USSA Congress 2012

I just returned from Park City where I attended the USSA Congress (convention)as a part of the Northern Division representitives. It was a good session and I was very pleased to share it with the very capable group from ND. Lots of topics were discussed for 2013. The new age group changes were discussed at length and we should see decisions about the final alignments by mid-June.

Age Group Changes and USSA Registration

I want to point out that USSA membership is now open for On-Line registration. If you have been a member, you should still expect a mailed membership reminder and form. Before you join, USSA is changing the age group classifications to reflect a method more akin to what Soccer uses; a U-12 group will contain 10 and 11 year olds, U-14 will contain 12 and 13 year olds, etc. In the past the Northern Division group that contained 13 and 14 year olds could chose to race as either scored or un-scored. A scored race/racer was tracked in the national ranking system and compared to all others in the system. This year the grouping will join 13 year olds with 12 year olds, not 14 year olds. 14 year olds will be joined with 15 year olds in the U-16 group. With the U-14 group there is still some question regarding how they might be a part of the national ranking system. Because this question has not been answered yet, it is recommended that racers in the 12/13 year old (U-14) group hold off on their USSA registration until that decision is made. The time table for that decision is early June at this time. The deadline for USSA registration is Oct 15 so there is no immediate need for registration.