Revision as of 11:20, 13 November 2009

How to Join

Regular membership in NASPA currently costs US$30 per year (regardless of residence: U.S., Canada or overseas).

• Online: To apply for membership, please complete our online application. You will be given a choice at the end of then paying online by Visa or MasterCard, or saving your information and mailing us a check. If you are a NASPA director with an upcoming tournament, we will extend you temporary credit so that you can activate your players’ memberships as required before your tournament; you then pay for the memberships together with your tournament participation fee.
• By Mail: If you are unable to complete the online application, you may attach a completed Membership Application Form and send it to us with your payment as directed in our payment page.

Memberships purchased on or before December 31, 2009 have an extended initial term: your membership will be valid from the receipt of your dues through December 31, 2010. After December 31, 2009, each membership term is twelve calendar months.

Membership terms will be reviewed next at the end of 2009.

Trial Memberships

First-time tournament players (those who do not have a tournament rating) may buy either a full NASPA membership or a trial six-month membership (US$15) through their tournament organizer. If they opt for a trial membership, they have the option to extend it to a full membership by sending in an additional $15 at any time during the six-month trial period.

Benefits of Membership

The main current benefits of membership are:

• Eligibility to play in NASPA tournaments. These are rated, sanctioned SCRABBLE tournaments. NASPA is the only organization in North America licensed by Hasbro to use the registered name, “SCRABBLE”. These events are played with an accepted tournament word list with rules for both play and comportment and a system in place to ensure that these rules are adhered to. Effective 2009-07-01, NSA membership is no longer accepted for tournament eligibility.
• An official membership card
• Sanctioned recognition of individual achievements in tournament play.
• Subscription to the NASPA Bulletin in electronic form

More benefits will be added as the NASPA Membership Committee prepares them.

In addition, players who join NASPA before July 1 will receive low-numbered membership numbers, a visible demonstration of their support for our nascent organization. Players who have a specific number that they want for their membership number may obtain it by paying a higher membership fee of US$50, provided the number is still available.

Members will be required to comply with a Code of Conduct, which is currently available for preview in draft form, and which took effect on July 1, 2009.

Current Members

The NASPA membership database has been online since April 6, 2009, and may be used to verify a person’s membership status.

Membership Numbers

NASPA membership numbers consist of AA followed by six digits, and are normally assigned in sequential order. Members may request larger numbers out of sequence by paying $50 rather than $30 for their membership.

Committee members pay the same fees as regular members, but are recognized with special membership numbers beginning with “CM”; regular members have numbers beginning with “AA”. Membership numbers CM000001–CM000016 are reserved for Steering Committee members.

Refund and Privacy Policies

A refund policy is currently being discussed and will be determined by the Membership Committee.

In order to keep track of your membership, we need to record information about you. How we handle this information is described in our Privacy Policy.