USA Racquetball Rules: C - Eligibility & National Events#

To be eligible to compete in any USAR sanctioned event, a player must be a current registered member of USA Racquetball.

In consideration of being allowed to participate in any USA Racquetball athletics/sports program, and related events and activities, all member signatories must:

Agree that prior to participating, they will inspect the facilities and equipment to be used, and if they believe anything is unsafe, they will immediately advise their coach, supervisor, or USAR personnel of such condition(s) and refuse to participate.

Acknowledge and fully understand that each participant will be engaging in activities that involve risk of serious injury, including permanent disability and death, and severe social and economic losses which might result not only from their own actions, inaction, or negligence but the actions, inaction, or negligence of others, the rules of play, or the condition of the premises or of any equipment used. Further, that there may be other risks not known to us or not reasonably foreseeable at this time.

Assume all the foregoing risks and accept personal responsibility for the damages following such injury, permanent disability, or death.

USA Racquetball's recommended Event Release Form (waiver) can be viewed and downloaded as a form by going to: https://www.teamusa.org/usa-racquetball/about/resources-and-forms

By signing a waiver and release on the USAR Membership Application, the signor indicates that he has read the preceding with the understanding that they have given up substantial rights, has done so voluntarily, and agrees to adhere to the USAR Code of Conduct, as well as all rules and by-laws.

Title opportunities at national championships will be selected from the division lists that follow. Other combined Age + Skill divisions may also be offered to provide additional competitive opportunities for other than open level entrants. For ranking consistency, state organizations are encouraged to use these guidelines to form divisions when establishing competition in all sanctioned events.

Any eligible player, as defined in C.1.

Eligibility is determined by the player’s age on the first day of the tournament that anyone begins playing in that division. The age designated divisions generally begin with 24 & Under, then next to 25 + and thereon are divided into 5-year age upward progressing increments, as needed.

Eligibility is determined by the player’s age on January 1st of the current calendar year. The division, are generally divided into 2-year groupings beginning with the 8 & Under division and thereon divided into 2-year upward progressing increments with the highest designated age being 18 & Under. Special Multi-bounce Rules are specified for age groupings of players 6 & Under and 8 & Under.

Eligibility is probably best determined by the player’s national ranking. (https://www.usaracquetballevents.com/rankings.asp). That ranking will place the player into one of the skill level groupings that the USAR has published ranges for at the USAR’s website (https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Racquetball/Rankings/Ranking-Guidelines). USAR has also published specific seeding criteria used for National events. For other than National tournaments that use the USAR’s tournament management software, this same ranking data and rankings may be used as is or else modified as appropriate. It is further suggested that after entries are closed, the relative rankings of all entrants in every skill level division be examined to ensure that there are no players with badly outlying rankings allowed to play in an event. It is acceptable for a player to play in a skill event with a range that is higher than his own current ranking but allowing higher skilled players to play in a skill division with a range that is below their ranking should be avoided. Subjective decisions about players’ individual skills and what division they should play in will often be required where they do NOT have national ranking or if skill ranges are modified for the event.

Player eligibility is determined by the player's age on the first day of the tournament combined with their National ranking skill level or some other skill level certification or verification by a state association official. Such combinations of age and skill level may be offered for players who do not fall into the "Open" or designated age levels of “Open” age play. They may be labeled as being, for example: 24- A/B; 30+ B; 35+ C/D; 40+ A; 65+ A/B, etc.

Men and women must compete only in events and divisions labeled as being for their respective genders during regional and national tournaments. If there are not enough women players to warrant play in a separate division, a Tournament Director should consider combining two or more women’s events or else placing the entrants in a comparably competitive Men’s division. For the purpose of encouraging the development of women's racquetball, the governing bodies of numerous states permit women to play in men's divisions, including in mixed doubles events substituting for a man, when a comparable skill level is not available in the women's or mixed divisions.

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