STUDENT HANDBOOK

*New additions for Spring 2026

By participating in any NISD Esports practice, meetings, competitions or other gatherings, all players agree to abide by the rules and regulations listed below.

• I understand that expressing oneself in an offensive manner toward other players or their actions in the game, regardless of whether they are opponents or teammates will not be accepted. 

• I will not use language, nicknames or other expressions that insult another player’s gender, gender identity, origin, physical ability, race, sexual orientation, religion, or age. 

• I will always support my team, communicating positively and with respect. 

• I will not use language or actions that refer to sexual violence or other violence. 

• I will not act in a threatening or violent manner.

• I understand that cheating, exploiting and hacking are strictly forbidden and will not be tolerated.

• I will not share account information or any other private information that could put myself or my peers at risk. 

• I will not harass or sexually harass other players, team members, or other associated parties, as outlined in the NISD Code of Conduct.

• I will not offend the dignity or integrity of a country, private person, or group of people through contemptuous, discriminatory, or derogatory words or actions on account of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, ability status, gender identity, language, religion, political opinion or any other opinion, sexual orientation, or any other reason.

• I understand that any actions which could be described as “Rage Quitting” (throwing / breaking controllers, intentional / malicious disconnection of hardware prior to the end of a match) are not appropriate or allowed. 

• I understand that any antagonizing actions - be they in or out of the game - prior, during or following any matches toward another player are not appropriate or allowed.

• I understand that I am participating in a team event, and I am representing my school at all times.

• I understand that this is a school event. All of my actions must be school appropriate at all times.

• I agree to abide by any and all rules or regulations outlined in the official NISD Handbook in addition to the Code of Conduct outlined herein, as well as any applicable campus regulations.

Any team member found to have violated or attempted to violate the Code of Conduct is subject to consequences. The nature and extent of the consequences shall be made in the sole discretion of the team sponsor and or administrators.

If players are attending off-campus or online events sponsored by outside organizations, they must follow the code of conduct set forth by that entity.

Possible consequences for failure to abide by the Code of Conduct may result in any of the following:

• Warnings

• Immediate forfeit of game or match

• Player suspension from the entire tournament

• Player suspension from tournament live events (qualifiers / championships) for the remainder of the school year

• Team disqualification from tournament live events (qualifiers / championships) for tournament in question, OR for the remainder of the school year

Students participating in the NISD Esports program are given the opportunity to compete in multiple games for their grade level and learn valuable life skills such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication. They are also able to build their skills, play against others across the district, and learn about other esports opportunities in higher education. Each student is required to follow certain guidelines to participate in this program.

Practice & Competitions

• Campus teams will hold meetings and practice for interested students at least two hours per week. Practice may occur either before or after school.

• Qualifying competitions occur twice a year for middle and high school students, at district facilities. Campus sponsors / coaches will provide information to students and their parents/guardians on the date, location and time of these competitions.

• Sponsors / coaches and their campuses are NOT responsible for providing transportation for students to and from district competitions.

• Parents / guardians are expected to pick up their student at the end of the event.

• Parents / guardians are asked to ensure their student does not bring any prohibited items, as defined in the NISD Code of Conduct, to district competitions.

• During competition, Station Monitors will have the final say in rules or player disputes. Station Monitors may choose to escalate a dispute to the Event Coordinator.

• At start of official qualifying and championship matches, all players need to be seated and ready to play within a reasonable amount of time of the station monitor calling them to compete. Students and teams names will be called three times; twice by the station monitor, and again by event coordinators if necessary. If the student or team is not available and ready to play when called they will be disqualified.

Attendance, Grades, Behavior & Deadlines

• Student competitors are required to attend practices or meetings at their campus in order to compete at qualifying and championship events under the supervision of their sponsor / coach.

• Student competitors are required to maintain a passing grade in ALL their classes in order to play in qualifying and championship events.

• Student competitors are required to maintain a good attendance and behavior record at their campus in order to play in qualifying and championship events.

• Students participating in intramural esports competitions must be passing all classes on or before the Monday before competition in order to compete.

Rule Violations

• If any of these requirements are discovered to have not been followed after an event has already passed, the student will be disqualified for the rest of the season (Example: Fall or Spring).

• In the event of a student who qualified for the championships is disqualified after the event, the next runner up will qualify in their place.

Pictures and video may be taken of students during official competitions at district facilities. As such, all students are required to complete a media release form in order to participate in any official district competitions.

