National Christian HomeSchool Championship Overview

The National Christian HomeSchool (NCHC) Tournaments have steadily grown since their inception in 1991. Originally, the NCHC was a single basketball nationals event. During this time, the NCHC has hosted the largest homeschool sports event each year for going on 4 decades. In the 2000’s the NCHC began to expand and now hosts between 3-8 District HomeSchool Basketball Tournaments, 3-5 Regional HomeSchool Basketball Tournaments, and a massive 400+ team National HomeSchool Basketball Tournament. The NCHC has also proudly hosted the Largest HomeSchool Volleyball Tournament for nearly a decade, which is now over 190 teams in!

Overall, the NCHC Leadership is dedicated to supporting HomeSchool Sports Nationals across seven sports: Basketball, Volleyball, Fall Soccer, Spring Soccer, Golf, Cross Country, and Track & Field. We also organize numerous Christian & HomeSchool Volleyball Regional & Basketball Tip-Off Tournaments.

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Organizational Structure of the National Tournaments

Executive Committee

This committee oversees all initial eligibility decisions, along with the structural and financial aspects of NCHC-run events (such as Basketball Nationals). Their responsibilities include determining event locations, dates, and fee structures, assessing the “good standing” status of programs/teams, managing special events (such as the All-American Game), and selecting members for other committees.

Regional Committee

The Regional Committee interacts with local programs regarding eligibility and suggests eligibility changes. They also rule on appeals to decisions made by other committees (Executive and/or EAB). This committee typically consists of 6-12 members, though it can expand to as many as 30 leaders when needed. No boys’ or girls’ program will hold more than one position on this committee. Members include, but are not limited to, directors involved in running NCHC Post-Season Events.

Eligibility Advisory Board (EAB)

The EAB’s composition changes annually. Its members are leaders, registered coaches, and athletic directors who are members in good standing and attend the National Tournament of their sport, totaling over 400 members.

The EAB has two primary functions:

• To vote on hardship eligibility appeals.
• To offer advice, opinions, and vote on eligibility changes for the upcoming season.

An eligibility appeal occurs when a player or team is denied a hardship exemption and wishes to appeal the decision. All appeals are submitted in writing, and voting is conducted via email.

Eligibility Guidelines Committee (EGC)

The EGC’s composition changes annually. Its one (up to two) members are leaders, registered coaches, and athletic directors who are members in good standing and attend the National Tournament of their sport, totaling under 200 members.

The EGC has two primary functions:

• To vote on hardship eligibility appeals for which the EAB was unable to make a conclusive decision on.
• To follow up, vote, and offer advice, opinions, and vote on eligibility changes for the upcoming season.
• In some cases, due to timing, the EGC vote will take place in lieu of an EAB vote.

An eligibility appeal occurs when a player or team is denied a hardship exemption and wishes to appeal the decision. All appeals are submitted in writing, and voting is conducted via email.

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More Info on the NCHC EAB

Who makes up the EAB?

The EAB comprises coaches and leaders from teams registered to attend NCHC Post-Season Events. In Basketball, this results in hundreds of voting members. While some choose to vote and others do not, all have an equal opportunity to voice their opinions.

Reason for the EAB

The EAB exists because we at the NCHC believe that teams attending our events should have a say in the eligibility standards. Over the years, clear precedents have been established, allowing the Executive Committee to approve or deny most hardship exemptions without needing EAB intervention. However, unique situations always arise, and these are brought to the EAB for a vote. Additionally, if a hardship is denied (based on past precedent), the program has the ability to appeal that denial to the EAB.

The Executive Committee’s role in eligibility is to act as the gatekeeper for NCHC Events and uphold the eligibility guidelines set by the EAB. Over the years, the EAB has adjusted, added, and even removed specific eligibility guidelines, and has ruled on hundreds of EAB hardship situations and appeals.

The bottom line is that the programs attending NCHC events overwhelmingly believe that eligibility is the number one threat in HomeSchool Sports. We agree; we’ve seen firsthand how destructive ineligible teams can be. We stand with our programs and believe that nothing can ruin a parent, player, coach, or fan’s experience more than having ineligible teams at our NCHC HomeSchool Events. Therefore, we strive to be consistent and fair.

With that said, the Executive Committee fully understands that the landscape of HomeSchool Athletics is constantly changing, leading to unique situations. Amidst this ever-changing environment, we feel it is our collective job to protect the reputation of HomeSchool Athletics. We believe it’s essential that HomeSchool Coaches, Directors, and Administrators are encouraged to take an active role and voice in influencing the rules and policies they have agreed to abide by.

Ultimately, we at the NCHC believe everyone’s opinion is essential to our post-season events. We want to ensure our rules and policies reflect the vast majority of the teams and programs that attend our events. This is why the leaders and coaches participating in the EAB are so crucial, as their votes will help us both now and in the coming years to ensure the integrity of HomeSchool Sports remains intact.

The EAB is made up of leaders, coaches, and administrators who represent teams from across the nation that have attended or will attend NCHC Post-Season Events.

EAB Members are sincerely thanked for the time they dedicate to voting. Our goal at the NCHC is to work hand-in-hand with you to address the ever-changing HomeSchool Sports Movement.

National Christian HomeSchool Championship Overview

The National Christian HomeSchool (NCHC) Tournaments have continued to grow since 2000.   Year to year the NCHC will host between 3-8 District HomeSchool Basketball Tournaments, 3-5 Regional HomeSchool Basketball Tournaments, and a 350+ team National  HomeSchool Basketball Tournament. The NCHC also host the Largest HomeSchool Volleyball Tournament for going on nearly a decade. All in all the NCHC Leadership works to support HomeSchool Sports Nationals for 7 sports—Basketball, Volleyball, Fall Soccer, Spring Soccer, Golf, Cross Country, and Track & Field. As well as numerous Christian & HomeSchool Volleyball Regional & Basketball Tip-Off Tournaments.

The organizational structure of the National Tournaments is as follows:

Executive Committee –  This committee oversees all of the initial eligibility decisions, structural and financial decisions of NCHC run events (Basketball Nationals, etc.), such as locations, dates, fees structure, programs “good standing” status, special events (All-American Game), and the selection process for other committees.

Regional Committee – The functions of this committee are to interact with local programs concerning eligibility and to suggest eligibility changes. The Regional Committee is also in put in place to rule on appeals to decisions made by other committees (Executive &/or EAB.) The Regional Committee typically consist of 6-12 members, when need arises this committee can be expanded to as many as 30 leaders. No boys or girls program will have more than 1 position. The members of this committee includes (but is not limited to) directors that are involved with running the NCHC Post Season Events.

Eligibility Advisory Board (EAB) – This board changes every year.  The members of the committee are made up of the leaders, registered coaches, and athletic directors that attend the National Tournament. The EAB has 400+ members.

The EAB has two primary functions:

1. To vote on hardship eligibility appeals.*
2. To offer advice, opinions, and vote on eligibility changes for upcoming season.*An eligibility appeal is when a player or team is denied a hardship exemption and wishes to file an appeal. All appeals are in writing and voting is done through e-mail.

The NCHC ONLY handles eligibility exemptions or questions in writing, it does NOT handle the questions on the phone. Coaches, Athletic Directors, Parents, & Players if you have questions about an eligibility situation in your program and you have told the player has been granted an exemption ask to see it in writing. We are issuing this clarification statement because the last couple of years we have had 3 situations where coaches have told players that it was approved by Tim or Rob but we had not even heard of the situations. As players, coaches and parents it is your responsibility to make sure your team meets the eligibility requirements. Again all eligibility issues must be dealt with in writing, no exceptions.