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U16 Championship Rules

NENSA U16 Championship Rules Document

The U16 Championship began in 1992, and has grown to be a highlight of the winter season for junior athletes. Young competitors are brought together under their state team banners in a festival atmosphere to ski in four races over three days. The four New England states and New York each qualify their fastest forty-eight 14-15 year old boys and girls. This event also welcomes guest skiers from other regions, Canada and other nations who compete head-to-head with skiers from the Northeast. Seeded wave starts ensure match racing at its finest, and the relay traditionally caps off the Championship with a team event.

1. Schedule

Race Organizer will have event entry fee and initial event info (Team Leader Packet which includes information on: schedule, site, contacts, registration, waxing, parking, banquet, and awards) to all team leaders in January. This information will be posted on the U16 event page on www.NENSA.net. NENSA will provide team leader contact information.

1a. The U16 Championships take place on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of the second or third weekend in March, whichever does not coincide with Eastern High School Championships. Boys race first every race on ODD years; Girls race first every race on EVEN years for every race, including the relay. 

1b. Friday’s Freestyle begins no earlier than 3:00PM and Sunday’s awards ceremony begins no later than 1PM. There must be at least 1 hr between start times for the boys and girls races.

1c. There must be a Team Leader meeting with the Jury one hour before each race during the weekend, with the exception of Friday’s Freestyle race.

1d. The competition schedule consists of the following: 

Friday:

PM: 5k Freestyle; wave-start: 3:00pm (or later)

Coaches meeting (1 hour): 1:00pm

Saturday

AM: 5K Classic; wave start: 9:30 am

PM: 1.0-1.25k Freestyle Sprint race; wave start, OR a cross-country cross (XCX) race. See bottom of this document for XCX information. Time TBD by Race Director.

Saturday Evening: Banquet with Award Ceremony.

Sunday:

AM: Mixed Technique, Mixed Gender Relay Race; Mass Start: 2 classic legs followed by 2  freestyle legs. Courses should be 2.5k – 3.5k in length (relay requires two separate courses for classic and freestyle legs).

Tag Zone: 50m in length wherever possible with minimum length of 40m. Each team is given one corral from which to feed athletes into the Tag Zone. Corrals will be placed on both sides of the Tag Zone.

Alternatively a tag-less relay may be run, where finishing skiers will cross a visible line in a lane adjacent to the start that is in view of the next leg skier, between 5-10m in front of the start line.  Once the finishing skier has crossed their finish line, then the next leg skier may begin.  Each team will have a start lane to load next leg skiers through.  This use of this format is site and condition dependent.

2. Team Compositions and Eligibility

2a. Any US state, US Ski & Snowboard region, or Canadian Province, or Country may enter an official team. Maximum of 48 Guest athletes and 8 coaches per team.  A guest team with a minimum of 16 athletes per gender will be included in team scoring.

2b. An official team consists of up to 24 boys and up to 24 girls. No more than 24 boys and 24 girls from each team may start in each race.

2c. Deadline for Team Entry is one week prior to the event. 

2d. Coaches: up to 8 coaches (7 coaches/1 team leader) are permitted free of charge. 

2e. Entry Roster should list Girls Teams 1-24 / Boys Teams 1-24 plus one alternate for each gender.

2f. Eligibility:

Competition is open to all U16 aged athletes (14 and 15 year olds).  U14s are not eligible to participate

Athletes may choose to compete for their home state or the state in which their school is located, but they cannot try out for both states.

Each state will determine the competition and rules for their team selection. Selection event schedule and qualifying criteria should be sent to NENSA ([email protected]) by January 1st.

2g. Guests:

Guests, both national and International,may be invited to compete in the U16 Championships. U16 aged guests are treated like any other competitor with regards to awards.

3. Team Entry & Registration

3a. The suggested maximum entry fee for U16 Championships is $120 per athlete. Any amount above this must be approved by NENSA. Please submit a proposed fee along with Bid.

