League Policies
NCFCA is committed to providing a safe environment for all students who participate online or in-person. While NCFCA leadership and tournament staff will be present and actively monitoring tournament activities, vigilance is the responsibility of all participants.
Registration Requirement
Participants must be registered and checked in for the tournament.
Identification
In-Person Tournaments: All attendees must wear an NCFCA nametag while onsite with the name they normally use (not an alias).
Online Tournaments: All attendees must sign in using an NCFCA account and be identified onscreen throughout the tournament platform with the full name they normally use (not an alias).
“More than Two” Rule
In-Person Tournaments: NCFCA Parents and Designated Adults should not enter a competition room where there is only one student present. In the same manner, a student should not enter a competition room where there is only one non-family adult present.
Online Tournaments: Competitors should keep microphones muted and cameras off until there are more than two attendees present in a competition room.
Open Doors
At in-person tournaments, competition room doors are to remain open unless there is a speaker speaking or there is a debate round in progress.
No Further Contact
Adults may not take the initiative to share or solicit contact information (e.g., phone numbers, email, or physical address) with competitors or other minor participants via ballot feedback or any other means.
Conduct toward Other Participants
Bullying, physical or verbal abuse or harassment, coercion, stalking, intimidation, discrimination, or any other behavior that places the health and safety of oneself or others in jeopardy will not be tolerated.
Response to Safety Concerns
In-Person Tournaments: If an unsafe condition exists, immediate action should be taken to remove the student(s) from harm and to notify tournament administration by contacting the nearest Communications staff member.
Online Tournaments: If an unsafe condition exists, the participant should immediately exit the room or tournament platform and notify tournament administration by contacting the Child Safety Coordinator for that event or the NCFCA Office at (682)802-2727.
Supervision of Children
In-Person Tournaments: Children under 12 years old must be directly supervised by their parent or Designated Adult (DA) when they are not participating in a tournament-sponsored Junior event. A parent or DA must be onsite with their children/designated students at all times.
Online Tournaments: Parents are responsible for the supervision and online safety of their children.
Tournament Boundaries
In-Person Tournaments: NCFCA participants must remain in areas of the facility designated for NCFCA use as communicated through tournament announcements and/or signs.
Background Checks, Safety Training, and Eligible Participants
- NCFCA has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual abuse as defined in our full Child Safety Policy document.
- We require background checks for employees and all Key Volunteer positions. All employees and tournament volunteer staff must receive, read, and acknowledge NCFCA’s Child Safety Policy and watch a Child Safety Training video prior to working with students.
- All non-minor volunteers, including parents, coaches, alumni, and community judges, plus any adult visitors attending an NCFCA event, must watch a brief child safety training video and must also affirm that they are not required by law to be listed on a sex offender registry and have not been convicted of a sexually-related crime involving a minor. Anyone confirmed to be on a sex-offender registry will not be allowed to participate in any role.
Safety Policy Enforcement
Tournament administrators will have the authority to immediately dismiss, disqualify, remove, and block any attendee for violation of rules, policies, or other behavior deemed detrimental to the tournament community as a whole.