At the January 2003 Board of Directors meeting, a little remarked proposal
to change the current selection procedures (Version 1.0) for the various US
Teams was made by the Contest Committee Chairman Ken Sorenson and adopted by
the Board. The key change is with regard to selection for Team classes
having only a single participants (such as Open and 18 Meter in Poland).
Previously such Team members were selected from ranking list for the year
just previous to the World Championships. To facilitate participation in
Pre-World competition, the selection rule change dictates that selection
will be made from the ranking list two years prior to the World
Championships, leaving pilots free to attend the Pre-Worlds. This rule
change applies to all US Teams.
As an example, for the 2006 World Championships in Sweden, a single pilot
will be selected for each of the four announced classes (15, Std, Open, 18)
in 2004. Additional selections, if any, will be made from the 2005 ranking
list. At the current time, the FAI has approved 5 member Teams for Sweden's
four classes, with no specified breakdown among classes. If this does not
change, the US Team for Sweden will consist of four pilots selected in 2004
and one pilot selected in 2005. Pilots aspiring to the Team should make
their plans accordingly.
As part of their mandate, the US Team Committee is considering a
variety of selection rule changes, and plans to circulate and publish these
proposals in the coming months so as to obtain feedback from affected
pilots. Any final proposals will be made to the full SSA Board at the
Atlanta Convention meeting in 2004.
Attention US Team Pilot Candidates
29 September, 2003