黑料社

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2025

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Guidelines

Table of Contents

黑料社 Club Guidelines Overview

This document defines the guidelines and regulations for the 黑料社 Club Season. These guidelines cover the 黑料社 Triple Crown Tour (TCT), including Regular Season and Postseason competition.

The contents of this document are important for players, team organizers and tournament directors. The dates, registration and tournament rules and definitions of the TCT in this document supersede any other information.

Please ensure you read and understand all of the guidelines in this document and reach out to your National Director or 黑料社 directly with any questions. Below are key highlights, including updates between the 2024 and 2025 Guidelines for ease of reference. This is not a comprehensive summary of all important information:

  • Key links for the 2025 Season:
    • Wait lists for events will be based on 2024 season finish and rankings only. Click here for event . These include tournament details such as date, bid fees, and locations. Review for more information.
    • The contacts for events can be found on the USAU Website. See here for the Sectional/Regionals/Club Working Group Contact List under 鈥淐lub Contacts鈥�.
    • Name/Logo/Uniform Guidelines has been updated to include 2025 approved vendors. Find those guidelines .
    • Bid submissions for series events (sectionals and regionals) through 2026 can be found here
    • mTCT Event Bid Submissions for 2026 can be found here
  • Major Triple Crown Tour (mTCT) Tournament and requirement acceptances dates have been changed to allow teams more time to decide on their season. See Q. Team Flight Status below for specific acceptance dates.
  • Any team ranked in the Top 24 in the 2024 End of Season Rankings must compete in 10 sanctioned games during the 2025 season to be eligible to play the 2025 series. Pro, Elite and Top Select teams require 10 sanctioned games, regardless of ranking.
  • 2025 mTCT dates have been announced and the 2026 mTCT tentative dates and bid applications are live. See here for additional information.
  • Pro Championships may expand to 12 teams in each division based on interest and field availability. Once the initial 8 bids are accepted, another round of invitations may be offered to teams in groups of 4. Four teams must accept to expand the tournament to 12 teams. A division will only expand to 12 teams if all 12 teams were ranked in the top 20 in 2024. See for more information.
  • As in 2024, there will be early season roster flexibility with all players being allowed to switch teams multiple times. Man matching players may do so before June 25th (prior to PEC-E). In 2025, Women Matching players will have roster flexibility through July 30, 2025 (prior to US Open). See Season Roster Changes.
  • Match play fees continue to be waived for women’s division games.
  • To accommodate larger sections, sections have been adjusted throughout the country. .
  • The series registration has been pushed up one week earlier, to Friday, August 22, 2025 to accommodate sectionals coordinators organizing events. See additional details in V. Postseason (Championship Series). As a reminder, if a player will not be attending sectionals but will play with your team for regionals or nationals (if your team earns an invitation), they MUST be on your series roster by the deadline prior to sectionals.
  • In addition to the series registration deadline, an initial deposit is due to the appropriate TD by the end of the business day on the Monday following the initial roster deadline (August 25th in 2025) for the postseason.
  • The order of Finals for U.S. Open, Pro Championships and Club Nationals has been determined. See R. Major Triple Crown Tour Events for each event’s Finals Order.

黑料社 Triple Crown Tour
The Triple Crown Tour (TCT) for 黑料社’s club men’s, mixed and women’s divisions enters its twelfth season in 2025. TCT teams are divided into four (4) flights based on their performance in the previous year’s TCT. Teams in each flight have different season requirements. Teams at all levels are encouraged to participate in the TCT’s Regular Season and Postseason. While there are incentives to compete in the regular season, registration will be open to any teams that want to compete in the Postseason Championship Series.

A. Glossary

  1. Triple Crown Tour (TCT) – The TCT encompasses both the Regular Season and the Postseason for 黑料社 club teams. The TCT includes Major TCT (see definition below) events run by 黑料社 and any event which is a Regular Season or Postseason event. Winning the Triple Crown refers to winning the U.S. Open Club Championships, the Pro Championships and the National Championships.
  2. Major TCT Event (mTCT) – The following tournaments are considered Major TCT Events: Pro-Elite Challenge-East, Pro-Elite Challenge-West, Select Flight Invite-West, Select Flight Invite-East, U.S. Open Club Championships, Elite-Select Challenge and Pro Championships.
  3. Regular Season – All official Regular Season Events or match-play games that occur between the first weekend in June and last full weekend in August, with the addition of the Pro Championship on Labor Day weekend, is the Regular Season. All games at 黑料社 Regular Season Events where a team’s official roster and players met the roster eligibility rules will count for the regular season. All Regular Season events must be Sanctioned through 黑料社.
  4. Regular Season Rankings – Regular Season games will be factored into the . Rankings are published weekly starting the last Wednesday in July, with Final Regular Season Rankings posted at the end of the Regular Season. Teams must play a minimum of 10 games to be included in the Final Regular Season Rankings, unless reasons beyond a team’s control prevent the completion of 10 games. Requests for exceptions must be made to the appropriate National Director and are granted at the sole discretion of the National Director. International games at the U.S. Open will be included in a team’s Regular Season game count but will not be included when calculating a team’s power rating. Games against International Teams at other events will not count towards Regular Season Rankings.
  5. Postseason Championship Series – The national tournament following the regular season comprises geographic-based qualifying events (Sectionals, Regionals) and concludes at the National Championships. Also referred to as the 鈥淧ostseason鈥� and 鈥淐hampionship Series.鈥� The entirety of the Postseason, including Sectionals, Regionals and Nationals is a single Event, all players intending to compete at any of these events must be on the teams’ Postseason roster due September 3, 2025 at 5:00 pm MDT.
  6. National Championships – The third leg of the Triple Crown and the culminating event of the Postseason and the TCT where the 黑料社 National Championship winning teams are crowned in the men’s, mixed and women’s divisions. Also referred to as 鈥淣ationals.鈥�
  7. Bid Allocation – Bid allocation from Sectionals to Regionals and from Regionals to Nationals include a combination of automatic bids and strength bids. Strength bids are allocated based on Final Regular Season Rankings.
  8. Flights:
    • Pro Flight – Top eight teams (1st through 8th) based on performance at the 2024 National Championships.
    • Elite Flight – Next eight teams (9th through 16th) based on performance at the 2024 National Championships.
    • Select Flight – 32 teams. Next highest finishing four teams in each geographic region, after Pro and Elite teams, based on performance in the 2024 Regional Championships.
      • Top Select – teams are Select Flight teams that were the highest finishing Select team from each region (eight total) from the 2024 Regional Championships. The Top Select team is the team that lost the 鈥済ame-to-go鈥� to Nationals.
    • Classic Flight – All other teams participating in the Regular Season or Postseason of the TCT.

