US Championship Series Moves to Virtual Format Due to COVID-19

[CoyoteChris]

U.S. Figure Skating Championship Series Moves to Virtual Format Due to COVID-19 Surge | U.S. Figure Skating

www.usfigureskating.org

 

[ice coverage]

Regarding the original in-person series:

A whopping 900 skaters registered for the Championship Series in the first 24 hours after registration went live.​

​

The Future of Figure Skating Competitions and the 2021 U.S. Figure Skating Championship Series - Issuu

A heavy question weighing on figure skating: What is it going to take to go from nationwide rink closures to in-person competitions amid a COVID-19 pandemic that has gone on far longer than most anticipated?

issuu.com

(This article about the series in the Nov/Dec issue of PSA's magazine was written before the change to virtual.)

I am sad for all involved that the in-person series cannot be held safely at this point.
Appreciate that USFS will be offering virtual alternatives.

ETA:

Forgot to copy and paste the Oct 3 message from USFS on the series webpage:

We all have experienced the many sudden changes presented by the ongoing pandemic. U.S. Figure Skating is no different, as the organization and member clubs have worked tirelessly these past eight months to create alternative programing with the goal of keeping all participants safe, especially during the wake of this second surge of COVID-19.
Monday’s announcement regarding the U.S. Championship Series presented by Toyota represents the initial step in U.S. Figure Skating’s work to provide programing that not only keeps athletes safe but continues to reward their dedication and training.
To reiterate from Monday’s announcement: No in-person qualifying competitions will be held and more information on the opportunities and timeline will be provided Nov. 9.
U.S. Figure Skating leadership is using this time to diligently conceive, vet and execute meaningful programming. We thank you for your patience, understanding and continued support.​

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(Unrelated, but btw, PSA announced two days ago that its annual summit in May 2021 will be held virtually.
Same as what was necessary for its 2020 summit.)

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Thanks to the mods for the new thread title.

 

[ice coverage]

Details of the virtual Championship Series competition for Senior and Junior have been published today, as promised.

Some highlights:

- [ETA (on Nov 10): What I originally posted was a verbatim quote as of Nov 9, emphasis not added]
"All senior and junior athletes/teams in either the Athlete High Performance Development Pool (AHPDP) or International Selection Pool (ISP) plus singles athletes registered for the Series and not previously qualified for the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships will be offered the opportunity to virtually compete for the remaining entry positions without needing to earn a minimum technical element score."

ETA (on Nov 10):

USFS has changed the language. Verbatim quote as of Nov 10:
"All registered senior and junior athletes/teams and not previously qualified for the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships (i.e. byes) will be offered the opportunity to virtually compete for the remaining entry positions without needing to earn a minimum technical element score. Note: singles athletes in either the Athlete High Performance Development Pool (AHPDP) or International Selection Pool (ISP) may skate up."

ETA (on Nov 11):

For USFS, third time is the charm. Its latest/greatest language as of Nov 11 offers the most clarity yet:
"ELIGIBILITY
- All previously registered Senior and Junior athletes/teams who do not have a bye to the U.S. Championships.
- Singles athletes (Novice and below) in either the Athlete High Performance Development Pool (AHPDP) or International Selection Pool (ISP) may skate up.
Note: senior athletes with existing byes to the U.S. Championships DO NOT register for the virtual series, the Event's Department will contact you directly with next steps. There are NO Junior byes this season."​

- Senior athletes who have already received byes to 2021 Nats (i.e. 2020 Top-5 or ISP Points Challenge) are not eligible to participate.

- The following events will be skated: junior men, junior ladies, junior pairs, junior ice dance, senior men, senior ladies, senior pairs.
- "Senior ice dance will not compete as all registered teams in the country have already advanced."

- Only free skates and free dance will be competed.

- The top (Championship Series) scores in the nation as outlined below will advance to the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships:

Senior Ladies – Top nine scores​

Senior Men – Top nine scores​

Senior Pairs – Top five scores​

Senior Ice Dance – Not Applicable; no virtual event due to entry numbers​

Junior Ladies – Top 12 scores​

Junior Men – Top 12 scores​

Junior Pairs – Top eight scores​

Junior Ice Dance – Top 10 scores​

- Results will be posted on www.usfigureskatingfanzone.com upon conclusion of the virtual series (the week of Dec. 21).

