This selection policy has been agreed upon by the USA Deaf Taekwondo (USADT) and the USA Deaf Sports Federation (USADSF). It provides details regarding the process by which USADT will arrive at athlete nominations. These nominations will be submitted to USADSF for consideration and for final selection to the USA Deaf Taekwondo Team for the Summer Deaflympics 2022 in Caxias do Sul, Brazil (hereinafter called the "Games").
1. SELECTION SYSTEM
1.1 Minimum eligibility requirements for athletes to be considered for selection to the Team:
1.1.1 Nationality/Passport requirements:
1.1.1.1 Athlete must be a national of the United States at the time of nomination.
1.1.1.2 Athlete must hold a valid U.S. passport that will not expire for six months after the conclusion of the Games and 6 months prior to the Games. Except for USA-hosted Games, the staff must possess a valid government-issuedntity card.
1.1.2 Have a hearing loss of at least 55db (3-tone frequency average at 500, 1000 and 2000 Hertz, ISO 1964 Standard) in the better unaided ear, as documented on a recent audiologist-certified audiogram. See audiogram regulations at http://www.deaflympics.com/pdf/AudiogramRegulations.pdf
1.1.3 Minimum International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) standards for participation:
1.1.3.1 Any competitor in the Summer Deaflympics 2022 must be a national of the country of the National Deaf Sports Federation (NDSF) which is entering such competitor.
1.1.3.2 For additional information regarding an athlete who is a national of two or more countries, has changed their nationality or acquired a new nationality, refer to the ICSD Regulations at http://deaflympics.com/icsd/icsd-athlete-nationality-policy
1.1.4 Minimum International Sports Federation - World Taekwondo (WT) - standards and/or ICSD Entry Standards for participation: See the entry standard at https://www.deaflympics.com/sports/TK/regulations
1.1.5 Commit to participation in mandatory training and competitions.
1.1.6 Complete the USA Deaf Sports Federation National Team application packet.
1.1.7 Can not participate as a team official - coach, trainer, medic, etc.
1.1.8 Other requirements: - The requirement has to comply with the ICSD guidelines on their website:
https://www.deaflympics.com/sports/TK/regulations
- ICSD and the Organising Committee will invite all National Deaf Sports Federation (NDSF) members in good standing to participate in the competition.
- Participation in the competition is restricted to athletes who are deaf and/or hard of hearing. Refer to the ICSD Audiogram Regulations for additional details on the measurement of hearing loss.
- Athletes must meet the minimum 15 years old for sparring and 12 years old for Poomsae
- A Black belt and World Taekwondo Federation certification are required to participate.
- USA Citizenship is required.
1.2 Tryout Events: Tryout Events are not required at this moment.
1.3 Selection process for athletes to become National Team nominees:
1.3.1 The selection process will be coordinated with the team, team captains, and coaches.
1.4 Selection Committee:
1.4.1 The USA Deaf Taekwondo Selection Committee is comprised of the following members: • Roman Nawrocki - Coach
• Eleasha Nawrocki - Community & ASL Interpreter
1.4.2 Any member of the selection committee that has a possible conflict of interest must disclose it. If such conflict exists, the selection committee member must recuse themselves from the committee discussions and voting. Further, the committee member shall not otherwise influence other members of the committee in the selection process.
2. REMOVAL OF ATHLETES
2.1 Prior to entry by name to USA Deaf Sports Federation, USA Deaf Taekwondo has jurisdiction over potential nominees.
2.1.1 Voluntary withdrawal. Athlete must submit a written letter to the USA Deaf Taekwondo Executive Director.
2.1.2 Injury or illness as certified by a physician (or medical staff) approved by USA Deaf Taekwondo. If an athlete refuses verification of their illness or injury by a physician (or medical staff) approved by USA Deaf Taekwondo, their injury will be assumed to be disabling and they may be removed.
2.1.3 Failure to participate in mandatory training and/or competitions.
2.1.4 Violation of USA Deaf Taekwondo Code of Conduct (See file).
2.1.5 If for any reason, USA Deaf Taekwondo believes that it may not be safe for athletes or other coaches to have this individual on the team between the time of appointment and the event, USA Deaf Taekwondo retains the right to remove the athlete.
2.2 Once athlete entries have been submitted to the USA Deaf Sports Federation, the USADSF has jurisdiction over the Team rosters.
2.2.1 Voluntary withdrawal. Athlete must submit a written letter to the USADSF Team Leader.
2.2.2 Injury or illness as certified by a physician (or medical staff) approved by USADSF. If an athlete refuses verification of their illness or injury by a physician (or medical staff) approved by USADSF, their injury will be assumed to be disabling and they may be removed.
