OPS-POL-004 / Official organizational policy

Community Events & Tournament Operations
policy.

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Event approval, adult organizers, eligibility, published rules, moderation coverage, check-in, match disputes, cancellation, prizes, and post-event review.

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The web text and PDF contain the same rules, implementation checklist, and decision-record fields. Ownership handles any named function that has not yet been assigned to an authorized adult.

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01 / POLICY STANDARD

Approval and participation

1. Scope and event authority

This policy covers Element-Esports-hosted or officially co-hosted game nights, community sessions, scrims, brackets, broadcasts, and tournaments. It does not authorize an event by itself. Name an adult event lead and an adult alternate, define which organization is responsible when co-hosting, and obtain written approval from Ownership or a documented delegate before announcing organizational commitments.

2. Written event brief

The brief must identify purpose, audience, date and time zone, game and platform, capacity, responsible adults, rules, moderation coverage, safeguarding risks, accessibility arrangements, costs, prizes, broadcast plans, and cancellation criteria. Confirm game-publisher and platform requirements before launch. Do not imply official publisher sponsorship or licensing where none exists. A smaller event may use a short brief, but cannot omit its safety and eligibility checks.

3. Age and role eligibility

Adults remain the default. Nobody under 13 may participate. Ages 13-17 require verified written parent or legal-guardian permission before acceptance and may participate only through the permitted creator or academy/development pathways. Minor players may enter only approved online tournaments; minors cannot join formal starting, substitute, captain, staff, coaching, or moderation roles. A public event registration or casual-game label does not bypass these limits.

4. Online and in-person boundaries

Element-Esports-sponsored in-person events, meetups, LANs, travel, lodging, and transportation remain adults-only under SAF-POL-002 and SAF-POL-003. Online sessions involving eligible minors require observable, documented communication with guardian or second-adult visibility. Do not move a minor into private calls or secret channels. If required safeguarding coverage is unavailable, pause or cancel that part of the event.

02 / POLICY STANDARD

Preparation and published rules

5. Registration and data minimization

Collect only information needed for eligibility, contact, game identity, scheduling, and agreed participation. Use approved organizational channels and explain any necessary sharing with a co-host or tournament platform. Do not publish birth dates, guardian details, private contact information, or consent records. Do not create a new data-collection form or external account workflow without privacy and security review.

6. Rules before entry

Publish format, entry requirements, start and check-in times, time zone, roster limits, seeding, scoring, tiebreakers, disconnect and restart rules, lateness, forfeits, dispute windows, penalties, prizes, and cancellation terms before entry. State whether the event is a community activity or a formal competitive event. Material changes require visible notice and fair options for affected participants; never change a rule secretly to favor a team.

7. Staffing and conflicts

Assign adult hosts, moderators, match officials, broadcast staff, and escalation contacts appropriate to the event's size. One person may cover compatible duties, but a participant must not be the sole judge of their own match dispute. Disclose team, personal, and financial conflicts and identify an alternate official. Do not launch beyond the team's ability to provide the announced moderation and safety coverage.

8. Readiness and accessible participation

Test the approved game lobby, permissions, communication routes, and broadcast settings without exposing personal information. Share schedules and rules in readable text, provide a barrier-reporting contact, and agree on practical adjustments before the event where possible. Confirm the applicable tournament authority approves any change affecting competitive conditions. Clear roles, checklists, and breaks support reliable volunteer delivery.

03 / POLICY STANDARD

Live operation and incident response

9. Check-in and official communications

Confirm eligibility and approved roster before play, record attendance using the minimum necessary detail, and identify the official announcement and help channels. Explain who may pause play and how participants request assistance. Schedule changes must name the time zone and reach all affected participants. Keep guardian and safety contacts private and accessible only to the adults responsible for safeguarding.

10. Integrity and technical interruptions

Apply INT-POL-001 and the published event rules to cheating, prohibited assistance, match manipulation, account misuse, and unauthorized roster changes. Record relevant timestamps, match identifiers, and technical interruptions. Use the announced restart or forfeit rules consistently. If a new problem is not covered, pause the affected match where practical, obtain an impartial decision, and record the reason rather than invent a result privately.

