Note: All the rule changes below were passed
by the USCAA Board
on 13 Jan 2003
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Rule Change Recommendations: USCAA Nationals
The USCAA Rules Committee recommends that the Board adopt changes, clarifications, and provisions, as discussed below, to its rules for competition in the National Track & Field Championships. These suggested rule changes are based on proposals received after an open solicitation process among participating USCAA teams.
1) Division Structure Change:
The Rules Committee recommends the Board revise the rules to create three divisions, with no subdivisions.
Explanation: As team participation has dwindled, some divisions have become quite sparse in competitive ranks while others – though robust – create situations in which some teams are perpetually outgunned. Eliminating subdivisions also enhances simplicity and ease of explanation/understanding for new teams – and even for current participants. Primary changes: collapsing Division II into one division and renaming it Division III; renaming 1A and 1AA to Divisions I and II, respectively; having the new Division II score and medal separately from Division I.
Current:
Revised:
Division I: companies with over 50,000 employees
Division II: companies with 10,000 to 50,000 employees
Division III: companies with fewer than 10,000 employees
Divisions I and II will compete together, however Division II will score and medal separately.
2) Elimination of Prelims for Division II:
The Rules Committee recommends the Board revise the rules to eliminate prelims in Division II if there are 8 or fewer teams entered in an event 21 days prior to Nationals.
Explanation: With fewer teams entered in Division II, it makes little sense to unnecessarily tax athletes and spread small teams even more thinly. The schedule could be modified to hold more finals on Saturday.
Current:
“If fewer than 8 Div. II teams are entered 30 days prior to Nationals, prelims will be held for the following events only: (4x100, 4x200, 3-Lap Sprint Relay, Sprint Relay)”
Revised:
“If 8 or fewer Div. II teams are entered 21 days prior to Nationals, prelims will not be held.”
3) Revised Prelim Rules for Division I:
The Rules Committee recommends the Board revise the rules to advance the top 8 Division I teams to finals, regardless of time; to advance teams 9-12 if they meet the qualifying time; to revise the qualifying times where appropriate, based on recent finish time data; and to require all teams wishing to advance to finals to participate in prelims, where held.
Explanation: Times have been getting slower over the years, and we do not serve our goal of encouraging maximum participation if we fail to advance the top 8 teams because an arbitrary qualifying time is not met. It will promote competition to advance the top 8 teams, and to advance additional teams as well if they meet a qualifying time that is relaxed in some cases to reflect existing trends in finish times. Eliminating qualifying times entirely was viewed as undesirable, to preserve the desirable goal of encouraging competitive efforts.
Current:
Preliminaries: if there are thirteen or more teams entered, then twelve teams advance to the finals (see the table below for team advancement). Finals Qualifying Standards:
Division I:
For events with a qualifying standard, teams must meet the qualifying
standard to proceed to the finals, regardless of the number of teams
entered. However, if there are eight to
twelve teams, the fastest eight will automatically advance to the finals. Teams
finishing ninth through twelfth may also advance to the finals if they meet the
qualifying time. If there are less than nine teams for an event, preliminaries
will not be necessary. But if one or more teams wish to compete, then they may
do so for lane assignments. Lane assignments for all other teams will be
determined by a random drawing.
Revised:
Division I prelims:
For events with no qualifying standard: In a two-heat prelim the top 2 from each heat advance, with the next 8 fastest times.
For events with a qualifying standard: If there are 8 to 12 teams, the fastest 8 will automatically advance to the finals. Teams finishing 9th through 12th may also advance to the finals if they meet the qualifying standard.
4) Revised Alumni Eligibility:
The Rules Committee recommends the Board revise the rules to allow athletes who have competed at least once previously to run as an alum.
Explanation: With teams becoming more sparse, and with some teams struggling to fill their ranks – particularly for those teams that do not receive corporate support – it would seem counterproductive to turn away athletes who are interested enough and committed enough to continue to participate with teams they have been affiliated with. This allows them to maintain active participation, and allows USCAA to prolong its visibility with those athletes.
Current:
Up to five ex-employees who have previously competed for a team in at least three USCAA National Track & Field Championships (or as many as the team has competed in, whichever is less), are eligible to compete for that team, provided they are not employed by another competing USCAA team.
Revised:
Up to five ex-employees who have previously competed for a team in at least one USCAA National Track & Field Championships, are eligible to compete for that team, provided they are not employed by another competing USCAA team.
5) Revised Retiree Eligibility:
The Rules Committee recommends the Board revise the rules to allow retirees who have spent 5 years (vs. 10) with a company to be eligible to compete.
Explanation: The face of corporate America is changing, as are employment and retirement patterns. It would seem to promote the interests of USCAA to allow greater flexibility in retiree eligibility standards, given that a corporate commitment has been demonstrated by an employee who meets that company’s retirement standards.
Current:
Must be pension eligible, former employees, with ten or more years of service to the corporation and whose age plus years of service equals sixty-five years or more.
Revised:
Must be pension eligible, former employees, with 5 or more years of service to the corporation and whose age plus years of service equals sixty years or more.
6) Participation of Individual Competitors:
The Rules Committee recommends the Board adopt a rule allowing the Rules Committee to place a limited number of unattached individual runners with Division IAA and Division II companies with a demonstrated need.
Explanation: This year we saw how both individual athletes and longstanding participating teams could benefit from a “matching” program that would place these athletes with teams in need (Boeing and Sempra were teamed with unattached runners). Some regional competitions use a similar program quite successfully to both enhance competition and to increase participation and build interest with new athletes. The Rules Committee could be given the authority to place up to 3 athletes with teams in Divisions IAA and I, where a clear need has been demonstrated. This process would replace this year’s process in which individual waivers were sought for each placement through a vote by the entire Board. This will not be a widely promoted activity, as we do not wish to alter the corporate nature of the event by attracting a large number of non-affiliated athletes.
Current:
None.
Revised:
The NIT manual (now in development) will explain the process for teaming individual, unattached runners with participating teams.