HomeArticlesCollege Squash Association Rule Updates (September 2012)

College Squash Association Rule Updates (September 2012)

Northampton, MA — Over the summer, the College Squash Association’s rules were reviewed by the men’s and women’s Executive Committees. A number of changes were enacted. Below is a high level summary of the changes.

These rules are effective for the 2012 – 2013 season. Coaches and Team Contacts need to be familiar with these rule updates.

Eligibility Rules:

  • Added: Club and Emerging programs may not have graduate students participate in college squash competition.

Match Play Rules:

  • Added Competition Period: Formal CSA sanctioned regular season matches may only occur from October 15th through National Team Championships (late February).  The majority of each varsity team’s regular season matches must be played in January and February of each season.
  • Removed Line-ups for National Team Championships (moved to the new National Championship Eligibility page)
  • Added Location of Matches: Unless agreed upon by both teams, a match must be played in the United States.

Men’s Bylaws:

  • Added to Article IV. Membership (section B): Elected and Associate members.
  • Updated Article IV. Membership (section D): Clarified that only Elected members may vote.
  • Removed Article VII. Tournaments: Simplified section by moving information to the National Championship Eligibility page
  • Updated Article VIII. Awards and Trophies: Removed references to banquet and modified the team sportsmanship award to the Sloane Award

Awards Criteria (M):

  • Updated award voting, shifting from Men’s Coaches meeting to online.
  • Updated the Skillman Award section to limit finalists to three candidates. The Executive Committee will decide winner of the Skillman Award.
  • Added CSA Scholar Athlete Award and Academic Recognition Award
  • Updated Player of the Week section to state “Appeals of the Player of the Week Award are not permitted.”

National Championship Eligibility:

  • Created new section to centralize championship rules
  • Minimum Number of Matches:
    • Varsity teams are required to play ten (10) matches against other CSA teams to enter team championships. At minimum, each team should have at least 6 different opponents. Varsity teams should play the majority of their matches against other varsity schools.
    • Club teams are required to play eight (8) matches against other CSA teams to enter team championships. In addition, club teams must play at least four (4) matches between January 1st and February 10th. At minimum, each team should have at least five (5) different opponents.
  • Official Entry into the National Team Championships
  • Line-ups for National Team Championships
  • Divisions
  • Individual Championship player eligibility rules
  • Hosting requirements for Team and Individual Championships

Ranking Rules:

  • Added Varsity Proximity Matches: Each season, a varsity team should play the two varsity teams above them and the two varsity teams below them in final team rankings of the prior season (referred to as “Proximity Matches”). Proximity Matches should be played during the regular season and should not be played during conference championships or post-season play. A varsity team that is unable to play its Proximity Matches may be unable to justify appeals of their ranking position due to insufficient match data. Club teams should strive to abide by this rule.
  • Added the following to the Eligible/Recognized Teams section: In addition, teams may only be composed of players from the same school. A team composed of players from multiple schools is ineligible to compete in official CSA matches.
  • Added Season Ending Rankings: The results of the National Team Championships will determine the final team rankings of the season. Failure to compete in the National Team Championships will result in a team’s removal from the final team rankings of the season.
  • Added Team Ranking By Division: The CSA is made up of varsity teams from schools belonging to different NCAA divisions. Several times per season, the CSA will publish a subset of rankings based on NCAA divisions.

Awards Criteria (W):

  • Updated awards voting, shifting from Women’s Coaches meeting to online.
  • Reduced the number of Richey Award finalists from five to three.
  • Added Most Improved Team description
  • Added Lifetime Achievement description
  • Added Hall of Fame desription
  • Modified CSA Scholar Athlete Award for varsity players
  • Added Academic Recognition Award for club players
  • Updated Player of the Week section to state “Appeals of the Player of the Week Award are not permitted.”

 Club Program Guide:

  • Rewrote the page to coincide with the rule updates.

Coaches:

  • Created a reference page for coaches that includes contact information, a quick reference guide for the CSA rules, and championship information.

To see exact changes, please refer to the “Last Update on″ link at the bottom of the each modified rule change.

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