Policies

Eligibility for intercollegiate squash competition shall be determined by each College Squash Association member institution in accordance with NCAA rules.

These rules are complex, and they are different for each NCAA Division.

Varsity Teams: Any questions about eligibility should be referred to an institution’s NCAA compliance staff member for a ruling.

What follows is a brief overview of NCAA eligibility rules:

• NCAA Division I: First year graduate students may be eligible if they have one of their 4 years of eligibility remaining and if they are within the 5-year window beginning the day they enrolled in college. Ivy League rules are more restrictive and are similar to NCAA Division III rules.
• NCAA Division III: First year graduate students are only eligible if they are enrolled for a graduate degree at the same institution they attended as an undergraduate, have a year of eligibility remaining, and fall within the 5-year window.

Individuals should check their NCAA Division Manuals and speak to their NCAA compliance staff members to clarify any eligibility questions they may have about their teams.

Club Teams: Non-varsity teams do not generally have access to their institution’s NCAA compliance staff. Therefore, associate members do not have the ability to clear a player’s eligibility for extenuating circumstances. The College Squash Association expects associate member institutions to adhere to NCAA eligibility rules; however, to ease the process, the following requirements for associate members must be adhered to:

• Player must be enrolled at the associate member institution
• Players only have four years of eligibility
• Injury waivers will not be granted
• Club programs may not have graduate students participate in college squash competition.

Gender:  Players on varsity teams must play for the team of their gender identity, subject to the policies regarding transgender student-athletes shown below. Please note the following:

• If a school only has a men’s team, a woman may represent the school in CSA matches.
• If a school only has a women’s team, a man may not represent the school in CSA matches.

For club teams with both men’s and women’s programs, a woman may play on a men’s team, under the following conditions:

• At the beginning of the season, the player chooses which gender team she will represent
• Once she has played an official match for one gender, she may not play on the team of the other gender until the following season, when a new decision can be made.

Transgender Student-Athletes: In consultation with the US Squash Transgender Athlete Policies, the CSA maintains the following policies for transgender student-athlete participation.

For transgender student-athletes undergoing hormone treatments:

• A transgender male (female to male, or FTM) student-athlete who has received a medical exception for, and is being treated with, testosterone for purposes of CSA competition may compete on a men’s team, but is no longer eligible to compete on a women’s team.
• A transgender female (male to female) student-athlete being treated with testosterone suppression medication, or who has undergone surgical intervention to suppress testosterone production, for gender transition, may continue to compete on a men’s team but may not compete on a women’s team until completing one calendar year of documented testosterone-suppression treatment or one-year post-surgical intervention.

Transgender student-athletes NOT undergoing hormone treatments:

• may participate in competition in accordance with his or her assigned birth sex.
• In this case, a transgender male (FTM) student-athlete may participate on a men’s or women’s team, and
• a transgender female (MTF) student-athlete may not compete on a women’s team.

Students identifying outside of the gender binary NOT undergoing hormone treatments:

• may participate in competition in accordance with the individual’s assigned birth sex.
• In this case, a student-athlete assigned female at birth may participate on a women’s team, and
• a student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team.

Ethics cannot be legislated. If a coach or player decides to cheat, they cannot be stopped, no matter what rules are in place. Rules can at best limit the damage; they can never cure the problem.

The only truly effective deterrent to poor behavior and cheating is the existence of unilateral ethics (an honor code of squash) accepted by all participants, coaches, and players alike, and a strong commitment by all to honor these ethics and educate anyone who does not understand or abide by them.

Squash is a sport that demands a strong ethical commitment to correct behavior before winning and losing become a consideration. Squash coaches and players belong to a group that is small enough to effectively monitor its own behaviors, but only if each and every individual takes their ethical responsibilities seriously and speaks up about potential deviations from these responsibilities by others.

An ethical squash coach upholds the highest standards of the game of squash in their own play, teaches these standards to their players, holds their players responsible to these standards, and alerts other coaches when any player appears to be falling short of these standards. These playing and coaching standards are as follows:

1. The safety of all participants is more important than anything else. Coaches must demand that players wear protective eyewear on the court at all times.
2. Adherence to the rules and ethics of squash is essential for fair play. Coaches should teach players the rules of squash.

