The six regions that make up the Games are divided by county. Visit the Tryout page to determine your region.

To be eligible for the Summer Empire State Games ("Summer ESG" or "ESG"), applicants must meet the following requirements in addition to any sport-specific rules outlined on the Sport Information page for their selected sport:

1. Residency

1. Applicants must be permanent residents of New York State as of April 30 of the year in which the Summer ESG are taking place.

1. Applicants who attend school in states other than New York (i.e. preparatory schools), but whose parents or guardians are legal permanent residents of New York State, are eligible for the Summer ESG.
2. Applicants who attend school in New York State, but have residency in another state are not eligible for the Summer ESG.

2. Applicants must be residents of their Region as of April 30 of the year in which the Summer ESG are taking place.

1. Scholastic Men's Ice Hockey applicants must be a resident of their region as of December 31 of the year prior to which the Games are taking place.

3. New York State Residency, only the following forms of Photo ID will be accepted: Current New York State Drivers License, Current New York State Non-Driver Photo ID, current High School/Junior High School photo ID.
4. Applicants must compete in the region in which they reside. Applicants residing at school may attend the regional qualifier in their school region, only if the initial regional trial is held in their school's region while school is in session. However, applicants may tryout in only one ESG Region.

2. Sport Eligibility

Applicants must also meet the eligibility requirements of their sport as set forth in the individual Sport Information sections of this rule.
In addition:

1. No past or present professionals will be eligible to compete in the sport in which he/she was a professional.
2. Applicants in the following sports are required to be members of their respective sport's National Governing Body (NGB): Boxing (United States Boxing), Cycling (United States Cycling Federation), Judo (United States Judo Federation).

3. Divisions

There are three divisions in the Summer ESG: Open, Scholastic and Masters.
NOTE THE NEW AGE RULES FOR OPEN AND SCHOLASTIC DIVISION ELIGIBILITY!

1. SCHOLASTIC DIVISION ELIGIBILITY

1. General Eligibility
   Scholastic Division applicants are amateur athletes who are 17 years of age or younger as of August 31 of the year in which the Summer ESG are taking place. There are some exceptions for selected sports indicated below. Applicants may be required to produce a birth certificate or valid NYS Drivers License or Non-driver ID as proof of age.
2. Scholastic Contact Sport Eligibility
   The following Summer ESG sports require that applicants be at least 13 years of age, as of April 30 of the year in which the Summer ESG are taking place, in order to tryout: Baseball, Basketball, Field Hockey, Ice Hockey, Judo, Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Volleyball, and Wrestling.
3. Exceptions
   Applicants eligible for the Scholastic Division must compete in the Scholastic Division except:

1. Scholastic Division participants may compete in the Open Division only in those sports that do not have a Scholastic Division.
2. Scholastic Division Swimmers must be 15 years of age or younger as of April 30 of the year in which the Summer ESG are taking place.
3. Scholastic Division Male Gymnasts may tryout for the Open Division, but must declare for that Division prior to start of the qualifier and must score a minimum of 33.00 points at the regional qualifier.
4. All Scholastic women and Open women Gymnasts will tryout together. Of the top 14 athletes at the Regional Trial, the top 7 will compete at the Finals in the Open Division, and the next 7 will compete at the Finals in the Scholastic Division. However, participants age 18 and over must finish in the top 7 at the Regional Trial to qualify for the Finals
5. Scholastic Division Boxers must be at least 15 years of age but no more than 16 years of age by August 1 of the year in which the Summer ESG are taking place.
6. Ice Hockey - Boys only - for the 2008 Games only: The age rule as published for boys on the Ice Hockey page in November of 2007 will remain in effect for the 2008 Games: applicants are amateur athletes who are 17 years of age or younger as of April 30 of the year in which the Summer ESG are taking place.  For the 2009 Games, Boy's Ice Hockey will have the same age rule as stated for all other Scholastic Division Sports (age as of August 31).

