To the - To the Members of the Alpine Youth and Children sub-committee For information to: - FIS President - FIS Secretary General INTERNATIONAL SKI FEDERATION Blochstrasse 2 3653 Oberhofen/Thunersee Switzerland Tel +41 33 244 61 61 Fax +41 33 244 61 71 1 November 2012 Minutes of the 18 th Meeting of the Alpine Youth & Children Sub-Committee 4 th October 2012, Zurich (SUI) Dear Members of the Alpine Youth and Children Sub-Committee Please find enclosed minutes of the meeting of the Alpine Youth & Children Sub-Committee (Experts Group) held in Zurich. You are kindly asked to send any remarks to the FIS Office in Oberhofen no later than 15th November, 2012. We would also like to take the opportunity of informing you that the minutes are available on the Member Services section of the FIS Website: www.fis-ski.com. Thank you very much for your valuable contribution and may I wish you a most successful winter. Kind regards, INTERNATIONAL SKI FEDERATION Ken Read Chairman (sent by e-mail) 1/5
18 th Meeting of the FIS Alpine Youth & Children Subcommittee (Experts Group) Zurich (SUI), 4 th October, 2012 Attendance: Chairman: READ Ken, CAN Vice-Chairman: STAUDACHER Arno, AUT Members: ALFONS Thoma, ITA; ANDREEVA Mila, BUL; BORNAT Pierre, FRA; BOZIC Bostjan, SLO; DINARS Dorss, LAT; DOJCINOVIC Jelena, BIH; FLEISS Reno, CRO; GUERRERO Hermogenes, CHI; HOFER Franz, SUI; KATO Kiyotaka, JPN; KRIZOVA Olga, CZE; KYRIACOS Kyriacou, CYP; LINDEN Petri, FIN; MELIN Lars, SWE; OSSWALD Martin, GER; RIML Patrick, USA; SHUTE Jenny, GBR; STAMOU Spyridoula, GRE Excused: PASTOR, Jacques (MON) Guests: DETASSIS Mauro (Chairman, Children's Race Organisers Group) SRS Representatives: MORAND Jean-Pierre: FRISON-ROCHE Christian: SCHILCHEGGER Heinz. EHR Gert, AUT; FUR Anna, HUN; HAUNELID Stefan, NOR; KASZO Klara, HUN; LORING Nigel, CAN; MOANGE Ake, SWE; PILZ Peter, RSA; PUM Hans, AUT; RAPATEL Jean-Pierre, CAN; SANTA CRUZ Alberto, CHI; SCHMALZ Reinhard, ITA; SUNDBERG Karin, SWE; SZEPEZI Istvan, HUN; TSOUTRELIS Melita, GRE; VISA Carles, AND 1. Welcome & Roll Call The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting, and thanked Jenny Shute (JS) for taking the minutes. The Agenda was approved. The equipment item was brought forward. 2. Equipment - discussion with SRS representatives 2.1 U16/U14 ski regulations After discussion, the following proposal was agreed with the representatives of SRS, for proposal to the Alpine Committee (and information to the Equipment Committee): (Note: only includes changes) Maximum ski width (SG/GS): 65mm GS ski: maximum length 188cm GS radius: minimum 17m (U14 minimum 14m) Super G ski (only for U16): minimum length: 183cm Super G radius (only for U16): minimum turning radius: 30m Implementation of these regulations, once approved, would be for season 2014-15, to permit the industry to adapt to the new maximum width of skis. 2.2 AS continues to push the industry to agree to a standardised ski below length 130cm. 2.3 Report on availability of WC/EC skis for all WJC 2013 participants WJC 2013 - The industry has made a huge effort to prepare enough equipment for all WJC competitors from all nations. The equipment standards for this event are very clear - nations having problems obtaining the equipment are asked to declare them now. 2.4 Report on availability of new standard equipment for 2013-2014. SRS advised it is challenging to prepare the material to be available for all levels in 2013-14. Both SRS and the Sub Committee will continue to monitor the situation and review this again in the spring meeting. 2.5 KR and the SRS representatives thanked each other for their tolerance and patience in resolving these equipment issues. 2/5
3. Matters arising from the minutes 3.1 ICR 607.3 25 technical starts limit for 1 st year FIS - suspended for this year. The meeting agreed unanimously to support the continuation of this rule for season 2013-14. 4. Discussion Points: 4.1 ICR 607.3 The Alpine Classification SC to inform FIS Council of any infringements to the rule. There are currently no sanctions, just that results over 25 do not count. If beyond 28 starts, need mechanism to inform the NGB. Precision to be agreed at Spring meeting. 4.2 SuperG/Downhill Review (ongoing discussion point for event support) - DH races decreasing in number. NorAm subcommittee has proposed to lower VD requirement from min 550m to 500m, but aim to continue to include all elements of an interesting DH race, and 2 runs. (Note: the Alpine Committee agreed to modify the VD requirement for all COC DH to 500m) It was clear from WJC 2012 that many athletes not well prepared, largely due to the lack of calendared DH events. Ski pool for DH skis, every nation has these, the industry confirms that all nations can obtain skis for a pool, with training skis available for a very low price. 4.3 Back Injury Study (Arno Staudacher) - no further news, still working on control group. But lots of athletes with new problems - deferred till Spring 4.4 Biological age study (AS) - will be proposed for at the 2013 Y&C Seminar. Chairman to bring this to the attention of the Youth Seminar Planning Committee. 5. Special Groups 5.1 SRS - see above 5.2 Children s Races Organisers: Mauro Detassis thanked the Chair for attending Topolino 2012. Race organisers meeting in Canada 11-18 October, and commit to confirm calendar for next two years. There were 1850 participants in these races, 50 less than previous year. MD asked about the use of back protectors - JS reported that the FRA proposal had gone through several committees, and the end result had been a recommendation, but not a rule. Questions were raised about the number of Children s FIS races per season (currently 17 for the coming season), and about the maximum number of races that individual athletes can do during the season. At present, there is no means to monitor the number of events athletes participate in without a codex or the honour system by NSF s. Action 1 - all nations are requested to review the Children s ICR, highlight areas for discussion, and propose changes. Action 2 inquire if a codex is possible for FIS children's race organisers, to upload results to FIS website. Agreed that ROCs should request a codex so this can be achieved. Action 3 It was request that MD should send the 2 year planning calendar when complete. He agreed to send this to JS for distribution. 