- Video submissions will be available on public formats including www.usfigureskatingfanzone.com and NBC Peacock Premium.​

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ETA (on Nov 12):

USFS continues to tweak its language. (I suspect in response to continuing questions from skaters who understandably want to be 100.00% sure that they will be able to compete at Nats.)​

As of today (emphasis not added):

"... Note: senior athletes with existing byes to the U.S. Championships AND all registered SENIOR ICE DANCE TEAMS DO NOT register for the virtual series, the Event's Department will contact you directly with next steps. There are NO Junior byes this season. ..."​

 

[ice coverage]

As promised, today USFS announced some details re National High Performance Development Team Camps (in May and June 2021) for the four disciplines, including how juvenile/intermediate/novice skaters will qualify.

One of the most interesting (IMO) parts is below (emphases added):

March 2021
Virtual Audition - Compulsory Program​

Juvenile - Intermediate Singles and Pairs levels will be combined and athletes/teams will compete in a compulsory program event, subdivided by age group (as of Jan. 1, 2021). Athletes will submit a video for evaluation and qualification to the National High Performance Development Team.​

The total number of Juvenile and Intermediate Ladies alone would be several hundred, I think?
Virtual judging of their programs will be a massive project, to be sure.
I wonder whether the reason for combining Juvenile/Intermediate and subdividing by age is a matter of logistics or philosophical approach or both.

 

[gkelly]

As promised, today USFS announced some details re National High Performance Development Team Camps (in May and June 2021) for the four disciplines, including how juvenile/intermediate/novice skaters will qualify.

One of the most interesting (IMO) parts is below (emphases added):

​

March 2021
Virtual Audition - Compulsory Program​

​

Juvenile - Intermediate Singles and Pairs levels will be combined and athletes/teams will compete in a compulsory program event, subdivided by age group (as of Jan. 1, 2021). Athletes will submit a video for evaluation and qualification to the National High Performance Development Team.​

The total number of Juvenile and Intermediate Ladies alone would be several hundred, I think?
Virtual judging of their programs will be a massive project, to be sure.
I wonder whether the reason for combining Juvenile/Intermediate and subdividing by age is a matter of logistics or philosophical approach or both.

And what does the "Compulsory Program" consist of?

Juvenile qualifying competitions do not include short programs.

At nonqualifying competitions in which SP and FS are offered as separate events, juveniles often skate up to the intermediate SP.
Some nonqualifying competitions offer a separate juvenile SP event. There are now (just in the last couple years) rules for this in the rulebook. The juvenile SP is pretty much the same as the intermediate SP except that it does not allow triple jumps and does permit a solo single jump.

My guess is that that is not what they will use for this audition to the high performance team.

But the kids who have reasonable hopes of earning a spot on the team through this process will need to know what kind of program they need to prepare.

And kids who just want to compete or get to perform virtually in some capacity this year and get some kind of feedback would also need to know, and to know whether they're welcome to participate in these virtual auditions even if they can't include all the compulsory elements whatever those may be.

 

[TontoK]

So... Senior US Nationals will consist of those who are already qualified plus the top nine scores from the Championship Series?

Do I understand correctly? This is a little confusing to me, and I'm not certain I've completely gotten it. That should result in smaller fields, right?

 

[ice coverage]

So... Senior US Nationals will consist of those who are already qualified plus the top nine scores from the Championship Series? ...

Only for Senior Men and Senior Ladies.
Not for Senior Pairs or Senior Dance.

That should result in smaller fields, right?

Depends on what you mean by "smaller." "Smaller" than what?
Senior fields at 2021 Nats will not be smaller than at 2020 Nats, if that is the comparison that you have in mind.

The field of Senior Men at 2021 Nats will be 18, as opposed to 16 men who qualified for 2020 Nats.​

The field of Senior Ladies at 2021 Nats will be 18, which is the same size as for 2020 Nats.​

The field of Senior Pairs at 2021 Nats will be 12 pairs, which is the same size as for 2020 Nats.​

The field of Senior Dance at 2021 Nats very likely will be greater than the field of 8 couples at 2020 Nats.​

(But the fields at 2021 Nats will be smaller than what USFS had been planning for 2021 Nats as of late Aug 2020, as I discussed in a different thread.)

 

[ice coverage]

And what does the "Compulsory Program" consist of? ...

But the kids who have reasonable hopes of earning a spot on the team through this process will need to know what kind of program they need to prepare.

And kids who just want to compete or get to perform virtually in some capacity this year and get some kind of feedback would also need to know, and to know whether they're welcome to participate in these virtual auditions even if they can't include all the compulsory elements whatever those may be.

"Why are juvenile and intermediate combined for the Virtual Audition?

