world youth champs American team chosen by committee

[hammer forever]

Is it fair that a US girl competed in the US trials for the World Youth Championships, won, met the distance standard in the hammer throw- but a COMMITTEE decided not to name her to the 55-member combined team to compete in Italy?

How does recognition and advancement in an under-represented event in the US change if we don't allow athletes to gain international experience?

How come we debate about the Olympic Trials "first three across the line" policy (with certain "A" and "B" standard exceptions)---

but the Youth team was "committee" decided?

[Marlow]

Re: world youth champs American team chosen by committee

COMMITTEE

'Nuff said.
Which is why the OT/WCT must always have OBJECTIVE criteria. Notice that the OT and WCT are NOT just '3-past-the-post' anymore, because of the A/B standards. We can and should delineate internal selector criteria that would ensure that favorites who falter at the Trials have a second chance to make the team.

[tandfman]

The fact that the US team would be limited to 55 athletes (which I imagine was due to budgetary considerations) was well known in advance. The criteria for selection were published on the USATF website.

http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/WorldY ... edures.asp

At the completion of the World Youth Trials, the Selection Committee will evaluate the performances of all athletes who meet the above criteria, and will, in its sole discretion, select up to 55 athletes from among this group. In addition to the order of finish at the Trials, the Selection Committee will consider fitness, injuries, conditioning, projected ability to finish in the top 8 at the 2009 IAAF World Youth Championships, and any other factors the Committee deems relevant or instructive.

I would guess that the last factor (projected ability to finish in the top 8) may have been critical in the case of this hammer thrower.

[gh]

In any case, this was a marked improvement over past Youth teams, which were not only completely done by committee, but were also done laregely based on meets from the past year.

Nearly all the top finishers at teh Youth Trials made it to the team. Not perfection, but in a situation where the budget dictated something less than a "full" team, what other choice was there?

[dupontred]

The fact that we're talking about Walter Henning's little sister does complicate things, and she did have a qualifying mark (barely) but there are several events in which there no American boys or girls entered. The Dyestat preview lists at least 5 events that I know of with no American entrants.

At least there were trials this year. In past years, it was 100% done by committee.

[Marlow]

what other choice was there?

a clear set of objective criteria, with our own A/B standards and reliance on YC finish order and/or meeting of an AA standard (if a kid wants to contest NON or USATF Jr nats, s/he doesn't have to show up to YC also).

[boomervandal]

Kasen Covington - Youth Trials TJ Champion denied as well

Hammer forever I feel your pain.

Politics in the Youth Division is BS.

My athlete Kasen Covington was denied a spot on the team after winning the Triple and placing 3rd in the Long.

Covington has a PR of 15.21 from this spring ranking him 11th in the World and was left home... to add insult to injury, Covington is a 2 time JO National Champion and 2 time Youth National Champion.

2 Years ago this same committee took both Bryce Lamb and Christian Taylor to the World Youths in Ostrava, at that point neither of them had broken 50 feet.

What did the International Experience do for those two? Only lifetime PRs. Over 51 feet for Lamb and 52 feet for Taylor.

The criteria should be changed that if you have reached the IAAF qualifying mark and win your event at the Trials you make the team.

[whenning2]

[quote="dupontred"]The fact that we're talking about Walter Henning's little sister does complicate things, and she did have a qualifying mark (barely)...quote]

Karen met the qualifying standard by four meters. Also, when I was on the World Youth Team in 2005 I was not selected by the committee originally because of the 'Top 8 Finish' clause and I was able to finish in the top 8. I think the whole system is backwards. If your going to have a qualifying meet, why is there a need for a committee?

[guru]

If your going to have a qualifying meet, why is there a need for a committee?

As tandfman explained earlier in this thread, USATF had a limit on the number of athletes it is sending to this meet. You need the committee to pare down the "qualifiers" to the 55 across all events who will actually be taken to the competition, using the criteria as spelled out in the selection procedures.

[gh]

I can't judge how well the selection committee did, but as noted above, if you can't take a full team, then you've got to have somebody making judgment calls; there's no way any formula will account for all eventualities (see endless iterations of USATF trying to find a way to get A-B to work at the Senior level).

[K.I.R.]

Not even sure if he was involved, but hopefully an angry mob sees this as an excuse to drag John Chaplin from his office and hang him from a bathroom door by his underwear.

[gm]

Not even sure if he was involved, but hopefully an angry mob sees this as an excuse to drag John Chaplin from his office and hang him from a bathroom door by his underwear.

He had no involvement, whatsoever. Doesn't come anywhere near his purview, bailiwick or magistracy.

[gh]

you left out sphere of influence.