StarClass Memorandum 17-18

A new season, a new StarClass Memorandum. Well that is the way it should be. Last year there was no Memorandum, so I am happy that there is one this season. You can find the new Memorandum here. I suggest that every coach/team leader takes a look at it before going to the first StarClass competition. There are some things I want to point out which are ambiguous. I have sent an email for clarification to the StarClass Coordination Group this weekend, which has been answered today. You will read the updates below each section.

UPDATE: ISU Guidelines All Finals System were send out yesterday by email which will be used during the StarClass competitions as well.

What is the deal with penalties?

A few seasons ago we had the rule that you were not allowed to continue racing on a distance if you received a penalty. After some complaints, the Coordination Group decided to let this slide and the last two years you would go down a group after receiving a penalty in a race. I am not sure what is going to happen this season, because it is very unclear in the Memorandum. On the one hand you find the following text on page 10:

Section 3 ALL FINALS SYSTEM Regulation 301 Rule #15:

Group/block: on a distance, skated as an All Finals System, the Group is the Final in which the skater finishes. If the skater is excluded from a final, or any other preceding round, then the skaters is ranked accordingly. This means a penalty amongst the best 16 on a distance (Quarter Final) results in a rank on place # 16.

That seems to point out that penalties mean that the skater is unable to continue racing on that distance. However, looking at the table under Regulation 302 Rule #2, there is nothing written about not continuing on the given distance, whereas for DNS that is the case… So what is it? Personally I think penalties should not exclude a skater, but point the skater to a lower group, whereas the fastest skaters of the lower group should than move up to the higher group to avoid races with 9 skaters on a 500m like last year in Utrecht. Some penalties are worse than others. A double false start should not exclude somebody from racing, neither does a DNF, which is always in a gray zone (See the first Article on this Blog). It is unclear whether a DNF and Penalty are handled in the same way also.

UPDATE: Following the ISU Guidelines All Finals System penalties will put a skater in a lower group, while the highest ranked skater of the lower group will take its place in the higher group. This will avoid races with up to 9 skaters on short distances. Is a DNF handled in the same way as a penalty? That is still unclear as there is no mention of DNF in the document concerning this. (Clarity will be given on Friday at the latest before the start of the StarClass competition in Bergamo). However, we read the following:

Following Rule 298, paragraph 14, when the Referee declares a race finished, also skaters who have not yet completed the distance will be considered as having finished the race.

This might mean that DNF is not granted anymore in the qualifying rounds and will result in “no time”. However, on in the A and B Final, the skater has to finish to earn final points:

System to qualify for the next round, the Referee can, however, not declare a Skater finished in a Final. In the All Finals System the Referee cannot declare a Skater finished in the Final A and the Final B, but in all other Finals a skater can be declared finished.

Also import: two penalties will result in a Yellow Card as of this season (2017-2018)! This is a change since last years, we had a blog post about this last year:  Two penalties does not mean a Yellow Card by default

Relay races are back?

Relay races are mentioned in the Memorandum to take place on both StarClasses for Juniors C/D and  Juniors A/B/Seniors. However, it is unclear if you can participate to this event with skaters from different clubs, but from the same country. What we know it that you should announce your intention of participating before the start of the competition, but what if you do not have enough skaters in one club?

Section 2 STARCLASS AND DANUBIA COMPETITIONS SERIES Regulation 211 Rule #5

Each entered team (national team or club) may enter one relay team

 

Section 2 STARCLASS AND DANUBIA COMPETITIONS SERIES Regulation 211 Rule #7

Relay teams must announce their intention to take part in the relay before the beginning of the Competition.

Some years ago, relay was on the program on the first StarClass in Turin (Italy). Nobody was really interested in it because the program is as such that the relay race is raced between the block of the Junior D en before the start of the block of the Juniors C. For Juniors D that was OK, but Juniors C rather focus on their individual competition first. I am unsure why they put it back on the program in the same way (but now on the second day). After the last finals on the closing day seems to be more appropriate because it poses lower risks for the individual result. There isn’t really anything to win with these relays.

Are you better off entering all skaters under NT (national team)? Why should that even make a difference? It is odd to say the least.

UPDATE: Relays are not scheduled on the provisional program for the first StarClass in Bergamo, which can be found on Shorttrackonline. This is due to time contraints.

All-Final System, but Semi Finals with 7 skaters on 1500m?

Some parts of the Memorandum seem to be copied from the World Cup Memorandum with some unforseen problems. As such, the 1500m Semi Finals will be raced with 3 times 7 skaters. However, that will never work because for the final only 6 skaters are going to qualify. Without any penalties, this means that there should be an A Final with 6, a B Final with 6, a C Final with 6 and a D Final with only 3 skaters. Why 3? These skaters qualified for the Semi Finals and are therefore in a higher group. They shouldn’t have to skate with skaters who didn’t make it to the Semi Final. The rest of the Finals, starting from the D Final should than again be with 6. That doesn’t make a lot of sense. On the World Cup 3 x 7 skaters doesn’t pose a problem as only 12 skaters will actually skate a Final, the rest in knocked-out. Did nobody think of this issue? It is easy to solve to only let 18 skater qualify for the Semi Finals…

UPDATE: The progression schedule will be adapted to make sure that there are only 18 skaters in the Semi Finals on the 1500m. The same holds for the 1000m where there will be 4 skaters in both the Finals and Semi Finals.

Danubia Series do not need Qualifying Times

Skaters who like to compete in the Danubia Series do not have to qualify for the event by skating under a certain limit time. On the other hand, for StarClass skaters that is the case. I understand that the region for Eastern Europe is bigger and that is probably why they did it like that. The Danubia Competitions are geographically further apart and are not only meant for those skaters that reach a certain limit time. I have nothing against this, it was just something that caught my attention.

Did you also find some odd regulations in the Memorandum? What is unclear to you? Where do you think the overall competition could be improved?

A special thanks to Daan Brand from the StarClass Coordination Group to clarify a number of issues addressed above.