Junior Policy Enhancements for the 2021-2022 Season

In anticipation of the continued return of junior accredited competition, US Squash has released planned changes to its junior squash policies to take effect this fall. These enhancements are based on feedback from players and stakeholders as well as in-depth analysis of participation data, and are designed to continue the provision of a safe, fair, inclusive and balanced environment for the junior squash community.  

As of September 8, 2021, the junior accredited tournament structure will enter its final phase of transition back to points-based rankings and competition. All tournament levels – Bronze, Silver, Gold and JCT – will again form the framework for the competition system with their traditional division sizes, and player rankings will be decided on tournament points. All junior squash rules and guidelines are available here: https://ussquash.org/policies/junior/. Fall and winter accredited tournaments to be held across the country are currently being posted on the tournament calendar. 

The recent surge in the pandemic and shifting government, facility and event guidelines continue to inject uncertainty into future planning. US Squash is working with its Medical Advisory Committee, Board of Directors, and community stakeholders to monitor information and make appropriate policy responses. US Squash will continue to communicate directly and post updates to tournament information pages as the situation evolves. We are grateful for the collaboration and understanding of all junior squash participants, families, facilities and coaches as we navigate these challenges together. 

US Squash will host a Junior Squash Forum on August 25 at 7pm EST to discuss these policy changes, the upcoming season and adjustments to operational protocols. If you have any questions that you would like to be addressed please submit them here. To register for the event please sign up here.

Junior Policy Enhancements for the 2021-2022 Season: 

For each change, the former policy is shown along with the updated policy, along with a rationale for the adjustment and supporting information. The following policies will be adjusted effective September 8, 2021: 

  1. Rules governing “playing up” in older age divisions 
  2. Tournament entry and late withdrawal timelines 
  3. U.S. Junior Open Championships eligibility 
  4. Eligibility rules for scholastic squash teams, the U.S. High School Team Championships and the National Interscholastic Championships 

Playing up in older age divisions in accredited competition 

Former Policy: 

Players must be age eligible through the last day of the tournament for the division that they are participating in. If a player qualifies by points, there are no restrictions which prevent a younger player playing in an older age group. 

Adjusted Policy: 

  • Players are expected to participate in the division in which their age places them. 
  • Players may play up one age group when 
    • they are within 11 months of aging up 
    • they are ranked in the top 16 of a division below the one they wish to enter, regardless of their age. For example, if a player is ranked in the top 16 of the GU15 division, she will be able to compete in the GU17 division of a tournament regardless of her age.  
    • For a player to play in an age group more than one above their standard age division, they must first earn a top 16 ranking in the division one age division higher.  
    • Exceptions may be allowed to this policy due to geographic isolation leading to limited playing opportunity for players and is at the discretion of US Squash. These will be considered on a case-by-case basis. In this instance players should email tournaments@ussquash.org before registration deadline of the tournament which is in question.

Rationale:

This change allows players to plan their aging-up process into a division before they reach their birthday. For highly-ranked players, development opportunities to find more competition in an older age group also exist.  

A series of ratings based events (tournaments/leagues) will be scheduled as alternative competitive options for players should they wish to play without the intensity of points based play.  

Currently some younger players use participation in older age divisions for practice matches or to avoid the assignment of points in an age division which could affect their future ranking in that division. This is detrimental to the players who are playing in their age-appropriate division and whose ranking will depend on the outcome of the tournament. This behavior by the younger players can cause older players to either not qualify for the tournament or to not earn the points they would have earned if the tournament had excluded the younger players. This in turn could affect their ranking in that division. 

Players competing in accredited tournaments should all be competing for finishing positions and points which will be used for player rankings. Alternative options for play should be scheduledusing the rating system as a basis for play, for players to compete without the concern of affecting their points based rankings.  