5.3 FIS Medical Committee (Dr Jenny Shute) - all injury information from all nations is welcomed. 6. FIS Alpine World Junior Championships 6.1 2013 Le Massif (CAN) - information to be presented tomorrow. The ROC representative agreed that the format and information would be circulated to all members ahead of the minutes, and then appended to them. An athlete friendly opening ceremony was strongly requested - short and sweet, with few speeches. The Team event - It was requested the team event will be aligned with World Championships rules and 16 nations participate. (Note: confirmed 16 nations, but Nations Quota remains at 4 athletes to permit 16 nations to compete) 3/5
6.2 2014 Jasna (SVK) - all in place, dates not yet known. 6.3 2015 no current candidates. FIS Council will advise. 7. Youth Olympic Winter Games 7.1 2012 YOG, Innsbruck - this had been discussed at the Y&C Seminar. Approx 50% of members / guests present today had participated in the seminar. A broad panel had presented views from different national perspectives, re age groups, timescale of qualification, and varying NOC support. The main problem is the fact that it is a 4 yearly event, which is intrinsically unfair to athletes from certain years of birth. This is a formal IOC decision, and is unlikely to change. Does qualifying put pressure on athletes? This happens all the time. The challenge is to present this as a positive experience. Will be pinnacle of career for some, must accept this, but it would be a pity to lose athletes with further potential. GER/USA suggested move to U16 rather than U18, but it was agreed that there is lots of pressure at U16; biological problems are most pronounced in this age range. U18 was agreed to be the best solution, fitting with FIS age categories. J1 category at WJC - trophy, but no medal, as generally agreed not a significant result. Top athletes were sent from some nations, others sent best from each YoB. Could maybe propose changes in EYOF, to hold this every four years too. This is a matter for the European nations to take to their NOCs. IOC demands competitors present whole time. CEP turns this into a participant competition, but not for elite athletes. This IOC view is unlikely to change. Ski Cross there are no national races or training for athletes of this age, so no preparation opportunities, and although it wasn't a dangerous track, it was agreed that problems may occur with unprepared athletes. It was agreed that the FS committee may need to consider a different age group proposal. It was noted the Lillehammer YOG will be in early March, 6 weeks later 7.2 Proposals to be put forward: 8. FIS - No medal in team event, propose mix all nations in team events. Fundamentally want to find a way of allowing and encouraging smaller nations to take part in the team event. It was agreed that KR should pass this to the FIS experts to assess. - Propose more competitors, as slopes would accommodate a fuller field. - Recommend U18 age range for YOG 2016, to fit with FIS age ranges. - Alpine skiing would welcome the addition of more athletes into the field 8.1. FIS Youth Seminar - 43 nations participating, good presentations from other sports. Reports were presented re FIS Snowkidz, and WSD 2012. Cross-training and talent transfer were discussed. KR thanked Andrew Cholinski for doing a great job for FIS; he reported a 50% increase in events to date for WSD 2013. 8.2 FIS World Snow Day: 20th Jan 2013 9. Various 9.1 Ski Cross: KR asked each nation to advise which discipline managed Ski Cross within their NSAs. Many reported under Freestyle auspices; others (fewer) reported under Alpine. KR reported that some issues had arisen regarding translation of age range changes from Alpine to Freestyle Ski Cross, in particular regarding the top end of the new age range changes. He was concerned that other gaps may arise since the event falls between two committees. Enhanced communication is imperative going forward, to ensure no gaps. Freestyle TD training needs updating, and should make full use of Alpine expertise in, for example, setting up safety equipment, B nets etc, in approved manner. Advertising banners also flagged up as a concern - no banners on B nets! Must ensure these things are corrected/improve, through enhanced communication channels between the 2 Subcommittees in future. 9.2 AS requests that the WJC presentation should always take place in this Y&C Alpine SC, not the EC committee, as the rules and concerns emanate from this group. 4/5
9.3 AS further requested only a gathering be held during the WJC in future. KR reminded the subcommittee a decision was taken last year in Zurich to hold the meeting this year at the WJC, when it was foreseen that not many members would be able to attend the FIS Congress in South Korea. It was agreed that this was exceptional, and will not happen in future. 9.4 EYOF: The next event is in Brasov, ROM, in 2013. A short discussion took place around this event. It was agreed by all that the Alpine events should be run on good quality homologated race tracks and overseen by experienced technical staff. Also that it would perhaps be better to run this every four years, to fall between the YOGs. The lines of responsibility for discussion of this event are unclear. NSAs may need to take up these issues with their NOCs. Note: the Organizers for Brasov have confirmed the runs are Homologated 10. Next meeting: FIS Calendar Conference 5 9 June, 2013 Dubrovnik (CRO) The Chairman thanked FIS staff, Janez Flere and Markus Waldner, and all members and guests for their attendance at today s meeting, and at the Y&C seminar yesterday; he wished all a good winter season. 5/5