General Competition Rules

VANTA GENERAL COMPETITION RULES

LAST UPDATED: June 10th, 2024

PEOPLE

1. Teams & Rosters
   1. Eligibility
      1. 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:
         1. Student is homeschooled but resides within the district.
         2. Student attends a school within the district footprint that cannot create a roster to compete due to the size of the school.
         3. 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 Vanta's Customer Success Team. 
      2. 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.
      3. Teams that come from community organizations such as Boys & Girls Clubs, the YMCA, or other similar after school community programs will compete in our Vanta National League and not the more state-specific leagues unless told otherwise.
      4. 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.
      5. 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.
      1. 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. 
      2. 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.
      6. Rosters are finalized at the end of registration for the season unless approved by Vanta.
         1. 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.
         2. If there are spots remaining on the full roster, additional substitutes can be added to the team later in the season.
      7. Middle school teams can play up in the high school league, but high school teams cannot play down in the middle school league.
         1. K-12 schools need to track player ages so that schools with players over the age of 14 or above grade 8  are not participating in the middle school leagues.
   2. Substitutions
      1. 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.
      2. 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.

1. School Admin
   1. 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.
   2. If a school has a Vanta coach, the school admin still needs to be present in the event of technical issues or potential behavioral issues that might need to be addressed.

GAME RULES

1. Match Times
   1. Match times are determined by league and/or time zones.
      1. For Vanta National League: 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.
   2. Match times are official and are the expected time for the game to be played. If your team needs to play at an earlier or later time, please arrange this with your opponent, or see the above point about potentially moving to another time zone moving forward.
   3. 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.
2. Lobby Creation
   1. 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.
   2. At the start of the match, team captains will be responsible for inviting their team members to the lobby. 
      1. If a team is missing one or more players a 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 or may play out the match short-handed.
   3. The lobby leader must not start the game before all players from both teams have joined the lobby and indicated “ready” in the chat. Exceptions for this exist if the 15-minute grace period has expired and the team missing players opts to play short-handed. 
   4. Only those registered for the current match have the right to be in the game lobby. This includes players, coaches and designated streamers
3. Communication
   1. 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.
      1. The official match chat provided by the Vanta platform is the 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. 
      2. The official match chat provided by the Vanta platform must be used over the in-game chat.
   2. The only students/players who have access to communication with the other team is the 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.
   3. Administrators are expected to use this chat to coordinate gameplay between their schools. If a school has two forfeits where they did not communicate their status through chat to their opponents that school will be removed from the schedule until they have a call with the Vanta Customer Experience team. Those reinstatement calls can be scheduled by emailing Support@vanta.gg. 
   4. 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.
4. Forfeits
   1. If a team does not show up within the first 15 minutes of scheduled match time and did not previously communicate that they would not be able to make it for the game, it is considered a forfeit.
   2. Reporting forfeits differs between each game - please see individual game rules for the proper way to report a forfeit for the game needed.
   3. After 2 forfeit, the team will receive a check-in email from a member of the Vanta team.
   4. After 3 forfeits, the team will be removed from scheduling unless a valid reason has been given for the forfeits.
   5. Forfeits recorded during pre-season do count toward the total forfeits your team can receive in a season. If your team wishes to not be scheduled for pre-season matches, please contact support@vanta.gg so that our scheduling team can be notified immediately.
5. Reporting Results
   1. Scores must be reported within a week of when the match was played.
6. Rescheduling
   1. If a team cannot make their scheduled 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. If a rescheduled game cannot be accommodated, the team that was unable to make the original game time will lose by forfeit. 
      1. 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.
      2. All reschedule conversations begin in the official match chat provided on the Vanta platform. If a message was sent with no response, please reach out to Vanta Support as quickly as possible so we can assist with getting you in touch with the opponent. 
      3. If no reschedule agreement is reached before the match as originally scheduled is set to begin, then the expectation is that the game will go on as originally planned.
   2. The new date and time must be completed within the same week before the next originally scheduled match.
   3. It is essential that all reschedules be reported to support@vanta.gg, as the platform will put in a forfeit for teams after 3 days of no score being posted. If your team is already in trouble with forfeits, this could potentially hurt your team and place them in the forfeit probation league, which will remove their scores and points on the season.
   4. Schools are allowed 2 scheduled byes per season. In the Fall, this includes the Thanksgiving bye week. A school may exceed 2 scheduled byes, but if such is the case, it may reflect negatively in their record because they will not have played as many games as other teams. We highly encourage trying to reschedule matches instead of not playing them all together.
7. Stoppage/Match Pause
   1. Rules around stoppages/match pauses will vary by game due to the different mechanics across different titles. 
8. Game Updates
   1. 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. 
   2. Accommodations are not guaranteed so ensure your gamers are updating their games accordingly prior to your scheduled matches. 
9. Playoff Qualifications
   1. Teams must compete from the beginning of the regular season (not preseason) to be considered for playoffs.
   2. Size of the playoff bracket defaults to the top 16 teams, but can be adjusted if there are not enough teams signed up to play in the league.
   3. LAN events may be used for championships, but will be determined by league. LAN event details will vary by league. 

RULE VIOLATIONS

1. 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.
2. Cheating
   1. 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.
   2. Any reports of cheating that are verified will results in a forfeit for the team.
      1. Depending on what exactly took place, the player involved in the cheating may be subject to being suspended for the rest of the season.
   3. To report cheating please contact 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).
   4. 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.
3. Rule Violations & Unsportsmanlike Conduct
   1. Vanta has a zero-tolerance policy for unsportsmanlike conduct such as taunting, name calling, and inappropriate or suggestive behaviors. Players caught acting inappropriately will receive the following strikes against their participation in the season:

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 or dispute 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.

1. 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.)
2. Reports without evidence will not be considered viable.
3. All rules violations will be subject to the same strike system above, regardless of it is for unsportsmanlike conduct or something like gamertags not being listed.
1. Exploitable Game Bugs
   1. 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. 
   2. 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, please include any available evidence in your report (i.e: Screenshots, video recordings, chat messages, etc). 
   3. Reports without evidence will not be accepted. 
2. Disputes
   1. Teams are allowed to dispute any rulings made by the Vanta Operations Team or any score results that have been submitted. 
   2. Disputes can be sent to Support@vanta.gg. Please include any evidence needed to overturn the results in question in your dispute (i.e: Screenshots, video recordings, chat messages, etc). 

STREAMING 

1. Eligibility: Both teams are eligible to run their own streams on approved streaming platforms only if they communicate their intent to stream with their opponent prior to the start of the match. 
   1. 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. 
   2. All streams must be run with a broadcast delay 
   3.  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.