Savoie headlines 10/4 St. Louis SC's Regionals send-off show

[Sylvia]

Calling all St. Louis, Missouri area skating fans!

Matt Savoie will debut his new short program at the St. Louis Skating Club's Regionals send-off show on Saturday, October 4, 6:00-7:45 pm, at the Brentwood Ice Arena in Brentwood, MO. Matt is coming back from knee surgery this past spring, and is using this opportunity to test out a program in front of an audience before his scheduled Cup of China Grand Prix event in November.

Also scheduled to skate are senior ladies Kelsey Drewel (2001 Novice champion) and Katie Lee (last season's Upper Great Lakes Regional senior ladies champion), junior John Coughlin (11th at 2003 Novice Nationals and gold medalist at a North American Challenge Skate this summer), the junior pair of Coughlin & Lucy Galleher (currently preparing for their first-ever Junior Grand Prix event in Japan), and many more skaters from the pre-juvenile to novice levels. The $7 admission fee will go towards alleviating some of the skaters' Regionals expenses (the Regionals entry fee per skater is $125, for example).

For more info, skater photos, and directions to the Brentwood rink, go to: http://stlouisskatingclub.org/news.html

This is the time of year that many USFSA clubs are holding send-off shows for their Regionals skaters, so check to see if there are any in your area and go support your local skaters! :)

[tdnuva]

A bit off-topic but anyway.... :D


This is perhaps the chance I might finally have someone explaining me the US system of - send-offs ("real" competition? how many skaters go to the next step competition?) - regionals - sectionals - nationals?

Is this the right sequence - something missing?

How many regional and sectional competitions exist?

Thanks for any info.... :D

[Aaron W]

For novice, junior, and senior level skaters, the path they must go through to qualify for the US Nationals is Regionals first and then Sectionals. The top 4 finishers from Regionals move on to Sectionals. At Sectionals, a top 4 finish means a trip to the National Championships.

There are 9 different Regionals, they are: New England, Mid Atlantic, South Atlantic, Eastern Great Lakes, Upper Great Lakes, Southwesterns, Southwest Pacific, Central Pacific, and Northwest Pacific. The skaters who place top 4 in their Regional move onto the Sectional competition that their Region is part of. New England, Mid Atlantic, and South Atlantic skaters move on to the Eastern Sectional Championship. Eastern Great Lakes, Upper Great Lakes, and Southwestern skaters go to the Midwestern Sectional Championship. Southwest Pacific, Central Pacific, and Northwest Pacific skaters go to the Pacific Coast Sectional Championship.

For skaters below the novice level (Intermediate and Juvenile), they only compete at Regionals and then move on to Junior Nationals (even though it's called junior nationals, there are no junior skaters competing there) provided they place top 4 at their Regional Championship.

[tdnuva]

Aaron - thanks very much, for the first time I see the whole system... :D

Except - who determines which skaters go to the regionals? The message above indicates that every club does (or can do? must do?) some send-off competition?

[dr.frog]

Anyone who has passed the appropriate test for their competition level may enter regionals. Clubs don't select which of their members may compete; these send-off shows are simply *shows* to give their skaters a performance opportunity prior to competing.

[A.H.Black]

I think I'm correct in saying that any skater meeting the age requirements (no 50-year-old juveniles)and who has passed the tests for their level can participate in regionals. Sometimes there are huge fields, especially in the lower level ladies competitions.

As for "send-off's", these are put on by some but not all clubs. Usually they happen in clubs that have a number of participants and where the club is a little more "high powered" in terms of coaches, parent participation, or even where officials are members of that club. It is often a combination pep rally/club show to give the competitors another chance to perform in public before they have to compete. This is of value since, for most competitors, regionals and sectionals is the most important competition of the year.

[Sylvia]

Originally posted by A.H.Black
As for "send-off's", these are put on by some but not all clubs. Usually they happen in clubs that have a number of participants and where the club is a little more "high powered" in terms of coaches, parent participation, or even where officials are members of that club. It is often a combination pep rally/club show to give the competitors another chance to perform in public before they have to compete.

It was a big thrill for the St. Louis Skating Club when Matt accepted the invitation to skate in their show. This is the first time their Regionals send-off show has invited "name" guest skaters to participate - the St. Louis club is trying to start and gain some early momentum as part of the consortium of area clubs that will be hosting 2006 Nationals in St. Louis. I'm hoping a few St. Louis area skating fans (not just the skaters' family and friends) show up on Saturday, which is why I posted here! :)

[Mel On Ice]

Sylvia - thanks for emailing that information to me. I have the Ocotober newsletter together for my club and will update the website soon. Distribution will be tomorrow, so that gives the kids some time to make it on Saturday.

[tdnuva]

Originally posted by Aaron W
There are 9 different Regionals, they are: New England, Mid Atlantic, South Atlantic, Eastern Great Lakes, Upper Great Lakes, Southwesterns, Southwest Pacific, Central Pacific, and Northwest Pacific. The skaters who place top 4 in their Regional move onto the Sectional competition that their Region is part of. New England, Mid Atlantic, and South Atlantic skaters move on to the Eastern Sectional Championship. Eastern Great Lakes, Upper Great Lakes, and Southwestern skaters go to the Midwestern Sectional Championship. Southwest Pacific, Central Pacific, and Northwest Pacific skaters go to the Pacific Coast Sectional Championship.


As I tried to find the dates of some of these competitions I stumbled upon a North Atlantic Regional - is this just a wrong name or how does it fit into the scheme above?

Here's a review of that event:

http://home.earthlink.net/~louis17/03norths.html

[Sylvia]

Originally posted by tdnuva
As I tried to find the dates of some of these competitions I stumbled upon a North Atlantic Regional - is this just a wrong name or how does it fit into the scheme above?


Yes, Aaron W meant to type "North Atlantic" instead of "Mid Atlantic" in his above post! ;)

FYI, I've posted all the dates/locations of this month's 9 USFSA Regional Championships in this thread in the "US Qaualifying" forum:
http://www.skatingforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10416

[tdnuva]

Thanks for any help :D

[Aaron W]

Whoops. Yup, I miss-typed. :oops: Mid Atlantics is a *non-qualifying* club competition that's held in the NYC area each year (usually in September IIRC). North Atlantics is the *qualifying* competition. Sorry to confuse. :)

[kgl2]

Anybody go to this who can report? Mostly what the seniors did (Matt, Kelsey & Katie).

[Impromptu]

Originally posted by kgl2
Anybody go to this who can report? Mostly what the seniors did (Matt, Kelsey & Katie).

Actually there seems to be a review in this thread:
http://www.skatingforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10447&perpage=25&pagenumber=2