Obtaining AKA Sanctioning For Your Kite Event

  1. Basic Information
    1. AKA Sanctioning is available for kite events within the United States and Canada.
    2. AKA Sanctioning means that American Kitefliers Association members are involved in the administration of the event, that the AKA endorses and approves the event and that those involved in staging and supervising the event qualify for limited coverage under AKA’s liability insurance policy.
      1. Coverage limits:
        • $1,000,000 per occurrence ($100,000 for non-member claimants)
        • Fire legal liability - $300,000
      2. Traction kiting activities such as, but not limited to, kite surfing, kite buggying, and kite skiing are excluded from coverage.
    3. AKA Sanctioning is awarded for a kite event of a specific date and time or, through the club affiliation fee, for recurring periodic club events for which the Chair and activities remain constant. A standard certificate of coverage is available upon request.
    4. AKA Sanctioning is automatically nullified by an illegal action on the part of the sponsor or Chair as regards the sanctioned event.
    5. News releases or announcements may not indicate that AKA approves or endorses an event unless and until AKA Sanctioning has been granted in writing.
    6. AKA Sanctioning costs $100
  2. Recommended Practice

    AKA strongly recommends the following. It will not affect the level of coverage, but will add another layer of protection for event organizers and participants.

    1. All participants sign a waiver and release of liability. A PDF form template of a simple waiver is available. Fill in the name of your event in the "EVENT NAME" field and print copies as you need them.
    2. Use wristbands or other visual indication to denote those who have signed the waiver. Only those signing the waiver should be permitted on the designated fields.
    3. AKA wristbands are $0.06 each and may be ordered on the sanctioning form.
  3. Requirements

    The following requirements MUST be met in order for an event to be awarded AKA sanctioning:

    1. The Chair of the event must be both an AKA member in good standing and an experienced kiteflier.
    2. Sponsorship. An AKA Affiliated Chapter, an AKA member in good standing, or an AKA Member Merchant must sponsor the event.
    3. Safety. The Chair must assure in writing that the following requirements will be satisfied:
      1. The event must satisfy the requirements of Federal Aviation Regulations, Part 101, pertaining to moored balloons, kites, unmanned rockets, and unmanned free balloons. If the event is within the control zone of any airport or within the expected flight path of any aircraft, the event must be coordinated with and approved by proper authorities to assure that it will not conflict with aircraft operations in any way.
      2. At least two AKA members familiar with safe flying practices must be designated as Safety Coordinators and be on duty at all times during the event. The Safety Coordinators must submit all required reports (See V.A - C)
      3. Safety Coordinators will not fly kites during a tour of duty. However, the Coordinators may be relieved by qualified alternates, allowing the Coordinators time to fly kites.
      4. Adequate space will be provided for sport kites and for large kites weighing over five pounds and having more than 200 pounds of pull. These spaces must be cleared of all other kites.
      5. To the extent necessary, the site itself will be marked to designate areas for the various activities.
      6. The use of cutting in any AKA Fighter Kite Sanctioned Competition has been addressed in the new Fighter Kite and Rok Rule Book. The AKA should not set aside any area for the use of cutting line other than in a demo situation with only one flier using cutting line in a ‘Sheep and Wolf’ type demonstration.
    4. The appropriate AKA Regional Director must approve the site for the event.

    * AKA discourages the inclusion of activities in which a person is intentionally lifted, pulled, dragged, or tethered. (See I.B.2. above)

  4. The Sanctioning Partnership

    Sanctioning is a partnership between the AKA and the event. For its part, AKA provides credibility, publicity, and the option of being covered under the AKA liability insurance policy. In return, AKA asks sanctioned events to:

    1. Give recognition to AKA as a sponsor equal to that given to any other sponsor, including printed publicity, T-shirts, and announcements over the Public Address system.
    2. Provide opportunity and space for event attendees to join the AKA. (AKA will provide a recruitment poster and PDF form membership forms.)
  5. Sanctioning Request Processing
    1. Requests must be submitted to the AKA in writing on the form provided or electronically through this web site.
    2. Requests should be submitted as early as possible. Requests submitted less than 30 days prior to the event will be processed as is best possible. However, due to time limitations, sanctioning of requests received less than 30 days prior to the event cannot be guaranteed.
    3. Any fees that may be assessed for each event (or club affiliation year) to help defray the cost of the sanctioning process must be received before the event takes place. Payment may be by cash, check, or credit card.
    4. Once the appropriate Regional Director and the AKA Executive Director agree that the event meets all of the requirements and the appropriate fees have been paid, the event will be sanctioned.
    5. The Executive Director or their designee will notify the applicant in writing of the disposition of the sanctioning request. The sanctioning fees will be refunded if the event is not sanctioned.
  6. Reports
    1. Urgent Report: If serious personal injury or property damage occurs, the Chair or organizer must notify the AKA Executive Director or President in person or by telephone within 24 hours.
    2. Report of Kite Incident: The Safety Coordinators agree to provide the Chair and AKA, within 24 hours of the event, a separate Report of Kite Incident for:
      1. each kite incident which resulted in any personal injury or property damage;
      2. each "near miss" safety violation which posed a potential hazard.
      Incidents that may result in civil action must be reported to directly the AKA.
    3. Sport Kite Competition Results: Results of all contests in which fliers may earn AKA Sport Kite Conference points, including the name and state of each contestant or team member, must be forwarded to the appropriate Sport Kite Conference Commissioner.
    4. Kitemakers' Competition Results: Kitemakers’ competitions should report 1st, 2nd and 3rd places to the chair of the Kitemakers' Committee, including name and email or address of each competitor.
    5. Fighter kite Competition Results should be forwarded to the regional Fighter Kite Committee representative to be then sent on to the Official AKA Fighter Kite Scorekeeper.
  7. Sanctioning Form
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