3b. NENSA Membership Required

All New England and New York participants must have an active NENSA membership. It is up to the individual athlete to register with NENSA and membership is not included in the $120 fee. Canadian guests, and other out of region skiers, do not have to be NENSA members.

3c. Athlete T-shirts are typically given to all registrants.

3d. Team entry rosters should be submitted using the NENSA-provided template, including the following information:

First Name | Last Name | NENSA # | Club/School | T-Shirt Size

3e. Running orders for all three individual races must be the same.

3f. Deadline for Team Entry is one week prior to the event.

3g. All team leaders should send rosters via the state’s registration google doc provided by NENSA.

3h. Racer Substitutions: 

Once start lists have been created prior to the weekend, a state can substitute a skier within the replaced skiers spot /seed only. Once a substitution has been made the replaced skier cannot be put back in.

3j. Relay orders must be submitted via the state’s registration google doc provided by NENSA and are due to the Race Director by 5:00pm on Saturday.  It is recommended that the form is filled out early and adjustments made Friday night or Saturday morning. There is no excuse for late submissions and they will NOT be accepted.

4. Seeding

4a. Individual events are seeded by team rank, fastest to slowest,in descending order in 24 seed groups. 

4b. Relay teams are seeded by the team leader and may start in any order within their team’s designated start lane(s). There is no arrowhead in this event. Relay teams are due to NENSA and timer by 5pm on Saturday. For the Relay, guest class skiers will share one lane and alternate guest teams within that lane.

4c. Sprint wave start: Every state, including guests, should be represented in each wave.

4d. Guest skiers will be seeded the same as NENSA skiers: Fastest to slowest in the three individual races.

4e. Lane assignments and tag zones will be chosen by a double blind draw for every race and every gender.

5. Bibbing

Suggested method for bibbing:

5a. Bib # 101+ for whichever gender starts first any given year. Bib # 301+ for the other gender.

  • Guest athletes are included in continuous bibbing sequence.
  • These bibs are distributed to team leaders prior to first event, and are not collected until after the final event on Saturday. Athletes will wear the same bib in the first three events and are responsible for keeping up with those bibs.  This includes those in the top 15 arrowhead.

Remaining skiers are seeded by team leaders/coaches. 

5c. All bibs will be collected Saturday afternoon and redistributed for the relay.

5d. Relay bibbing can be done as follows:

Team 1 – 101, 201, 301, 401

Team 2 – 102, 202, 302, 402

Team 3 – 103, 203, 303, 403

Team 4 – 104, 204, 304, 404

Team 5 – 105, 205, 305, 405

5e. Teams will be charged $50 for any missing bibs not collected at the conclusion of the event. 

6. Scoring

There will be a team leader vote on scoring depth depending on final team size upon arrival the Friday of the event, if MA, ME, NH, or VT have below 20 per gender, with a minimum of 16 scored.

All scoring is done by points, and not by time.

6a. Individual events are scored as follows:

1st place receives 135 points, 2nd place 130, 3rd 126 4th 123, 5th 121, 6th 120, with each subsequent place awarded points decreasing by one.

6b. Relays are scored as follows:

1st 650, 2nd 600, 3rd 560, 4th 530, 5th 510, 6th 500, 7th 490, with each subsequent place awarded points in descending increments of 10.

6c. Points

  • Points shall be awarded for each state to the top 20 finishers in the individual events.
  • Points will be awarded to the top ten relay teams.  Relay teams 11-12 do not displace.
  • Only the top 20 finishers from each state may displace other skiers in scoring. 21-24 do not displace.
  • Boy’s and girl’s team scores need to be totaled and listed at the end of each event along with state totals.
  • Overall points scored by individuals in the sprint, classic, and skate races need to be tallied prior to the Saturday evening awards. 

6d. Guest U16 skiers will not be included in team points and awards, and they do not displace. Guest skiers will be scored for individual awards

7. Results

7a. Results will be posted on-site and at NENSA.net following each event. The results will include individual scoring and team scores. A final results packet will be prepared, with 1 hard copy available for each team leader at the event’s conclusion.