B. Spirt of the Game (SOTG)

Spirit of the Game is a set of principles which places the responsibility for fair play on the player. Highly competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of mutual respect among competitors, adherence to the agreed upon rules or the basic joy of play.

All players are responsible for knowing, administering and adhering to the rules. The integrity of ultimate depends on each player’s responsibility to uphold the Spirit of the Game, and this responsibility should remain paramount.

Teams are expected to have a spirit captain, a player that has been designated by their team to address, discuss and resolve spirit-related issues at any point throughout the competition with opponents, teammates, coaches and event officials. Spirit captains should do spirit scoring with their teams after each game and are responsible for the timely submission of spirit scores.

It is assumed that no player will intentionally violate the rules; thus there are no harsh penalties for inadvertent infractions, but rather a method for resuming play in a manner that simulates what most likely would have occurred absent the infraction. An intentional infraction is cheating and considered a gross offense against the Spirit of the Game. Players are morally bound to abide by the rules and not gain advantage by knowingly committing an infraction, or calling one where none exists.

Read more about Spirit of the Game, spirit captains, spirit scoring. To read more about the work 黑料社 is doing to limit implicit bias within the SOTG structure, click here.

C. Competition Authority

Major TCT Events – Event formats, game rules, seeding and the use of Observers will be determined by 黑料社. The 鈥淐aptains’ Clause鈥� (Rule 1.B.3) does not apply.

All other Regular Season Events – Event formats, game rules, seeding and the use of Observers are all at the discretion of the Regular Season Event organizers, provided they meet event guidelines outlined in the 黑料社 sanctioned-event agreement and meet these guidelines. Neither the Event Organizer Clause (Rule 1.B.2) nor the Captains’ Clause (Rule 1.B.3) may supersede these guidelines.

Postseason – All aspects of competition will be determined by 黑料社, including but not limited to, registration, eligibility, event formats, game rules, seeding and the use of Observers. Neither the Event Organizer Clause (Rule 1.B.2) nor the Captains’ Clause (Rule 1.B.3) may supersede these guidelines.

D. Definition of a Team

The following rules will define a team from year to year, for the purpose of determining its flight status and eligibility for competing in the Triple Crown Tour. A team in the same division will be defined primarily by its name and home location (city, state) and the following factors:

  • For consistency between seasons, If a team has at least seven (7) returning players from the previous season (2024), they are considered that same team and are expected to retain the team’s name and home location.
  • If two teams have seven (7) or more returning players from one team that participated in the previous season, the team with more returning players will have priority in retaining team name, branding, etc. as well as the team’s spot on invitation lists for mTCT events.
  • If a Pro, Elite, or Top Select team is returning the next year, a 鈥渘ew鈥� team in the same division may not have more than seven players from that team’s prior year roster in order to be eligible for the postseason.
    An exception may be granted by the appropriate National Director if the new team plays at least 10 regular season games.
  • To change either a team’s name or its home location and still retain the team’s flight status and spot on any mTCT invitation list, the team must present an appeal to the corresponding 黑料社 National Director describing its rationale. Appeals must be submitted prior to competing.

E. Name/Logo/Uniform Guidelines

The Name/Logo/Uniform Guidelines document is a part of the TCT Guidelines and must be followed. .

F. Coaching

  1. Coaching Requirements
    To coach any club team at a 黑料社 sanctioned event (including all Regular Season and Postseason Events), a coach must be a member of 黑料社 and have completed the Foundational Coach training or be a certified coach. The steps to complete the Foundational Coach training can be found here.
  2. Coaching Sideline Access Policy
    During games at TCT events where field access is restricted (ex: U.S. Open, Nationals), sideline access will only be granted to players, credentialed 黑料社 Coaches that are designated by the team, 黑料社 event staff and credentialed media*. Coaches and team support personnel are limited to a total of 5, all of whom must comply with the above policy, is as follows:
    • Coaches – may have player-level access to sidelines/field
    • Coaches must be listed on the team’s online Event Roster prior to the event in order to have sideline access, which means coaches must have an active 黑料社 membership and have completed the Foundational Coach training (or be a certified coach).
    • Team Support – must remain in team tent/bench area during points

* Team media must contact the 黑料社 media manager for credentials and media waivers. At events with team info forms, team media personnel must be included on the info form and must submit the Media Accreditation Agreement.

