SSAXC Selection Policies

Transcription

1 SSAXC Selection Policies Cross Country Committee National Team Selection Policy National Team Selection Policy Discipline: Event: Level: Gender: Cross Country Distance Sprint World Cup Team Continental Cup Team Australian U23 Team Australian Junior Team Male/ Female Updated: July Objective 1.1. To select athletes to the various levels of National Team, who are capable of producing the best possible performances at the international level. 2. Selection Committee 1.2. Selection of the World Cup Team, Continental Cup Team, Australian U23 Team and Australian Junior Team will be undertaken by the Selection Sub-Committee ( Selection Committee ) of the SSA Cross Country Committee (SSA XC). The Selection Committee should comprise the National Team Head Coach, sport experts appointed by SSA XC and the chairman of SSA XC A majority decision of the Selection Committee is required. The decision of the Selection Committee shall be final. Reasons shall not be given for any selection or other decision of the Selection Committee unless requested by non-selected athlete(s). The Selection Committee may meet with non-selected athletes to explain their decision Any member of the Selection Committee who is directly related to a racer, or holds a conflict of interest with a particular athlete shall not take part in the selection process for that athlete. The reserve selector shall act in his/her place Unless expressly requested by the Selection Committee, athletes have no right to make submissions or representations to, or appear before the Selection Committee. Any right or claim to natural justice in this regard is expressly excluded, such as right being preserved in the appeal process under section 11 of this policy Selections made by the Selection Committee are subject to final approval by SSA XC and the SSA board. 3. Eligibility 3.1. There are different levels of teams within the National Cross Country Ski Team. For an athlete to be selected to join any team, the athlete must meet the specific criteria for that team and must also satisfy the following:

2 Be a current member of SSA; Be an Australian Citizen; and Show a high level of commitment, an intention to compete internationally and to strive to meet their best possible performance potential FIS Points must be gained using an Australian FIS Licence in order to count for team selection Athletes in the Australian Junior Team may not be more than 20 years old in the following calendar year. Athletes in the Australian U23 Team may not be younger than 21 years old or more than 23 years old in the following calendar year It is expected that all World Cup Team and Continental Cup Team athletes will compete in the Australian Championships and National Selection races. Any skier with exceptional circumstances wishing to be selected to the team but not intending to ski in these races must apply in writing to the National Team Coach. 4. World Cup Team 4.1. To be eligible for the World Cup Team each athlete must have achieved two results of either of the following competition standards: FIS Point Standard Men: 75 FIS Points Women: 90 FIS Points World Cup % of Field Standard Men 75% of field Women: 75% of field 4.2. The two results can be achieved in any combination of sprint or distance events and FIS Point or WC % of Field standards In calculating % of fields the starting field shall be used. In the event that 10% or more of the field fails to finish a race the event may be deemed invalid for selection purposes. 5. Continental Cup Team 5.1. To be eligible for the Continental Cup Team each athlete must have achieved two results of the following competition standard: FIS Point Standard Men: 120 FIS Points Women: 140 FIS Points 5.2. The two results can be achieved in any combination of sprint or distance events. 6. Australian U23 Team 6.1. To be eligible for the U23 Team each athlete must have achieved two results of the following competition standard: National Selection Races Distance: 10.0 % behind the fastest Australian Sprint: 7.5 % behind the fastest Australian 6.2. The two results can be achieved in any combination of sprint or distance events. 2 Page