2.2.3 Failure to participate in mandatory training and/or competitions.
2.2.4 Violation of USADSF Code of Conduct.
2.3 An athlete may be removed as a nominee to the Team or from the Team for an adjudicated violation of ICSD, WADA, WT, USADA and/or USADSF anti-doping protocol, policies and procedures, as well as the U.S. Center for SafeSport Code and USA Deaf Taekwondo SafeSport policies, as applicable.
3. REPLACEMENT OF ATHLETES
3.1 Prior to entry by name to the USA Deaf Sports Federation, USA Deaf Taekwondo has jurisdiction over potential nominees.
3.1.1 Athlete Replacement procedures will be coordinated with the team, team captains, and coaches.
3.2 Once athlete entries have been submitted to USA Deaf Sports Federation, the USADSF has jurisdiction over the Team.
3.2.1 In the event a qualified Team loses one of its athletes due to illness, injury or "force majeure" then the USA Deaf Taekwondo Team Leader, in consultation with the USADSF Executive Director, shall propose a replacement athlete. The replacement athlete shall be the most qualified candidate that meets the aforementioned criteria.
If the ICSD, USADSF or Games Organizing Committee (hereinafter "GOC") requires different replacement procedures within a certain time period before the Games or after official nomination of the Final Roster to the USADSF, such procedures for replacement shall be followed.
4. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
4.1 USA Deaf Taekwondo will retain the approved Selection Procedures and all supporting documents, including scouting or evaluation forms, and all data from the selection process for six months past the date of the Closing Ceremony of the Games.
5. REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
5.1 In addition to the USADSF Code of Conduct, the following documents are required to be signed by an athlete as a condition for nomination to the Summer Deaflympics 2022 and are included as attachments: * Code of Conduct
* USA National Deaf Sport Team Code of Conduct
6. PUBLICITY/DISTRIBUTION OF PROCEDURES
6.1 The USADSF approved Selection Procedures (complete and unaltered) will be posted/published within ten (10) days of approval by the USA Deaf Sports Federation Board of Directors.
6.2 Information shall be published:
6.2.1 on the USADSF website (http://www.usdeafsports.org/sports/TK/criteria-athlete).
6.2.2 Also distributed through, but not limited to, email, affiliated Taekwondo organizations (USA Deaf Taekwondo and USADSF), and USADSF approved Deaf-related publications. Such information shall include a reference to the entire Selection Procedure herein:
7. DATE OF NOMINATION
7.1 The Nomination of Athletes form, including replacements, will be submitted to USADSF on or before 31 Dec 2021.
7.2 The list of athletes on the Team are to be announced publicly only after USADSF approves the rosters.
8. MANDATORY TRAINING AND/OR COMPETITIONS
All training and/or competition are encouraged, but not required at this moment.
9. ANTI-DOPING REQUIREMENTS
9.1 Athletes must adhere to all ICSD, WADA, IF, USADA and USADSF anti-doping protocols, policies and procedures, as applicable. This includes participation in Out-of-Competition Testing as required by the ICSD, WADA, IF, USADA and USADSF Rules, as applicable.
10. GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES
10.1 All athletes have a right to obtain due process. Refer to USA Deaf Taekwondo's procedures below:
- All sport-related protests will be resolved in accordance with the WTF Rules and Regulations and will be adjudicated by the Protest Committee.
- The Protest Committee will meet in the competition venue or a designated office at a time decided upon by the ICSD Technical Director.
- Please review the protest/grievance section for more details:
https://www.deaflympics.com/sports/TK/regulations
10.2 If the selection criteria and the grievance procedures were not followed properly, see ATHLETE GRIEVANCES AND COMPLAINTS.
11. INTERNATIONAL DISCLAIMER
11.1 These procedures are based on ICSD, as applicable, and/or WT rules and regulations as presently known and understood. Any change in the selection procedures caused by a change in ICSD, as applicable, and/or WT rules and regulations will be distributed to the affected athletes immediately. The selection criteria are based on the latest information available to USA Deaf Taekwondo. However, the selections are always subject to unforeseen, intervening circumstances, and realistically may not have accounted for every possible contingency.
If any force of nature, or force majeure, should cause the altercation or cancellation of any of the selection events listed in this document, these selection procedures will be revised, pursuant to their resubmission to the USADSF.
12. ATHLETE GRIEVANCES AND COMPLAINTS
12.1 If an athlete has questions regarding their opportunity to compete that are not answered by USA Deaf Taekwondo, they may contact the USADSF Executive Director, Jameson Crane at crane@usdeafsports.org. If the Executive Director does not respond within 3 business days, the complaint may then contact the USADSF President, Danny Lacey at lacey@usdeafsports.org.
13. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
13.1 This document certifies that USADT individuals on the Selection Committee understand the standards/criteria set by ICSD, IF, and/or USADSF and have incorporated those standards/criteria into the Selection Procedures. These individuals certify that the information provided herein regarding Athlete Selection Procedures represents the method approved by USA Deaf Taekwondo.