / Rosters / Player restrictions  

  1. USAV sanctioned tournaments through The Region are to be conducted per USAV guidelines.  a) It is the responsibility of the event to notify all participating teams of which rule modifications will  be applied.  
    • All rule modifications must have prior approval from The Region.  
  2. In conducting a USAV sanctioned tournament through The Region, there must be a non-participating,  non-officiating adult tournament director at each site who is responsible for keeping the playing  schedule on time and properly recording/reporting the results.  
  3. A ‘Protest Committee’ composed of three adult members of USAVolleyball should be appointed before  the beginning of the competition for issues other than playing rules interpretations. (see ‘Officials’)
    • Members of the ‘committee’ may include coaches, officials, event staff or any other adult member  of USAVolleyball in good standing.  
    • The members of the ‘Protest Committee’ may be adjusted as needed due to circumstances such as  but not limited to the availability of the member, possible conflicts of interest, etc.  4) All teams are required to provide a hard copy of their team’s roster to the match officials before each  match.  
    • A player may not participate for more than one team at the same multi-day event.  i) A player or team may participate in the same event if that event is a one-day event and the  divisions the player or team is competing in are held on different days. (Sat vs Sun)  ii) A player may not participate on more than one team during a multi-day event if one of the  divisions they play in competes on only one of the days. (Example: Competition for 10s is  scheduled for only one day; a player in that division may not join another team that is  scheduled to play for more than one day.)  

Tournament Format 

  1. Guidelines for conducting indoor tournaments and leagues can be found in the USAVolleyball Rules  Book under ‘Basic Procedures for Conducting USAV Competitions’.  
    • Tournaments may be scheduled for one or more days.  
    • Double elimination without prior pool play should be discouraged.  
  2. The tournament playing and team officiating schedule should be posted and all teams informed.
    • For junior events in The Region, play may not begin later than 11PM on Friday and Saturday and  6P on Sunday. (Warm-ups must be concluded before the times noted.)  
    • A warm-up period before each match is required and will be no less than 2-4-4 (2 minutes shared  court, 4 minutes for serving team, 4 minutes for receiving team)  
    • Two sets to 25 may be considered a ‘match’. (USAV rule modification)  
      • Sets will begin at 0-0.  
  3. Teams may not be scheduled to play more than three matches in a row without a significant rest  before their next match.  
    • Recommended: Two shorter breaks after the 2nd and 4th matches if participating for more than 4  matches.  
  4. All teams must be notified of the tournament’s tie-breaking procedures.  
    • The procedures must be consistent for all divisions and may or may not include an actual match  to break the tie.  
    • If used, a tie-breaking match may be one set to 15 or 25(preferred).  
    • Other tie-breaking methods may include head-to-head, games won/loss percentage, point  differential, coin toss, etc.  
  5. It is the responsibility of each team to know their playing and officiating schedule including any ‘tie breakers’.  

Match Officials  

  1. Certified USAVolleyball referees are required for ALL tournaments sanctioned in The Region.
    • The 1st referee (R1) is required to be a USAVolleyball Certified Referee in good standing.
    • It is the responsibility of the event to acquire the referees needed to officiate the event.
      • Events may secure and assign their own USAV Certified Referees.
      • Events may employ an independent contractor to secure and assign referees to officiate play.  c) A list of USAV Certified BayouRVA referees can be found on The Region’s website or obtained from  The Region’s Officials’ Chair.  
    • To successfully secure enough referees to efficiently officiate the event, organizers should be aware  of prevailing match rates and other compensation (per diem, overnight accommodations, etc)  provided to professional referees.  
    • Protest of an improper application of USAVolleyball playing rules  
      • The head referee or an official assigned as a ‘lead’ may determine if the proper rule was  applied.  

Team Officiating Responsibilities  

  1. Each team must have on its roster one ‘qualified’ 2nd referee(R2) and two ‘qualified’ scorers.  a) Qualified 2nd referees must be 15 years or older.  
  2. Each team’s officiating schedule should be posted with the playing schedule.  
  3. Before playing, each team should be notified of what penalties will be assessed when missing a team  officiating responsibility.  
  4. The team officiating crew will consist of one 2nd referee, one official scorer, one scorer assistant and  two line judges.  

Awards  

  1. The Region does not require tournaments to provide awards to participants.  
    • Monetary or other awards of significant value are not allowed for junior competitions.
    • The event may determine which teams are awarded depending on the final standings.