7b. Results need to be posted in a vertical format for all fields.

Place | Bib | First Name | Last Name | State/Region/Province | Time | Individual Points | Team Points

7c. One hard copy of the results should be presented to each team leader after the final race.

8. Awards

8a. The top 10 finishers in each race and the top 3 relay teams will be recognized with medals. The top 5 relay teams will be recognized.

8b. Top 3 overall skiers (those with the highest combined point total) in the three individual events will be recognized at the final awards ceremony with special awards (medals or prizes).

8c. A raffle or other fun giveaway is traditional and encouraged as part of the Saturday awards gathering.

8d. Guest skiers will be recognized at the awards ceremony and included in the individual awards.

9. Site Selection

Site selection is determined by NENSA through an event bidding process. Geographic rotation, venue quality, organizational structure, and appropriate local resources for lodging and meals will be considered in the awarding of bids.Guarantee lodging and block rooms. Lodging List should be provided by organizer. Twenty-two rooms per team.

10. Coaches Meeting

A 1-hour coaches meeting will be held between 12:00 and 2:00PM on Friday opening the competition.

10a. Printed materials to be handed out at coaches meeting, provided by host site:

  • Two copies of start lists for each team (minimum)
  • Two copies of course maps for each team (minimum)
  • Two copies of stadium maps for all races
  • A written agenda to be used at the coaches meeting and handed out to coaches

10b. Mandatory information to be presented via PowerPoint (or similar) at coaches meeting:

  • Course maps
  • Stadium maps
  • Other information about the venue & weekend’s event

11. Technical Details

11a. Race organizer pays TD & TDA a daily fee of $100 per day, mileage, lodging, and meals.

11b. Organizing Committee will be required to send Chief of Competition and one additional representative (ideally Race Secretary) to the NENSA Fall Event Organizer Seminar.

11c. Rules similar to FIS rules will apply to this event. Competition technical decisions will be handled by the jury such as protests, disqualifications, and sanctions.

11d. State uniforms must be worn, both bottom and top pieces, unless deemed by the TD that the temperatures are too warm to require full race suits be worn.

11e. Coaches have the right to appeal a protest decision with NENSA. An appeal may be submitted only by the Team Leader and should be sent to Fred Bailey at [email protected] within 2 days of the occurrence. There will be a $100 fee for any appeal, made payable to NENSA. The appeal will be arbitrated by the Appeals Committee comprised of (Competitive Program Director, TD Coordinator and a community member at large).  2022 Committee: Justin Beckwith, Bill Rogers, Sverre Caldwell.

11f. This event is subject to NENSA’s waxing policy. Further details can be found at: https://nensa.net/2019/11/05/nensa-waxing-policy-2019-2020-ski-season/

12. Cross Country Cross (XCX)

Cross country cross is a competition where competitors compete on a cross- country ski course that includes both traditional and non-traditional elements such as natural and artificial terrain features, corridors, obstacles, and tight turns, as well as different natural and artificial types of turns, jumps, waves, and other skiing terrain features.

12a. General Rules

  • Competition will be carried out as a wave start competition.  Waves are organized by seed group.
  • Cross Country Cross shall be carried out in freestyle technique only.
  • The length of the course shall be 1.5k (+/- 10%)
  • All features shall be well designed and maintained throughout the competition for the safety of athletes and limit any undue stress on equipment.
  • Gatekeepers/course marshals will report competitors to the jury that have not properly navigated features.
  • A 5 second penalty will be applied for each missed feature, unless a marked alternate route is used.

12b. Course Rules

  • Elements should be built into the course progressively so that features that have limited “best line” opportunities are later in the course, ie. “bicycle bumps.”
  • There must be a minimum of two features or lines through any element, ie. “red and blue course.”
  • If any alternate route exists around a feature, it must disadvantage the competitor by forcing them to travel in a longer route.

Updated April 2022