General Competition Rules

General Rules for Competition for Vanta Scholastic Esports Leagues

LAST UPDATED: August 5th, 2025

LEAGUE FORMAT

Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, Vanta will be introducing our new competition format tracks: Varsity Leagues and Club Leagues. In an effort to provide both high-level competition and also casual options, we hope to provide more opportunities for all of our gamers across our platform.

VARSITY LEAGUES

Vanta Varsity Leagues are for students looking to take their gameplay to the next level. Games are structured around 4-week Splits with weekly matches and end in high-stakes Split Finals and seasonal Conference Finals. Points earned from the Splits contribute toward qualification for the Vanta National Championships.

League Breakdown

All teams are split in three separate conferences, Eastern, Central, and Western. These conferences are based on time zones and regions, and are broken down further into divisions based on State, number of teams, or other indicators that make sense for the conference (example: Texas having a MT time zone division.)
- Divisions must have at least 8 teams to be able to run, and will mostly cap at 16 teams per division unless there is an overall uneven number of teams in a conference. When you register for the league, Vanta will put you in a division.
- The schedule is made using a Swiss format.
- Each division will have its own split final.
- Divisions are fluid until the start of the split to allow for any necessary changes that need to be made before the split begins. (example: not enough teams for 16 team division, too many teams for 16 team division, etc.)
- When the split begins, registration is closed and finalized for that split.
Schools will be able to track their team's points by current split, division, and conference.
One a split begins, registration is fully closed and no additional teams will be added.
Games for the Varsity leagues include:
- Mondays: SSBU Crew Battles
- Tuesdays: Rocket League
- Wednesdays: Valorant
- Thursdays: Marvel Rivals
- Fridays: Fortnite
Each team will play one match per week at their assigned time, against their assigned opponent. If for some reason teams need to reschedule, they are able to do so as long as both teams agree in advance and the game is completed in the correct timeframe. Reschedule procedures are listed below.

Points

Teams will earn points over the course of all four splits according to how they do during the split.
- Played (regular split) scheduled match: +1 point (Non forfeit results only)
- Winning (regular split) scheduled match: +1 point in addition to the played match point
Teams can also lose points over the course of all four splits if they forfeit a match.
- 1 Forfeit: -2 points
- 2 Forfeits: -2 points and disqualification from the split
- Teams that are DQ'd from a split are not barred from playing in another split.
- Forfeits reset at the beginning of each split.
The top 8 teams in each division will qualify for split finals, and the opportunity to earn more points.
- Qualify for split finals: 2 points.
- 1st Place: 10 Points (+2 per win) = 18 total points
- 2nd Place: 6 Points (+2 per win) = 13 total points
- 3rd-4th Places: 4 points (+2 per win) = 9 total points
- 5th-8th Places: 1 Point for Playing Match (3 total points)

Split Finals

Split Finals will be played on the final Saturday of each Split, consisting of a single-elimination bracket. Seeding will be determined by the points accumulated during the 4-week split. Players can play remotely, on campus, or at a third party location. Teachers/coaches will be expected to monitor students to ensure full adherence to competition rules.
Specific Dates and Times will provided at a future date.
Split Finals Points:
- Qualify for split finals: 2 points.
- 1st Place: 10 Points (+2 per win) = 18 total points
- 2nd Place: 6 Points (+2 per win) = 13 total points
- 3rd-4th Places: 4 points (+2 per win) = 9 total points
- 5th-8th Places: 1 Point for Playing Match (3 total points)

State Championships

In select states (Texas, Hawai’i, NY) schools will have the opportunity to compete in State Championship events. The participants in these events will be determined by points accumulated throughout both splits in the Fall League. Eg. We will take the top 8 Texas Schools based on points acquired, regardless of whether or not all of those matches were played against other Texas Schools.
More details with dates, times, and locations to come.
We would love to continue to expand these State Championship events, but we require local partners to do so. If you are interested in helping us expand and creating a Championship in your state, please email us at sales@vanta.gg.