G. Observers

All use of Observers will be subject to the guidelines and practices of the 黑料社 Observer Program. Only 黑料社 Certified Observers are permitted to officiate at 黑料社 sanctioned events, including Regular Season Events and the Postseason Championship Series.

Regular Season Events must be played in accordance with the guidelines for 黑料社 sanctioned events. Experimental changes in officiating responsibilities (i.e., those outside of the current edition of the 黑料社 Observer Manual) may be permitted, but must be communicated in detail during the sanctioning application process and must be pre-approved by 黑料社.

If observers are used during the postseason, their duties must be in line with those described in the 黑料社 Observer Manual. Any changes to these duties must be pre-approved by the Competition Working Group. Any experimental changes authorized by 黑料社 for use during the postseason will be outlined in this section of the guidelines and communicated to team and event organizers prior to the start of the regular season.

H. Triple Crown Tour Overview

The TCT regular season runs from May 31, 2025 through August 24, 2025 with the Postseason Championship Series starting in September with sectional tournaments. Teams advance from sectionals to regionals, and then from regionals to nationals where a champion in each division is crowned.

Registration for the Postseason Championship Series will be open to any teams that want to compete.

I. Regular Season

  1. Timeline
    The TCT Regular Season is from May 31, 2025 through August 24, 2025, plus Pro Championships.
  2. Registration
    Teams competing at Regular Season Events will be required to register their team and submit their Event Roster for that event through the 黑料社 online rostering system by 5pm MDT on the Wednesday prior to the event.
  3. 2025 Rules
    All 黑料社 Regular Season and Postseason Events must use the 鈥�2024-2025 Official Rules of Ultimate鈥� which are available at in HTML and PDF formats along with supporting documentation highlighting and explaining the substantive changes from the 2022-2023 Edition.
  4. Game Length Minimums
    TCT games should be scheduled to last at least 90 minutes and play to 15 points. All games at sanctioned 黑料社 events must meet the minimum point and time-based requirements. That is each game must be initially set at minimum to 11 points and 60 minutes in length in order to be an official game. Games under the minimums are subject to 黑料社 review for inclusion in rankings or game counts.
    1. NEVER report an inaccurate score. Doing so will result in game disqualifications and other sanctions to teams, organizers and players
    2. If a game is a forfeit (see forfeit rule below), do NOT enter a score. You must inform the TD and report a W/F on the 黑料社 reporting app.
    3. Requests to shorten any game must be approved prior to playing by the event manager/TD and should still meet the minimum requirements mentioned above. Captains may not simply agree to play to a lower number or for a certain amount of time. This will result in consequences for both teams and both captains.
    4. Games that are suspended due to inclement weather or other unavoidable reasons will be counted only if a team has reached at least half the minimum point total or half the minimum game length.
    5. Games that do not reach halftime and cannot be continued should be recorded as 鈥渃anceled.鈥�
    6. Halftime is 7 minutes. [[At the end of halftime, the standard time between pulls (rule 9.C) begins, i.e., from the end of halftime, the offense has 50 seconds to line up and 60 seconds to signal readiness, and the defense has 80 seconds to pull.]].

J. Forfeit Rule

The competition format of an event and the season as a whole rely on scheduled games being played. As a general rule, 黑料社 prohibits the forfeiting of scheduled games during the Regular Season. Teams are expected to play out their entire schedule of games at events they have chosen to enter. All teams entering an event should expect that their opponents will play their scheduled games. These rules apply regardless of the caliber of the opponent or the stage of the competition in which a game is scheduled.

  1. Any team that declines to finish a scheduled game or games, or attempts to decide a match by any manner other than playing ultimate on the field, will forfeit those games. Should both teams in a match choose not to play, then it will be considered a double forfeit.
  2. If one team is not ready to play at game-time, points may be assessed at a rate of one (1) point per five (5) minutes. Under these conditions, if the score of the game reaches 8-0, the team that has failed to signal readiness will forfeit the game.
  3. A team will be considered to have forfeited any game where the number of players that can safely participate falls below the minimum requirement set by the competition minimums, found in P. Roster Maximums and Minimums.
  4. Reporting false scores will be treated with significant sanctions. If a game is forfeited, teams must report the forfeiture. If a game is not finished, scores and game length are to be reported as they are. Teams may not manipulate the final score to reach the game minimum. Violating this rule will incur sanctions for both teams involved. See the sanctions section (Item 6 below) for more information.
  5. Exceptions
    1. The safety of athletes is a top priority and must be considered when determining whether a game should be played and under what conditions.
    2. Consideration should be given if a team misses the first game of the first day because of travel problems.
    3. Tournament formats and event schedules must fall within the guidelines set forth for sanctioned events and be published at least two (2) business days prior to the event. Impact to teams due to changes with short notice must be considered.
    4. Games that are the last of an event for both teams may be forfeited, provided the tournament director and both teams are in agreement. Games which are forfeited without the TD director approval are subject to sanctions.
  6. Sanctions
    黑料社 reserves the right to sanction teams that forfeit games during the regular season. Sanctions may include, but are not limited to, disqualification from the regular season and/or series, rankings and/or bid allocation penalties, team and/or player/coach suspensions, financial penalties and team and/or member conduct hearings. Game forfeits will be dealt with on a case by case basis, taking into account all pertinent facts and perspectives.