• Sponsors / Coaches will be responsible for gathering these forms from each student on their team

• Parents and other audience members are asked to abide by the same standards as their students. Those who do not may be asked to leave.

To coordinate practice and play throughout the school year, campus sponsors / coaches may use any of the following platforms in order to communicate with students on their team.

Authorized Platforms

• Northside ISD Gmail

• Google Chat

• Remind

Restrictions & Regulations

Sponsors / coaches must abide by the Texas Education Code of Ethics Standards as outlined in the NISD Employee Handbook regarding communication with students.

• https://nisd.net/employees/department/human-resources/documents/hr-publications

All volunteers are required to complete an NISD VOLUNTEER AND CONTRACTOR BACKGROUND CHECK through our official HR website. This applies to parents, business leaders and other members of the NISD community. Please read through the guidelines below:

How do I find out if I am cleared to volunteer?

• • Please call your campus and speak to the principal's secretary.  All principal secretaries have access to the cleared list and can make individual name searches.  Campus phone numbers are here.

Do I have to fill out a new online form every year?

• • Yes.  All information is deleted each year on the last day of June. Forms can be filled out for the following school year as early as July 1.

How long does it take to get back the results?

• • It takes one to two weeks for the results to be returned.  Background checks can not be expedited.

I don't have a social security number.  What should I do?

• • Please contact the campus principal's secretary for guidance. 

I am an education student requiring placement at a campus.  Is this the form I fill out?

• • No. Please go here for more information and the link to your background check form.

If I am a current NISD employee do I need to fill out the online Volunteer / Contractor background check form?

• • No.  All current NISD employees undergo a background check annually.

If I am a retired NISD employee, do I need to fill out the online Volunteer / Contractor background check form?

• • Yes.  All NISD retirees must fill out a Volunteer / Contractor background check annually.

Parents & Guardians

• Parents and guardians are encouraged to collaborate with their campus esports sponsor / coach.

• Campus sponsors / coaches have the final decision of who is invited to work with the team on their campus.

• Parents and guardians may not make any decisions regarding the makeup or roster of the team, nor the schedule or location of practices.

Business Leaders & Other Members of the Community

Campus sponsors / coaches may choose to collaborate with the leaders of local businesses, including, but not limited to:

• Gaming Cafes

• Local Competition / Training Leagues

• Colleges & Universities

Campus sponsors / coaches may choose to accept campus / team level donations or sponsorship deals from local businesses. Certain restrictions apply:

• All sponsorship collaborations are understood to be undertaken with the individual campus / team, not NISD Esports as an organization.

• Players / teams may display logos or designs provided by sponsors on jerseys or other equipment (controllers, game systems, PC cases, etc.) purchased using campus funds.

• Players / teams may not display logos or designs provided by campus level sponsors on any equipment purchased using district funds. This includes district provided game systems, laptops or jerseys.

Campus sponsors / coaches may choose to collaborate with other members of their local gaming community for the purposes of team development. This may include:

• Professional players

• Streamers / shoutcasters

• University coaches

• Professional league representatives / recruiters

Teams and students may create and utilize official social media platforms for the purpose of recruiting, college and professional outreach, and team promotion.

• All posts on social media platforms must be district appropriate, and follow the Code of Conduct guidelines outlined in the NISD Esports Handbook along with the NISD District Handbook.

• All official social media accounts must be owned by a campus Sponsor / Coach.

• Students and teams may record and broadcast/stream gameplay videos and commentary for the purposes of team development and promotion with Sponsor / Coach permission. 

• Please note that all students appearing in any such content must complete the NISD Esports Student Media Release form.

Authorized Platforms

• Twitter

• Instagram / Threads

• Facebook

• YouTube

This section outlines all game rules and regulations around titles allowed within the district through NISD Esports. All other titles not listed below are not allowed for intramural competition.

The following titles are authorized for intramural play through the NISD Esports organization:

Fall Season

Spring Season

This is a fighting game in which players engage in brawls with characters from Nintendo and third-party franchises. Players punch, kick, and perform super attacks (e.g., giant laser blasts, rocket barrages) against cartoony opponents to knock them off platforms.

Match Rules

• Solo Battle (1v1)

• Stock: 3

• Time Limit: 7:00

• Spirits: Off

• First to: 2 Win for Qualifiers / 3 Wins for Finals

  • Note: Using the in-game First to: 2 or 3 Wins ruleset will prevent character switching. As such, we will keep track of best 2 out of 3 manually and forgo the use of this ruleset.