Tournament entry timelines and late withdrawal deadline 

Former Policy:

Registration Deadline 

  • Gold/JCT: Wednesday 3.5 weeks before start of tournament at 12:00pm 
  • Silver: Wednesday 2.5 weeks before start of tournament at 12:00pm 
  • Bronze: Wednesday 2.5 weeks before start of tournament at 12:00pm

Entry Close 

  • Gold/JCT: Wednesday 1.5 weeks before start of tournament at 12:00pm 
  • Silver: Wednesday 1.5 weeks before start of tournament at 12:00pm 
  • Bronze: Wednesday 1.5 weeks before start of tournament at 12:00pm

Draws Released 

  • Gold/JCT: Wednesday before start of tournament at 5:00pm 
  • Silver: Wednesday before start of tournament at 5:00pm 
  • Bronze: Wednesday before start of tournament at 5:00pm

Late Withdraw Deadline is 12:00pm, NOON on the Monday before the start of the tournament. 

Adjusted Policy 

Registration Deadline 

  • Gold/JCT: Wednesday 3.5 weeks before start of tournament at 12:00pm 
  • Silver: Wednesday 2.5 weeks before start of tournament at 12:00pm 
  • Bronze: Wednesday 1.5 weeks before start of tournament at 12:00pm

Entry Close 

  • Gold/JCT: Wednesday 1.5 weeks before start of tournament at 12:00pm 
  • Silver: Wednesday 1.5 weeks before start of tournament at 12:00pm 
  • Bronze: Tuesday before the start of tournament at 12:00pm

Draws Released 

  • Gold/JCT: Wednesday before start of tournament at 5:00pm 
  • Silver: Wednesday before start of tournament at 5:00pm 
  • Bronze: Thursday before start of tournament at 5:00pm

Late Withdraw Deadline: 12:00pm, NOON on the Monday before the start of the tournament. 

Rationale

US Squash must apply policies for accredited tournaments strictly and consistently for all levels of event, including the Bronze level tournaments. Currently, players new to the system often miss deadlines as they are not as familiar with the timelines as those more experienced. Therefore, it is often the Bronze level player who is omitted from tournaments they would benefit from playing in. This may lead to a poor first experience for those players which could also affect their willingness to continue to compete. Bronze level players need more time to enter tournaments. Additionally, tournament directors need more time to encourage them to play. 

Note that the late withdrawal deadline remains as Monday 12:00pm Noon on the Monday before the start of the tournament. US Squash believes that this represents the best day for this deadline since it allows players who are injured in a weekend tournament to withdraw without penalty. However, US Squash recognizes that the number of players who withdraw at this time can be an issue for players who are on the waitlist of a tournament as there is not much time for them to make plans to attend a tournament that week. US Squash will closely monitor those players who are withdrawing on or just before the late withdrawal deadline to understand the scale of this issue, identify repeat offenders, with a view to making further recommendations next season. Any player continually withdrawing near the late withdraw deadline for tournaments will be deemed to be breaking the code of conduct and will be subject to appropriate penalties. 

Players are reminded that US Squash will strictly apply all accredited tournament timelines. No exception will be allowed. Therefore, players are strongly encouraged to refer to the timelines of each tournament which are listed in the schedule section of all tournament pages.  

U.S. Junior Open Championships eligibility 

Former Policy:   

  • Players from the U.S. must be ranked in the top 75 in their division of competition on the regular entry deadline to qualify 
  • Entries from non-U.S. countries are limited to 8 players per division per country 
  • Draw sizes will be limited to 128 players per division prior to the regular entry deadline. Once the regular entry deadline passes, US Squash reserves the right to mandate draw size limits on a division-by-division basis. A cut list will be created for divisions that receive more than 128 entries as of the regular entry deadline. In the case of oversubscribed draws, the following criteria will be used to determine entry: 
    • U.S. Players: the top 48 U.S. players based on cut list points are guaranteed entry. The cut list points will be based on the regular registration deadline. 
    • Non-U.S. Players: the first 80 non-U.S. players to enter the tournament will gain entry (as long as they meet the limit of 8 players per country per division). Admittance is based on the time of entry received (i.e. first come, first served). 
  • If non-U.S. player entries does not fill the number of guaranteed playing positions as of the regular entry deadline, U.S. players will fill those unclaimed spots. 