K. Eligibility

Teams participating in any Regular Season event or game must do so only with players who are on the team’s Regular Season roster AND Event Roster for that event or game.

L. Season Roster Changes

For the 2025 season, to allow players and teams the time to host tryouts and establish rosters on a timeline they and their community are comfortable with, man-matching players will have the flexibility to play on multiple rosters from the start of the Regular Season until Tuesday, June 25, 2025. Women-matching players in all divisions will have roster flexibility extended to Tuesday, July 30, 2025. After the June 25th (For Man-Matching Players) or July 30th (for Women Matching Players) cutoff, players may switch rosters but not return to a roster after playing a Regular Season Event with a different team. The intent of this flexibility is to support teams. Use of roster flexibility to manipulate rankings is not allowed and will result in significant sanctions.

Man Matching Example: Man Matching (MM) Player A can play with Team X and Team Y interchangeably from the start of the Regular Season until June 25th. If MM Player A attends a Regular Season event with Team X on July 5-6, then an event with Team Y in August, that MM Player may NOT return to play any Regular Season event or the series with Team X. Doing so will result in disqualification from the event, games not counting, and potential suspensions for the Player and Team.

Woman Matching Example: Man Matching (MM) Woman Matching (WM) Player A can play with Team X and Team Y interchangeably from the start of the Regular Season until July 30th. If WM Player A attends a Regular Season event with Team X on August 2-3, then an event with Team Y later in August, that WM Player may NOT return to play any Regular Season event or the series with Team X. Doing so will result in disqualification from the event, games not counting, and potential suspensions for the Player and Team.

M. Geographic Eligibility

At least 50% of the players on a team’s Season Roster must reside in the section in which that team will compete.

At least 75% of the players on a team’s Season Roster must reside in the region in which that team will compete.

At least 50% of the players on a team’s Postseason Roster must reside in the section in which that team will compete.

At least 75% of the players on a team’s Postseason Roster must reside in the region in which that team will compete.

In addition to the above, a team can roster no more than five (5) out-of-region players at any event in which the team will be competing. Additionally, a team may not roster more than seven (7) out-of-region players during the 2025 Season.

鈥淩esidence” is defined as meeting both of the below criteria:

  • Location where the person is living for the majority of September and October, and
  • Location where the person is living for the majority of either the three months prior to September 1 or immediately following October 31.

If the above definition means that a player does not have a region as their 鈥渞esidence,鈥� then the player is considered to be an out-of-region player and counts towards a team’s out-of-region limits (maximum of five out-of-region players and no more than 25% of the roster).

If a regional boundary divides a metropolitan area, a team based in that metropolitan area may request an exception for players living in that metropolitan area to count as in-region for that team. In order for an exception to be granted, a player and team must establish that the player is part of the local community in which the team is based. In order for teams to be in compliance with the geographic guidelines throughout the season, players must receive exception approval prior to participation with the team at a Regular Season or Postseason event. To request this exception, email your National Director and copy the Manager of Competition and National Team Programs clubmanager@usaultimate.org.

Sectional and Regional boundaries are available on the 黑料社 website Please note the changes for certain sections and regions .

N. Gender Division Eligibility

黑料社 will not discriminate on the basis of gender identity, regardless of sex assigned at birth, or any other form of gender expression for whether an athlete matches up against a woman-matching or man-matching player of the opposing team during any given point. ()

We affirm that people of all gender identities should have the freedom to participate in 黑料社 Regular Season or championship series events in the division in which they feel most comfortable and safe based on their gender identity and should be recognized, respected and included at every level of the sport.For more information see the USAU Gender Inclusion Policy.

Teams that are found to have violated the letter or spirit of the rules mentioned here, or whose behavior undermines the competition structure (e.g. misrepresenting the composition of a team at a specific event, misrepresenting the composition of a team over the course of the season, intentionally playing with ineligible players, intentionally misrepresenting gender for mixed on-field personnel ratio, etc.) will be subject to ramifications as outlined in 鈥淰iolations and Sanctions.鈥� Roster violations should be reported to the Manager of Competition and National Team Programs at clubmanager@usaultimate.org.

  1. In their 黑料社 membership account, every athlete should select the gender identity option that best aligns with their gender identity. When registering for a 黑料社 Regular Season or championship series event, athletes should select to participate in the division in which they feel most comfortable and safe based on their indicated gender identity.
  2. Players who select Man (cis or trans) as their gender identity option are eligible to compete in Men’s divisions or as a man-matching player in Mixed divisions.
  3. Players who select Woman (cis or trans) as their gender identity option are eligible to compete in Men’s or Women’s divisions, or as a Woman-matching player in Mixed divisions.
  4. Players who select the Non-Binary or Prefer to Self-Report gender identity option are eligible to compete in the division in which they feel most comfortable and safe, as per 黑料社’s Gender Inclusion Policy (approved 11.2021).
    1. Note: For those who select Prefer to Self-Report in their member account, there will be a fill-in option to provide any additional information regarding your gender identity. This is for internal educational purposes only and will not be shared.
  5. On-field personnel ratio rules for the mixed division are described in the Mixed Division On-field Personnel Ratio section of the Competition Guidelines.

