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Spikeball™ College Series
Eligibility Requirements

Last Revision: Spring 2022
 
The Spikeball™ College Series is limited to individuals who meet the academic eligibility requirements. The intent of these rules is to have schools represented by teams whose players are all current, legitimate students. These rules are designed to be as fair as possible for all of the wide range of schools and players participating in the Series. Experience has shown that there can be cases where these rules do not determine absolutely the eligibility of a particular player. To be eligible to compete in any event of the Spikeball™ College Series, a player must meet all of the following requirements.
 
The following registration requirements, including exceptions, must be applicable throughout the entire semester or quarter at the time of the tournament. Students must be enrolled in at least one course required for graduation in the last semester or quarter used to determine their eligibility.

Requirements

  1. Degree Seeking Enrollment: S/he must be both accepted and enrolled in a regularly matriculated degree program at the school for which eligibility is to apply. Programs that culminate in only the awarding of a certificate are not considered "degree-seeking."
  2. Half-time Status: S/he must be considered at least a half-time student by his/her school registrar (two (2) full time classes or equivalent as defined by the registrar).
    1. Graduate students engaged in research, teaching, or thesis production which will lead towards the awarding of a degree qualify under this rule.
    2. Correspondence and Internet courses and those taken through a "Continuing Education" or "Extension" program may not be used to fulfill the above requirements.
    3. Students seeking a second Bachelor's Degree or Associate's Degree must have full-time status to be eligible, unless the Light load exception is to be invoked, in which case this requirement is waived.

Exceptions

  1. Non-degree-seeking exception (spring semester/quarter): A student taking classes full-time in a non-degree-seeking program at the school for which eligibility is to apply may have the degree-seeking requirement waived provided:
    1. S/he must furnish proof of confirmed acceptance (e.g. Letter of Acceptance, Deposit for Enrollment) in a regularly matriculated degree program for the following semester at that same school.
    2. The program in which s/he is accepted and enrolled for the summer or fall does not extend offers of admission for the spring semester.
    3. The spring semester classes taken will be credited towards the degree program in which s/he is enrolled for the upcoming summer or fall semester.
    4. The student submits an Eligibility Inquiry to tournaments@spikeball.com providing documentation from school officials confirming the above facts.
  2. Non-degree-seeking exception (fall or winter semester/quarter): A student taking classes full-time in a non-degree-seeking program at the school for which eligibility is to apply may have the degree-seeking requirement waived provided:
    1. S/he is accepted and enrolled in a regularly matriculated degree program for the spring quarter at that same school.
    2. The program in which s/he is accepted and enrolled does not extend offers of admission for the quarter in which s/he is taking full-time classes.
    3. The fall or winter quarter classes taken will be credited towards the degree program in which s/he is enrolled for the upcoming spring quarter.
    4. The student submits an Eligibility Inquiry to tournaments@spikeball.com providing documentation from school officials confirming the above facts.
  3. Light load exception: The half-time requirement is waived for students provided:
    1. Taking at least the minimum course load required to graduate, where "minimum course load" is at least one class.
    2. Going to graduate at the conclusion of the winter or spring term in the current year.
    3. The student submits an Eligibility Inquiry to tournaments@spikeball.com providing documentation from school officials confirming the above facts.

Eligibility Standards

  1. Each player must be able to produce a picture ID upon demand of the tournament director if asked.

  2. Player eligibility is subject to random check.

  3. Violation of the eligibility requirements may result in disqualification from the current tournament and/or disqualification from any or all Spikeball™ College Series events for a minimum of one semester. This penalty is applicable to any and all players on the violating team/club at the discretion of the Spikeball™, and may include other Spikeball™ Tour Series events.

Cooperative Program

The Spikeball™ College Series offers a program that allows two or more schools meeting certain requirements to compete as a cooperative (single-club from multiple schools) in the Spikeball™ College Series. Please note that this program is the ONLY way students can play together while not attending the same school.
 

Requirements

All schools in the proposed cooperative should:
  • Have a prior academic affiliation with a significant formal relationship with each other
  • Have a history of athletic collaboration
  • Have reasonable geographic distance
Schools in the proposed cooperative should, at a minimum, meet the above requirements in order to apply. Merely meeting the requirements does not guarantee that the cooperative will be approved. In order to ensure fairness of competition in the college division and minimize the potential for abuse of the rules, cooperative applicants will be evaluated against an extremely high standard, and on a case by case basis, in terms of meeting the above requirements. Prior approval of a cooperative between two institutions does not guarantee approval on subsequent applications.

Applications

To apply, schools must submit a single, unified cooperative application in writing to the Spikeball™ College Series Eligibility Committee 10 business days prior to the tournament for which the cooperative eligibility is needed.
Spikeball™ may reject a cooperative proposal for insufficient information and/or documentation.
Cooperatives are approved for two years, and upon expiration, the schools may re-apply for approval. Status may be revoked at any time if any of the schools in the cooperative no longer meet the required criteria, or the Spikeball™ deems such action beneficial to the growth of roundnet. Any school in a cooperative may withdraw from the cooperative if they make such a request in writing. The request must include the reason for wishing to withdraw. The withdrawal of one or more schools from a cooperative does not dissolve the cooperative of the remaining schools.

Approved Schools

  • Clemson University & Tri-County Technical College (as of 10/3/18)
  • Cal Poly SLO & Cuesta College (as of 11/20/18)
  • Asbury University & Asbury Theological Seminary (as of 3/12/19)
  • University of South Carolina - Columbia & Midlands Tech (as of 11/6/19)

Inquiries

If you are still unclear about your eligibility situation, email tournaments@spikeball.com.  
The following procedure is available for players/teams for whom the requirements are not clear:
  1. The team spokesperson or the player in question may submit an inquiry to the Spikeball™ College Series Eligibility Committee at tournaments@spikeball.com. The inquiry must include the players name, school, and detailed support of their eligibility.
  2. The inquiry must be made and submitted within 5 business days of the tournament in which the eligibility is question for. Late requests will be considered at the discretion of the Eligibility Committee.
  3. If the inquiry is deemed worth of case consideration, it will be reviewed by the Eligibility Committee, and responses e-mailed.
  4. This clarification procedure is NOT intended to allow exceptions to the eligibility rules. Rather, it allows accurate and consistent determination of eligibility status WITHIN these rules.
Inquiries are handed on the following timeline:
  • A response of acknowledgement will be sent within 48 hours. A written decision will be made within 5 business days.
  • All inquiries must be sent 5 business days before the tournament in which eligibility for is in question.