Adjusted Policy:

  • Players from the U.S. must be ranked in the top 150 in their division of competition on the regular entry deadline to qualify 
  • Entries from non-U.S. countries are limited to 8 players per division per country 
  • Draw sizes will be limited to 128 players per division prior to the regular entry deadline. Once the regular entry deadline passes, US Squash reserves the right to mandate draw size limits on a division-by-division basis. A cut list will be created for divisions that receive more than 128 entries as of the regular entry deadline. In the case of oversubscribed draws, the following criteria will be used to determine entry: 
    • U.S. Players: the top 64 U.S. players based on cut list points are guaranteed entry. The cut list points will be based on the regular registration deadline. 
    • Non-U.S. Players: the first 64 non-U.S. players to enter the tournament will gain entry (if they meet the limit of 8 players per country per division). Admittance is based on the time of entry received (i.e., first come, first served). 
  • If non-U.S. player entries does not fill the number of guaranteed playing positions as of the regular entry deadline, U.S. players who are eligible by ranking will fill those unclaimed spots, exceeding the 64 playing positions which have been guaranteed for U.S. players. 

Rationale 

With travel restrictions likely to remain in place it is likely that there will be fewer international players able to participate in the 2021 USJO. In recognition of this, and in an effort to increase opportunity for US players to compete in this event, the distribution of players between US and non-US players will be adjusted. 

Scholastic squash teams and eligibility for U.S. High School Team Championships 

Former Policy:

  • Any team can participate in regular season matches at the scholastic level, regardless of the team makeup. 
  • Middle School teams consist of 5+ players 
  • High School teams consist of 7+ players 
  • High School Championships Eligibility 
    • Minimum of 7 players per team 
    • Maximum of 10 players per team 
    • Each team must be made up of students who attend and are taking classes at the same school. 
    • Each team must play against a minimum of four different teams in order to qualify for the High School Championships 
    • Each school may enter a maximum of 1 team per gender 

Adjusted Policy 

  • Any team can participate in regular season matches at the scholastic level, regardless of the team makeup or school affiliation. 
  • Middle School teams consist of 5+ players who are of Middle School age 
  • High School teams consist of 7+ players who are of Middle or High School age 
  • High School Championships Eligibility 
    • Minimum of 7 players per team 
    • Maximum of 10 players per team 
    • Each team must be made up of students who attend and are taking classes at the same school. 
    • Each team must play against a minimum of four different teams in order to qualify for the High School Championships  
    • Each player needs to have actively participated on the team by participating in at least 2 matches 
    • The team host regular challenge matches to determine the ladder 
    • Each school may enter a maximum of 1 team per gender  
  • Interscholastic Team Championships eligibility 
    • Minimum of 7 players per team 
    • Maximum of 10 players per team 
    • Each team must be made up of students who attend and are taking classes at schools which are located in the same general geographical location 
    • Each team is encouraged to play against a minimum of four different teams   
    • There is no limit to the number of teams that a school or school district may enter. 
    • Teams representing a school will compete separately from teams whose players attend multiple schools. 
    • Players who are able to play for a school team may not play in a hybrid team.  

Rationale

The U.S. High School Championships is the premier scholastic team event on the US Squash calendar. It is the largest squash tournament in the world in which all teams, no matter their make-up, aspire to participate. The championship crowns the best school teams in the U.S. and provides meaningful, fun competition for numerous team members from across the country.  

Squash continues to rapid develop outside of its tradition geographic homes, and these emerging areas – as well as new teams in major squash regions – are interested in participating in a national team event. However, many do not have enough players from the same school to form a team, and they may not have other school teams to compete against. Providing competitive opportunities for these players and teams is important for their development and sustainability. Providing an alternative option which encourages players from emerging areas, or from non-school based programming to compete nationallywill now be provided through the National Interscholastic Team ChampionshipsAs these teams develop, many of these emerging teams will transition to the High School Nationals. 

By offering two scholastic competitions, one for true school-based teams, and one for a team of school aged players who attend different schools in a geographical area (hybrid teams), groups of school aged players will have alternative options to compete in scholastic-based competition. Note that JV, Second or Third teams from a school will complete in a separate division from the hybrid teams in the National Interscholastic Teams. Any player who can play for an established school team may not compete in a hybrid team.