U.S. Figure Skating does not want this experience to interfere with an athlete’s ability to plan for the next competitive season, and either “hold back” or feel they have to “move up” to quickly to prepare. Therefore, all juvenile and intermediate singles athletes will be combined in one group and perform and submit a condensed compulsory program. Athletes will be subdivided into groups based on their age as of January 1, 2021 (except for pairs).​

• Girls: Group A: 10 and under; Group B: 11 –13; Group C: 14 and older​

• Boys: Group A: 13 and under; Group B: 14 and older​

The top 10 singles in each age group will be named to National High Performance Development Team; the Top 3 pairs teams will advance.​

What is the compulsory event?

Singles athletes will perform a condensed program, of approximately one (1) minute; consisting of four elements: An Axel or double Axel, a jump combination, a spin of your choice and a transitional element.​

Pairs athletes will perform a similar compulsory program consisting of side-by-side jumps, a spin and an additional element demonstrating skating skills.​

Specific rules / details will be released by December 21, 2020 in the announcement."​

Excerpt above is from a new USFS document for juvenile/intermediate/novice that was added today (AFAIK) to the website.

 

[ice coverage]

Today the Competition Central page for Novice/Intermediate/Juvenile was added to fan zone.

2021 U.S. Championship Series presented by Toyota (Novice, Intermediate, Juvenile) | Competition Central

2021 U.S. Championship Series presented by Toyota (Novice, Intermediate, Juvenile) | Competition Central

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

Virtual competition for Novice (all disciplines) + Intermediate Dance and Juvenile Dance took place in Feb.
The Competition Central page has links to results, plus links to video of top four in Novice (all disciplines).

Juvenile/Intermediate Singles and Pairs Audition is taking place this month.

For Juvenile thru Novice, the series determines advancement to National High Performance Development Team Camp.

 

[ice coverage]

For 2021-22 season, U.S. Championship Series once again will be the qualifying structure -- replacing regionals, sectionals, and finals.

Today's USFS press release gives the schedule with dates and locations of the eight *in-person* Championship Series events, starting in Oct 2021.

2021-22 U.S. Figure Skating Competition Season Announced | U.S. Figure Skating

www.usfigureskating.org

The eight locations are the same ones that were going to host the 2020-21 in-person Championship Series events (before the series was changed to the virtual format).
But the chronological order for the upcoming season's events is different.
And the locations for dance and pairs have been changed for the upcoming season (vs. last season).

[ETA:

Example: In the upcoming season, dance competition will be in Blaine, Minnesota; and Alpharetta, Georgia.
Last season, dance competition was scheduled for Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Leesburg, Virginia.}​

See press release for more details, but the basic schedule:

2022 U.S. Figure Skating Championship Series presented by Toyota

Blaine, Minnesota - Oct. 4-10, 2021
Disciplines: Singles, Ice Dance

Henderson, Nevada - Oct. 12-16, 2021
Disciplines: Singles, Pairs

Allen, Texas - Oct. 13-17, 2021
Discipline: Singles

Leesburg, Virginia - Oct. 27-30, 2021
Discipline: Singles

Fort Wayne, Indiana - Nov. 2-5, 2021
Discipline: Singles

Norwood, Massachusetts - Nov. 9-13, 2021
Discipline: Singles, Pairs

Spokane, Washington - Nov. 17-20, 2021
Discipline: Singles

Alpharetta, Georgia - Nov. 17-20, 2021
Disciplines: Singles, Ice Dance​

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ETA:

March 2021
Virtual Audition - Compulsory Program​

Juvenile - Intermediate Singles and Pairs levels will be combined and athletes/teams will compete in a compulsory program event, subdivided by age group (as of Jan. 1, 2021). Athletes will submit a video for evaluation and qualification to the National High Performance Development Team.​

Results page for 2021 Championship Series "Virtual Audition" for Juvenile/Intermediate Singles and Pairs:

2021 US Juvenile Intermediate Audition

Event Results for 2021 US Juvenile Intermediate Audition

ijs.usfigureskating.org

ETA (on Apr 2):

For three age groups of Intermediate/Juvenile Ladies; two age groups of Intermediate/Juvenile Men; and for one group of Intermediate/Juvenile Pairs ... the Competition Central has been updated with Final Combined Results for each age group, and videos of top four in each age group.

2021 U.S. Championship Series presented by Toyota (Novice, Intermediate, Juvenile) | Competition Central

2021 U.S. Championship Series presented by Toyota (Novice, Intermediate, Juvenile) | Competition Central

usfigureskatingfanzone.com