- Mar 16, 2010
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The same day that NCA posted this season's Level Eligibility Policy (http://nca.varsity.com/all_star_nationals.aspx), I flew to Vancouver, Canada to speak at a conference and credential coaches. Born from my discussions with them was the idea to exclude international teams from this new policy (if you drop levels, you must first compete that team at their new level prior to attending NCA All-Star Nationals) since the international structure is vastly different than ours. Many international teams compete UP during the season (3 girls have tucks, so the entire team goes level 4) and make it a habit to compete down at NCA Nationals.
Apparently, most international teams do drop down a level before arriving in the US in an effort to remain even remotely competitive. International Teams are evolving at a different pace than Americans (there are certainly a few exceptions to that statement) and anyone thats had the priveledge to watch international teams compete with us would likely agree there isn't a sandbagging strategy in play when these teams come to the US.
We are likely going to exclude them from this new policy, given this information and the complicated financial implications if teams in other countries are forced to add events to their schedule or even travel to Dallas early just to satisfy the policy' requirements.
Am I forgetting or missing any reason why this exclusion doesn't make sense or is unfair? If you have any comments, please share soon so I may include them in our discussion this week.
Apparently, most international teams do drop down a level before arriving in the US in an effort to remain even remotely competitive. International Teams are evolving at a different pace than Americans (there are certainly a few exceptions to that statement) and anyone thats had the priveledge to watch international teams compete with us would likely agree there isn't a sandbagging strategy in play when these teams come to the US.
We are likely going to exclude them from this new policy, given this information and the complicated financial implications if teams in other countries are forced to add events to their schedule or even travel to Dallas early just to satisfy the policy' requirements.
Am I forgetting or missing any reason why this exclusion doesn't make sense or is unfair? If you have any comments, please share soon so I may include them in our discussion this week.