For more information about 黑料社’s Gender Inclusion Policy, click here.

O. Mixed Division On-Field Personnel Ratio

The personnel ratio for the mixed division of the Triple Crown Tour regular season and postseason will be 4/3 (four woman-matching and three man-matching or four man-matching and three woman-matching).

For more information about 黑料社’s Gender Inclusion Policy, click here.

  1. Determining the ratio
    All Mixed games will use the 鈥減rescribed ratio鈥� rule (also known as Rule A in the official .
    1. Select and Classic Flight teams must register for Regular Season Events by the deadlines outlined in the Team Registration Requirements section.
    2. All Select and Classic Flight teams are eligible for the postseason
    3. Any team ranked in the Top 24 of their division in the 2024 End of Season Rankings must compete in 10 sanctioned games during the 2025 season to be eligible to play the 2025 series
    10. Any team that commits to a Major TCT event is required to compete in that event in order to be eligible for the Postseason, unless otherwise approved as described below (Q.4. Withdrawing from major TCT Events). Any team that drops from a Major TCT event after the drop deadline will be subject to a fine described below.
  2. DEADLINES
    1. April 10 – Pro and Elite teams confirmed for required TCT Events
    2. April 17 – Top Select Teams confirmed to mTCT events
    3. April 24 – Select Teams accept or decline Select Flight status for Regular Season and commit to mTCT Regular Season Events
    4. May 8 – All teams confirmed for mTCT events
    5. June 1 – Teams have at least 14 players on the Regular Season roster for all mTCT events
    6. Monday before mTCT Event (except USOCC) – Event Rosters finalized
    7. Wednesday before all other TCT Events – Event Rosters finalized
    8. July 16 – Final Event Rosters for US Open Club Championships
    9. Note: failure to reply by the deadlines may result in forfeiting your spot in that event
  3. Withdrawing from TCT Events
    Teams may not withdraw from mTCT events after April 15, 2024, without approval from their National Director and the 黑料社 Manager of Competition and National Team Programs (marc@hq.usaultimate.org).
    1. Penalties: The following sanctions will be applied to teams that withdraw from Major TCT events:
      1. Within one month of the event: $750 + tournament fee
      2. Within two months of the event: $500 + tournament fee
      3. After acceptance of bid to event: $250 + tournament fee
    2. The tournament fee may be refunded if a replacement team is found and pays at least the equivalent bid fee.
    3. Should a team withdraw without approval, 黑料社 reserves the right to forfeit the team’s results and disqualify the team. For more information see Violations and Sanctions.

R. Major Triple Crown Tour Events

黑料社 will work with local organizers to put on tournament events for teams in the Pro, Elite and Select flights throughout the regular season. These events are referred to as Major TCT events (mTCT) and are invitation only. Rules, seeding, formats and guidelines for these events will be set by USAU. Flight Requirements for attending mTCT events and waitlist orders can be found .

  1. Events
    1. Pro-Elite Challenge (PEC) – East
      1. Dates: June 28-29
      2. Location: Sylvania, OH
    2. Pro-Elite Challenge (PEC) – West
      1. Dates: July 12-13
      2. Location: Corvallis, OR
    3. Select Flight Invite (SFI) – EAST
      1. Dates: July 12-13
      2. Location: Fredericksburg, VA
    4. Select Flight Invite (SFI) – WEST
      1. Dates: TBD
      2. Location: TBD
    5. U.S. Open Club Championships
      1. Dates: August 1-3
      2. Location: Aurora, CO
      3. Finals Order: Mixed, Women’s, Men’s
    6. Elite-Select Challenge
      1. Dates: August 16-17
      2. Location: Indianapolis, IN
    7. Pro Championships
      1. Dates: August 30 – September 1
      2. Location: Virginia Beach, VA
      3. Finals Order: Men’s, Mixed, Women’s
  2. Invitations
    Invitations to mTCT events will be decided based on Flight Status. Flexibility on invitations may be afforded to the National Directors and Local Organizing Committees as needed if there are vacancies within four (4) weeks of the event.
    • National Directors will begin inviting teams in March 2025 and will communicate deadlines for each event via email.
    • Invitation lists, including confirmed committed teams, .
    • Invitations to any other Regular Season events are at the sole discretion of the event organizers.

S. Other Regular Season Events

  1. Tournaments
    1. 黑料社-sanctioned event organizers will be required to do the following:
      • Submit or verify the results of games through the 黑料社’s online score reporting system by the end of the day following the event/game.
      • Comply with all requirements for 黑料社-sanctioned event organizers outlined in the 黑料社 Tournament Director’s Certification Program and the sanctioned event agreement.
    2. Sanctioned Match Play
      Individual games may be sanctioned at the discretion of 黑料社 in order to provide flexibility for teams in planning their seasons and scheduling playing opportunities. Match play sanctioning may require earlier sanctioning application deadlines, will be subject to the review of 黑料社 staff and may require additional oversight and/or structure to ensure the integrity of the competition, especially in the last three weeks of the regular season. For 2025, sanctioning fees for match play for Women’s Division teams will be waived. Click here for more information on event sanctioning.

