Rules, Weather & Refund Policies

Based on feedback from the Leader Summit, the Rules Committee has reviewed and amended a few rules to better accommodate our teams. Those amendments are summarized below. Please review the full 2023 NICA Handbook for more detailed information, including the Texas specific amendments. It is the responsibility of all teams and athletes to be familiar with the rules.  

Composite Team Limits

Section 6.6.C.1 Amendment – Composite Team Limitations: High school Composite Teams are limited to a maximum of 20 student athletes.

The limit for composite teams has been raised from 11 to 20. When a team reaches 20 riders, the League Director will work with the Head Coach and Team Director to determine the best course of action for the team and the League. 

State Championship Qualification Criteria

Athletes must participate in one regular season race (race 1-5) to be eligible to compete in the State Championships. 

Call-ups

Call ups for the first race will be based upon the last season point totals. 6th graders will be random for the first race. JV2 category call-ups will be random for the first race. New riders to the League will be assigned a random call-up behind all returning riders. Subsequent race call ups will be based on the student athlete’s overall points. This will be applied to both middle school and high school categories. Freshman riders will automatically be placed in JV2 but can petition for a higher category placement. 

Texas League Exceptions
August 2022

RULE 5.7 Amendment – NON-DISCRIMINATION IN PARTICIPATION STANDARDS – The Texas League will comply with all Texas State laws governing student participation in interscholastic sports competitions.

Section 6.1 Amendments – Category Placement Standards

• High school categories will be ability based.
• Middle school categories will be age-based.

BOYS CATEGORIES	GIRLS CATEGORIES
Varsity	Varsity
JV1	JV1
JV2	JV2
HS Fun Lap	HS Fun Lap
8th Grade	8th Grade
7th Grade	7th Grade
6th Grade	6th Grade
MS Fun Lap	MS Fun Lap
No points or podiums are awarded for fun laps.

Section 6.2 Amendments – League Geographical Sub-regions

• Categories will be divided based on geographical sub-regions or Conferences.
• The Conferences will include: North Texas Conference and South Texas Conference. The written description of the geographical sub-regions will be provided on the League website prior to the start of the full season (Dec 1).
• Each sub-region will be run as though it were a Tier 1 league so that teams and riders are scored solely according to the sub-region with no regard to Division and team size.

Section 6.3 Amendments – Category Placement Criteria

• Middle school students will be placed in the category that corresponds to their grade level.
• Returning high-school students will be placed in the criteria based on the previous season’s performance pursuant to section 6.3 of the NICA handbook.
• New high-school students will be automatically placed in JV2. Riders or coaches can request a category upgrade based on evidence of prior racing performance prior to the first race. After the first race, students may be placed in a higher category based on performance. Requests for upgrades that do not meet the above criteria must follow the petition process.
• Prior to the first race, a form will be available for athletes to request to participate in the fun lap instead of the race category. No points will be awarded for Fun lap participation.

6th Grade	6th Graders only
7th Grade	7th Graders6th Graders who have successfully petitioned into the category
8th Grade	8th Graders6th or 7th Graders who have successfully petitioned into the category
MS Fun Lap	Any middle school student who elects to participate in the Fun Lap instead of their race category
JV2	All high school students who have not qualified for other categories. Student-athletes may request upgrades based on demonstrated race results or through the official petition process.
JV1	10th grade students who:a. Placed in the top 25% in any two Freshman races the prior year, or b. Placed in the top 30% of the Freshman overall season standings the prior year.10th – 12th grade students who:a. Placed in the top 25% in any two JV2 races in the prior year, or b. Placed in the top 30% of the JV2 overall season standings the prior year, or c. Raced in JV1 the prior year but did not qualify to upgrade to Varsity. Student athletes who successfully petition into the category.
Varsity	10th – 12th grade athletes who:a. Placed in the top 25% in any two JV1 races the prior year, or b. Placed in the top 30% of the JV1 overall season standings the prior year, or c. Raced Varsity the prior year; Students who successfully petition into the category.
HS Fun Lap	HS athlete who elects to participate in the Fun lap instead of their race category.

Section 6.5 Amendments – Category Upgrade Petitioning Guidelines

• Middle School student athletes may upgrade a maximum of 1 level from their assigned category.
• High School student athletes may upgrade 2 levels from their assigned category.
• Dependent on performance after the first race in a new category, the student athlete may petition for another upgrade.
• These are guidelines and exceptions may be approved based on a student athlete’s extraordinary race resume.
• If a middle school student athlete is granted an upgrade to a high school category, that student’s points will apply to the high school that student is slated to attend. For public schools, this will be determined by existing feeder patterns. For private or charter schools, this will be determined based on current enrollment. If no school team exists, the athlete would score for the composite team covering the geographic area in which the student resides. If neither a school nor a composite team exists, the athlete may race independently.
• Petitions must be submitted to the League Rules Committee by Monday 11:59 p.m. prior to a race weekend.

Section 6.1 Amendments – 6 Race Series Rules
Texas offers a 6-race series and the following rules apply. Individual and team scoring will be amended as follows.

Overall Individual Series Champion for HS
The series winner for each conference will be determined by the best 4 out of 6 races. The overall series champion in each field and conference will be decided based on the total of series points accumulated (Best 4 of 6 results and inclusive of bonus points for completing 5 races). In other words, the lowest 2 scores are dropped. A missed race would be the lowest score dropped. In the case of a race cancellation in a six-race series, the series becomes a 5-race series. Scoring becomes best 4 out of 5. If a second race is canceled, the series becomes a best 3 out of 4 series; the lowest score is still dropped (best 3 of 4). If there are fewer than four races in the series, no score will be dropped.

