This selection policy has been agreed upon by the USA Deaf Tennis (USADT) and the USA Deaf Sports Federation (USADSF). It provides details regarding the process by which USADT will arrive at athlete nominations. These nominations will be submitted to USADSF for consideration and for final selection to the USA Deaf Tennis Team for the Summer Deaflympics 2022 in Caxias do Sul, Brazil (hereinafter called the "Games").
1. SELECTION SYSTEM
1.1 Minimum eligibility requirements for athletes to be considered for selection to the Team:
1.1.1 Nationality/Passport requirements:
1.1.1.1 Athlete must be a national of the United States at the time of nomination.
1.1.1.2 Athlete must hold a valid U.S. passport that will not expire for six months after the conclusion of the Games and 6 months prior to the Games. Except for USA-hosted Games, the staff must possess a valid government-issuedntity card.
1.1.2 Have a hearing loss of at least 55db (3-tone frequency average at 500, 1000 and 2000 Hertz, ISO 1964 Standard) in the better unaided ear, as documented on a recent audiologist-certified audiogram. See audiogram regulations at http://www.deaflympics.com/pdf/AudiogramRegulations.pdf
1.1.3 Minimum International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) standards for participation:
1.1.3.1 Any competitor in the Summer Deaflympics 2022 must be a national of the country of the National Deaf Sports Federation (NDSF) which is entering such competitor.
1.1.3.2 For additional information regarding an athlete who is a national of two or more countries, has changed their nationality or acquired a new nationality, refer to the ICSD Regulations at http://deaflympics.com/icsd/icsd-athlete-nationality-policy
1.1.4 Minimum International Sports Federation - International Tennis Federation (ITF) - standards and/or ICSD Entry Standards for participation: See the entry standard at https://www.itftennis.com/en/about-us/governance/rules-and-regulations/
1.1.5 Commit to participation in mandatory training and competitions.
1.1.6 Complete the USA Deaf Sports Federation National Team application packet.
1.1.7 Can not participate as a team official - coach, trainer, medic, etc.
1.1.8 Other requirements: Provide a Covid-19 vaccination certificate to enter Brazil.
1.2 Tryout Events: There will be no tryout due to the responsibility of liability and due to COVID-19. See Section 1.3.1
1.3 Selection process for athletes to become National Team nominees:
1.3.1 Athletes will be selected based on verified performances and the selection committee's decision for any registered and verifiable USTA Open and Junior level tournament results, and college or high school competitive records, and National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP) rating. Then athletes will fill in the step-by-step questionnaire.
To obtain the questionnaire, contact Team Leader Howard Gorrell at howardgorrell@aol.com. Then submit it to him by January 31, 2022.
1.4 Selection Committee:
1.4.1 The USA Deaf Tennis Selection Committee is comprised of the following members: • Jack Wilson - Chair/Former Team Director
• Diane Spalding Osborne - Tennis Deaflympian (1977-89)
• Jeff Osborn - Tennis Deaflympian (1981-89)
• Rudy Kerr - Tennis Deaflympian (1977)
• Bobbi Maucere - Tennis Deaflympian (1961-73)
1.4.2 Any member of the selection committee that has a possible conflict of interest must disclose it. If such conflict exists, the selection committee member must recuse themselves from the committee discussions and voting. Further, the committee member shall not otherwise influence other members of the committee in the selection process.
2. REMOVAL OF ATHLETES
2.1 Prior to entry by name to USA Deaf Sports Federation, USA Deaf Tennis has jurisdiction over potential nominees.
2.1.1 Voluntary withdrawal. Athlete must submit a written letter to the USA Deaf Tennis Executive Director.
2.1.2 Injury or illness as certified by a physician (or medical staff) approved by USA Deaf Tennis. If an athlete refuses verification of their illness or injury by a physician (or medical staff) approved by USA Deaf Tennis, their injury will be assumed to be disabling and they may be removed.
2.1.3 Failure to participate in mandatory training and/or competitions.
2.1.4 Violation of USA Deaf Tennis Code of Conduct (See file).
2.1.5 If for any reason, USA Deaf Tennis believes that it may not be safe for athletes or other coaches to have this individual on the team between the time of appointment and the event, USA Deaf Tennis retains the right to remove the athlete.
2.2 Once athlete entries have been submitted to the USA Deaf Sports Federation, the USADSF has jurisdiction over the Team rosters.
2.2.1 Voluntary withdrawal. Athlete must submit a written letter to the USADSF Team Leader.
2.2.2 Injury or illness as certified by a physician (or medical staff) approved by USADSF. If an athlete refuses verification of their illness or injury by a physician (or medical staff) approved by USADSF, their injury will be assumed to be disabling and they may be removed.
2.2.3 Failure to participate in mandatory training and/or competitions.
2.2.4 Violation of USADSF Code of Conduct.
2.3 An athlete may be removed as a nominee to the Team or from the Team for an adjudicated violation of ICSD, WADA, ITF, USADA and/or USADSF anti-doping protocol, policies and procedures, as well as the U.S. Center for SafeSport Code and USA Deaf Tennis SafeSport policies, as applicable.