黑料社 is progressively increasing the minimum standards which tournaments/events are required to meet to receive sanctioning approval. 黑料社 will not sanction an event if it believes that the event or event organizer is not aligned with the best interests of the sport, the Triple Crown Tour, other 黑料社 programs or the mission and policies of 黑料社.

T. Team Registration Requirements

All teams that compete in the Regular Season must submit an online Event Roster by the event- specific, rolling deadline (Wednesday prior to event). Teams are required to do the following:

  1. Notify the event organizer of their intention to compete in the event, acknowledge understanding that the team will be considered a Regular Season team and receive confirmation that the team has received a bid to the event.
  2. Once confirmed, use the online rostering system to submit the team’s Event Roster for the event.
  3. Complete team’s Event Roster by 5pm MDT on the Wednesday prior to the event.
  4. Ensure that 黑料社 membership dues and individual waivers are submitted by every participant before they are added to an Event Roster. Players must be added to the Event Roster by 5pm MDT on the Wednesday prior to the event in order to participate.
  5. Any player found to play in a Regular Season Event without being on a team’s Event Roster will face sanctions along with any other culpable parties, including, but not limited to the Team Manager, teammates, other teams and the event organizers. Sanctions may include, but are not limited to, ejection from the event, fines and/or suspensions.

U. Rankings

The Final Regular Season Rankings are used to determine bid allocations for the Postseason. The rankings will be based on games played between eligible teams at Regular Season Events.

The Regular Season Rankings algorithm will be run, and the rankings will be published weekly starting July 30, 2025.

Teams must compete in a minimum of 10 Regular Season games to be included in the Final Regular Season Rankings, which impact bid allocation to Regionals and Nationals. We encourage teams to utilize match play as a way to compete locally. In the event of uncontrollable circumstances (i.e. weather), USAU Club Manager and National Directors will grant exceptions to the 10 game minimum on a case by case basis.

To support roster consistency between the Regular Season and Postseason for Classic and Select Flight teams, at least 50% of a team’s Postseason Roster must consist of players that competed for the team during the Regular Season for the team’s Regular Season ranking to count in the Postseason bid allocations.

  1. Rankings Eligibility
    Regular Season rankings are tentative, pending eligibility verification. At the end of the Regular Season, any eligibility-based adjustments will be made to finalize Regular Season rankings. Results of Regular Season Events or Games will not count if:
    • The event does not meet the 黑料社 definition of Ultimate.
    • The competition rules of the event designate the number of players on the field for a team to be any number other than seven.
    • Games do not meet the minimum point and time-based requirements (each game must have been initially set at minimum to be played to 11 points and at least 60 minutes in length).
    • An inaccurate score is reported.

NOTE: Games suspended or modified due to inclement weather or other unavoidable reason may be counted if a team has reached at least half the minimum point total, half cap, or half the minimum game length, at the discretion of 黑料社.

If a team competes in a Regular Season event with ineligible players, the team will be treated as ineligible and its results will not count for the event. Any eligible opposing team that competes against the ineligible team at the event will receive credit for competing in the game (i.e., game will be included in the team’s regular season game count), but the results of the game will not be included in the regular season rankings.

黑料社 reserves the right to disallow Regular Season results if they are determined not to be in line with the goals of the 黑料社 Triple Crown Tour or the mission and policies of 黑料社.

Teams are not allowed to split to add additional teams to an event after the July 1st cutoff. Deliberate misrepresentation of a team registered for the Regular Season in order to influence Regular Season rankings will be considered a roster violation and may be subject to ramifications as outlined in the section titled 鈥淰iolations and Sanctions.鈥� In addition to those sanctions, if such deliberate misrepresentation of a team is discovered, 黑料社 reserves the right to assign a game result to whichever team it deems appropriate.

V. Postseason (Championship Series)

  1. Series Progression and Timeline
    1. Sectionals – September 6-7 (Rain Dates September 13-14)
    2. Regionals – September 20-21 (Rain Dates September 27-28)
    3. Nationals – Date: October 23-25, 2025
      1. Location: Surf Cup Sports Park, Del Mar, CA
      2. Nationals Finals Order – Women’s, Mens, Mixed
    4. Series Registration Deadline – August 22, 2024 at 5:00 pm MDT
    5. Final Postseason Roster, including teams with byes to Regionals – September 3, 2024 at 5:00 pm MDT (note: There is a single Event Roster for the Series)
    6. Seeding Draw For Nationals – No later than October 10, 2024.
  2. Team Registration

    In order to participate in the Postseason, teams must be created via the online rostering system or rolled over from a previous year (to roll a team over from 2024 or earlier you may have to roll it over multiple times) and registered for their appropriate Postseason event with a valid Event Roster (10-player minimum) by Friday, August 22 at 5pm MDT. This date is the same for all teams regardless of flight or byes to Regionals.

    There is ONE Postseason Roster that is rolled over from Sectionals to Regionals to Nationals depending on team qualification. You CANNOT add players to your Regionals or Nationals event roster after the Postseason Event Roster Deadline (September 3, 2025). This deadline is the same for all teams, including teams advancing directly to Regionals.

    Select and Classic Flight teams must register for their appropriate sectional event.

    Pro and Elite Flight teams that have met their respective requirements to earn a bye to Regionals and intend to advance directly to Regionals must accept their invitation to their regional event by August 22, 2025 (by 5pm MDT/7pm EDT). Otherwise they should contact their National Division Director to decline their bye and register for their appropriate sectional event by the August 22 5pm MDT deadline.

