2003 WOC Team Selection and Team Trials Rules
Primary changes since 2001
Some minor and moderate changes to the 2001 rules have been
made for 2003. These have been discussed within the ESC and US
Team email lists, and have been approved by the ESC. There may
need to be USOF followup, but that is still to be determined.
It is planned that these rules will be used for the 2003 Team
Trials.
The full text of the rules is attached below. The primary
changes I have noted is the number of competitors, a related
change to discretionary selection, and a broadening of the scoring.
- There will be a total of 4 men and 4 women (not 5) selected
to represent the USA at WOC 2003. This change was triggered because
the WOC relay has been reduced to 3 competitors.
- The number of discretionary insertions or movements up into
the selection list based on team trials results is STILL limited
to 2, anywhere on the list. However, now only ONE of the insertions
may be into the top 4 positions. This ensures that the top 3
finishers in the Team Trials may go to WOC. At most, the review
panel may move one person into the top 4 positions, and one person
may be placed as the 1st alternate.
- The scoring now includes a scaled USOF ranking together with
the previous 2 trials race result scores for a best 2 out of
3. Plus (if it is held) the Sprint trials event will be worth
100 points for the winner only.
Schedule Note
Part of the basis for a possible “discretionary” selection
to the WOC Team will be the M/F21 USOF rankings based upon A-meets
from April 24th, 2002 (starting with the ??) to April 23rd, 2003.
Questions/Corrections
If you have any questions or have suggested corrections to this
document, please send a note to the ESC at usotesc@egroups.com
US Team Selection Rules for the WOC,
with specifics about WOC 2003
The Team Trials
The makeup of the US Team to the World Orienteering Championships
(the WOC Team) is based primarily on the results of a team selection
competition (the Team Trials) held during the period 2 to 4 months
before the WOC. This competition can be held as part of an A-meet,
or it can be a separate event, subject to the regulations of
a normal A-meet, except that only the M21 and F21 categories
are required.. Designation of a meet as the Team Trials will
be made jointly by the Team ESC and the Sanctioning Committee.
The meet must be, at a minimum, open to all persons eligible
to represent the USA at the WOC. The Team Trials will have either
two or three races.
- In 2003, this will be a special Team Trials Event, organized
by Gregory Balter, Joe Brautigam and Eric Weyman, in or near
SE New York State, on Memorial Day Weekend, May 24-26, 2003.
Team Trials Map Makers
No competitor shall be considered ineligible for the Team Trials
due to having made the map(s) on which the competition is held.
The ESC and Sanctioning Committee should take into account the
people who made the map(s) when deciding where to hold the Team
Trials.
Team Trials Scoring
The Team ESC will decide on the scoring method, which must be
announced in the meet invitation. The scoring method will be
based on the results (times, points, and/or place numbers) of
the Team Trials, and must generate an ordered list of competitors,
hereafter called the scoring list. If no scoring method is announced,
then the scoring will be the same as at the previous Team Trials.
- In 2003, the score will be the best 2 of 3 (or possibly 4)
scores. The scores for each item will be scaled so that the top
competitor gets 100 points, and every other score is lower than
100, in proportion to relative speed, similar to the USOF rankings.
The scores from which the top 2 will be used to create the Trials
Scoring list will be based on:
The USOF Rankings (for M21 and F21) from the period 13 months
to 1 month before the trials will be used. These will be scaled
(multiplied by a constant) so that the score of the highest ranked
Team Trials attendee will be 100.
Team Candidacy Declaration
On the entry form for the Team Trials, each competitor will declare
his/her candidacy. A competitor is a candidate for the team if
he/she is:
- eligible to represent the USA at the WOC (or reasonably expects
to become eligible by the date of the Team Trials)
- intending to participate in the WOC if he/she wins a slot
on the WOC Team
Competitors who are not candidates may, at the discretion
of the meet organizers, be started in a separate start window
from the team candidates. Competitors may revise their candidate
status up until 48 hours before the first start on the first
day of the Team Trials.
- For 2003, there will be a separate start windows for candidates
and non-candidates.