3 6.3. In addition, any athlete who is selected to the Australian Team for the World U23 Championship via FIS Points will also be selected to the Australian U23 Team 7. Australian Junior Team 7.1. To be eligible for the Australian Junior Team each athlete should have achieved two results of the following standard: National Selection Races Distance: 10.0 % behind the fastest Australian Junior Sprint: 7.5 % behind the fastest Australian Junior 7.2. The two results can be achieved in any combination of sprint or distance events In addition, any athlete who is selected to the Australian Team for the World Junior Championship via FIS Points will also be selected to the Australian Junior Team 8. Discretionary Invitations to National Training Camps/Tours 8.1. In addition to athletes selected to the National Teams under sections 4, 5, 6 and 7 above, athletes may be invited to join National Team training camps and international tours at the discretion of the relevant National Team coaching staff. Invitations will be made in consideration of the standard of the athletes, their commitment to the sport and in consultation with state coaches. These athletes will be notified directly by team coaching staff and will not be named to the official teams posted by SSA Athletes invited to train or travel with the team will be required to cover all their own expenses and to pay a coaching fee where appropriate Athletes invited to train with the team will not be classified as official National Team members for the purposes of SSA athlete classification and will not be eligible for general team benefits. However, athletes travelling with the team on international tours may be able to eligible to purchase some items of team uniform so that the team looks like a team. 9. General Definitions and Explanations 9.1. FIS Points Where FIS Point results are required, results of the appropriate standard must have been achieved within the preceding 12 months (i.e. selection made in September 2015 will include results from the 2015 Australian winter and the 2014/2015 northern hemisphere winter) Code Of Conduct All athletes invited to join the National Teams are required to meet the standards set out in the Ski & Snowboard Australia Code of Conduct and to satisfy additional requirements as detailed in the official letter of invitation. This includes adopting a professional approach to training and competition Selection Timelines Where possible the following selection timeline will be followed: May 1 Confirmation of National Team selection standards for the following year. September 1 Publication of athletes who have met the criteria published in 4.1, 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1. September 15 Consideration by Selection Committee of extenuating circumstances as per October 1 Confirmation of team selection, invitations sent out to all prospective team members. October 15 Deadline for acceptance of National Team invitations. November 1 Official announcement of all National Teams. 3 Page

4 9.4. Selection after the Northern Hemisphere Winter Following the Northern Hemisphere Winter additional athletes may be selected to the Junior Team, U23 Team, Continental Cup Team and World Cup Team on the basis of FIS Point results or World Cup performances. These athletes will be confirmed as members of the Australian Team at the April SSAXC meeting. 10. Extenuating Circumstances Extenuating circumstances may include, but are not limited to; injury, illness or personal bereavement Athletes unable to meet the selection criteria due to extenuating circumstances must notify the National Team Head Coach or the Chairperson of the Selection Committee in writing of this fact and the reasons, prior to the commencement of planned selection events to be considered In the case of illness or injury, athletes must currently be on the National Team and have been incapable of competing in sufficient nominated selection events to gain selection through these events. The athlete must demonstrate to the Selection Committee that the injury or illness is genuine and worthy of being considered. This may be in the form of medical advice provided, discussions with personal trainer, training records or other results throughout the year to indicate the level that the athlete is at when healthy In the case of bereavement or other extenuating circumstances, the Selection Committee will make a decision on a case by case basis For FIS points in a race to be valid for selection purposes the calculated FIS penalty should be an accurate reflection of the standard of the race. This is relevant when the maximum FIS points are used in the penalty calculation. As a general rule the penalty should be close to the points of the best athlete in the event. 11. Appeal Example The first five athletes in a race have the following FIS points: 1 st nd (max) = rd Penalty Calculation: 4 th (max 481 / 3.75 = th (max) Applying normal calculation rules, the worst 2 points are eliminated and for individual start distance races a maximum of 176 points are used for anyone over this value. Hence the calculated FIS penalty for this competition is However because the penalty is considerably better than the points of the best athletes in the race, FIS points from this race may not be valid for selection purposes In the case where the race is deemed to be invalid, the Selection Committee may make a discretionary selection depending on the circumstances The appeal process concerning the selection or non-selection of an athlete for various National Teams and for international events will follow the process as detailed in the document Cross Country Event and Team Selection Appeals Policy. 12. Removal from a selected ected squad, team or event Any athlete who: breaches or fails to observe this Policy or the related team and event selection policies; breaches or fails to observe any provision of the SSA Constitution or bylaws; 4 Page

5 by reason of illness or injury is unable to perform to the required standard in the opinion of the Selection Committee or the National Team Head Coach (after having received advice from a medical practitioner); breaches or fails to fulfill a requirement of the SSA Anti-Doping Policy; breaches or fails to comply, fulfill and observe the requirements in the National Team Agreement (if any); is ineligible for selection to, or continued membership of, the national team as the case may be Any athlete may be removed from any selected squad, team or event by the Selection Committee in consultation with the National Team Head Coach as the circumstances may require including where the athlete has failed to sustain his or her performance and attitude to a satisfactory level, provided that the required performance levels had first been discussed with the athlete and the athlete had been given the opportunity to attain those performance levels within a defined timeframe. Updated July Page