Coaches should also teach — and players should learn and follow — the ethics of squash:

1. Always put opponents’ safety first, above all else, and never swing at a ball if there is any chance of hitting an opponent with either racquet or ball.
2. Treat opponents with respect, on and off the court.
3. Be courteous to opposing teams and coaches, on and off the court.
4. Respect officials, on and off the court, and accept refereeing decisions without undue arguing or distress.
5. Call double hits, downs, not ups, faults, out balls and strokes against oneself (whether or not there is a referee).
6. Allow opponents full and clear access to every ball.
7. Make every effort to play every ball and only call lets when it is absolutely necessary.
8. Allow opponents ample room to swing for every shot.
9. Make an effort to become a competent referee and marker.
10. Do not compromise the ethics of squash, regardless of an opponent’s behavior.

Perhaps the most difficult part of ethical play is #10, as it is where players’ ethics are truly tested.

Most players have little difficulty upholding ethical behavior when they are playing another conscientious player, or when they are winning or losing a match by a wide margin. The true test of ethical play is how an athlete behaves when playing a close match against an opponent who cheats, behaves poorly, or ignores the ethics of squash — or does all three. If a player can remain faithful to  ethical principles of play under these conditions, they are truly a good sport. And it is only by remaining faithful to the ethics of squash under fire that a player has a chance to educate their opponent about ethics and influence their behavior in a positive way.

By accepting the ethics of squash and remaining true to them under competitive fire, a player affirms the importance of the integrity of the game and its rules and ethics. If they play fairly and their opponent does not, the opponent may claim to be a winner by virtue of the score, but the player will know they were not playing by the same rules and ethics, and therefore they succeeded where their opponent did not — in playing the game correctly.

If the great majority of players accept the ethics of squash, the few who flout the rules and ethics will stand out that much more obviously, allowing peer pressure and coaches to demand appropriate changes in behavior.

ETHICS PROCEDURES

Upon observing any breakdown of squash ethics by an opposing player, a coach should immediately alert the opposing coach to the problem and then both coaches should watch the match until they can come to an agreement on whether or not there is a problem and how to best address that problem. Squash coaches must agree in advance to honor other coaches’ observations and to work together to educate all players in the interest of ethical squash.

To avoid interfering in intercollegiate matches that are in progress, coaches should limit any comments about rules or players’, markers’, or referees’ behavior to the 90-second periods between games or after a match, allowing for a reasonable element of human error in executing the rules of squash. However, exceptions must be made in cases of extreme danger or extremely unethical behavior. In cases involving players’ behavior, coaches should take immediate action to correct serious flaws and to educate their own players on how to play correctly. If a coach’s player insists on repeating a problematic behavior, the coach should remove the player from the court and default the match. In regards to marking and refereeing, coaches should only intervene if both coaches are in agreement (after watching the situation together) that the marker and referee are showing bias or are unable to control the match.

Should a conduct or sportsmanship issue occur at a college match, an incident report should be submitted to the CSA.

In the case of dual match line-ups, opposing coaches should have an opportunity to question a line-up change until a satisfactory explanation is offered. If a coach is not forthcoming or their explanation is not satisfactory, the disputing coach must verbally notify the opposing coach that they are protesting the line-up and the match. This should be done prior to the beginning of the match, and then the protesting coach must email the protest, with all the particulars, to admin@csasquash.com within 24 hours of the time of the match. The opposing coach will be given the opportunity to provide supporting evidence for the lineup order, and the CSA adjudication committee will evaluate the appeal.

In accordance with the rules of squash adopted by the College Squash Association, collegiate players are required to wear approved eyewear in any practice, warm-up, or competition (singles or doubles). This mandatory requirement applies to any dual match, individual tournament, or team tournament where players are representing their respective institutions or playing in an approved US Squash event. It also applies to any participants representing the U.S. in international collegiate competition.

