I’m running a rated tournament tomorrow and have the application forms for memberships so people can join USCF on-site, but I read somewhere that there is a non-membership “USCF ID Only” option so you can play in rated tournaments, which was something like $15-$18 and that if you want to upgrade to a full membership later, part of this fee can be applied to the membership.
I can’t seem to find a form for this. Can someone help me out?
-Tom
I don’t know if there is a form for just a tournament membership.
What I do is have the players fill out the normal form (excluding payment information) and then use that to create a new ID (if they don’t already have one). The payment will be as part of the rating fee, so it doesn’t look like you can’t apply a credit card payment to just a specific tournament membership. I have the player give cash for the membership (or a check). The player should get a notice that all but $2 of that tournament membership can be applied to a regular membership if they do so within a period of time (60 days?).
Checking the FAQ on the TD/A it looks like it is still $7 for a junior (<25) and $12 for an adult.
What I would do is have them fill out the regular membership form, because you will need all of that information anyway: name, address, city, state, zip, birthdate and sex.
If the player is 24 or younger, the fee is $7, otherwise it is $12. All but $2 of that may be applied to a full-year or longer USCF membership if purchased within 60 days. The membership webstore will find and utilize the TM credit.
We don’t have a form for it or have it on the membership webstore because a tournament membership is ONLY valid within the context of the tournament at which it is used, so the ONLY place such a form would be appropriate would be as part of your tournament registration.
The FAQ on the TD/Affiliate Support Area has information on how to generate a USCF ID for a player who doesn’t already have one, which you will need to do before you can submit your tournament, as every player in a USCF rated event must have a valid USCF ID.
Fantastic! Thanks, guys – through your replies I was able to find the info again. Looking forward to running my first USCF rated event. Wish me luck!
-Tom
Later this month, I’m going to run a scholastic tournament at the public library, using the same format I’ve used twice before. Per suggestions from Rob Jones, it’s free for all players and divided into three sections: grades K–3, 4–6 and 7–12. The K–3 section is sanctioned and rated through JTP; the other two sections are unrated.
I designed the entry forms, using desktop publishing software, to collect all necessary information for each section. For the two upper sections, this is mainly just contact and school info. For the K–3 section, it includes everything necessary to register the player with a USCF player ID number. Thus, the three forms are subtly different – but they all look pretty much the same, and the type is big and friendly, so when players or their parents are filling them out, they’re not really thinking about “applying for USCF membership” (unless they choose to, and check the boxes accordingly). You can see copies of the forms here.
I thought I’d follow up and say thanks again for your help. My tournament went perfectly, with two new USCF members signing up and a third person who needed a membership renewal. What was cool was that I had WiFi access on-site so while the players were in round 1, I was able to get online with USCF and process these and hand them their newly-issued IDs.
After the tourney, I was able to have WinTD output the results and send them to the USCF for processing, which took no time at all.
All in all, a very fun experience and it makes me look forward to running our next tournament.
Just as long as no one was allowed to agree to a draw in the last round.
Nope. No draws in either section in the final round.
But I’m intrigued – I see high-profile tournaments with draws in the final round all the time. Is there a rule regarding this? Because I can’t seem to find one (other than a prearranged draw being unethical).