Number of Selections
The WOC Team (for women, and similarly for men) will consist
of the number of competitors required to make up a WOC relay
team, plus one. In 2003, this number is four (four men and four
women). Under normal circumstances, these will be taken from
the top (four) candidates from the scoring list at the Team Trials.
If one of the members of the WOC Team is not able to attend,
the next highest placed person on the scoring list will be substituted.
Review Panel
A Review Panel consisting of a minimum of three persons and a
maximum of five persons will named by the ESC and approved by
the USOF VP for Competition. The members of the Review Panel
will be listed in the meet registration information. The majority
of the members of the Review Panel will have no direct affiliation
with the US Standing Team (ESC members, Team members or coaching
staff). The Review Panel members need not be in attendance at
the Team Trials if suitable arrangements (e.g. telephone, internet)
can be arranged for discussion.
Exceptions to the Scoring List
The Review Panel will be allowed, under certain circumstances,
to make a maximum of two exceptions to the scoring list (two
men and two women). In such cases, these people will be inserted
into the scoring list in positions designated by the Review Panel,
and the rest of the names will be shifted down. A person already
on the scoring list may be inserted (moved) into a higher place
on the list, but may NOT be moved to a lower place on the list.
One of the insertions may be (but need not be) in the top four.
The second insertion (if made) must be below the top four.
Limitations on who can be granted an Exception
In order for a candidate to be eligible for one of these "discretionary
berths", certain criteria must be met:
- The candidate must submit a petition to the ESC requesting
consideration for an exception. For a candidate who competes
at the Team Trials, this petition must be submitted within one
hour of the competitor's reporting to the finish on the final
day of the Team Trials, and explain the circumstances why he/she
was not able to produce a representative result (e.g. misprinted
map, illness, etc.). For candidates who do not compete at the
Team Trials, the petition must be submitted before the first
start on the final day of the Team Trials, and explain why he/she
was unable to attend. Specific information regarding to whom
petitions should be submitted must appear in the meet invitation.
Petitions must be signed by the petitioner, and may not be submitted
on behalf of other people.
- The candidate must either:
- be in the top 5 WOC-eligible people in M21/F21 of the most
recent 12-month* USOF Rankings
AND
have finished in the top five in M21/F21 at the most recent
US (Classic Distance) Orienteering Championship, or
- be unranked or have no US Champs result due to living outside
of North America for at least 9 of the 12 months preceding the
team trials, and submit along with the petition a summary of
his/her (foreign) competition results and world ranking (if available)
for the preceding year.
* The 12-month rankings to be used are for the period from
13 months to 1 month before the Team Trials.
If the rankings coordinator cannot provide these rankings,
the most recently available 12 month USOF rankings will be used.
Possible Prearranged Scoring List Exception for the Course
Setter
A candidate who is in the top three in the USOF Rankings, and
who finished in the top three at the most recent US Champs (at
the time of the sanctioning of the Team Trials), may make an
arrangement to be named to the WOC Team if he/she is course setter
for the Team Trials. A maximum of one person (one man or one
woman) may be named to the WOC Team in this manner. The position
of this candidate in the scoring list (probably, but not necessarily,
in the top four) will be by mutual agreement of the candidate
and the ESC, and will be announced in the meet invitation. In
such a case, this would be considered one of the discretionary
berths, and the Review Panel would be allowed to make no more
than one additional exception of that gender.
WOC & Exception Eligibility Determination
The Team ESC has the responsibility of determining who is eligible
for the US Team, based on citizenship requirements, and who is
eligible to submit petitions, based on US Team eligibility, rankings,
and championship results. Any questions about who is or is not
eligible to submit a petition will be answered by the ESC. The
ESC will forward all eligible petitions to the Review Panel.
Grievance Process
The evaluation of petitions and the circumstances described therein
will be the sole decision of the Review Panel. In cases where
malfeasance or corruption on the part of the Review Panel is
alleged, a grievance may be filed with the USOF Grievance Committee,
which may call for a new Review Panel to be convened.
Start Rules
In 2003, the Start will be seeded based upon USOF Rankings
for the first race, and then event results for subsequent races,
with the highest scoring competitors starting last, similar to
World Cup/WOC seeding methods.
The team trials group, and non-team-trials group of M21/F21
competitors will be started in separate times of day.
Executive Steering Committee |