• Items: Off

• Stage Selection: Legal Stages; 2 Bans Each (See List Below)

• Pausing: Off

• Score Display: On

• Launch Rate: 1.0x

• All DLC characters are allowed.

Tournament Legal Stages

Starters

For game 1, each player strikes 2 stages they do not want to play on out of the starter stages. The remaining stage out of the starters is then played for game 1.*

1. Battlefield

2. Final Destination

3. Pokémon Stadium 2 / Small Battlefield

4. Smashville

5. Yoshi's Story

Counterpicks

For any game after game 1, the winning player of the previous game will ban 3 stages they do not want to play on, and the loser will then pick from the remaining stages.*

1. Kalos Pokémon League

2. Town and City

3. Northern Cave

4. Hollow Bastion

Intramural Competition

• Names will be called for competition to begin at 8:15 AM (Middle School) and 1:15 PM (High School) on the day of the qualifying events, and at 8:15 AM on the day of championship events. At start of official qualifying and championship matches, all players need to be seated and ready to play within a reasonable amount of time of the station monitor calling them to compete. Students and teams names will be called three times; twice by the station monitor, and again by event coordinators if necessary. If the student or team is not available and ready to play when called they will be disqualified.

Qualifiers

• 32 competition stations divided into eight Pools hosting brackets.

• 256 students from each grade level (middle and high school) will be allowed to sign-up for play.

• Each Pool will be managed by a Pool Captain, who will run their bracket.

• All competitions will be Double Elimination; if a player loses once, they will move down into the Loser's Bracket. If they lose again, they will be eliminated.

• The winners from both the Winners and Losers Brackets from each Pool will proceed to the Finals for their level.

• If a player is not present at their station two minutes after they are called to compete, they will be disqualified.

Finals

• The 16 winners from each qualifier pool will be invited to compete in the NISD Esports Championship.

• The competition ruleset will remain the same, except matches will be played as Best-of-5.

• The winner of this Top-16 bracket will be declared the winner of the NISD Esports Championship in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

In-Game Rules

• Team Battle (2v2)

• Stock: 3

• Time Limit: 7:00

• Spirits: Off

• First to: 2 Win for Qualifiers / 3 Wins for Finals

  • Note: Using the in-game First to: 2 or 3 Wins ruleset will prevent character switching. As such, we will keep track of best 2 out of 3 manually and forgo the use of this ruleset.

• Items: Off

• Stage Selection: Legal Stages; 2 Bans Each (See List Below)

• Pausing: Off

• Score Display: On

• Launch Rate: 1.0x

• Team Attack: On

• All DLC characters are allowed.

Tournament Legal Stages

Starters

For game 1, each player strikes 2 stages they do not want to play on out of the starter stages. The remaining stage out of the starters is then played for game 1.*

1. Battlefield

2. Final Destination

3. Pokémon Stadium 2 / Small Battlefield

4. Smashville

5. Yoshi's Story

Counterpicks

For any game after game 1, the winning player of the previous game will ban 3 stages they do not want to play on, and the loser will then pick from the remaining stages.*

1. Kalos Pokémon League

2. Town and City

3. Northern Cave

4. Hollow Bastion

Intramural Competition

• Names will be called for competition to begin at 8:15 AM (Middle School) and 1:15 PM (High School) on the day of the qualifying events, and at 8:15 AM on the day of championship events. At start of official qualifying and championship matches, all players need to be seated and ready to play within a reasonable amount of time of the station monitor calling them to compete. Students and teams names will be called three times; twice by the station monitor, and again by event coordinators if necessary. If the student or team is not available and ready to play when called they will be disqualified.

Competition Rules

• Competition Type: Distributed Round Robin

• Time Limit: 5 minutes

• Match Type: Best-of-Three

• Players: 2v2

• Team Size: 2-12

• Team Attack: On

• Stages: District Legal

Match Rules

• Schools will be divided into evenly distributed pools (Example: 21 middle schools, three groups of seven) and will play each other in a round robin competition.

• Teams within these pools will all play one another in round robin, best-of-three matches, and a station monitor will tally wins and losses for each school.

• Teams may have as few as two, or as many as twelve students on their team.

• Teams may swap players been matches, but not between rounds.

• Score ties will be decided with single stock "sudden death" matches.

Finals

• One team from each pool with the best overall win/loss record will proceed to the Championships, for a total of six teams.

• One team with the best overall runner-up win/loss record across all pools will also proceed to the Championships as a "wild card".

