| Rules governing SPA Sanctioned Contests
- Sanctioned Contest: An SPA Sanctioned Contest is one that is advertised and sponsored by a member club and conducted according to SPA rules. Any couple who wishes to participate in an SPA Sanctioned Contest may do so as long as that couple dances the shag. No other dance is allowed. Furthermore, a couple may dance in any division as long as they qualify for that division.
- Qualifications and Requirements: There are five (5) divisions of an SPA Sanctioned Contest:
Amateur, Novice, Pro, Juniors and Masters
1. Amateur Qualifications:
a. Any dancer who has never participated in an SPA Sanctioned contest as a Novice or Pro. b. Any dancer who has never won three (3) SPA Sanctioned AMATEUR contests.
2. Amateur Requirements:
a. Must pay $15.00 entry fee. b. Must dance to the format as structured by each individual club owner.
3. Novice Qualifications:
a. Any dancer who has not participated in an SPA Sanctioned contest as a Pro. b. Any dancer who either: (i) has won one (1) SPA Sanctioned AMATEUR Division. (ii) or elects to begin in Novice without having danced in Amateur Division.
4. Novice Requirements:
a. Must pay $20.00 entry fee. b. Must dance to the format as structured by each individual club owner.
5. Pro Qualifications:
a. Any dancer who chooses to dance in an SPA Sanctioned Pro contest. b. Any dancer who has won three (3) SPA Sanctioned NOVICE contests.
6. Pro Requirements:
a. Must pay a $25.00 entry fee. b. Must dance as structured by each individual club owner.
JUNIOR – It is solely at the discretion of the individual club owner whether this division is offered in an SPA Sanctioned contest.
7. Junior Qualifications:
a. Any dancer age twenty (20) years or younger. b. There are (2) categories of JUNIORS determined by age (i) Eight (8) years to thirteen (13) years. (ii) Fourteen (14) years to twenty (20) years.
8. Junior Requirements:
a. JUNIOR dancers may not dance in any other division. b. Number of records shall be at the discretion of the club. c. No entry fee is required.
9. MASTERS
a. This division is open to dancers age fifty (50) years or older. It is solely at the discretion of individual club owners whether this division is offered in an SPA Sanctioned contest.
b. Entry fee and prize money determined by each club owner.
*Division Restriction and Exceptions:
*Once a dancer has participated in one division of an SPA Sanctioned contest, he/she may not dance in a lower division thereafter. (Exceptions have been made to this rule but until special permission is granted by the SPA Executive Committee, the rule still stands and a dancer may not move to a lower division.)
C. Entry Fees per Division: | Amateur | Novice | Pro | Jrs. | | $15.00 | $20.00 | $25.00 | None |
Masters – Club owner’s discretion
D. Cash Prizes per Division:
Each SPA Sanctioned contest must have a minimum of $1,750.00 in prize money and a maximum of $3,000.00. If each division is not fully attended, minimum money will be dispersed per club owner in Pro, Novice or Amateur Divisions.
Trophies or plaques shall be given to the top three (3) places in each Division.
The distribution amounts for the Amateur, Novice and Pro Divisions are as follows: | Place | Amateur | Novice | Pro | | 1st | $75.00 | $125.00 | $375.00 | | 2nd | $50.00 | $75.00 | $275.00 | | 3rd | $50.00 | $75.00 | $175.00 | | 4th | $25.00 | $25.00 | $75.00 | | 5th | $25.00 | $25.00 | $75.00 | | 6th | $25.00 | $25.00 | $75.00 | | 7th | | | $50.00 | | 8th | | | $50.00 | | Totals | $250.00 | $350.00 | $1150.00 |
Junior Divisions – there will be NO cash awards allowed.
Masters Division – cash and/or prizes shall be allowed at the discretion of the SPA Sponsoring Club.
E. General Rules:
- Club owner shall determine the acceptable number of couples dancing.
- Scoring will be SPA scoring system.
- Point System applies to Pro, Novice and Amateur Divisions only.
- Music: Amateur, Novice and Pro Divisions may furnish their own music or dance to DJ choice.
F. Judge Selection: Amateur, Novice and Pro Contests
All judging panels for SPA Sanctioned contests shall consist of five (5) judges to be selected as follows:
a. Judges are selected by the club management.
b. Great care shall be taken by the club owner in selecting these judges to ensure the following:
- Each judge shall be a responsible and fair judge. - Each judge shall have a thorough, current knowledge of the dance. - Each judge shall be thoroughly familiar with rules governing SPA Sanctioned contests.
Juniors and Masters Contest
a. There shall be five (5) judges for each JUNIOR and MASTERS contest. b. These judges shall be selected by the sponsoring club.
A judge may not serve at ANY two (2) consecutive SPA Sanctioned Pro, Novice or Amateur contests.
G. Scoring for SPA Sanctioned Contests:
- Shall be judged and scored on five (5) categories:
Smoothness, Togetherness, Repertoire, Degree of Difficulty & Execution - Every couple shall be scored by all five (5) judges on a One (1) to Ten (10) point scale in each category for each record.
- Each judge shall sign or initial his/her score sheet for every couple in all rounds.
- Each judge should add his/her category scores and enters a total. - Each couple is scored for a dance by every judge.
- After the contest is over, the dancers may view the recap sheets with identification of the judges removed. The privilege of viewing the recap sheets is contingent upon the courtesy and well mannered behavior of the dancers. Any degrading remarks to the judges or other dancers can jeopardize this privilege which is granted to the dancers by the club owners. It can be revoked at any time. H. SPA Point System: Amateur, Novice and Pro Divisions
Under the SPA Point System, PRO, NOVICE and AMATEUR dancers accumulate points per couple in each Sanctioned Contest.
Place | Points | First Place | 12 | Second Place | 10 | Third Place | 8 | Fourth Place | 6 | Fifth Place | 4 | | Sixth Place | 3 | | Seventh Place | 3 | | Eight Place | 3 |
All other couples entering: 2 points
Total points received by a couple in a given contest shall be divided equally between the Male and Female.
I. PRO Dancers Awards Fund
The SPA club sponsoring the contest shall present a check, representing 10% of the total purse of the Pro Division, to the SPA Secretary/Treasurer.
J. Specific Rules Violations
It shall be specific violation of the SPA rules for a contestant, club owner or judge to make a debasing, disparaging or otherwise improper comment about a contestant, club owner or judge which reflects upon the results, dancing or judging of a contest.
1. The first time a dancer violates this rule, he/she shall lose all points accumulated under the point system up to that time.
2. It shall be a violation of the SPA rules for a dancer to participate in another dance contest at a time which would prevent his/her participation in an SPA Sanctioned contest being held at the same time. Each time this violation occurs, the dancer shall:
a. lose all points accumulated for the year to date. b. not be eligible to accumulate points for the remainder of the year. |