11. Conduct and safety escalation

Moderators apply COM-POL-001. Remove harmful content and restrict contact when needed to reduce immediate risk; preserve only appropriate evidence. Escalate threats, doxxing, sexual misconduct, safeguarding concerns, or account compromise promptly through the existing safety and reporting policies. Do not make criminal findings or ask members to circulate illegal material. Emergency or external reports must not wait for an internal match decision.

12. Disputes and review

Publish a match-protest deadline suited to the event before entry and provide an uninvolved reviewer where practical. Record the rule, evidence, decision, and effect on the bracket. Event-result finality for scheduling does not remove the separate right to report misconduct or seek review under GOV-POL-003, including its existing 14-day appeal route where applicable. Explain when a bracket cannot practically be replayed without treating that as proof a complaint lacks merit.

04 / POLICY STANDARD

Broadcast, closure, and learning

13. Broadcast and media permissions

Tell participants what is being streamed or recorded, where it will appear, and how to raise a concern before participation. Follow BRD-POL-001 and the completed role agreement for likeness, content, music, and third-party assets. Minor media use requires the applicable guardian permission. Do not broadcast private messages, consent records, contact details, or sensitive incident handling. Use an agreed alternative where feasible.

14. Prizes, fees, and sponsorship

Announce prizes only when the source, amount, eligibility, allocation, and fulfillment responsibility are confirmed in writing. Track delivery and communicate delays honestly. BUS-POL-001 and BUS-POL-002 govern sponsorship and financial commitments. No entry-fee collection, paid event, raffle, donation drive, or fundraising feature may launch without the separate approvals and appropriate review required by those policies.

15. Pause, cancellation, and participant notice

The event lead or safety lead may pause activity for credible safety, safeguarding, integrity, staffing, or technical risks. Ownership or an authorized delegate confirms cancellation when necessary. Notify participants of the reason at a suitable level of detail, any rescheduling, handling of results and prizes, and the previously approved refund process if relevant. Safety restrictions are not automatic misconduct findings.

16. Closeout and improvement

After the event, record results, unresolved reports, prize obligations, material decisions, permissions to remove, and lessons learned. Assign owners and dates for follow-up. Preserve incident records under the governing policy and remove registration data when no longer needed under the Privacy Policy. Review recurring barriers or misconduct before repeating the event, and update the next event brief rather than relying on informal memory.

05 / IMPLEMENTATION

Put the standard into practice.

Approve the event brief, adult lead, alternate, budget, and authority.
Verify publisher/platform rules and participant eligibility.
Complete guardian permission and observable communication arrangements where applicable.
Publish rules, schedule, dispute route, media notice, and cancellation terms.
Confirm staffing, access, escalation contacts, and practical accessibility support.
Close out results, incidents, prize obligations, access, and lessons learned.

Decision-record fields

Use these fields in an approved, access-controlled internal record. This page does not collect or submit responses. Record only what is necessary; keep sensitive information out of public channels.

Event title, date, time zone, and platform
Approver, adult lead, and alternate
Eligibility and consent confirmation
Published rules version and dispute deadlines
Staffing and safety plan
Costs, prizes, and fulfillment owner
Decisions, incidents, and participant notices
Closeout actions and review date

06 / ADMINISTRATION

Accountability and review.

This organizational policy supplements the Staff & Player Handbook. It does not create employment, union, collective-bargaining, or public-sector rights. It does not replace applicable law, binding external rules, or completed agreements.

Raise questions with an uninvolved lead, Ownership, or Report a Concern. Bypass a conflicted or unavailable person. Good-faith reports, support requests, and participation in review are protected from retaliation. Temporary protective restrictions are not automatic findings of misconduct.

Formal findings and corrective action follow Discipline & Appeals. Preserve relevant records with need-to-know access under the Privacy and Information Security policies. Review this policy annually and after material incidents or organizational changes; record approvals and revisions under GOV-POL-005.

Related standards

Version 1.0 · Initial publication: August 28, 2026. Review due: August 28, 2027. An overdue review does not automatically retire the policy.

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