• Four teams in total will proceed to the Championships 

• These teams will play a Final Four, Single Elimination competition against one another at the Championships

• The winner of this Final Four bracket will be declared the winner of the NISD Esports Championship in Super Smash Bros. Doubles.

This is an action-racing game in which players drive futuristic cars to play games of soccer. Players attempt to score the most goals as they compete in a variety of game modes (e.g., Season, Exhibition, Training).

Match Rules

• Game Mode: Soccar

• Arena: DFH Stadium OR another arena agreed upon by both teams from the list

• Team Size: 3v3

• Bot Difficulty: No Bots

• Best of…

Mutator Settings

• Preset Settings: Custom

• Match Length: 3 games for Qualifiers / 5 games for Finals

• Match Length: 5 minutes

• Max Score: Unlimited

• Overtime: Unlimited

• Game Speed: Default

• Ball Max Speed: Default

• Ball Type: Default

• Ball Physics: Default

• Ball Size: Default

• Ball Bounciness: Default

• Boost Amount: Default

• Rumble: None

• Boost Strength: 1x

• Gravity: Default

• Demolish: Default

• Respawn Time: 3 seconds

Mercy Rule

If one team is winning by 7 or more goals with 2 minutes left the game can be immediately ended with the higher scoring team declared as the winner.

Tournament Legal Stages

• Aquadome

• Champions Field

• Champions Field (Day)

• DFH Stadium

• DFH Stadium (Day)

• DFH Stadium (Stormy)

• Mannfield

• Mannfield (Night)

• Mannfield (Snowy)

• Mannfield (Stormy)

• Neo Tokyo

• Salty Shores

• Starbase ARC

• Urban Central

• Urban Central (Dawn)

• Urban Central (Night)

• Utopia Coliseum

• Utopia Coliseum (Dusk)

• Utopia Coliseum (Snowy)

• Wasteland

• Wasteland (Night)

Intramural Competition

• Names will be called for competition to begin at 1:30 PM on the day of qualifying events, and at 8:30 AM on the day of championship events. At start of official qualifying and championship matches, all players need to be seated and ready to play within a reasonable amount of time of the station monitor calling them to compete. Students and teams names will be called three times; twice by the station monitor, and again by event coordinators if necessary. If the student or team is not available and ready to play when called they will be disqualified.

Qualifiers

• Six competition stations will be set up with one computer at each.

• Controllers will be provided, but players may use their own if they wish.

• Participating teams will play against each other in a Double Elimination bracket using the above ruleset.

• The final two teams from the Winners and Losers bracket will proceed to the Finals.

Finals

• The top four Rocket League teams will be invited to compete in the NISD Esports Championship.

• The competition ruleset will remain the same for the Semifinals, except matches will be played as best of 5, and will be Single Elimination.

• The winner of this Top-4 bracket will be declared the winner of the NISD Esports Championship in Rocket League.

This is a kart-racing game in which players compete with characters from the Mario universe. As players race against other drivers, they can use whimsical power-ups (e.g., turtle shells, fireballs, boomerangs) to impede opponents' progress and knock enemies off the tracks.

Match Rules

• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe teams will compete a series of matches called Circuits. A full Circuit will take approximately 20 minutes to complete.

• Each Circuit will consist of 4 Races. Each Race will take approximately 5 minutes.

• Maps / tracks will be chosen at random.

• No bots will be used in competition.

Team / Player Rules

• Up to 16 schools / teams will be allowed to register for competition.

• School teams will play each other in a 4v4 Double Elimination format.

• Teams must have at least four players, and are heavily encouraged to have four additional, alternate players.

• Teams may switch out players between matches, but not rounds.

Race / Equipment Rules

• Series Length: 4 races

• Mode: 150CC Race 

• Teams: Team Game 

• Items: Normal Items 

• COM: OFF

• Smart Steering: No Smart Steering

• Characters: All base game characters are legal for competition.

• Vehicle Type / Equipment: All base vehicle types and equipment available are legal for competition.

• Downloadable Content: No DLC will be available, and is not allowed for this competition.

• Legal Tracks / Cups: Any track chosen at random

Intramural Competition

• Names will be called for competition to begin at 8:15 AM (Middle School) and 1:15 PM (High School) on the day of the qualifying events, and at 8:15 AM on the day of championship events. At start of official qualifying and championship matches, all players need to be seated and ready to play within a reasonable amount of time of the station monitor calling them to compete. Students and teams names will be called three times; twice by the station monitor, and again by event coordinators if necessary. If the student or team is not available and ready to play when called they will be disqualified.