National Championship

The National Championship will take place in May 2026 and will act as the culmination of the 2025/2026 season. The top schools across all 3 conferences (plus wildcards) will be invited based on total points accumulated across all 4 Splits.
It is our aspiration to create a dedicated live event for these championships, and be able to provide travel stipends to assist schools attending in person. If you are interested in supporting this endeavor financially, or are able to connect us with potential sponsors, please contact sales@vanta.gg.

CLUB LEAGUES

Vanta Club Leagues are for students looking for a more casual esports experience. If you are looking for additional scrims or an opportunity to just hop into a game and play rather than commit to a full season, then these leagues are likely more suited for your teams.

Registration remains open for the entirety of the season to allow for teams to register when is most convenient for them.
Games are not scheduled ahead of time like those in the Varsity leagues are. Club leagues utilize a queue system in which teams will queue up and be matched together for their matches.
There are no forfeits in the club leagues due to the queue system. If your team cannot make a match on that day, they will need to skip queuing for a match that day.
Teams that are registered in Varsity are still able to compete in the Club Track, using matches for additional practice. We simply ask that you refrain from competing in any Club Championships if you’re also registered in Varsity.
Club Championships will take place at the end of each season and function on a first-come, first-served basis. We will determine seeding based on Win-Loss match results throughout the season. Bracket size will be determined by number of participants and signups.
Games for the Club Track include:
- Valorant
- Rocket League
- Marvel Rivals
- Fortnite
- SSBU Crew Battles
- SSBU Solos
- Overwatch 2
- Madden 26
- College Football 26
- Rainbow 6 Siege
- Chess
- Guilty Gear
- Mortal Kombat 1
- Brawlhalla
- Apex Legends
- iRacing
- League of Legends
- FC 25
- Tekken 8
- Street Fighter 6
- Mario Kart 8
- Gran Turismo 7

Queue System

15 minute windows will be open for queuing up for a specific game on a specific day.
- Queue windows will officially start opening up at 3:00pm ET and will continue for every hour on the hour through 8:00pm ET.
- There are also two additional queue windows based on Hawaii Time for 3:15pm HT and 4:00pm HT.
Your team is able to queue for more than one match in one day, however, only the first match of the day counts toward the official record. All matches completed after the first one in one day are counted as scrims only.
- In order to be able to queue up for a second match, the score of the first match you played must be submitted.
You are able to queue more than one team up at one time.

PEOPLE

TEAMS & ROSTERS

Rosters

A single roster must be comprised of students all from the same campus/school, with exceptions that can applied for through the Player Exception Form for students under the following circumstances:
- Student is homeschooled but resides within the district.
- Student attends a school within the district footprint that cannot create a roster to compete due to the size of the school.
- If a school believes there is another valid reason for a player to be permitted on their roster, they can apply for an exception through the form listed above for review by the Vanta Customer Success Team.
Each of the above are on a case by case basis and must be approved specifically by Vanta, otherwise the expectation will be that each team will be comprised of students only from the same campus/school.
Teams that come from community organizations such as Boys & Girls Clubs, the YMCA, or other similar after school community programs will compete in our Club leagues only. The Varsity leagues are strictly for teams from public, private, charter, or online schools.
Middle school teams can play up in the high school league, but high school teams cannot play down in the middle school league.
- Middle school teams can play up in the high school league, but high school teams cannot play down in the middle school league.

Accounts

Students must use their own individual player account and cannot share their accounts with other players.
If a player is using a school-specific account, that account will be considered the player account and must be continued to be used by that player for the season.
- For example, if a school uses a school-owned account system, like AHSPlayer01, then the same student must use the same account for the entirety of the season.
Teams must report all gamertags on the Vanta platform. This is mandatory and can result in a team consequence if your gamertags are not listed. To learn how to add gamertags for your team, please see the information here.
- All gamertags must be appropriate and may not include profanity, obscenities, or references to inappropriate topics. If a gamertag is reported as being inappropriate or violating the Vanta Player Code of Conduct, the school will be notified and the player will have one week to update their gamertag or create a new gamertag that they will use while competing on the Vanta platform. Failure to update the gamertag within the week will result in suspension until the gamer has a new tag.
- Gamertags must reflect what a player's name is when playing against them in a game. There are some games (League of Legends and Valorant for example) where the account name may differ from the in-game name. Please make sure that all submitted gamertags are the in-game name of the player.
- Teams that do not have their gamertags listed will be administered strikes in accordance with our rule violations procedures, which can ultimately result in forfeiture of matches if gamertags are not corrected after the first strike has been given.
- Game names/accounts have to be associated with the same student throughout the entire season. They must use the same gamer tag the entire season unless it has been flagged as inappropriate.
- If there are spots remaining on the full roster, additional substitutes can be added to the team later in the season with approval by Vanta for Varsity leagues.