The College Squash Association follows US Squash’s policy on Protective Eyewear, including US Squash list of Approved Eyewear.

Approved eyewear must be worn for the entirety of a match, from the beginning of the warm-up until the match’s conclusion. Standard eyeglasses may not be worn in lieu of approved eyewear, even if the eyeglasses have plastic lenses. In the event of a player not having approved eyewear and a suitable replacement not being found, the player must forfeit the match.

It is up to each institution’s coach to make sure that each member of their team has approved eyewear before the start of each season as well as suitable replacement pairs for the duration of the season.

DISCLAIMER: The College Squash Association does not test or certify eyewear. It is an individual’s responsibility to ensure that their eyewear meets or exceeds the standards of US Squash’s Protective Eyewear policy.

Commercial Use: The College Squash Association has been and, in the future, will be entering into transactions with various media companies to provide media coverage for its various events. There are limitations imposed by these media companies on the spectators, coaches, athletes, and volunteer members of College Squash Association, including prohibiting photographing, video recording and other audio/visual recordings for commercial non-personal use, and broadcasting, publishing and disseminating the product for any and all commercial purposes. These recording, broadcasting, publishing and disseminating restrictions apply to all media, including such outlets as YouTube, etc.

Educational/Personal Use: This policy allows for video recording for educational and personal purposes but prohibits others from recording and then attempting to sell or post on other sites. Any photographs, video recordings or other audio and/or visual recordings of the event created by a spectator may be used solely for such spectator’s personal non-commercial use, and may not be broadcast, published or disseminated, or used for any commercial purposes, without the prior written consent of the College Squash Association.

In addition, colleges and universities participating in the match may record video for educational and personal use.

Media Access/Credential Requirement: For regular season events, the host college, university, or squash venue controls media access. Please contact the college’s or university’s sports information department to inquire about media credentials.

For College Squash Association championship events, members of the media are required to obtain credentials to cover the event. Media members should contact admin@csasquash.com to request credentials to cover the championships.

Player Consent: For College Squash Association regular and post season matches, players participating in the event automatically consent to the photographing, video recording, and publication of their matches by the College Squash Association, the college/university, and/or any College Squash Association media partner.

Player Objection: If a College Squash Association team member objects to being photographed or video taped during their match, such activity must stop immediately by parties other than those approved by the College Squash Association.

In the case of players under the age of 18, if the player or coach, parent or guardian of the player objects to the use of a photographic device within the court by parties other than those approved by the College Squash Association, the objecting party may request the use be discontinued.

The College Squash Association hosts annual team and individual championships for men and women.

These guidelines apply for both women’s and men’s tournaments.

NATIONAL TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

Minimum Number of Matches: To be eligible to compete in the National Team Championships, teams must compete in a 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.

Club teams are required to play eight (8) matches against other CSA teams to enter team championships. At minimum, each team should have at least five (5) different opponents.

Official Entry into the National Team Championships: All varsity teams will automatically be entered in the National Team Championships. The remaining spots in the event will be selected based declaration of their intent to play the National Team Championships and team rankings at the end of the regular season.

Each season, club teams must declare their intent to compete in the National Team Championships to the College Squash Association via a registration form sent to all teams. The College Squash Association may limit the number of club teams that may enter the National Team Championships due to scheduling limitations.

Each varsity and club team must submit payment for the National Team Championships by the deadline and compete in the minimum number of matches to be eligible for the event.

Line-ups for National Team Championships: Each team must submit final line-ups to the Tournament Director by Noon (EST) on the Monday prior to the start of that team’s championship weekend.

Teams may submit line-ups of 11 players. Starting in 2022, all 11 players may compete in the top 9 positions for a team as long as they play in the appropriate order. (Previous rule: only the top 10 players are eligible to compete in the top 9 ladder positions.) Unless a petition for an exemption is made to the Tournament Director, teams must submit and bring at least 9 players to Team Championships.

