Tennessee Senior Olympics

Rule Changes/Clarifications

2009

Qualifying for State Finals

The Tennessee Senior Olympics Board of Directors recently voted to make qualification for the state finals simpler.  Any athlete who PARTICIPATES at a district may advance to state finals in the exact sport/event in which he/she participated.  The old rule required coming in 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, or 4^th place in respective age groups. 

Team Sports

Team rosters and entry forms must be submitted on time.  In 2008, approximately 200 entry forms for team players came in after the final deadline date. 

The Board of Directors realizes that some teams may be in jeopardy of forfeiting without enough players if injuries do arise (even after the final deadline date).  If a roster contains the minimum number of players to take the floor/field PLUS one , and the team wishes to add additional players to avoid a forfeit this may be done with the appropriate entry fee.   However, after the final deadline date, there will be an additional $100 fee per player (plus entry fee), to add players to the roster of a team that exceeds the minimum to take the floor/field plus one. 

Absolutely NO new players regardless of circumstances may be added 10 days prior to the start of the Games.

Tennis

The USTA sanctioned portion of the tennis tournament has been dropped.   All tennis players will compete together in singles, doubles, and mixed. 

Tennis is now a closed sport at the state finals.  Athletes must participate in tennis at the district level to qualify for state.

Racquetball

Racquetball mixed doubles has been added to the slate of events.

The following rules are still in effect:

Home District

Athletes are encouraged to participate in their home district.  Home districts are defined by the county of residence.   For a list of counties and district assignments check www.tnseniorolympics.com.  District assignments for out of state residents no further than 30 miles from the Tennessee border are defined by those Tennessee counties closest to the athlete’s city.

 If it is not possible to participate in one’s home district, athletes may choose to compete in another district.  

The following rules apply to district participation:

All individual sports must be completed in one district.  Play may not be spread out over multiple districts.   Example:  athlete may not compete in Greater Nashville and South Central in individual sports.

However, team players may compete in team sports (3 x3 basketball, softball, and volleyball) at any district.  Multiple districts may be included.  Example:  an athlete completes individual sports in Upper Cumberland but participates in basketball in East TN and volleyball in Southeast.

Out-of-District Limits for Team Sports

There are limits to the number of out-of-district players who can play on basketball, volleyball, and softball teams.   They are as follows:  basketball (1); softball (4) and volleyball (3).  Home districts are defined by the county of residence.   For a list of counties and district assignments check www.tnseniorolympics.com.  District assignments for out of state residents no further than 30 miles from the Tennessee border are defined by those Tennessee counties closest to the athlete’s city.  Hardships will be considered by a special committee (for example a 75+ team cannot find enough players within a district to make a team).  If you feel that your team has a special circumstance that should be considered you may write tnseniorolympics@comcast.net with more details.

Professional Athletes

Professional athletes shall not be eligible to compete in the Tennessee Senior Olympics in the sport in which they are a professional until 20 years after the date they last competed as a professional. They may compete in other sports in which they have not competed professionally.

A professional is someone who competes in a sport for money as a primary source of personal revenue. People who compete in a sport in which minor amounts of money are given as prizes are not deemed professionals. Individuals whose primary activity is teaching a sport but who occasionally play  for a minor amount of money are also not deemed professionals.