League Policies
Children are a gift from the Lord (Psalm 127:3) and as such, should be nurtured, guided (Proverbs 22:6), and protected (Numbers 32:17). NCFCA is committed to providing a safe environment for all students who participate online or in-person. The following protocols have been established to ensure safety and well-being of all tournament participants, minors in particular. While NCFCA leadership and tournament staff will be present and actively monitoring tournament activities, vigilance is the responsibility of all participants. Students and parents should review and understand their responsibility both in person and online.
Registration Requirement
NCFCA’s tournament platform will require that all attendees have an NCFCA account and are registered and checked in for each tournament they plan to attend. Additionally, all Community Judges will be required to complete a “referred by” section during the tournament registration process.
Identification
- In-Person Tournaments: All attendees must wear a nametag while onsite at any league event. All visitors, observers, and Community Judges must check in with the Judge Welcome Team upon arrival. The Judge Welcome Team will issue their nametags and ensure that registered judges are checked in and that visitors are logged in the Tournament Guest Log.
- Online Tournaments: All attendees must have an NCFCA account to participate in the tournament and will be identified on screen by their full name. All tournament rooms on the platform will have a publicly displayed list of attendees in order to provide transparency and accountability. Camera, microphone, and chat functionality are limited by role (competitor, judge, observer). While observing a competition room will be possible, observers will not have access to microphone, camera, or the chat function. Because NCFCA highly values the online security of our participants, for the foreseeable future guests and observers will be limited to registered participants and family members of participants who are designated during tournament registration.
“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
In-Person Tournaments: Competition room doors are to remain open unless there is a speaker speaking or there is a debate round in progress.
Personal Responsibility
- 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.
Adult Supervision
- In-Person Tournaments: Children under 12 years old must be directly supervised by their parent, guardian, or a parent-designated adult when they are not participating in a tournament-sponsored Junior event. A parent or designated adult 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.
Online Safety Disclaimer
While NCFCA has built an electronic platform for competition with safety as a primary value, parents are responsible for monitoring and ensuring their student’s online safety.
Tournament Administration
Tournament administrators will have the authority to immediately dismiss, remove, and block any attendee for violation of NCFCA’s Standards of Conduct or other behavior deemed detrimental to the tournament community as a whole.
Background Checks, Safety Training, and Eligible Participants
NCFCA has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual abuse. 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.