If multiple players in the top 9 ladder positions are injured during the tournament or impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and are unable to compete, a petition for an exemption may be made to the CSA. Please note that exemptions will be extremely rare.

Each season, the CSA will determine the status of the exhibition match between the #10s. If the match is played, it may be best of three games.

All line-ups will be posted for review on the Monday evening prior to a team’s championship weekend. Coaches have until 3:00 PM on Tuesday to protest a team line-up to the Tournament Director. The CSA Rules and Regulations Committee will review all protests and make a decision on each one by Wednesday at noon and communicate the results to the impacted membership.

As a general rule, late changes will not be allowed, and players may not be added to the roster after the deadline. Any proposed late ladder changes (occurring past the posting deadline on that Monday) must be explained by the coach, reviewed by the CSA and approved before the start of the event. In the case of line-ups not being submitted on time, the last used line-up in an official intercollegiate CSA dual match will be the one used in the tournament by that team.

Divisions: Teams shall be placed in divisional brackets based on their final ranking of the regular season.

For the Men’s National Team Championships, teams placed into divisions of eight teams each:

• Potter Cup (A Division) – For teams ranked 1–8
• Hoehn Cup (B Division) – For teams ranked 9–16
• Summers Cup (C Division) – For teams ranked 17–24
• Conroy Cup (D Division) – For teams ranked 25–32
• Chaffee Cup (E Division) – For teams ranked 33–40
• Serues Cup (F Division) – For teams ranked 41–48
• Hawthorn Cup (G Division) – For teams ranked 49–56
• H Division – For teams ranked 57–64

For the Women’s National Team Championships, teams placed into divisions of eight teams each:

• Howe Cup (A Division) – For teams ranked 1–8
• Kurtz Cup (B Division) – For teams ranked 9–16
• Walker Cup (C Division) – For teams ranked 17–24
• Epps Cup (D Division) – For teams ranked 25–32
• E Division – For teams ranked 33–40

Initial matches shall be based upon the seeding in each division. In an eight-team division, the initial match-ups will be as follows:

• Team 1 plays team 8
• Team 2 plays team 7
• Team 3 plays team 6
• Team 4 plays team 5

If needed, the lowest division of each National Team Championship may be played as a round robin.

Introductions: For non-divisional finals, both teams will introduce their entire squads followed by a group acknowledgement. For example, Team A introduces players #9 through #1, and then Team B introduces players #9 through #1. After the conclusion of Team B’s introductions, all players acknowledge their opponents.

For division finals, each team will alternate introducing players. For example, Team A will introduce player #9, then team B will introduce player #9. Team A’s and Team B’s #9s will greet the other player, acknowledge the opponent’s coaches and captains, and acknowledge their teammates. This pattern will repeat for the remaining players.

INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Individual Championships, each varsity school is guaranteed one (1) entry per gender.

If a team only sends one (1) player to Individual Championships, this player must have represented their team in the top three ladder positions at Team Championships.

Remaining positions for the Individual Championships are based on the most recent individual rankings.

A team may only enter up to nine (9) players in the individual championships.

If a college student from a school without a team wants to enter the Individual Championships, they must present their match record to the CSA for review.

Players and coaches must be available for all assigned match times. Please note that no special accommodations (court changes, time changes, etc.) will be made.

The A flights of the men’s (Pool Trophy) and women’s (Ramsay Cup) individual championships will be 16-person draws.

For both the men’s and women’s individual championships, players seeded 17th – 80th will be divided into four draws.

• North will be composed of the players seeded 17, 24, 25, 32, 33, 40, 41, 48, 49, 56, 57, 64, 65, 72, 73, 80
• South will be composed of the players seeded 18, 23, 26, 31, 34, 39, 42, 47, 50, 55, 58, 63, 66, 71, 74, 79
• East will be composed of the players seeded 19, 22, 27, 30, 35, 38, 43, 46, 51, 54, 59, 62, 67, 70, 75, 78
• West will be composed of the players seeded 20, 21, 28, 29, 36, 37, 44, 45, 52, 53, 60, 61, 68, 69, 76, 77

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