At Tap Cancer Out, we take the tournament experience SERIOUSLY.
A long time ago, in a land far away, I (Jon) was a competitor too!! 😂 I’ve felt the pain of disorganization that some tournament experiences provide. I vowed to make the Tap Cancer Out BJJ Open not only the most impactful and philanthropic BJJ tournament in the world, but one of the most effectively and efficiently run as well.
We are always trying to understand what actually matters to competitors, coaches, and parents, and implement it when we can without sacrificing the efficiency and value we provide to our community. While we can’t implement feedback in the moment it’s requested, I do want folks to know we are listening, internalizing, and doing everything we can to find new ways to make our tournaments even better.
One important note – Some of these policies require a detailed explanation with FAQs and I don’t want to make this post too long, so please click on the provided links to read the full policies on our FAQ website.
In no particular order, here we go!
WE ARE MOVING TO A DOUBLE ELIMINATION FORMAT FOR ALL DIVISIONS & AGES.
In the past, we provided round-robin divisions for youth participants and single-elimination divisions for adults, with a few exceptions for smaller divisions. However, this setup often led to concerns about too many matches for young competitors and too few for adults, as well as increased injury risks, administrative burdens, and tie-breaker complexities.
In response, we’ve decided to transition all TCO BJJ Open events to a DOUBLE ELIMINATION format. While there may be exceptions based on division size, such as instances where a division is exceptionally large resulting in only one match for some competitors (e.g., a division of 16+ Adults), this change ensures that almost all participants will have the opportunity for at least two matches.
Below we’ve outlined how certain division sizes are handled. PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY to understand how many matches you and/or your child may have.
- Divisions of 2 Competitors: Still Best two-of-three
- Divisions of 3 Competitors: Still Round Robin (each competitor fights the other two – best record wins or we go to tiebreakers)
- Divisions of 4 Competitors: Single Elimination with 3rd place matches (all competitors fight twice)
- Youth Divisions of 5+ Competitors: Double Elimination – Loser Bracket fights for THIRD PLACE – Finals of the Winners Bracket is a True Final for 1st and 2nd (A child must win one of their first two matches in order to have a chance at fighting 3 or 4 times)
- Adult Divisions of 5 – 15 Competitors: Double Elimination – Consolation Bracket fights for THIRD PLACE – Finals of the Winners Bracket is a True Final for Gold (1st) and Silver (2nd)
- Adult Divisions of 17+ Competitors: Double Elimination only beings in the Round of 16. Competitors must make their way into the Round of 16 to compete for Bronze
* All Youth Competitors are guaranteed two matches
** Once Youth Divisions exceed 7 competitors we try to split them by gender, then belt, then weight in order to make equitable brackets.
We have more details and some frequently asked questions about this topic on our website and we encourage you to read that in full. Please click here to read the full policy on Double Elimination brackets
YOUTH DIVISIONS STARTING AT 10 Y/O WILL BE SPLIT GENDER BY DEFAULT — 9 AND YOUNGER WILL REMAIN MIXED AND ONLY SPLIT WHEN DIVISION SIZE ALLOWS
Historically we did not separate by gender at the Tap Cancer Out BJJ Open – only subdividing larger divisions of 8+ by belt first (ex: Grey with Grey, White with White), then weight when applicable. This approach allowed us to offer more children the maximum of 4 matches during the day, especially with our previous Round Robin policy (which is now Double Elimination).
Short Explanation of our Policy:
- All divisions 9 and under are inherently MIXED Gender (same as before) in order to maximize # of potential matches, BUT will be split by gender first (then belt or weight) when division size allows (different than before)
- All divisions 10 and older are inherently SPLIT Gender, BUT may be mixed/combined in certain cases and will NOT be split if it leaves a single competitor alone with no safe alternative options
This policy is too long / complex to put in this post, so we URGE you to click on this link to read and understand the policy in full.
MASTERS FEMALE DIVISIONS ARE OFFERED AT ALL TOURNAMENTS FOR WHITE, BLUE, AND PURPLE BELTS (SAME AS MALES).
As is the case with the males, all Brown and Black Belt divisions are still Adult (16+), though the average age of an upper belt competitor is 33. So while you are choosing “Adult” you will more often than not be in a division with other 30+ competitors. The average age of upper belt competitors is much higher than the age of the average Tap Cancer Out competitor considering the time it takes to achieve these belts.
Executive Divisions (when offered) are still for MALE White / Blue / Purple Belt only.
This will inevitably leave many more female competitors alone in their respective divisions (which is why it historically hasn’t been offered) and require more coordination between competitors and our Bracketing Team to find their best option. But hopefully the availability of the Masters division will drive more Female 30+ participation.
In the interest of time and efficiency we reserve the right to proactively (with no discussion) combine FEMALE Adult and Masters divisions (after the close of registration but before the day of the event) in order to ensure that Female competitors are not left alone, either by moving a single Masters competitor down to Adult OR moving an Adult competitor into Masters, even if they don’t qualify. However, prior to moving them up/down in age, single competitors will be given the option to move up in weight in their proper age class if that is their preference.
Thanks for being a part of the Tap Cancer Out journey. We hope that these changes will make our events as enjoyable as they are impactful!