Nov 15, 2008, 7:31 PM
Post #1 of 5
(847 views)
Shortcut
4 Way Comp. Divisions
Can't Post
Hey, I've been reading about the 2008 nationals scores and I was wondering why all the well known best teams are in "Open" and the lesser known ones are in advanced? I know that popularity doesn't dictate how good you are, but usually "open" means it's open to newer teams, and I know Airspeed, Knights, and Perris's team aren't that.
Is the naming different, or is the system different?
The Open Team definition is different than you are believing.
Although the Open division is indeed 'open' to everyone who'd like to compete on that level, it is also the most difficult draw and more formations per dive. The Gold Medal Winner qualifies to attend the IPC World Meet for their country.
Advanced have the same formations, but is normally comprised of those who are 'weekend warriors' and not vying for a spot on the World Competition stage.
Intermediate has less of both difficulty and number of formations per round.
I think it makes more sense to think of it like this: Intermediate and Advanced are the difficulty levels of the amateur categories, and Open is, well, open to both amateur and professional teams. The Advanced and Open categories do the same jumps.
Well, I also think the name tries to somewhat relate to the concept of "US Open" in other sports. Usually the winners of US open in other sports are the ones that are considered for the National team try outs. In our case if the winner of the open category is a US team they become our representing team in world competitions.
