All 4-year, degree granting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the continental United States. That is a pool of 89 institutions.

Institutional enrollment is open once a year over the summer (starting in May). The HBCU president or chancellor must complete the enrollment form naming a Campus Coordinator and a Coach (this may be the same person). These forms are sent out by the HCASC Office. Email Tisha Lynton or call her toll-free at 800-388-2272 x115 for more enrollment information.

Your only costs are for local publicity and staging. The program supplies:

• Game Packets for the Campus Tournament
• Information Guide detailing how to run the HCASC program
• Promotion Kit complete with ready-to-customize templates
• Coaching Kit with team practice guides, tips, question information and more
• Tools for training game officials
• Free use of a lockout system (subject to availability)

Most schools schedule their tournament at least a month before the end of first semester or fall quarter. The sooner you complete the campus tournament, the sooner your school can begin submitting qualification materials for the National Championship Tournament.

This will depend upon the number of teams and your other resources. The three primary formats are:

• Single-Elimination: Each team plays until they have lost once. This format is the most economical but the least aggressive. The formula for game played is: x-1 where x is the number of teams. For 16 teams, 15 games will be played.
• Double-Elimination: Each team plays until they have lost twice. This format allows teams to "come back" from a loss. The formula for games played is: 2x-1 where x is the number of teams. For 16 teams, 31 games will be played.
• Round Robin: Every team play every other team. The winner is the team with the best overall record. You can create "leagues" or "divisions" to divide the teams and reduce the number of packets needed. The formula for games played is: x(x-1)/2 where x is the number of teams. For 7 teams, 21 games will be played.

You can combine formats. If you have a large number of teams, you can use a single-elimination tournament (in 2 rooms simultaneously) to reduce the number of teams to a smaller number and then have those "finalists" play a Round Robin in a single room. If you need to recruit teams from various areas of the campus, you can run them as divisions, each leading to a champion. Then, the champions play off for the campus championship.

For more information on tournament formats, consult the Program Guide or use the Online Tournament Calculator.

All HCASC schools automatically receive 15 Campus Program game packets. The formulas for games played is above. You can play games simultaneously and/or sequester teams to reduce the number of game packets needed. Be sure to reserve 1-2 game packets to serve as back-up games during your tournament. If unused, you can use them throughout the year for practice and special exhibition matches.

This depends upon the size of your program. The basic personnel checklist includes:

• Registration Personnel
• Program Officials (positions are often combined into 1-2)
  • Campus Contact
  • Tournament Director
  • Coach/Advisor
• Game Officials (this is the list for each simultaneous game room)
  • Moderator
  • Judge
  • Reset/Timer/Announcer
  • Scorekeeper
  • Scoreboarder/Room Resetter (often an audience volunteer)

The newsletter is only mailed to current program participants, but we post them online for easy access.

Complete our online volunteer application.