New resources for directing CoCo tournaments
January has been a great first month for the CoCo. Your enthusiasm and support have been inspiring; more than 40 of you have signed up for CoCo tournaments and we have been busily fielding interest from about a dozen potential directors who are interested in adding new tournaments to the calendar. To meet that demand, today we’re releasing a ton of new resources for directing and sanctioning CoCo tournaments. These tools might not appear shiny in your browser, but they will help CoCo tournaments sparkle with the brightest quality of all: competence!
Becoming a CoCo Director
The CoCo strives to deliver high-quality tournaments, every time. To do that, we rely on high quality directors who run their tournaments smoothly, manage their budgets, and know how to decide tricky rules questions. We have developed eligibility criteria for directors seeking to be certified by the CoCo to help us ensure that directors know what they’re doing and are ready to direct tournaments that players will enjoy. Directors interested in directing for the CoCo can seek director certification by submitting our new Director’s Certification Form.
To guide directors and to provide a consistently positive experience at CoCo tournaments around the continent, we wrote the CoCo Director’s Handbook. It’s full of practical tools like a tournament supplies checklist and tips on what to consider when scouting for a venue. Our suite of tools for directors builds on existing resources that the CoCo has previously released to build its strong player base, like our NWL-to-CSW cheat sheet.
Rules Highlights
Every CoCo director and player should be familiar with WESPA Rules version 4, which took effect on January 1, 2020. If you’re looking for a quick refresher, we created this one-page summary to highlight key rules that may be different from what you’ve played with before. Knowing the rules will gain you five free seconds of thinking time about whether to challenge your opponent’s out play - as well as far more practical knowledge about courtesy draws, what scores you need to write down, and when you can start the clock. We highly encourage both players and directors to review the rules summary before playing a CoCo tournament, especially if you haven’t played with the new WESPA Rules.
Conduct and Incidents
To help directors manage incidents that may occur in conjunction with CoCo tournaments, we have provided guidance on the governing rules of conduct. Part 6 of the WESPA Rules governs conduct, cheating, unethical behavior, and etiquette. In addition, because we take sexual harassment seriously and have observed the detrimental impact of harassment on the Scrabble community, we have written a detailed Sexual Harassment Policy for the CoCo. We pledge to keep our community safe and positive and to hold our members accountable for bad behavior. To that end, we have created an Incident Submission Form that any member of the community can use to report harassment, cheating, and other conduct that violates Part 6 of the WESPA Rules or the CoCo’s Sexual Harassment Policy.
Sanctioning Tournaments
Directors can request to have their tournaments sanctioned by the CoCo when their tournaments satisfy the tournament guidelines. Directors don’t need to worry about any date or geography restrictions and can sanction a tournament with as little as 30 days’ notice. We’re encouraging directors to offer the maximum possible capacity that their venues can hold, in part to respond to comments that players would love to see the CoCo offer larger fields. We have set up a simple, streamlined process for directors to request sanctioning of their tournaments as official CoCo events. Directors can now submit a request to have their tournament sanctioned by submitting our handy Tournament Sanctioning Form, available on the tournament guidelines page.
Whether you’ve directed ten tournaments or none, the CoCo welcomes your enthusiasm about sharing Scrabble with others. Every director infuses their tournaments with personal flair, and we’re excited to see our new directors in action. Drop us a line if you’re interested in taking a step toward becoming a CoCo director; we’re here to help you make it happen.