Just click on the expandable sections below.

A. BOD: NCASA Board of Directors.

B. By-laws: NCASA By-Laws.

C. Coach: One individual who is not a student (e.g.: a teacher, assistant principal, etc.) may serve as a Coach to train and supervise the Players.

D. Competition: An event in which schools compete against one another to determine the schools with the best performing Teams.

E. Enrollment: The number of students in grades 6-8 for middle school or 9-12 for high school according to the tenth day enrollment figures.

F. Enrollment Classification: Schools with enrollments in a common range as determined by the BOD.

G. Executive Director: NCASA Executive Director.

H. NCASA: The North Carolina Association for Scholastic Activities.

I. NCASA Competition: An interscholastic Competition whose results count toward the Scholastic Cup rankings conducted by NCASA.

J. NCASA Competition Rules: This document.

K. Member School: Any school that has been granted membership in NCASA.

L. Non-Member School: Any school that has not been granted membership in NCASA.

M. Partner: An organization that conducts a Partner Competition.

N. Partner Competition: An interscholastic Competition whose results count toward the Scholastic Cup rankings that is conducted by an affiliated organization rather than the NCASA.

O. Player: A student from a Member School who is a member of a Team. Region: A geographic section of the state as determined by NCASA Competition purposes.

P. Regional Competition: A contest among schools in the same Region used to determine qualifying Teams for a State Tournament.

Q. Scholastic Cup: An annual award given to the Member School in each Enrollment Classification that receives the most Scholastic Cup Points in the current school year.

R. Scholastic Cup Points: Points awarded to Member Schools for their participation and performance at NCASA and Partner Competitions.

S. State Final: A contest among qualified Teams from Regional Competitions.

T. Team: A group of Players from a single Member School that represents a Member School in Competitions.

A. A school that meets one of the following qualifications may become a NCASA Member School for the membership year of July 1 to June 30 if the Enrollment of that school meets or exceeds four students:

1. Accreditation by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

2. Accreditation by an appropriate state or regional independent school authority.

3. A group of home schools in which member home schools are recognized by the State of North Carolina Department of Administration Division of NonPublic Education.

B. Eligibility to participate in NCASA activities as an NCASA Member School is subject to the decision of the BOD.

C. A Member School may renew its membership by paying the annual membership fee before the published deadline of the current year.

D. If a Member School fails to pay the annual membership fee before the published deadline, its membership will be suspended.

1. Eligibility to participate in activities after this time is subject to decision of the BOD.

2. If the Member School fails to pay its dues before December 1, that school’s membership for the current year is terminated

   • To be considered for membership, that school may apply for new membership as a Non-Member School and pay an application fee.

E. Combined Schools - Small schools on the same campus as a larger school may combine for the purpose of participating in scholastic competitions.

1. Any school(s) with 100 or fewer students on the same campus as a larger school may form a single school.

2. The principals of these schools must notify NCASA prior to their registration.

3. These schools will pay a single membership fee based on the combined enrollment of both schools.

A. A school seeking membership in NCASA shall submit its application to NCASA.

B. The BOD shall review the application to determine eligibility.

C. The NCASA shall enroll the school as a Member School if the application:

1. demonstrates that the school meets the Qualifications For Membership,

2. states that the school and its Principal comply and will comply with applicable law, NCASA Competition Rules, and NCASA By-Laws

3. is signed by the Principal, Head of School, or other designated group leader for home-school groups, and

4. is accompanied by payment of the annual membership fee.

D. School districts registering all schools need not include schools who exclusively serve special needs students or schools with fewer than 50 students unless these schools plan to participate in NCASA competitions.

A. General Eligibility

1. Unless a school’s right to participate has been suspended or revoked by NCASA, a school that is a member of NCASA in good standing is eligible to participate in NCASA Competition.

2. Eligibility to participate in activities is subject to decision of the BOD.

B. Suspensions

1. A Member School which files a lawsuit which must be defended by NCASA shall reimburse NCASA for all legal fees incurred to defend the suit upon finding by the Court that the lawsuit is frivolous.

2. The BOD shall suspend from participation in all NCASA activities, for a period of one to three years, a Member School which, after receiving written notice, fails to reimburse NCASA within 90 days for all legal expenses incurred in defending a frivolous lawsuit.

A. Member Schools will pay annual membership dues in an amount determined by the BOD.

B. The annual membership dues may be changed by the BOD with appropriate notice given before the release of membership applications for a given year.

C. School districts that register all secondary schools receive a 50% discount off the total registration fee.

D. Charter and independent schools that register both middle school and high school receive a 50% discount off the total registration fee.

A. Each spring the BOD shall establish classifications for Competitions and assign Member Schools to an appropriate Enrollment Classification effective the following school year.

