Casper Mountain Racers

Here is some general knowledge on racing, we’ll call it part one.

The Casper Mountain Racers are divisional members of USSA Northern. This means we must race in the Northern division of USSA to qualify our athletes to Junior Olympics. Where? Montana, Yellowstone National Park, and in the northern Wyoming counties of Park, Hot Springs, Big Horn, Washakie, Sheridan, Johnson, Campbell, Crook Weston, Natrona, Converse and South Dakota west of the Missouri River, within the framework of USSA, FIS and Western Region Programs.

Now it get some what confusing, so let me try to help. Athletes are grouped by competition categories and ages. Lets go to ages, categories then points i.e. scoring.

Age Classes:

J5    10 and under (born 1998 or later)

J4    11-12 (born 96,97)

J3   13-14 (born 94,95)

J2   15-16 (born 92,93)

J1   17-19 (born 89,90,91)

Comp Cats:

Youth athletes (YSL) are non scored, i.e. no USSA points, ages 12 and under.

Competitor athletes (J3A’s) are scored athletes i.e. USSA and FIS points; lets break points down.

USSA & FIS points:

USSA points are given to all athletes with a USSA competition licence ages 13-20 (exception World Cup athletes) In addition FIS points are given to all J2-Sr. athletes ages15-20 (exception World Cup athletes).

Points breakdown:

In ski racing an athletes points start at 990.00 and are reduced by racing; I’ll talk on that at a later date. However an example, a World Cup or an exceptional College athletes will have USSA and FIS points under 20. Getting your points below 100 takes dedication…lots of it; how much?  E-mail Alyssa  Deane or Jeff Stamp; we know they are exceptional ski racers and their points are in the 70 range FIS and lower in USSA; ask them the dedication it takes to get their.

So what are the benefits of low USSA and FIS points? If your son or daughter wants to race after High School they need to race USSA and FIS events. College institutions that grant skiing scholarships or even have good teams will only look at an athletes USSA, and mostly FIS points to judge an athletes capabilities. Skiing unlike football, baseball and volleyball for examples don’t scout High Schools looking for skiers. College coaches get points lists, they see upcoming racers at events competing against their own athletes; this is where the scouting takes place. Athletes looking at ski racing institutions will also send their point profile to college teams looking for a spot. 

I hope this helps and I will add to this discussion at a later date.

smitty