Substitutions

All substitutes must be already listed on the team roster when the roster is finalized unless previously approved by Vanta. This is only on a case by case basis, though, and must be approved by the Vanta Ops team. To request approval please send a note to support@vanta.gg.
The substitutes must also have their gamertags listed on the platform as well. Failure to have their gamertag listed may result in the player being disqualified from the match and further penalties for your team in accordance with our strike system.

School Administrators

All school administrators/coaches must be present when their students are playing, regardless of if the students are playing at school or at home. If students are playing from home, we recommend that the school admin still joins the practice or match call on the Vanta platform so that they can continue to monitor their students.
If a school is utilizing Vanta coaching, the school administrator still needs to be present in the event of technical issues or potential behavioral issues that might need to be addressed. This also includes being available to help address any additional disputes.

GAME DAY

Match Times

Match times are determined by league and/or time zones.
- For Varsity Leagues: Teams that are in specific time zones but may need to play earlier or later can request that their team play with a different time zone. For example, if your team is in Eastern Time but cannot play at 4:30pm ET and must play later, they can request to play in Central Time, Mountain Time, or Pacific Time. This will potentially change the conference that they are in, so it is important to check if that is desired when making the change.
- For Club Leagues: A queue system is implemented. Teams will be able to join the queue on the designated scheduled day for that game and find a match.
The 15 minute grace period for the start of a match begins at the scheduled match time and not a minute before. If the game is scheduled for 4:30, the grace period begins at 4:30 and ends at 4:45. Once the grace period has passed can a forfeit be recorded for the no show.

Lobby Creation

Team coaches and/or team captains will be responsible for communicating captain gamertags/lobby password for inviting teams/players to the lobby. These gamertags should already be listed on the platform as well - if they are not, please report this to support@vanta.gg.
At the start of the match, team captains will be responsible for inviting their team members to the lobby.
- If a team is missing one or more players the grace period of 15 minutes will be given to find those players. After the 15 minute grace period, the team missing players will forfeit the match. Teams are not allowed to play short-handed and then gain a player later in the match.
The lobby leader must not start the game before all players from both teams have joined the lobby and indicated “ready” in the chat.
Only those registered for the current match have the right to be in the game lobby. This includes players, coaches, and designated observers.
- Coaches may sit in a designated coaching slot if the game has that ability in a custom lobby. If it does not, the coach may not sit within the match.
- Streamers also must be in a designated spectator slot if the game has that ability in a custom lobby. If it does not, the streamer may not sit within the match.
- All substitutes must remain in a designated sub slot if the game has that ability in a custom lobby. If it does not, the substitute may not sit within the match and will have to wait between games to sub in.

Communication

Chats are created between school administrators for teams for each matchup on the Vanta platform so that proper communication can be made between the school administrators, coaches, and team captains.
- The official match chat provided by the Vanta platform is what the Vanta Support team will use first and foremost for any disputes involving team communication, alleged forfeits, toxicity between teams, lobby information sharing, etc.
- The official match chat provided by Vanta platform must be used over the in-game chat. We do not encourage players to talk to each other via in-game chats.
The only students/players who have access to communication with the other team is designated team captain. This is one player for any team with more than one player. For one player games, that player is the designated team captain.
All chat channels within a game are not allowed. The only line of communication between teams allowed is the official match chat provided by the Vanta platform.

