Sanctioning Policies

We are committed to operating in a fully transparent manner. In support of that committment we will publish all current NASSPDA policies for public review. The date that appears after a given policy item is the date that policy was adopted by the Board. Comments and/or questions should be directed to: info@nasspda.org

Current NASSPDA Competition / Event Sanctioning Policies

The Board of NASSPDA is creating a structure for sanctioning competitions and authorizing championship titles that are determined to be consistent with the mission of NASSPDA. These policies are not yet complete, but all items listed below have been agreed upon by the Board as of the date shown.

NASSPDA reserves the right to grant an exception to any policy. Such exceptions may only be granted by a majority vote of the Board of Directors of NASSPDA. [06/27/08]

  1. Requesting a Sanction:
    • NASSPDA is in the process of creating but has not yet completed the following:
      1. Procedures for requesting NASSPDA sanction for a competition. [04/18/08]
      2. Procedures for requesting NASSPDA authorization for state or regional championship titles, national championship titles, and North American championship titles. [04/18/08]
      3. Rules with which sanctioned competitions will be asked to comply. [04/18/08]
  2. Types of SANCTIONS:
    • NASSDPA offers two types of SANCTIONS as follows:
      1. One time: intended for a specific event which will occur once on a specific date, for example: The Millenium Ball, Dec. 30, 2999 to Jan. 1, 3000
        2.  [06/27/08]
      2. Recurring: intended for a specific event which will recur on an annual or bi-annual basis, for example: On the 4th Saturday of April each year, +/- two weeks.
        3.  [06/27/08]
  3. NASSPDA may SANCTION competitions as follows:
    1. In order to be sanctioned by NASSPDA, a same-sex partner dance competition must comply with all NASSPDA standards and rules existing at the time the sanction is approved. [04/18/08]
    2. A sanction is provided for a specific event, in a specific geographic region, and on a specific date or time frame. [06/27/08]
    3. NASSPDA may limit the number of sanctioned events in a given time period and/or geographic region to ensure that the calendar of same-sex competitions offers the community of dancers and competitors the opportunity to participate in as many events as possible. [06/27/08]
    4. NASSPDA will maintain a list of all sanctioned competitions on its website. [06/27/08]
  4. Required Information:
    • NASSPDA requires the following information in order to grant a sanction:
      1. Type of Sanction being requested (One-time or Recurring); [06/27/08]
      2. Name of the event; [06/27/08]
      3. Specific date of the (first) event, and if applicable, proposed date range; [06/27/08]
      4. City and State or Province in which the event will be held; [06/27/08]
      5. The following contact information for the person, group or organization requesting the Sanction:
        1. Name of person or persons in the group, or name of the organization; [06/27/08]
        2. Name of the contact person with whom NASSPDA will coordinate; [06/27/08]
        3. Contact email address; [06/27/08]
        4. Contact phone number; [06/27/08]
        5. Website address if available; [06/27/08]
        6. Physical address for official or legal correspondence; [06/27/08]
  5. Rules for sanctioned competitions:
    1. A sanctioned event must not offer any titles using the word "championship" unless such titles have been authorized or otherwise approved by NASSPDA. [04/18/08]
    2. Event organizers are required to be in good standing with the organization and agree to comply with all NASSPDA rules and regulations. [06/27/08]
    3. Any changes in date, location, name and/or person(s) resposible for the event should be reported to NASSPDA in a timely fashion and may result in the withdrawal of the sanction. [06/27/08]
    4. A sanction is not transferable to any other event or competition. [04/18/08]
    5. The granting of a sanction does not imply that NASSPDA has authorized any championship title(s) for that competition. Authorization of championship titles is a separate process. [04/18/08]
  6. NASSPDA may AUTHORIZE Championship Titles as follows:
    1. NASSPDA may, at its discretion, authorize State, Regional, National, and North American Championship titles. [06/27/08]
    2. Titles will only be authorized for Sanctioned events. [06/27/08]
    3. Authorized titles are not transferable to different events. [06/27/08]
    4. All titles authorized by NASSPDA are the property of NASSPDA and use of those titles is limited to the NASSPDA sanctioned events for which they have been authorized. [06/27/08]
    5. All authorized NASSPDA titles will contain the word "Championship". [06/27/08]
    6. Event organizers are free to offer other, non-authorized titles, provided they do not include the word "Championship" and are not advertised or treated as championship events by the organizers. [06/27/08]
    7. State and Regional titles may be authorized on a provisional or recurring basis at the discretion of NASSPDA as follows:
      1. Titles authorized on a provisional basis must be re-authorized before the next scheduled event at which they would be awarded (generally annually or bi-annually). [06/27/08]
      2. Titles authorized on a recurring basis will remain in effect indefinitely provided the sanctioned event with which they are associated continues to comply with all NASSPDA rules and regulations and continues to take place as scheduled. [06/27/08]
      3. Should the event at which an authorized title (provisional or recurring) take a hiatus, the organizers may request, and NASSPDA may choose to grant, a hold on that title for up to one cycle. If after one cycle the organizers choose not to, or can not continue to operate the event associated with that title, NASSPDA may at its discretion grant authorization for that title to a different event. [06/27/08]
    8. It is the intention of NASSPDA that the North American and all National titles move from one geographic region to another over time. This is to provide greater ease of access to all competitors, as well as to ensure that any event organizer with the capacity to run the North American or a National title event has the opportunity to do so from time to time. [06/27/08]
      1. The North American title and all National titles shall only be authorized on a one-time basis. [06/27/08]
      2. Any person, group or organization seeking to host the North American or any National title must have previously demonstrated their ability to run such an event by having successfully run a NASSPDA sanctioned event at least once. [06/27/08]
  7. NASSPDA Championship titles:
    1. NASSPDA will authorize championship titles only in the following dances:
      1. Men's and women's graded International Standard. [04/18/08]
      2. Men's and women's graded International Latin. [04/18/08]
      3. Men's and women's graded American Smooth. [04/18/08]
      4. Men's and women's graded American Rhythm. [04/18/08]
      5. Men's and women's Show Dance. [04/18/08]
      6. Men's and women's International 10-Dance. [04/18/08]
    2. NASSPDA may choose to authorize any or all of the above listed titles for a specific event. [06/27/08]
    3. NASSPDA will maintain a list of all authorized titles and the events at which they have been authorized on its website. [06/27/08]
    4. Should a particular title be authorized for an event, but not competed, no title should be awarded for that time period. [06/27/08]
    5. The event organizer is obligated to report to NASSPDA in a timely fashion which authorized titles were awarded and who won those titles. [06/27/08]
    6. NASSPDA will maintain a public list of the winners of all NASSDPA authorized titles on its website. [06/27/08]