    If your sectional event has a player fee and your team has players that will not be attending, but do plan to attend Regionals upon qualification, please discuss with the Tournament Director to ensure accurate charges. ALL players must be on the Postseason Roster before Sectionals.

    All teams should contact their Sectional or Regional Coordinator before the Team Registration Deadline to confirm their participation in Sectionals. Coordinator contact info can be found on the 黑料社 website.

    For the purposes of event logistics, tournament directors may work with 黑料社 coordinators to impose a deadline by which teams must decide whether they will attend the tournament. In addition, an initial deposit is due by the end of the business day on the Monday following the initial roster deadline (August 25th in 2025). Tournament Directors may keep deposit fees from teams that pull out of the tournament Extensions to the deadline may be granted at the sole discretion of the tournament director and sectional coordinator.

    Using the links below, Team Managers can create their team in the online rostering system, register their team for the series, add players to the team’s personnel (AKA Season roster) and create a Postseason event roster:

  3. Roster Additions
    1. After the August 22 team registration deadline, teams can make roster adjustments until the Final event roster deadline for the Postseason (Wednesday, September 3 at 5pm MDT/7pm EDT). Teams must maintain a minimum of 10 players on their event roster and can have a maximum of 26 players on their event roster.
    2. After the Final Postseason Roster Deadline on September 3, teams may not add anyone to the Postseason roster. All players who may compete with you at sectionals, regionals or nationals must be on your Final Postseason Roster by September 4.
    3. If a player will not be attending sectionals but would play with your team for regionals or nationals if your team earns an invitation, they MUST be on your series roster by the deadline prior to sectionals.
    4. Any questions regarding roster additions should be sent to the appropriate National Director
    5. Between the roster deadline and Friday, September 5th team organizers may request an exception from the appropriate National Director to the roster deadline. Exceptions will be considered on a case by case basis and will be granted at the sole discretion of the National Director. All requests will be charged a $50 fine.
  4. Bid Allocations
    1. Sectionals to Regionals
      All Select and Classic Flight teams, including any new teams, must start the Postseason at Sectionals. All Pro and Elite teams that meet participation requirements (one required mTCT event and one optional mTCT in Men’s and Mixed, one required mTCT event in Women’s) during the Regular Season will not be required to play at sectionals. Teams participating in Sectionals must have met all team and player requirements, including having all players with a current membership and signed waiver. There is no additional qualifying process for Sectionals.
      1. 黑料社 reserves the right, based on the number of teams registered in a section, to combine sections or require teams to migrate to another section.
      2. MEN’S AND MIXED DIVISIONS – The number of bids to Regionals will be set based on the number of teams registered in the region (see below). Regional bids will be allocated to sections using a combination of automatic and strength bids. Initial Sectional bid allocations to Regionals will be announced following the conclusion of the Regular Season and announced by Friday, August 29, 2025. Any changes (teams dropping, rankings issues) may impact bid allocations until the Final Bid Allocation on Tuesday, September 2.
      3. Regional Scaling
        Size of Regionals Number of Registered Teams
        8 Teams 16 or fewer teams
        10 Teams 17-20 teams
        12 Teams 21-24 teams
        16 Teams 25 or more teams

        WOMEN’S DIVISION
        In an effort to provide more valuable playing opportunities for women’s division teams, for the women’s division in regions with up to 16 teams, all teams will be invited to the regional tournament. For regions with more than 16 teams, 16 teams will be invited.

      4. Regional Bid Allocation Process (Men’s and Mixed Divisions)
        1. Pro and Elite bids – The number of bids available to Regionals per the bid process below will be reduced by the number of Pro and Elite teams receiving a bye to Regionals. For example, in a 12-team regional championship event that includes two Pro or Elite teams using a bye to regionals, there will be 10 bids remaining for distribution to the sections in that region.
        2. Auto bids – The number of auto bids per region is equal to 50% of the total bids available after regional scaling and byes are awarded. If there are an odd number of bids, there will be one more auto bid than strength bids. All sections with at least one team registered for the Postseason will receive at least one auto bid to Regionals. Regional auto bids will be awarded first to the section with the greatest team count based on the Team Registration Deadline. The next bid will be awarded to the section with the second highest team count and so on until all auto bids have been awarded.
        3. Strength bids – The number of strength bids per section is equal to 50% of the total bids available after regional scaling. If there are an odd number of bids, there will be one more auto bid than strength bids.
          1. Team Strength Bids – Team Strength bids to Regionals will be awarded to the section with the 鈥渘ext鈥� highest ranked team that is participating in the postseason, based on regular season rankings for results through Sunday, August 27, where 鈥渘ext鈥� describes one more bid than the section has already been awarded up to that point. (For example: a section with four bids and a section with two bids will compare their fifth and third ranked teams, respectively, for a Team Strength Bid).
          2. Sections may earn more than one Team Strength Bid. All strength bids will be awarded as Team Strength Bids unless the region does not have enough ranked teams.
          3. Sectional Strength Bids – If all ranked teams have been assigned Strength Bids and there are still additional bids to be assigned, average power rating of the ranked teams who are participating in the Postseason will be considered.
        4. Wait List Bids – If, after all Sectionals have been completed, a team turns down its bid to Regionals, the bid will be offered to another team from the region as follows:

          The next highest finishing, non-qualifying team from each section will be compared to one another. The team with the highest final regular season ranking will be awarded the next bid. This process will be repeated until all bids have been awarded. For further clarification, see the below scenarios:
          If… Then…
          The next highest finishing, non- qualifying team in a section is an unranked team That team will take on the ranking of the next highest finishing ranked team below it.
          There are no ranked teams left in a section, Wait list bids will be awarded to teams from other sections.
          Bids are still available and there are only unranked teams in the region Bids will be awarded in order of average section strength (highest to lowest average power rating using Final Regular Season Power Ratings) until all bids have been awarded.
          A team drops out less than one week prior to the tournament The Regional Coordinator may accelerate the above process by shortening response times and immediately contacting all potential replacement teams.
          The vacant bid has not been filled five days prior to the tournament The Regional Coordinator may award the bid or reduce the size of regionals at his/her discretion with the approval of the division’s National Director.
    2. Regionals to Nationals
      1. 16 bids will be available in each of the men’s, mixed and women’s divisions. Bids will be allocated to regions as outlined below using a combination of automatic and strength bids.
      2. Auto Bids – Each region will receive one automatic bid.
      3. Strength Bids – After auto bids have been awarded, remaining bids will be based on the ranking of teams in each region in the final Regular Season Rankings (September 3, 2025), as outlined below:
      4. Team Strength – All Strength Bids will be awarded to regions with the 鈥渘ext鈥� highest ranked team that is participating in the postseason, where 鈥渘ext鈥� describes one more bid than the region has already been awarded up to that point.
        1. A region with two bids and a region with three bids will compare their third and fourth ranked teams, respectively, for a Team Strength Bid.
        2. A region may earn multiple Team Strength Bids
  5. Hosting a Sectional or Regional Event
    1. Bids to host Regionals are due to respective Coordinators by March 31, with dates and locations announced by May 30. Check the 黑料社 website for dates and locations. Contact your Sectional or Regional Coordinator for additional information. To host a Regional event please make a copy and fill out .
    2. Bids to host Sectionals are due to respective Coordinators by May 31, with dates and locations announced by June 30. Check the 黑料社 website for dates and locations. Contact your Sectional or Regional Coordinator for additional information. To host a Sectional event please make a copy and fill out .
    3. To host a Sectional or Regional event please make a copy and fill out .
    4. Due to the variety of field reservation policies across the country, bids may be accepted on a rolling basis. If you intend to bid for Sectionals or Regionals, please notify your appropriate Sectional Coordinator or Regional Coordinator as soon as possible to ensure your bid is considered.
    5. Note: From time to time location announcements for Regional or Sectional events may be delayed if a sufficient bid to host has not been received.
    6. The 黑料社 National Championships will be held October 23-25, 20252024 at the Surf Cup Sports Park in San Diego, California.
  6. Formats
    1. Sectionals and Regionals – Formats will be determined by coordinators using 黑料社 guidelines in the 黑料社 Formats Manual, with updates provided by the Formats Working Group in alignment with guidance from the Medical Working Group. Any variations must be approved through the National Division Director. Contact your Sectional or Regional Coordinatorfor information.
    2. Nationals – Formats will be determined and announced by 黑料社, and will be based on competitive, promotional, and logistical considerations. Additional changes may be made if determined by 黑料社 to be necessary to meet goals for the event.
  7. Seeding
    1. Seeding for Sectionals and Regionals will be done by the appropriate coordinator using the following information: results prior to the postseason (e.g., head to head, common opponents, etc.) with an emphasis on official regular season rankings. Regular season results, input solicited from all the captains of participating teams, results of the prior year’s season, and other applicable information may also be considered.
    2. Regionals will additionally be held to the following guideline: no team that finishes ahead of another team at sectionals may be seeded behind that team at regionals.
    3. The Nationals Championships will be draw based. Postseason rankings will be published after regionals (October 1, 2025). The teams in each division will be divided into four pots of four. All pots will be determined by each team’s Post Regional Rankings, with Pot 1 containing the highest-ranked teams who qualified for Nationals (1-4), Pot 2 containing the next highest-ranked teams who qualified for nationals (5-8), and so on until Pot 4, containing the lowest ranked teams(13-16). The top seeds will be seeded first in Pools A 鈥� D based on their post-Regional Ranking. The remaining spots in each pool will be filled with one team from each pot drawn randomly. Three teams from the same region cannot fall into the same pool.
    4. Seeding for any postseason event must be approved by the next coordinator in the chain of command. If the 黑料社 coordinators for the event and their immediate supervisor are affiliated with the same team (player, coach, alum, etc.) seeding must be approved by the next highest unaffiliated 黑料社 coordinator or staff.

W. Violations and Sanctions

Failure to abide by any of the Triple Crown Tour guidelines may result in sanctions through the 黑料社 conduct process. Such sanctions may be imposed on a team or individuals associated with a team deemed to be in violation of the guidelines and may include, but are not limited to, suspension or disqualification from 黑料社 competition.

Disqualification may include not only elimination of the team from the current season, but also limitations on participation of players during the remainder of the current season, and limitation on participation of the team (and its players) in subsequent seasons.

In order to help teams follow Triple Crown Tour guidelines and avoid violations, 黑料社 will continue to work to improve registration procedures and communication of information pertaining to the 黑料社 Triple Cr