3. REPLACEMENT OF ATHLETES
3.1 Prior to entry by name to the USA Deaf Sports Federation, USA Deaf Tennis has jurisdiction over potential nominees.
3.1.1 A. VOLUNTARY WITHDRAWAL - The athlete must submit a written letter to the Chair of the USA Deaf Tennis Ad Hoc Committee.
B. ILLNESS / INJURY - In the event, an athlete suffers from an injury or illness before the deadline date of submitting the list of athletes to the Organizing Committee, the athlete shall be assumed to be disabling and shall be removed from the Team.
C. VIOLATION - An athlete shall be removed for violation of any USADSF or ICSD rule governing the athlete's conduct. Examples include, but not limited to, unexcused absence, misconduct, unsatisfactory training regimen, poor competition performance, and inability to meet fundraising deadlines.
3.2 Once athlete entries have been submitted to USA Deaf Sports Federation, the USADSF has jurisdiction over the Team.
3.2.1 In the event a qualified Team loses one of its athletes due to illness, injury or "force majeure" then the USA Deaf Tennis Team Leader, in consultation with the USADSF Executive Director, shall propose a replacement athlete. The replacement athlete shall be the most qualified candidate that meets the aforementioned criteria.
If the ICSD, USADSF or Games Organizing Committee (hereinafter "GOC") requires different replacement procedures within a certain time period before the Games or after official nomination of the Final Roster to the USADSF, such procedures for replacement shall be followed.
4. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
4.1 USA Deaf Tennis will retain the approved Selection Procedures and all supporting documents, including scouting or evaluation forms, and all data from the selection process for six months past the date of the Closing Ceremony of the Games.
5. REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
5.1 In addition to the USADSF Code of Conduct, the following documents are required to be signed by an athlete as a condition for nomination to the Summer Deaflympics 2022 and are included as attachments:
6. PUBLICITY/DISTRIBUTION OF PROCEDURES
6.1 The USADSF approved Selection Procedures (complete and unaltered) will be posted/published within ten (10) days of approval by the USA Deaf Sports Federation Board of Directors.
6.2 Information shall be published:
6.2.1 on the USADSF website (http://www.usdeafsports.org/sports/TE/criteria-athlete).
6.2.2 Also distributed through, but not limited to, email, affiliated Tennis organizations (USA Deaf Tennis and USADSF), and USADSF approved Deaf-related publications. Such information shall include a reference to the entire Selection Procedure herein:
7. DATE OF NOMINATION
7.1 The Nomination of Athletes form, including replacements, will be submitted to USADSF on or before 15 Feb 2022.
7.2 The list of athletes on the Team are to be announced publicly only after USADSF approves the rosters.
8. MANDATORY TRAINING AND/OR COMPETITIONS
There is no established mandatory training under USA Tennis Ad Hoc Committee. Training occurs at the discretion of the athletes and/or their designated coaches or trainers.
9. ANTI-DOPING REQUIREMENTS
9.1 Athletes must adhere to all ICSD, WADA, IF, USADA and USADSF anti-doping protocols, policies and procedures, as applicable. This includes participation in Out-of-Competition Testing as required by the ICSD, WADA, IF, USADA and USADSF Rules, as applicable.
10. GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES
10.1 All athletes have a right to obtain due process. Refer to USA Deaf Tennis's procedures below:
Since USADT is still an ad hoc committee, please refer to Section 12 - ATHLETES GRIEVANCES AND COMPLAINTS below.
10.2 If the selection criteria and the grievance procedures were not followed properly, see ATHLETE GRIEVANCES AND COMPLAINTS.
11. INTERNATIONAL DISCLAIMER
11.1 These procedures are based on ICSD, as applicable, and/or ITF rules and regulations as presently known and understood. Any change in the selection procedures caused by a change in ICSD, as applicable, and/or ITF rules and regulations will be distributed to the affected athletes immediately. The selection criteria are based on the latest information available to USA Deaf Tennis. However, the selections are always subject to unforeseen, intervening circumstances, and realistically may not have accounted for every possible contingency.
If any force of nature, or force majeure, should cause the altercation or cancellation of any of the selection events listed in this document, these selection procedures will be revised, pursuant to their resubmission to the USADSF.
12. ATHLETE GRIEVANCES AND COMPLAINTS
12.1 If an athlete has questions regarding their opportunity to compete that are not answered by USA Deaf Tennis, they may contact the USADSF Executive Director, Jameson Crane at crane@usdeafsports.org. If the Executive Director does not respond within 3 business days, the complaint may then contact the USADSF President, Danny Lacey at lacey@usdeafsports.org.
13. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
13.1 This document certifies that USADT individuals on the Selection Committee understand the standards/criteria set by ICSD, IF, and/or USADSF and have incorporated those standards/criteria into the Selection Procedures. These individuals certify that the information provided herein regarding Athlete Selection Procedures represents the method approved by USA Deaf Tennis.