Qualifiers / Finals

• The four teams that make it to the end of the winners and losers brackets will proceed to the Championships.

• These teams will play a Final Four, Single Elimination competition against one another at the Championships

• The winner of this Final Four bracket will be declared the winner of the NISD Esports Championship in Mario Kart 8.

Marvel Rivals is a 6v6 hero game in which players assemble a team of superheroes and super villains to battle other players. Heroes are categorized in three distinct roles: Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist. Players will pick their preferred role and hero, and team up with others to do battle. 

Seasonal Match Rules

• Teams of six players will play a Best-of-Three round robin matches in Qualifiers, and Best-of-Five, single elimination matches in the Championships.

• When making a custom game, teams will use the name of the home team for the game name, and the name of the visiting team for the password. If the game requires a longer game name or password, just put "nisd" at the front of the school name.

  • Example: Marshall vs Jay
    Game Name: marshall
    Password: nisdjay

• Players will use the Tournament Room and Tournament Mode Pick/Ban system.

• All matches must use the Competitive list for selecting a map.

• The home team (listed first) will host the game and pick the first map. 

  • Example: If the match is "Sotomayor vs Warren" then Sotomayor is considered the home team, and will host and pick first.

• Round losers pick subsequent maps.

• The same map cannot be chosen consecutively, and maps cannot be replayed/re-picked within the same match/best of series.

• Characters released or that have undergone a major rework less than two weeks before intramural competition may not be selected.

• At start of official season matches, all players need to be seated and ready to play within a reasonable amount of time. If one team is not present, or does not have at least 6 players ready to play, the match may not proceed. 

• Forfeit Protocol: Teams may submit a No-Show / Forfeit request for their opponent if they did not or will not play within 30 minutes of the start time of the match. If a team receives 3 or more No-Show / Forfeits in a single season they will be disqualified from participating in the Championships.

• All players must use default character skins during intramural play.

IN-GAME RULES

Qualifier Events

• Names will be called for competition to begin at 1:30 PM on the day of qualifying events, and at 8:30 AM on the day of championship events.

• At start of official qualifying and championship matches, all players need to be seated and ready to play within a reasonable amount of time of the station monitor calling them to compete. 

• Students and teams names will be called three times; twice by the station monitor, and again by event coordinators if necessary. 

• If the student or team is not available and ready to play when called they will be disqualified.

Roster Rules

• All teams must have at least six players, and are heavily encouraged to have two alternate players.

• Player Substitutions may be made between maps.

• If a team does not have at least six players on the day of competition, they will automatically forfeit.

In order to provide higher level competition to students, NISD Esports provides access to certain outside esports organizations and leagues. Those students competing within NISD Esports may be provided with accounts for play in these organizations' competition brackets, or access to their tournaments.  

Additionally, these organizations may offer competition in games not allowed within the district, and as such, require special permission from a student’s parent or guardian. This may include tournaments hosted at off-campus facilities, and/or online tournaments sponsored by the Middle School Esports League (MSEL) and High School Esports League (HSEL). 

• Generation Esports

  • High School Esports League (HSEL)

  • Middle School Esports League (MSEL)

• Network of Academic and Scholastic Esports Federations (NASEF)

• PlayVS

• R20 Premiere Esports League

• Texas Gaming Empire

• Texas Scholastic Esports (TexSEF)

• The Tournament SA

• Vanta

The following games / series have been approved or prohibited for play by students through organizations partnered with NISD Esports:

Students must be given special, separate permission by their parents / guardians to compete in Out-of-District competitions, with a slip to be retained by their campus sponsor / coach. Must have NISD Login to view.

Except for games played in district intramural competition, Out-of-District games may not be played: 

• • …On district grounds.

  • …At district sponsored esports events.

  • …On district provided esports equipment (computers, consoles, etc.)

When competing in Out-of-District tournaments:

• • Competitors and teams may identify themselves as students of Northside ISD, but are not recognized as official district teams.

  • Competitors and teams may not wear district provided shirts, jerseys, or other official uniforms.

Permission to play and compete in Out-of-District competition and games is a privilege provided to students by Northside ISD and their campus sponsor / coach. If a student is observed or reported to have acted or behaved in a manner outside the NISD Esports Code of Conduct while participating in an Out-of-District activity, this privilege may be revoked at the discretion of NISD Esports coordinators and/or campus representatives.