The Regionals

[FSWer]

Say, I was reading "Sarah Hughes Skating to the Stars" and it dawned on me to want to ask this even from the times I've seen one myself. But does anyone out there happen to know why the Regionals are a cheap imitation (no flashing scores,etc.) of every other Qualifying event? Thanks

[CanAmSk8ter]

A. They're held at regular rinks, not big pro-hockey type arenas, meaning that the majority of them don't even HAVE that type of setup, i.e. a Jumbotron

B. Over a hundred skaters compete at most Regional events, meaning there isn't time to do open judging for all of them

C. Actually, you're wrong- Sectionals doesn't use the type of setup Nationals does, either. Sectionals are also often held at regular rinks. I know because my rink has hosted both.

D. The senior events actually do use open judging, but the judges hold up their marks on cards like in the "old days" (sorry to anyone I just offended, I know it wasn't actually that long ago, but I've only been skating since 1992, so it feels like a long time ago to me ;)) because, like I said, these are just regular rinks and they don't have jumbotrons

[sk8er1964]

I know that regionals may not look like Nationals, with all the bells and whistles, but regionals are very important. There are thousands of skaters who will never make it to regionals - those who do should be very proud of themselves no matter where they place. So, even if they don't have the glamour of national or international competitions, don't knock their importance. (I don't think you were knocking their importance, FSWer, that's just a term that I think fits.)

Signed Sk8er1964 - who would have loved to go to regionals as a kid but couldn't pass the *&%#!@# 2nd Figure test.

[Abahple]

The other thing to remember about regionals is that you are dealing with skaters of all levels, as opposed to Sectionals and Nationals (where you only have novice-senior skaters) or Junior Nationals (which only has juvenile and intermediate competitors). Not that I'm saying that young skaters aren't important, but does it not seem a little silly to have flashing scores, etc. for each of 100 little preliminary girls?

Also, open judging takes up a considerably greater amount of ice time than closed judging, and when you have to run so many events (up to 4 disciplines for each of 7 levels) that time adds up very quickly.

Besides, I think it would be a little depressing for lower level skaters to see scores in the 1.0-2.0 range, when they're used to watching skaters on TV who seldom get below a 4.0.

[SkateGuard]

Think of it this way. This year at Nationals, the ladies competition included three of the top skaters in the world: the Olympic champ, the World champ, and the GPF champ. People pay _a lot_ of money for tickets, and ABC pays _a lot_ of money for the TV rights. (I'm about to spend $500 on 2006 Nationals tickets soon...)

For Adult Nationals, the money is made by the entry fees. During the week, only the Masters Men and Masters Ladies skated to a full audience (and most of that audience was competitors, coaches, etc). Spouses, children, parents, and in-laws made up the rest of the audiences. However, there were ~500 competitors. At $100 per entry, that's an easy $5000--without counting the additional $50 for those who skated two events.

Regionals are more like AN's. Most of the people there are competitors, coaches, parents, significant others (for the older kids). The top skaters in the US are busy competiting internationally, so they have byes. Don't get me wrong--I loved it when sectionals were held in Northbrook. But the audiences were significantly smaller than at Nationals (and I saw several high school students--friends of competitors--complain about $20 ticket prices!)

Am I correct in understanding that the novice level uses closed judging at Nationals?

Erin
(who is watching that Quizno's commerical that uses Belbin/Agosto's OD music)

[Sylvia]

Originally posted by SkateGuard
Am I correct in understanding that the novice level uses closed judging at Nationals?

Yes, correct, it's closed judging for the Novice events at Nationals.

Here are the dates and locations (and website links, if available) for all 9 USFSA Regional Championships (first qualifying competition for Nationals) for the 2003-04 season.

Oct. 7-12, 2003 Central Pacific Regional Championships, Vaca Valley FSC, Vacaville, Calif.
http://www.vacavalleyfsc.org/

Oct. 7-12, 2003 Southwest Pacific Regional Championships, Glacier Falls FSC, Anaheim, Calif.
http://www.glacierfalls.com/

Oct. 13-18, 2003 New England Regional Championships, Yarmouth Ice Club, So. Dennis, Mass.
http://www.yarmouthiceclub.org/2004_regionals.htm

Oct. 14-18, 2003 Eastern Great Lakes Regional Championships, Nashville FSC, Nashville, Tenn. http://www.nashvillefsc.com/eglregionals.htm

Oct. 14-18, 2003 Upper Great Lakes Regional Championships, FSC of Bloomington/Burnsville-MN Valley FSC, Bloomington, Minn.
http://www.uppergreatlakes2004.org/

Oct. 14-18, 2003 Northwest Pacific Regional Championships, Tri-Cities FSC, Kennewick, Wash.
http://www.tcfsc.com/

Oct. 13-18, 2003 South Atlantic Regional Championships, Gardens FSC of MD, Laurel, Md.
http://www.gardensfsc.org/
Forms: http://maydayopen2003.bravepages.com/South%20Atlantics/SouthAtlanticHTML.htm

Oct. 20-25, 2003 North Atlantic Regional Championships, Jamestown SC, Jamestown, N.Y.
http://www.chautauquaice.com/regionals/home.asp

Oct. 21-25, 2003 Southwestern Regional Championships, Broadmoor SC, Colorado Springs, Colo.
(info not yet available on Broadmoor FSC site)

[macsmatty]

In Canada open marking is used at all levels in all qualifying events (Sectionals, Eastern and Western Challenge, Junior Nationals, and Canadians) It can make for VERY long events, but it's part of the whole competitive skating environment; it differentiates it from recreational skating, and it prepares skaters for future events ie. Eastern and Western Challenge or Canadians with 30 skaters and open marking, you have to be prepared for those long events and know how to deal with it.

[Sk8Bunny]

Originally posted by Sylvia

Oct. 21-25, 2003 Southwestern Regional Championships, Broadmoor SC, Colorado Springs, Colo.
(info not yet available on Broadmoor FSC site)

The Southwestern Regional Information and forms are now up and available on the Broadmoor Skating Club website. For those who are interested the link is: www.broadmoorsc.com (http://www.broadmoorsc.com)

[elbeep]

There way too many competitors at regionals to hold up scores for them. The last regional I was involved with had over 600 competitors from Preliminary through Senior. The ice has to be paid for whether people are competing on it, practicing on it, running the Zamboni over it, or holding up scores while the next skater waits to take the ice. For large competitions, it's simply more efficient to have most competitors skate and post their results on one sheet after their group is through. In our region, seniors are judged openly, their marks are held up, as someone mentioned earlier, although spectators would still need to keep track on their own or check posted results later for standings, since top finishers are awarded their medals in ceremonies usually held in a area off the ice.


Regional accountants generally don't have the same type of setup that is present at nationals. At the regions, the judges generally keep all their scoring forms until all competitors have skated and the event is over. They then give them to the referree who sends them together to the accounting room where the entire group's score are input into PC's or laptops and final results calculated and double-checked. The results are then returned to the referree for her signature before they can be posted. This is a process that nomally takes 20-30 minutes. Results are posted at a central location and are left up for the duration of the competition for anyone who wants to see them. If you're at a region and can't find the results but would like to see them, ask someone at the registration desk to direct you.