Cash Prizes for Scholastic Tournaments

Can anyone comment on whether or not it is appropiate to offer small cash prizes at scholastic tournaments? Is there a rule against it or is it just not commonly done?

I am curious since the rule book mentions that non-monetary prizes are typically favored for scholastic events but does not explain why or comment on the acceptablilty of monetary prizes for scholastic events.

There’s no USCF rule against it. There may be local problems; in Arizona, for example, there’s some rule about players who win cash prizes being disqualified from school-related scholastic tournaments. Mainly, though, trophies cost less and the kids like them better.

There may also be concerns about accepting cash prizes for a competition potentially making a player ineligible to represent the school at any sporting or competitive event.

Even if a player doesn’t win any prize, simply competing for such prizes might still make the player ineligible.

If you do want to award cash prizes it would be best to find out what state AND district regulations say about such eligibilty (in IL most districts treat chess an activity and thus have more lenient regulations than those districts that treat chess as a sport). If state regulations are such that problems would be caused by cash prizes then you should let the potential players know (accepting the likely small turnout). If state regulations are okay but there are problems with some districts then you should still let the potential players know.

If state and district regulations are fine then you would still need to let people know as your turnout would otherwise be hurt by potential entrants incorrectly assuming that there would be a problem.

The majority of those in the scholastic arena seem to be more interested in trophies than money.

Have you considered other non-trophy, similar-to-cash-awards? One of the many options would be covering the entry fee to another tournament such as the state or national scholastic championships.

I think that at all ages it’s better to focus on the game than the victory. Does the football team win money when they beat the other high school? Let’s leave the gambling outside of scholastic chess.

This may be true at the start, but after winning so many trophies kids rapidly become more interested in merchandise or cash awards. In some of our scholastic tournaments we have a over 1500 section. Instead of awarding trophies we give $40 and $20 gift certificates for the book concession. At that level those kids are more interested in getting books or credit towards getting a new clock.

The New York City Scholastics which is the oldest scholastic tournament in the country awards 6 months of free entries to other Chess Center of NY tournaments to first place in each of the various sections of the tournament. 2nd and 3rd place all get several months of free entries and winning team members also receive a month or two of free entries. The winners also receive trophies, but the free entry prizes are the big draw. In past years titled players such as Alex Lenderman, Irena Krush, Sal Berceys competed in the high school section in order to win those free entry prizes.

Those free entries are into tournaments where there are many adults and masters playing and those tournaments do give cash prizes. The kids get excellent competition and experience.

The question is, does playing in an “adult” tournament where cash prizes are awarded impact a scholastic player’s eligibility to compete for their school in other sports?

Polly, there isn’t a straight forward answer that works in every state.

Some states don’t care, others get pretty hung up on kids playing for ANY cash prizes at all, even in ‘adult’ competitions. This can also vary depending on the grade level, at the HS level the people who run state athletics tend to get a bit more interested in things that pay out cash prizes.

There was a rumor at one time that the NCAA had an interest in this as well (with regards to whether or not schools can give athletic scholarships to incoming student-athletes if they’ve won cash prizes in some competitive events), but I think they’ve backed off from that stance.

Depends on the state, and perhaps on the particular sport the kid wants to compete in.

School-organized sports are incredibly rule-bound. It’s not really chess’ place to protect the kids from themselves - but if you know it’s a problem in your area, it’s probably best to not push the envelope by offering cash prizes in scholastic events. If you organizer “adult” events that kids might enter, it might be wise to check with your local school so that you know the right answer, if asked.