B. The number of enrollment classifications shall be determined by the BOD each spring or summer and be made effective the following school year.

C. Each enrollment classification shall have the same number of Member Schools.

1. The BOD may, at their discretion, transfer schools to another Enrollment Classification using Enrollment or other applicable factors.

2. To reverse any transfer decision, a two-thirds majority vote at the Annual Meeting of the BOD is necessary. This reversal shall be considered effective immediately

D. All statewide magnet schools will be placed in the largest enrollment division regardless of their actual school enrollment.

E. NCASA shall promptly notify each Member School of its Enrollment Classification.

F. NCASA shall make available a list of the all Member Schools and their Classifications.

A. An individual is eligible to participate in a NCASA Competition as a representative of a Member School if that individual:

• ot a high school graduate,

• is a full time student in the Member School the student represents,

• has been in regular attendance at the participant school since the tenth day of class of the present school year, OR has been enrolled and in regular attendance for fifteen (15) or more calendar days before the Competition,

• has a signed NCASA release form on file, and

• was not recruited, including

  • encouraging a student in any way to change schools for the primary purpose participating in NCASA activities or

  • offering to the student or the student’s family, including

    • cash,

    • waiver of tuition,

    • board,

    • lodging,

    • transportation,

    • promise of better conditions at the Member School,

    • promise of better conditions on a Member School Team,

    • a job, or

    • tangible or intangible property or services.

B. A student shall not represent more than one school in an activity in the same school year.

C. Students competing in a middle school competition must currently be in the sixth, seventh, or eighth grade.

D. Students competing in a high school competition must currently be in the ninth, tenth, eleventh, or twelfth grade.

A. Conduct at Events: The Board of Directors has the power to penalize the school and its officials, the coach, and the individual students in the case of poor sportsmanship or inappropriate school behavior. The penalty is to be decided according to the seriousness of the incidents involved.

B. When a situation develops which indicates negligence on the part of school personnel to provide conditions which meet minimum standards for the conduct of a scholastic event, or when there is evidence of poor sportsmanship or inappropriate school behavior, the superintendent and principal of each school involved shall be expected to take necessary action to investigate and take necessary corrective action. When the school or schools involved fail to take adequate action, the Association will investigate the situation and take the action it deems appropriate. NCASA will review all reports of negligence or poor sportsmanship and will recommend additional penalty to the State Superintendent when such penalty is deemed necessary.

A. Each school shall have on file a signed NCASA release form for each participating student. The release form is round on the general NCASA Rules page of our website.

A. All schools wishing to participate in a competition must register on the NCASA website.

B. Opening and closing registration dates will be shown on the NCASA website calendar. Teams failing to register before the closing date may be required to pay a late fee and/or may not be permitted to participate in the competition.

C. Withdrawal. Teams choosing to withdraw from a competition after registering may be required to pay a withdrawal fee. Details can be found within the rules of each competition.

A. Awarding the Annual Cups

1. A Cup trophy shall be awarded to the Member high school and middle school in each Enrollment Classification with the most Cup Points accrued from the NCASA or Partner Competitions.

2. Each Cup trophy shall be awarded to the winning Member high school and middle school in each Enrollment Classification during the NCASA Annual Meeting in May of each year.

3. If more than one Member high school or middle school in an Enrollment Classification tie by accruing the most points, all Member schools that tie for the most points in the Enrollment Classification shall be awarded their own Cup trophy.

B. Scholastic Cup and Middle School Cup Points

1. Scholastic Cup and Middle School Cup Points are awarded to Member Schools that participate in any NCASA or Partner Competition.

2. Cup Points shall be awarded to Member Schools by NCASA as follows:

• Each Member School that enters a Team in an NCASA or Partner Competition shall be awarded five (5) Cup Points.

• The Teams with the highest scores at NCASA or Partner Competition State Tournaments shall be awarded Cup Points as follows:

  • First Place: 50 points

  • Second Place: 45 points

  • Third Place: 40 points

  • Fourth Place: 35 points

  • Fifth Place: 30 points

  • Sixth Place: 25 points

  • Seventh Place: 20 points

  • Eighth Place: 15 points

  • Ninth Place: 10 points

  • Tenth Place: 5 points

• The Cup Points awarded to the ten highest-scoring Teams at an NCASA or Partner Competition State Tournament shall be referred to as Top Ten Points.

• Unless otherwise noted, a Team must participate in a State Level Competition to be eligible to receive Top Ten Points.

• Exceptions:

  • NC Economics Challenge. Due to the nature of the preexisting structure of this Partner Competition, Teams are not required to advance to the State Tournament to receive Top Ten Points.