Forfeits

If a team does not show up within the first 15 minutes of a scheduled match time, it is considered a forfeit.
- For Varsity League:
  - During a split, if your team forfeits, they will lose 2 points.
  - If they forfeit a second time, they will be disqualified from that split.
  - Teams that are disqualified from one split may join the next split. Forfeits do not carry over from split to split.
- For Club League:
  - Forfeits will no longer count against you in club play due to the nature of the queue system. If your team is unable to play that day, do not register for a match for that week.

Report Results

Scores must be reported as soon as a match is completed.
- For Varsity Leagues:
  - In order to allow the system to create the next matches in the Swiss format style, all scores must be reported before 72 hours before the next scheduled match.
  - For example, if matches are on Mondays, scores must be reported by the previous Thursday evening in order for the system to match teams properly for the next week's matches.
- For Club Leagues:
  - If your team would like to have more than one scrimmage in a day, the score of the first scrimmage must be reported before you can queue up for another match.
Scores must include a screenshot with the submission so as to be available in the event of any score disputes. Screenshots must be provided when disputing any scores as undeniable proof that the score that is input into the system needs to be corrected.
- Screenshots must include all scores from any games played during the match. You will need to submit more than one screenshot in order to achieve this.

Rescheduling

If a team cannot make their scheduled Varsity match time, with early enough communication they can request a reschedule with their opposing team for another date and time. Rescheduling is a privilege, not a requirement, and is at the discretion of both teams to determine if and when the rescheduled match will be played.
- Due to the nature of a Swiss-styled Split system, all rescheduled matches need to take place within 3 days of the originally scheduled match.
  - For example, if the matches are scheduled for Monday, the rescheduled game and score must be completed by Thursday of that week. This will ensure that the Swiss-styled scheduler will be able to run properly.
- If a rescheduled match cannot be accommodated, the team that was unable to make the original game time will lose by forfeit.
- All reschedule requests between two teams need to be reported to support@vanta.gg so that the time can be reflected correctly on the platform and we can ensure that your match chats remain open for your match if the originally scheduled time passes.
- All reschedule conversations begin in the official match chat provided on the Vanta platform. If a message was sent with no response, please look to the phone number and emails of the school admin provided to reach out to directly. If still no response, please reach out to Vanta Support as quickly as possible so we can assist with getting you in touch with the opponent.
- If not reschedule agreement is reached before the match as originally scheduled is set to begin, then the expectation is that the match will go on as originally planned.
It is essential that all reschedules be reported to support@vanta.gg, as the platform will put in a forfeit for teams after 3 (three) days of no score being posted. If your team is already in trouble with forfeits for Varsity leagues, this could potentially hurt your team and remove them from the current split.

Stoppage/Match Pause

Rules around stoppages/match pauses will vary by game due to the different mechanics across different titles.
Stoppages cannot go beyond 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, the team who is the cause of the stoppage will have to forfeit.
- These stoppages include by are not limited to technology issues, game updates, player disconnection, a player needing to pause for personal reasons.
- If an incident occurs that does not fit any of the above, please reach out to
  
  support@vanta.gg and it will be left up to Vanta Support discretion.

Game Updates

All players are expected to have updated their game prior to the start of their match. Wait times associated with players updating their games will be considered as part of the 15 minute grace period, delays longer than 15 minutes for game updates will result in the team either playing short-handed or will have to forfeit the match unless granted accommodations by their opponent.
Accommodations are not guaranteed so ensure your gamers are updating their games accordingly prior to your scheduled matches.

Playoff Qualifications

For Varsity Leagues:
- The top 8 teams in each division will qualify for the split finals.
- Each division will have its own finals.
For Club Leagues:
- There will be a finals tournament at the end of the season that all teams are welcome to register for, regardless of how many games they played during the season.
- Teams that played during the season will have their record taken into account for seeding, however there is not a set amount of games that needs to have been played to be able to qualify for the tournament.
- The Club leagues are meant to be flexible, casual style play.

