Colorado Springs, CO - USA Archery has announced that selection procedures for the 2013 Senior, Junior and Cadet United States Archery Team (USAT) will remain largely unchanged for the 2012 competitive season. The organization's Board of Directors plans to review proposed changes to the team selection procedures for potential implementation in the 2013 competitive season/2014 USAT. The proposed changes, along with feedback from all constituent groups, will be reviewed during the Board's next in-person meeting, scheduled for June.
Proposed changes for the 2013 competitive season/2014 USAT include:
Senior: The primary issue under review is whether to add National Indoor Championships back into the factoring of the National Ranking System, which ultimately determines USAT and World Cup team eligibility. In the past, members have expressed concerns about the effect of an "indoor" event on outdoor World Cup team selections. However, after analyzing results from 2011, there would have been no change to the current teams had National Indoor Championships been factored, and the indoor event is the largest USAA attended national event. USA Archery's goal is to support the event and the organizers who host it at various regional locations.
Junior: USA Archery seeks to find a balance for all participants in this unique division. Junior archers who are competitive in the Senior division, and those who want to simply enjoy a recreational event with their peers, should both feel welcomed and encouraged to compete. The options currently under review are to integrate Juniors and Seniors at national events (currently being done), or to create a separate Junior line and elimination round, and require those Juniors who wish to compete with the Seniors and for Senior teams to register as such.
Cadet/Junior: Concerns have been expressed regarding the current structure of the Cadet and Junior USAT and the cost many families face in trying to attend all of the USAT Qualifier Series events. A proposed option is to reduce the number of events that are designated as Junior/Cadet USAT qualifiers. In doing so, a possible advantage is that more archers in a given age division will attend those specific events, resulting in increased competition in elimination rounds due to greater participation in the event.
In order to gather accurate constituent feedback regarding the proposed changes for the 2013 competitive season/2014 USAT, a poll has been created that seeks specific feedback from USA Archery members. In order to provide feedback, please click the links below to review the proposed changes for the 2013 season, and then please click the appropriate link to provide feedback via the poll.
Proposal Three - Click to View
(Poll Closed on Monday, January 23 at 5 p.m. MT)
The sole change for the 2012 competitive season concerns the U.S. National Target Championships, which will become a senior and master-only event this year, and therefore will not be considered a Cadet or Junior USAT qualifying event. Cadet and Junior archers competing for USAT positions will be required to shoot the Easton JOAD National Championships, which will run simultaneously, as their mandatory qualifying event.
The final schedule for the combined National Championships event is currently under Board review. The U.S. National Target Championship will consist of a single FITA round shot over two days; the Hoyt World Open will consist of an elimination round with a cut from the U.S. National Target Championship finals to 1/32 (top 64 archers).
The Easton JOAD National Championships will offer classes for Junior, Cadet, Cub and Bowman archers, with no change from the format of the past two years' events. The format will consist of a single distance 144 arrow ranking round (long distance), elimination rounds and team rounds. The overall champions will be decided based on the combined finish from all rounds, consistent with the format from the past two years.
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