  • Competitions which have multiple events without awarding a single overall winner (i.e. Odyssey of the Mind, NC Economics Challenge, NC Chess Association) will be awarded Scholastic Cup Points as follows:

    • Each event within a Competition will be worth a fraction of the overall Top Ten Points according to the number of events.

      • An example of a Competition with 5 events would be awarded as follows:

        • First Place in each event: 10 Points

        • Second Place in each event: 9 points

        • Third Place in each event: 8 points

        • Fourth Place in each event: 7 points

        • Fifth Place in each event: 6 points

        • Sixth Place in each event: 5 points

        • Seventh Place in each event: 4 points

        • Eighth Place in each event: 3 points

        • Ninth Place in each event: 2 points

        • Tenth Place in each event: 1 point

    • Schools may enter teams in multiple events within a Competition to attempt to earn Top Ten Points in multiple events.

    • A school need only participate in one event to earn five participation points, the maximum allowed for that competition.

• In Partner Competitions, Non-Member Schools shall be removed from the standings for the purpose of awarding Top Ten Points.

• In all competitions, schools will be ranked only against other schools in their enrollment classification for the purpose of awarding Top Ten Points.

• If a Member School is permitted to enter more than one Team in a Competition, only the top scoring Team will be considered when awarding Top Ten Points.

  • Any additional Teams from that same Member School will be removed from the standings for the purposes of awarding Top Ten Points.

• In the event of a tie when awarding Top Ten Points, the Member Schools that tie will receive an equal number of points based on the number of Teams which finish higher in the standings.

  • An example with two sets of ties (e.g.: Third and Sixth Place) would be awarded as follows:

    • First Place: 50 points

    • Second Place: 45 points

    • Third Place Tie: 40 points each

    • Fifth Place: 30 points

    • Sixth Place Tie: 25 points each

    • Eighth Place: 15 points

    • g. Ninth Place: 10 points

    • h. Tenth Place: 5 points

• If a Team from a Member School is found to be in violation of NCASA Competition Rules before the Cup has been awarded, that Member School shall be ineligible to receive the Cup for that school year.

• If a Team from a Member School is found to be in violation of NCASA Competition Rules after the Member School has been awarded the Scholastic Cup, the Member School must relinquish the Cup to the Member School that received the next highest point total in the original standings.

• Competitions that have multiple divisions without awarding a single winner (like CyberPatriot) will have ties declared for all teams in identical positions. For example, first place teams will finish tied for first. Second place teams will finish tied for third, and so on.

C. Unity School Cup

1. Independent and Charter Schools which include all or portions of grades 6-8 and 9-12 are eligible for the Unity School Cup.

2. Points earned towards the Middle School Cup and Scholastic Cup are combined to determine the Unity School Cup points.

3. Both the middle school and high school portions of the school must participate in at least one NCASA or partner competition to be eligible for the Unity School Cup.

D. School System Cup

1. All LEA’s in which half or more of the schools which include grades 6-8 and 9-12 are NCASA members and participate in one or more NCASA or partner competitions are eligible to win the School System Cup.

2. Three School System Cups will be awarded. One each for Small, Medium, and Large School Systems.

3. Small School Systems

   • Defined as school systems which contain five or fewer schools which include grades 6-12.

   • Points from the highest scoring middle school and high school are combined to determine the school system point total.

   • Half or more with a minimum of two schools must participate in NCASA or partner competitions to be eligible to win.

4. Medium School Systems

• Defined as school systems which contain six to fifteen schools which include grades 6-12.

• Points from the four highest scoring schools are combined to determine the school system point total.

• At least one of these four schools must be a middle school, and at least one must be a high school.

• Half or more schools must participate in NCASA or partner competitions to be eligible to win.

5. Large School Systems

• Defined as school systems which contain sixteen or more schools which include grades 6-12.

• Points from the eight highest scoring schools are combined to determine the school system point total.

• At least two of these eight schools must be middle schools, and at least two must be high schools.

• Half or more schools must participate in NCASA or partner competitions to be eligible to win.

A. Appeals concerning procedures or other matters not related to questions and answers should be made by coaches to the tournament director. Students, parents, and other spectators should share concerns with their coach who may then approach the tournament director. Students, parents, and spectators may not approach the tournament director or staff with concerns or appeals.

B. The tournament director shall review the merits of the appeal, consult with relevant people, and respond to the appeal.

C. All decisions of the tournament director are final.

D. The Tournament Director may dismiss anyone from the site who becomes disruptive. People dismissed from a site must leave the entire site campus and may not return that day. Students younger than 18 years of age dismissed from a site must be accompanied by an adult. Further sanctions against those dismissed may be levied by NCASA.

A. NCASA Competition Rules are subject to change year to year per the discretion of the BOD.

B. All relevant coaches will be notified via email of any rule changes made following the school enrollment deadline.

[Version 6/30/2025]