The USASF sent the following email concerning the 2008-09 Age and Division Grid on Monday:
Dear USASF/IASF Member:
After several months of input from a wide variety of sources, I am pleased to forward you the USASF/IASF Age Grid for the 2008-09 season. There are two copies attached, one with highlights of the changes that have been made from the 2007-08 document and the other a “clean” version with no comparisons shown.
I feel it is important that you know the procedures that were implemented in the development of this document:
- Calls for rule/age grid updates were made in the Fall, and were then voted upon by the NACCC in early January. Although event producers were encouraged to submit their recommendations, their voices are most clearly heard through several committees of the USASF/IASF.
- Results from the NACCC meeting were forwarded to the USASF/IASF Rules Committee.
- The Rules Committee spent a great deal of time throughout the past 2 1/2 months (at the height of the busy competition season I might add), reviewing the recommendations of the NACCC. Some issues had a clear mandate from the NACCC, others did not. The Rules Committee made recommendations which were then forwarded to the National Advisory Board (NAB) and the Sanctioning Committee of the USASF/IASF for their review and input.
- The final approval came from the Board of the USASF/IASF
Please note a couple of key items on the grid. First, “small gym” categories and events have been further defined. These may be run by any USASF/IASF event producer in any geographical location within the parameters established.
For “splitting” divisions, three is now the number of teams that must remain in each division that was split from a larger division. In some instances divisions must be “combined” if there are not at least two teams in a particular division.
The grid has been re-formatted to make it easier (hopefully) to follow the “combinations” and “splits” of divisions. You are reminded that as a member event producer, you must follow the mandates for “combining” and “splitting” divisions as stated in this document. The only choices that are given to event producers are statements that contain the word “may” in them. (i.e. “For divisions that are designated ‘Small’ and ‘Large,” event producers may further subdivide…). Any statement that contains a “will” statement in it must be followed by the event producer as written.
The age grid was posted on the USASF/IASF website late last week, as many programs are gearing up for try-outs and this information was critical for this process.
The Level Rules document for 2008-09 will be posted toward the end of this week. The USASF/IASF Rules Committee has been working diligently to review the level rules for presentation, clarity and ease of interpretation. I felt that no changes would be made to these which would directly impact a gym program’s try-out process, thus we are spending some additional time “word smithing” this document prior to its release.
Finally, I would like to commend the large body of coaches, event producers and industry experts who have given many hours of their time during some of the busiest months of the season to be part of the rules review process.
Ultimately, I feel very good about the overall direction that we provided for the rules process and the integrity that we maintained in allowing feedback and many eyes to review proposed items. Given the multiple agendas, various program sizes and needs, national and international issues and the varied opinions on some controversial topics, I feel that in the end we should proud of what we have accomplished. Will everyone support every decision that has been made? Unfortunately, no. However, I feel that every decision that was made was vetted thoroughly and that multiple points of view were taken into account.
Thank you for your continued support of the USASF/IASF.
Sincerely,
Mike Burgess — Rules Committee ChairUSASF 2008-09 Age Grid – Highlighted & USASF 2008-09 Age Grid
Michael Burgess
United Spirit Association
President