2014 NSC: Small School and JV Titles

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PACE is pleased to announce that it will be awarding two new titles starting with the 2014 National Scholastics Championship. These two new titles recognize the best three Junior Varsity teams and best three Small School teams.

A JV team consists of players in 10th grade or below. Middle school teams count as JV teams.

A "small school" is a school with fewer than 700 students in 10th through 12th grades that is a public school and has a non-selective admission policy (non-selective is not the same as non-magnet; schools from systems where every school is a specialized center and students may choose to attend any are eligible).

A team can be eligible for both the JV and small school title.

If the top two small schools or JV teams do not make the top bracket, the top 2 teams will play an advantaged best-of-3 finals after their playoffs have ended (i.e. while the final top bracket playoff games are going on). Outright ties for 3rd place will be broken with a one game match.

If a small school or JV team makes the top bracket, there will not be a separate finals for the small school or JV title unless there is an outright tie. The eligible team in the top bracket that ends up in the highest overall position will be declared the small school and/or JV champion.

Small schools and JV teams will still need to qualify for the NSC through the regular qualification processes spelled out at http://www.pace-nsc.org/2014-nsc-team-q ... uidelines/. If a small school or JV team does not qualify through the regular means, they can still apply for qualification through the wildcard process. The wildcard approval committee will consider JV and small school status. We plan to re-evaluate the qualification procedures for next year in light of these new titles.

FAQ:

Q: Why is PACE awarding small school and JV titles?
A: PACE hopes to encourage more national tournament participation amongst small schools (especially those in rural areas) and underclassmen.

Q: We qualified two teams for the NSC. Neither of these teams were JV teams. Can I bring one varsity team and one JV team to the NSC?
A: Yes, the normal NSC qualification rules still apply. The team you send to the NSC does not need to include any of the same players you qualified with.

Q: Will JV tournaments be eligible for NSC affiliation?
A: Not this year. We are re-evaluating this policy for next year. We will consider wildcard bids from teams that have performed well at JV tournaments.