Draft — not yet approved
The sections marked settled restate the rule published in the competitor packet. The sections
marked needs a decision are cases the packet has never addressed. This page should not go live
until the tournament director has ruled on them.
Entry fees are non-refundable
All applications and fees are non-refundable. Once your registration is accepted, your entry fee is
not returned — including if you withdraw, change your mind, are injured before the event, or do
not attend on the day.
This applies to athlete entry fees, fees for additional divisions, and coach pass fees alike.
This restates the rule in the 2025 competitor packet, which states in three places that
all applications and fees are non-refundable — including within the liability waiver every
competitor accepts.
Your division may change
All divisions are subject to change. If fewer than four athletes enter a weight division, the
organizing committee may combine weight divisions so the division can still run.
Being moved into a combined division is not grounds for a refund — your entry still competes.
The packet states both that all divisions are subject to change, and that the
organizing committee may combine weight divisions with fewer than four athletes.
Missing weight is not refundable
World Class black belt competitors who do not make weight on their second attempt are moved up or down
to the next weight division. Competitors in divisions with no weigh-in who cannot make the weight they
registered for will be disqualified rather than moved, and no fee is returned.
From the packet's sparring rules. Enter your weight honestly — deliberately
falsifying it also risks disqualification.
If the festival cannot run — needs a decision
The competitor packet has never addressed this. It says fees are non-refundable, but is silent on what
happens if the tournament itself does not take place — severe weather, a venue closure, or an
emergency.
This is the single most important gap. A blanket “no refunds” that keeps entry fees when
the event does not happen is the case most likely to be disputed with a card issuer, and the hardest to
defend.
For the tournament director to decide
If the festival is cancelled outright by the organizer, are entry fees refunded in full,
refunded minus processing costs, or held as credit toward the following year?
If it is postponed to a new date, do entries carry over automatically? Can someone who
cannot make the new date get a refund?
If the day is cut short after competition begins — and some divisions have run while
others have not — what happens to the entries that never competed?
If a division does not run at all — needs a decision
The packet allows the committee to combine thin weight divisions, but does not say what happens if a
division cannot run even after combining — for example, a single entrant with nobody to face.
For the tournament director to decide
If an athlete paid for an additional division at $20 and that division never runs, is the $20
returned?
If none of an athlete's divisions run, is the base entry fee returned?
May they move into another division instead, at no extra cost?
Changes and transfers — needs a decision
The packet says nothing about changing an entry after it is submitted. In practice people will ask, and
without an answer the registration desk improvises — which is worse than a firm rule.
For the tournament director to decide
Can a competitor switch divisions after registering — before the deadline, or on the day?
Can an entry be transferred to another athlete from the same school if the original cannot compete?
Can divisions be added after registering, paying the $20 for each?
