U14 Event Selection

SELECTION OBJECTIVES

Alpine Ontario Alpin (AOA) creates athletic programming and pathways to ensure Ontario athletes have the best possible environment in which to perform to the best of their abilities.  High-performance opportunities at the U14 age groups provide our top performing athletes with a platform to test themselves against the best in North America and beyond.  These early career high-performance opportunities establish critical benchmarks for athletes to continue to improve upon and to inspire and motivate them to strive for excellence in ski racing.

It is important to note that if these benchmarks are not met at this stage of development, it does not mean that the athlete will not have an opportunity to participate in the AOA high-performance plan in the future

Once applied, the selection criteria outlined here create teams for competition that achieve the following 7 objectives:

  1. Identify the strongest possible team for the event at this stage of their development
  2. Control the number of participants at an event to maintain quality and safety for those participating
  3. Identify skiers at the Train to Train stage of development that are mature enough to handle the workload of more events and higher intensity at this stage
  4. Create a training group for pre-competition preparation
  5. Create a progression for athletes on the AOA high-performance pathway
  6. Unify athletes to represent the province of Ontario
  7. Provide equal quota for males and females

Appeals

The AOA Athletic committee will review all appeals which must be submitted in writing with appropriate and relevant substantiating data to the AOA Athletic Committee (via the AOA High Performance Manager; duncan@alpineontario.ca based on dates stated per event outlined in this document. Appeals will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, with injury and illness as well as extenuating circumstances being reasonable grounds for a review. Extenuating circumstances do not include appeals based on athletic performances.

Tie Break Protocol

Tie break for event selection will be dealt with on the following basis:

  1. The tie will be broken by best race point* acquired in relevant selection data.

*Race points cannot be applied to partial results (i.e. single run SL or GS)

Tie breaks for event seeding will be dealt with on the following basis:

  1. 1st tie break, next best-combined finish in the disputed discipline
  2. 2nd tie break, best run score in the disputed discipline
  3. 3rd tiebreak, second-best run score in the disputed discipline
  4. 4th tie break, name to be drawn from a hat at seeding meeting, the 1st name drawn is seeded ahead of the tied athlete in the disputed discipline.

**In the event that only one SG result is available, GS results will be utilized for tie break purposes

EVENTS

U14 OCUP FINALS
Dates:  March 13-17, 2024
Location:  Alpine/Craigleith, Collingwood, ON
Events:  One (1) Super-G, one (1) GS, one (1) SL, one (1) Dual SL.
Quota: This event will be open with a maximum field size of 160 athletes.  If more than 160 athletes qualify for the event, a divisional quota process will be executed: SOD – 110, NOD – 14, LSDA – 12, NCD – 24= 160. Even numbers for gender split.

OCUP Finals Title: This will be awarded to the athlete with the top total event points (using WC 500 point system) from the SG, GS, SL, and the Dual.

 U14 CAN AM EVENT – International Race
Dates: March 27-31, 2024
Location:  Sugarloaf, Maine
Events: SL, GS, SG,
Quota: The Ontario quota will be 30 athletes, comprised of 15 Males and 15 Females who will be known as “Team Ontario”.

Selections:  Selections are based on results from the U14 OCUP FINALS using the following methods:

  1. Athletes will be awarded points using the World Cup 500 point system.
  2. The sum of the following two calculations is used to create the Can Am qualifying list of athletes.
  • Calculation 1 is using the best 2 of 6 runs. Maximum of one (1) run from the Dual. *SG may not be used as a single run score
  • Calculation 2 is using the best 2 of 4 “event results” (meaning the athlete finishes both runs). Points are awarded for completed events which can include SG, GS, SL or Dual.

Seeding:  Seeding will be based on the U14 OCUP Finals whereby athletes will be ranked individually by their event result in that discipline.

Appeals: Appeals must be submitted in writing with appropriate and relevant substantiating data to the AOA Athletic Committee (via the AOA High Performance Manager) no later than March 18, 2024 at 5pm.

Automatic quota: Divisions have automatic quota for this event is: NOD – 1, LSDA – 1, NCD – 1, SOD – 4. For an athlete in a division’s reserve quota who does not qualify in the top 20 CanAm qualifying points, the divisional team captain from U14 OCup Provincial Finals must submit a request and supporting data to the AOA Athletic Committee by email to Duncan Gibson-MacLean, duncan@alpineontario.ca by the deadline of 5:00 p.m. on March 18th, 2024, at which time the Appeals Subcommittee of the AOA Athletic Committee will meet to assess all submissions on a case-by-case basis.

WHISTLER CUP – International Children’s FIS Race

Dates: April 11-14, 2024

Location: Whistler, B.C.

Events: SL, GS and Kombi/Parallel SL.

Quota: AOA will enter two (2) “Team Ontario” athletes based on the top six (6) male and the top six (6) female athletes from the U14 Can Am qualifying list.
Selections: Selections are based on the same selection criteria guidelines as those used for the Can Am qualifying list.

Please note: These entries will be in the athlete’s name only; AOA will not manage these athletes, nor travel with them. Instead, athletes will remain with their club program and coaches. This will allow the AOA clubs to expand their opportunities for entries to U14 Whistler Cup.