2. OPEN DIVISION ELIGIBILITY

1. General Eligibility
   Open Division applicants are amateur athletes who are 18 years of age or older as of August 31 of the year in which the Summer ESG are taking place. There are some open exceptions for selected sports indicated below. Applicants may be required to produce a birth certificate or valid NYS Drivers License or Non-driver ID as proof of age.
2. Exceptions

1. Open Division Swimmers must be 16 years of age or older as of April 30 of the year of the year in which the Summer ESG are taking place.
2. Open Division Synchronized Swimmers must be at least 12 years of age as of April 30 of the year in which the Summer ESG are taking place.
3. Open Division Boxers must be at least 17 years of age but no more than 34 years of age by August 1 of the year in which the Summer ESG are taking place.
4. Open Division Women Gymnasts must finish in the top 7 at the regional trials.

3. MASTER DIVISION ELIGIBILITY

1. Archery - Applicants must be 50 years of age or older by the day of competition.
2. Bowling - Applicants must be 50 years of age as of the regional competition date.
3. Cycling - Applicants must have a USCF registration number and must be 35 years of age or older by January 1of the year in which the Summer ESG are taking place.
4. Diving & Synchronized Diving - Applicants must be 21 years of age or older by the day of competition.
5. Fencing - Applicants must be 50 years of age or older by the day of competition.
6. Golf - Applicants must be 35 years of age or older by the day of competition.
7. Gymnastics - Applicants must be 22 years of age or older by the day of competition.
8. Marathon Canoeing - Applicants must be 18 years of age or older by the day of competition.
9. Rugby - Applicants must be 18 years of age or older by the first day of competition of the ESG.
10. Swimming - Applicants must be 19 years of age or older by the first day of competition.
11. Track & Field (including Racewalks and 10k Road Race) - Applicants must be 30 years of age or older by the day of competition.

4. Final Rosters

A list of final participants for each event (roster) will be final as of the Tuesday of the week in which the Summer ESG are taking place.

5. Summer ESG General Rules

1. An applicant may tryout in more than one sport, but may only compete in one sport at the Finals. If an applicant qualifies in more than one sport, he/she must opt for a single choice and notify their ESG Coach and their Regional Director by June 24th of the year in which the Summer ESG are taking place. If the applicant fails to opt for a single choice and fails to notify their Coach and Regional Director by the June deadline, the applicant will be removed from all sport rosters of the Games, and become ineligible to attend the Games.
2. Applicants who qualify for the Summer ESG and do not compete at the finals without notifying the Regional Director and Regional Coach prior to the Tuesday of the week in which the Summer ESG are taking place, and providing a sufficient reason for not participating, will be suspended from the ESG for one year.
3. A participant who is the only person to qualify state-wide in their weight class in the sport of Boxing, Judo or Weightlifting will be notified by the ESG office that since there is no one to compete against in his/her event at the ESG Summer Games finals, the event will be cancelled.  Therefore the participant will not be permitted to attend the ESG Summer Games Finals.  In such case, the athlete will be sent a warm up suit as recognition of their regional accomplishment.
4. ESG participants and teams are recognized as such only within the confines of ESG events defined as regional trials, practices and finals competition. The use of the ESG name, logo or uniform (as a team) after the conclusion of the Summer ESG, is prohibited in competition and the ESG assumes no responsibility for subsequent competition or events, unless specifically authorized in writing by the ESG office.
5. All applicants must attend and actively participate in ESG regional trials.
6. All medical costs must be paid by the participant. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that all participants carry medical insurance.
7. At finals registration, all participants must present proof of identity and New York State Residency using the forms of identification set forth in Section 1(c).
8. All applicants must read and abide by the ESG Code of Conduct. Read the ESG Code of Conduct.

- ALL APPLICANTS MUST ATTEND AND ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE AT THE REGIONAL TRIALS-
-- NO EXCEPTIONS--

- ALL MEDICAL COSTS MUST BE PAID BY THE PARTICIPANT; IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT PARTICIPANTS CARRY MEDICAL INSURANCE -

- APPLICANT MUST BE A PERMANENT RESIDENT OF NEW YORK STATE AS OF APRIL 30 OF THE YEAR IN WHICH THE SUMMER GAMES TAKE PLACE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE GAMES -

- All Participants must present at finals registration one of the following items as proof of Identity and NYS Residency:
Valid NYS Drivers License, Valid NYS Non-Driver Photo ID, or current High school/Jr high school photo ID.
Passports and College ID cards do not prove NYS Residency.
It is up to the participant to prove NYS residency as per Games Rules.

Persons of any age may apply for a NYS Non-Driver Photo ID.
Visit the NYS DMV website for information on how to obtain a NY State Photo ID.