first of all, congrats to the meet directors and all the volunteers on a job well done. so organized and efficient!! very impressive. the only thing i wish someone could explain to me is why the usms champ. committee changed the team scoring from large, medium and small team to clumping everyone in the same category. seems extremely unfair to have what i call "real teams" competing against state mega teams. there is no possibility for "real teams" to ever come close to competing against them. if you are going to give team awards at the end of the meet, is there any way you can do it fairly? our team is extremely proud to have gotten as many team members as we did to go to natls. (most of them for the first time), but unfortunately they were very disillusioned (as was i) with the idea that we would be competing against state teams. as one of the coaches i didn't have an explanation. even though we were very proud of our 7th place finish in men's division, and our 12th place in combined, we were only one of a few "real teams" in the top ten. would appreciate responses. maybe even someone from the champ.committee could explain how they felt this scoring system would be more fair to the majority of swimmers. then i can pass it along to my teammates.. i don't want them to be so disillusioned that they lose interest in attending any future natls. thanks
I agree with Meg that what happened at convention is that members of some of what were being called Regional Clubs felt that was a pejorative name. In reality, there are "regional" clubs that are much smaller than some of the other regional clubs. Many people wanted small, medium and large teams so that all kinds of groups would have a chance to score at Nationals. Having been part of each size club at various times, I can say that it is fun and exciting to have a chance to place as a team. When we only did small, medium and large, it is interesting to note that the "regional clubs" still received almost all the team awards. A possible explanation for that is that a regional club who has 400 swimmers is relatively small for that type team, but is large compared to the vast majority of the other type clubs. Even though it will make for 54 awards (I believe TYR sponsors the awards, so the cost is not prohibitive for the meet), I suggest the following rule proposal as a "restart." although I think that the word "combined" in the third line would be better as another word, so as not to be confused with the combined category of men and women scores together. Note that I also incorporated "splashes," rather than number of entries to denote size, as we do not want to discourage clubs from entering their beginners in 2 or 3 events.
104.5.6 Club Scoring
B Club Types-- Clubs competing at Nationals shall be divided into two types: Simple clubs and combined clubs. Simple clubs are those whose majority of members reside within 50 miles of the club’s location and whose members always compete for that club in any USMS competitions. Combined Clubs contain members who compete as separate entities in LMSC competitions or who have a majority of members living more than 50 miles from the club’s location. The Zone Committee shall be responsible for publishing a list of each club’s type no later than February 15 of each year. If a club contests its designation, it may file an appeal with the zone committee at least 60 days prior to the National Championship Meet.
C Categories-- Club Scoring will be tabulated in three categories within each club type.
(1) Women’s . . .
(2) Men’s . . .
(3) Combined . . .
D. Divisions—Three size divisions, based upon the number of swimmers entered in the meet from each club, shall be recognized within each club type and category. The number of splashes from a club that shall constitute a division I (large), division II (medium), or division III (small) team shall be determined after the meet entry deadline by the Championship committee.
E Overall Point Total—The overall . . .
104.5.7--Awards
C Team awards—The organization conducting the national championship meet shall provide awards for up to three places in both types, in the three size divisions, and in the women’s, men’s and combined categories.
Rationale: Dividing into two types of clubs does not imply one is better than the other, only that they are different. Relays will still be contested as always, but this type of club scoring will encourage coaches of simple clubs to excite their club to compete as a team. Putting the 50 mile radius of a club into the rule is to provide that a person can put together a club from far flung areas, but that club would be in the combined category. (As an example, when Team TYR put together a club at Worlds, it would make more sense for them to be in the combined club, small division category)
I agree with Meg that what happened at convention is that members of some of what were being called Regional Clubs felt that was a pejorative name. In reality, there are "regional" clubs that are much smaller than some of the other regional clubs. Many people wanted small, medium and large teams so that all kinds of groups would have a chance to score at Nationals. Having been part of each size club at various times, I can say that it is fun and exciting to have a chance to place as a team. When we only did small, medium and large, it is interesting to note that the "regional clubs" still received almost all the team awards. A possible explanation for that is that a regional club who has 400 swimmers is relatively small for that type team, but is large compared to the vast majority of the other type clubs. Even though it will make for 54 awards (I believe TYR sponsors the awards, so the cost is not prohibitive for the meet), I suggest the following rule proposal as a "restart." although I think that the word "combined" in the third line would be better as another word, so as not to be confused with the combined category of men and women scores together. Note that I also incorporated "splashes," rather than number of entries to denote size, as we do not want to discourage clubs from entering their beginners in 2 or 3 events.
104.5.6 Club Scoring
B Club Types-- Clubs competing at Nationals shall be divided into two types: Simple clubs and combined clubs. Simple clubs are those whose majority of members reside within 50 miles of the club’s location and whose members always compete for that club in any USMS competitions. Combined Clubs contain members who compete as separate entities in LMSC competitions or who have a majority of members living more than 50 miles from the club’s location. The Zone Committee shall be responsible for publishing a list of each club’s type no later than February 15 of each year. If a club contests its designation, it may file an appeal with the zone committee at least 60 days prior to the National Championship Meet.
C Categories-- Club Scoring will be tabulated in three categories within each club type.
(1) Women’s . . .
(2) Men’s . . .
(3) Combined . . .
D. Divisions—Three size divisions, based upon the number of swimmers entered in the meet from each club, shall be recognized within each club type and category. The number of splashes from a club that shall constitute a division I (large), division II (medium), or division III (small) team shall be determined after the meet entry deadline by the Championship committee.
E Overall Point Total—The overall . . .
104.5.7--Awards
C Team awards—The organization conducting the national championship meet shall provide awards for up to three places in both types, in the three size divisions, and in the women’s, men’s and combined categories.
Rationale: Dividing into two types of clubs does not imply one is better than the other, only that they are different. Relays will still be contested as always, but this type of club scoring will encourage coaches of simple clubs to excite their club to compete as a team. Putting the 50 mile radius of a club into the rule is to provide that a person can put together a club from far flung areas, but that club would be in the combined category. (As an example, when Team TYR put together a club at Worlds, it would make more sense for them to be in the combined club, small division category)
