Side note: This article is geared toward juniors who are wanting to start competing competitively in the United States. This is not recommended for athletes who want to compete recreationally as Sanctioned Tournaments are highly competitive.

Starting to compete in Junior Tournaments can be intimidating but also very exciting! Before you decide to compete, we do have some recommendations and ‘need to knows’ to make sure one gets the best experience and also to not feel too overwhelmed when starting.

Things to know:
1. USAB stands for USA Badminton. USA Badminton is the National governing body for badminton and is directly linked to the US Olympic Committee.

2. Sanction tournaments mean the tournament is sanctioned by USAB and will have a ranking attached the tournament. How an athlete does at a tournament will give specific ranking points which will affect one’s ranking and seeding in future tournaments.

3. Types of Tournaments:
A. National Championships: Open to all athletes in any region. Worth 100% for ranking points
B. Open Regional Championships (ORC): Open to all athletes in any region. Worth 40% of points of National Championships
C. Open Local Championships (OLC): Open to all athletes in any region. Worth 10% of points of National Championships
D. Closed Regional Championships (CRC): Only open to athletes in the region. Worth 10% of points of National Championships

4. Who Can Play?
U.S. citizens living in the U.S. and outside the U.S
• Non-U.S. Citizens
o U.S. Permanent Residents (Green Card holders) living in the U.S.
o Non-U.S. Permanent Residents with long term U.S. visas (living and/or studying in U.S.)
• All participants should have their Birth Certificate or Passport copy and a current passport sized photo uploaded to
https://www.dropbox.com/request/rbX8saDQ94glJAdONThx or sent to Trenton.Szeto@usabadminton.org for age
verification. Please upload your photo to your Club Locker account.
• Non- U.S. Citizens who are living in the U.S. are responsible for uploading to
https://www.dropbox.com/request/rbX8saDQ94glJAdONThx or emailing to Trenton.Szeto@usabadminton.org a copy of their
current U.S. Permanent Resident Card (Green Card) and/or long-term U.S. visa (more than 1 year) to show that they are legally
residing in the U.S.

*Some tournaments will be citizens only like the Junior International Trials. This is because Pan Am Badminton requires athletes competing to be citizens of the country they are representing.

5. Age categories
U19: Under 19 of age throughout this calendar year
U17: Under 17 of age throughout this calendar year.
U15: Under 15 of age throughout this calendar year.
U13: Under 13 of age throughout this calendar year.
U11: Under 11 of age throughout this calendar year.

6. Who Should Play?
We recommend students in the Intermediate level to start competing in U11 and U13. If a student is U15, U17, or U19, we recommend starting to compete when they reach the Advanced level.
We do not recommend students to start competing in an ORC tournament as this is one of the highest level tournaments in the nation.

 

How To Start

Step 1: Club Locker/USAB Membership
a) Go to https://usabadminton.clublocker.com/ and click on “Create free account” (the text may be hard to see against the website background).

b) Enter your information and sign up.

c) Log in and click “Buy Membership”.

d) Once your payment is submitted, go to “My Profile” in the top right corner, click on “Affiliations in the navigation bar, and select USA Badminton as the main affiliation.

The new system will use a yearly subscription for USA Badminton membership to make renewal easy and convenient. Additionally, USA Badminton will hold tournament sign-ups, certification processes, and rankings directly on the membership management system. An individual may only have one USAB membership. See the bottom of the page for more detailed instructions and policies.

Step 2: Safesport Certified (Optional by USAB but highly recommended by Bellevue Badminton Club)

For those who needed to create a new account on Club Locker, please use the following link to affiliate with USA Badminton and gain access to the FREE courses – https://safesporttrained.org/?KeyName=NGBUSAB-5ttlX9
(the page may take some time to redirect to your new account)

DO NOT create a new account directly through the SafeSportTrained website without the key name attached as you will not be put in the system under USA Badminton and will be directed to pay for your courses.

Step 3: (18 & Older) Background check & SafeSport Certified (Mandatory)

For SafeSport certification, please follow “Step 3”.

NCSI Background Checks
NCSI background checks will be done directly through the NCSI website.

To complete your background check, please go to the NCSI website at this link – https://usabadminton.quickapp.pro/positions.

Step 4: Tournament Software Account

a) Go to https://tournamentsoftware.com and click “Login”. Click “Sign Up” and follow the instructions to sign up.

To set up your account, you will need your USAB Membership #. If TournamentSoftware asks for your Club code, please type BEL for Bellevue Badminton Club.

Step 5: Signing Up For Tournaments

Go to: https://usabadminton.org/athletes/juniors/junior-tournament-schedule/ to view the tournament schedule.

Click on Tournament Prospectus for the tournament information. This is where you will find the registration deadline, dates, hotel information, venue information, and all necessary information regarding the tournament.

Then go to Tournament Software (link should be provided on the Prospectus). If not, search the tournament and click “Register”.

For paying for your tournament entry, you will need to pay through PayPal. All entries must be paid for before the registration deadline for one’s entry to be valid.