State Championship Series Points, Podiums and Callups
Texas League does not opt-in for the State Championship bonus points option. All races in the series are weighted the same. However, at the State Championship race, both conferences will be combined with call-ups determined by each athlete’s series score total (top 4 races). Podiums will be awarded for the top 10 athletes in each category and will determine the athletes named as State Champions.

Point Bonus for Competing in all Races
All student-athletes who complete 5 out of 6 races in a six races series shall be awarded an additional 25 Season Bonus Points after the final race of the season. In the event that one or more races are canceled, 25 Bonus Points will be awarded for completing all races. No additional points will be awarded for racing in a 6th race.

Overall Team Scoring
A team’s overall placement is based on team point totals from the best five team finishes in a six-race series (lowest score is dropped). If one or more races are canceled, the overall score will be based on team point totals for the entire point series (lowest score is not dropped). Overall conference winners will be determined based on series points for each conference. State champion teams will be determined by the winners of the State Championship race. 

Series Call Ups and Waves

• Maximum Field Size- Any category with 50 or more racers will be split into multiple waves not to exceed 50 per wave.
• As an example, an 80-rider field would be split into 2 waves. The top 40 call-ups would be in the first wave, 40-80 call-ups second wave.
• 100% Call ups for all categories.
• 1 podium for each category.
• At the League’s discretion, conference categories of the same level may be combined into one category based on registration numbers.
• Call-ups for the first race will use last season point totals. 6th graders will be random for the first race. New riders to the League will be assigned a random call-up behind all returning riders.
• Subsequent race call-ups will be based on the student athlete’s overall points. This will be applied to both middle school and high school categories.

Series Awards

• Middle school athletes will follow the same call-up and series points protocol as high school athletes.
• Individual series awards will be given for middle-school students.
• Middle-school team awards will not be tracked or awarded.

Section 6.6 Amendment – Student Athletes must join school teams:
School teams must notify the League Director of their intent to have a team prior to the day on which athlete registration opens for this rule to be enforced for that team. If a team registers after this deadline, any eligible student athlete who has already registered with a different team, will be given the choice to move to the school team or complete the season with the team they have already registered with.

Texas Interscholastic Mountain Bike League (Texas) Weather Policy

Below are the guidelines for how Texas will conduct races in the event of challenging weather. Our primary considerations are the safety of racers, race support staff, race visitors, and potential damage to the race venue (trails and infield).

Any decisions regarding cancelling, postponing, or altering race start times, lap length, number of laps, etc. will be made jointly by the Texas League director and the land manager. Whenever possible, the League will make calls to cancel races by the end of the day on the Thursday before race weekend. Due to the unpredictable and emergent nature of Texas weather, this may not always be possible. 

Texas will make every attempt to notify the racing population via email (addresses taken from rider, parent, and coach emails entered when registering in the Pit Zone online registration system), Facebook, and web site updates as soon as possible.

Texas Weather Guidelines:

• Races are held on their scheduled dates and times unless the race course or weather on the day of the race is deemed un-rideable and/or dangerous.
• Texas will have the option to delay the start of a race from the published times if the weather has created dangerous conditions.
• Courses and/or lap lengths may be altered or shortened because of weather conditions.
  • Texas will advise of changes to race course or lap count at the pre-race coach meeting if changes are known at that time.
  • Last minute changes will be broadcast to racers at the start of each field via the staging and starting staff.
• All racing will stop immediately in the presence of lightning and thunder. Course marshals will direct racers off course where they can seek shelter in vehicles, trailers/RVs, or buildings.
• Re-starting a race that has been stopped (and course cleared) due to lightning (or other emergency);
  • Depending on schedule and number of laps completed, the race may be declared over. If time permits, racers will be directed to re-stage at the start line and an abbreviated race will be conducted.
• Race fees:
  • If a race venue is moved or a race is re-scheduled, race fees will automatically be applied to the moved or re-scheduled race.
  • If a race is cancelled due to weather conditions fees will not be re-funded.
• Race points:
  • If a race is cancelled (not able to be moved or rescheduled):
    • No team points will be awarded and the race will not be included in the season overall team point standings.
    • No individual points will be awarded and the race will not be included in the season overall individual point standings. Riders will still have a “drop race” available from the remaining races and the 25 series bonus points will be awarded based on completion of all races in the shortened series.
  • If a race is partially completed (some fields complete their race and others do not):
    • No team points will be awarded and the race will not be included in the season overall team point standings.
    • Individual points will be awarded in all of the fields that completed their race and those fields will proceed through the season as normal.
    • No individual points will be awarded in the fields where races were not completed and the race will not be included in the season overall individual point standings. Riders will still have a “drop race” available from the remaining races and the 25 series bonus points will be awarded based on completion of all races in the shortened series.

“Other Than Weather” Race Refund Policy

The Texas League understands that money is valuable and that circumstances come up that can cause a change in plans. We want to work with you to put your money to good use wherever possible. We also forecast our race resource planning based on having a solid understanding of how many riders we are expecting. Based on these considerations we have adopted the following race fee refund guidelines for all requests not directly related to weather as noted in the above weather policy:

• Season fees pertain to a host of activities outside of racing and are generally not refundable once paid.
• Requests for refunds must be received via email (please include rider name and team) or at the League Registration Tent onsite at the race venue.
• Requests must be received prior to 4PM on Saturdays of race weekend to be honored.
• If your request for refund meets the above requirement, fees for any given race will be refunded (minus a $10 service charge). If you prefer, we will transfer race fees of a rider to a later race in the season with no service charge, as long as your request meets the above requirements.
  • Note that we usually cannot respond to emails on race weekend (Friday through Sunday) so as long as the time and date stamp on your sent email meets the above guidelines we will honor it. It is highly unlikely we will respond with confirmation on a race weekend.