Grand Prix Final Question

[Luigi]

Does anyone know why the Grand Prix Final in Colorado Springs is so early?
This year it's in March. Next year it is in December. How come?
Thanks ahead of time.

[Arsenette]

I don't know for certain but the Final has moved around quite a bit since it's inception. The Calendar is just too darned crammed right before Worlds so I can only assume they are trying to even out the calendar considering that the skaters participating are a smaller amount compared to Euros/4CC.

[Isabelle]

I was wondering why it's so late this year! (I mean, it's not that long before worlds which I think is dumb) It was in December last year.

[luna_skater]

Originally posted by Isabelle
I was wondering why it's so late this year! (I mean, it's not that long before worlds which I think is dumb) It was in December last year.

I think last year's December date had to do with it being an Olympic year. March does seem late this year...I was expecing January or February.

[Rowena]

Originally posted by Isabelle
I was wondering why it's so late this year! (I mean, it's not that long before worlds which I think is dumb) It was in December last year.

Last year was an Olympic year, so they had to get the GPF in early. I think the last time before that it was held in December was 1997 (thought it wasn't the 'GPF' at that time).

[Rowena]

Whoops, luna_skater beat me to it. ;)

[Aidan]

Moving it to December on a permanent basis is a great idea, mainly because it may get the top skaters (particularly in the US) to attend 4CC. With Senior and Junior Worlds, GPF and 4CC within six weeks this year, there is no way all competitions are going to be well attended, so this may solve the problems.

Also, it is logical to have the GPF right after the Grand Prix series is complete.

Hopefully, having the GPF in December will get the Cdn TV stations to air the Grand Prix before February next year.:D

[VGL]

But Aidan, many other countries have their National Championships in December.

[Artemis]

The other potential scheduling difficulty with having the GPF in December is the requirement for a 2nd LP. What that means is that now probably all the skaters (instead of only most of them ;) ) will simply use a previous year's program. And that sort of defeats part of the purpose of the 2 program requirements -- namely, to allow the audience to see more variety.

But still, all things considered ... I think December is probably still a better month than some of the other options.

[Aidan]

Originally posted by VGL
But Aidan, many other countries have their National Championships in December.

That's a good point, I didn't consider that. It seems like most European nations have their nationals in December, in order to go to Euro's in January. Do any European nations have their nationals in January? Will next year's GPF being in December cause European skaters to miss it if it is too close to their nationals - has that happenned in the past?

[tdnuva]

Originally posted by Aidan
That's a good point, I didn't consider that. It seems like most European nations have their nationals in December, in order to go to Euro's in January. Do any European nations have their nationals in January? Will next year's GPF being in December cause European skaters to miss it if it is too close to their nationals - has that happenned in the past?

December in season 2002/2003:
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Great Britain
Croatia
Czech Republic
France
Japan
Mexico
New Zealand
Poland
Romania
Russia
Slovakia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland

January in season 2002/2003:
Canada
Denmark
Netherlands
Finland
Germany
Israel
Italy
Luxembourg
Norway
Singapore
Slovenia
USA