National Junior Team
Qualifications & Procedures (Revised February 2020)
To be eligible for the National Junior Ski Team, a skier must:
1. be a U.S. Citizen,
2. be a member of USA Water Ski in good standing,
3. competed in the Boys 2, Boys 3, Boys 4, Boys 5, Girls 2, Girls 3, Girls 4 or Girls 5 division in
at least (3) separate Class “C” or higher tournaments in the Previous Ski Year, excluding those skiers who have aged up into M1/W1.
Selection Procedures:
1. A team of at least (25) individuals will be selected to be designated as the National Junior Team. This Team is chosen to recognize top performing juniors, and will not necessarily represent the U.S. at any time in international competition.
2. “Ranking List Score” shall be the average of the best three slalom, tricks and jump tournament performances (as calculated in the National Rankings List using one score per tournament) in the Previous Ski Year. “Event Score” shall be the Normalized Overall Performance Score (NOPS) for each event, relative to standards for that specific division and event, using a smooth curved mathematical fit to those standards, and as calculated for the National Ranking List for the previous ski year.
3. “Overall Score” shall be the sum of all 3 “Event Scores.” The “2 Event Score” shall be the sum of the skier’s two highest “Event Scores.” The top twenty skiers based on “Overall Score” will be selected first.
4. The 21st through 25th skiers will be selected on the basis of the “2 Event Score.”
5. Any skier whose performance constitutes the highest “Event Score Standard” in any event (Boy or Girl) and is not already included in the 25 selected skiers will be selected as an additional Junior Team member.
Notes:
By using NOPS scores for the calculations for team selection, we simplify the selection process, make the process more transparent and understandable than the 1,000 point standard that has been used previously. The NOPS score for a skier’s performance can be easily found on the ranking list website. Gender and age division distribution is already accounted for in the normalized NOPS scores, resulting in a team with similar diversity without the need to specify a minimum number for each gender.
There is now only one National Junior Team, expanded to at least 25 members. We will no longer be selecting a 12 member Junior Team and a 24 member Junior Development Team. The total number of juniors on a team is being reduced from at least 36 to at least 25.
The Members of the National Junior Team are now eligible to be selected for their region’s All Star Team.
Regional Teams
SCR All Star Team (7 members)
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SCR All Star Team (6 members + plus one alternate)
The team will consist of six members and one alternate. The team’s combined performance at the National Tournament will be compared to the teams from the other regions.
To be eligible, a team member must:
-Be a U.S. citizen
-Be a member of USA Water Ski and in good standing
-Be a current skier in Boys 2-5 or Girls 2-5
-Be committed to attending and skiing in the Nationals
The skiers NOPS points will be used for the selection process. Skiers will be chosen based on their regional seeding* as 60% and their regional performances as 40 percent. The strongest three-event athletes will be chosen first, followed by two. event athletes and then single event athletes. Each team will be comprised of Boys and Girls 2,3,4,5. The 6 member team may have no more than two team members from the same division, with gender distribution at either 3/3 or 4/2. Members of the National Junior Team and members of the any other national or international teams are now eligible (revised Feb. 2020). The alternate can be from any eligible division.
SCR Select Team (20 members)
Twenty juniors from the South Central Region will be recognized for their commitment and achievement during the season. Those selected will represent the South Central Region and receive an award from the SCR JD committee. The makeup of the team will be:
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(10) juniors (current year ski age 11 and under)
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(10) juniors (current year ski age 12 and over) Juniors who meet the criteria but will age into the Men’s 1/ Women’s 1 division after Nationals will be recognized. (They will not count as one of the 10).
Eligibility Criteria:
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The skier will be a current junior skier, who resides in the South Central region.
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The skier must attend the current year’s JD tournament and Regionals (injuries will be handled on case by case basis)
Calculation process
The average of the Overall NOPS* scores of the top two skiers in each division will serve as the standard for each division. Each skier will be assigned an adjusted score that is the difference of their score and their division’s average.
Example:
Skier A (the top place Overall NOPS skier) has a NOPS score of 2200.
Skier B (the second place Overall NOPS skier) has a NOPS score of 2030.
Skier C (the third highest NOPS skier) has an Overall NOPS score of 1980.
The top two scores are averaged together for a division average of 2115 (all skiers are now adjusted from that average).
Skier A’s adjusted score becomes +85
Skier B’s adjusted score becomes -85
Skier C’s adjusted score becomes -135
This process continues for all skiers in each division and provides a way to compare scores across divisions and genders which is not possible using straight NOPS numbers.
Selection process:
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The top eligible skiers from each division are automatically selected to the team.
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The remaining spots will be filled according to the adjusted score list until all ten spots are full for each team (under 12 team and 12+ team)
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If a selected skier is unable to attend camp the following year, the next eligible skier who fits the criteria and age requirement for the open spot will be notified.
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If there are not 20 skiers that meet the eligibility criteria, the selection committee reserves the right to fill the spots at their discretion.
*Note- the Overall NOPS score used will be the skier’s score as of the Wednesday before the Regional Tournament. A skier’s NOPS score can be found at http://www.usawaterski.org/pages/divisions/3event/main.asp under the Ranking List tab. To view NOPS, hover over a skier’s ranking score. If a skier does not have an overall NOPS score because they only ski one or two events, then the overall score will be the sum of NOPs points for each event they ski.
Regional Recognitions
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First time Regional Tournament participants
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Regional Tournament placement: 1st-5th and Overall in each division
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Most Improved: All divisions and events will be recognized. A skier’s current year NOPS score (as of the Wednesday
before regionals) will be compared to his/her previous year’s score.