STREAMING

Eligibility

Both teams in a match up are eligible to run their own streams on approved streaming platforms only if they communicate their intent to stream with their opponents prior to the start of the match.
Both teams must agree to stream. If one team does not agree, streaming is not allowed.
- If an opponent states they are not comfortable with the opposing team streaming their players, live streaming will not be allowed. In this instance, the game is still allowed to be recorded by either team for the purposes of VOD reviews or to work on broadcasting skills for broadcast team members, but cannot be produced live or distributed to the community.
- If both teams did not agree upon streaming the match and it is discovered that the match was still streamed, please report this to support@vanta.gg for further review. The support team will review accordingly to determine any violations and if further consequences need to be carried out. Please keep in mind that this may result in forfeiture of the match as it could be considered cheating.
- Members of the broadcast team are prohibited from communicating with players during the match. Teams that are found to be passing information from the broadcast team to the active team will face disciplinary action.
Streamers are only allowed to be sitting in designated spectator roles in game. If the game does not have a slot specifically for spectators, then the spectator cannot sit in ta different role slot.
Both teams must agree upon how the game is being streamed so that there are no tactical advantages provided to one team over another due to having an observer/spectator in the match.
All streams must be run with a broadcast delay of 90 seconds so that stream sniping cannot occur.

RULE VIOLATIONS

All reports made for any of the following reasons must be made by a school admin. If a student makes a report, the Vanta Support Team will contact the associated school admin before conducting any viable investigation of what is reported. We do not accept reports made by students and require that all are made by school admin/teachers/coaches.

Cheating:

Vanta has a zero-tolerance policy for cheating. Cheating can include, but are not limited to, exploiting game bugs, using third-party apps to assist in strategy, the use of aim bots, or claiming own rulesets that do not match the rulesets for the game provided by Vanta.
Any reports of cheating that are verified will result in a forfeit for the team.
- Depending on the severity of the issue, the play involved in the cheating may be subject to being suspended for the rest of the season.
To report cheating, please contact support@vanta.gg. Each report will be reviewed by the Vanta Operations team.
Reports without evidence will not be considered viable, so please make sure to include any and all screenshots, video recordings, etc. that you may have to support your claim.

Exploitable Game Bugs

Exploitable game bugs are not permitted in league play. Teams caught leveraging exploitable bugs to win their match will be forced to forfeit that match, as it will be considered cheating.
Reports of a team using an exploitable bug may be sent to support@vanta.gg. Reports will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, so please include any available evidence in your report. (i.e.: screenshots, video records, chat messages, etc.)
Reports without evidence will not be accepted.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Any toxic behaviors exhibited during the match are unacceptable and will be subject to rules violations. This includes name calling, taunting, tactical crouching, and other behaviors subject to review.
- If there are toxic behaviors witnessed during a match that are not listed here, please still report them to Vanta Support so that we may review.
To report unsportsmanlike conduct, please send a note to support@vanta.gg. Each report will be reviewed by the Vanta Operations team. Please include any available evidence in your report (i.e: screenshots, video recordings, chat messages, etc.)
Reports without evidence will not be considered viable.

Gamertags

If your team does not have gamertags listed, they are in violation of the rules. All gamertags need to be reported on the platform prior to game time. If they are not there, they are in violation of the rules and will be subject to the same consequences as other rules violations.
If the gamertags of the players in the game do not match the gamertags of the ones reported on the platform, you will be in violation of the rules and will be subject to the same consequences as other rule violations

Consequences

All violations of our rules will be subject to the following three-strike system:
- STRIKE 1: Warning
- STRIKE 2: Forfeit Loss
- STRIKE 3: Cannot qualify for split finals
Each report will be thoroughly investigated by Vanta and we will reach out to both teams for a chance to dispute any claims made.
Any report must have physical evidence to support.
Additional reports of continued unsportsmanlike conduct will be determined by Vanta and discussed with the school admin associated with the team.
All rule violations will be subject to the same strike system above, this includes but is not limited to, unsportsmanlike conduct, cheating, no gamertags being listed, using exploitable game bugs, etc.
If you believe a violation has occurred but it is not listed here specifically, please still make a report to Vanta Support and we will review.