The 2010 JOAD Nationals and U.S. Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Team Trials are quickly approaching and I wanted to highlight and clarify the YOG process.  The FITA established competitor date-of-birth range is for recurve archers born between Jan. 1, 1992 and Dec. 31, 1993, extending to archers competing in cadet and junior categories.    

Minimum Qualifying Standards (MQS)
The time period to shoot an MQS began at the Youth World Championships on July 11, 2009 and must be shot by June 20, 2010.  An MQS shot outside of a 2009/2010 USAA or International Event must be shot at a Registered Star-FITA Event and reported to the USA Archery Office by 5 p.m. MST on Monday, June 21, 2010, to be eligible for the YOG Trials.   

The 2010 YOG competition format is being competed at the junior distance of 70 meters, for Ranking and Olympic Rounds.  FITA will only accept MQS scores based on the information below:

Acceptable 2009 MQS Scores    
                Cadet or Junior Distances; Shot by appropriate aged archers
                Eligibility Period - July 11, 2009 – Dec. 31, 2009. 

Acceptable 2010 MQS Scores    
                ONLY Junior Distances; Shot by cadet and junior-aged archers
                Eligibility Period - Jan. 1, 2010 – June 20, 2010

The MQS scores are listed in the table below detailing scores for both divisions.    

The competition format for the U.S. YOG Team Trials was established to provide a similar competition format that will be held during the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, Aug. 14-26, 2010.  The Qualifying Round at the U.S. YOG Team Trials will be a 70-meter Ranking Round of 72 arrows.  The Qualifying Round will be competed on Thursday, June 24 that will start 1:00 p.m.  The top four boys and girls will advance to the Selection Event that is scheduled for Saturday, June 26 that will commence at 1:30 pm. 

The U.S. YOG Team Trials Selection Event will consist of a total of five matches at 70 meters.  Archers will compete in both an Olympic Round and Round Robin matches during the Selection Event.  All matches will be shot in the Set System format of best-of-five sets, each set consisting of three arrows each. 

Scoring the U.S. YOG Team Trials
Points will be awarded based on an athlete’s combined points from the Ranking Round, Olympic Round, Round Robin Bonuses, and Cumulative 3-Arrow Set Score.  Twelve points is the maximum points available for the U.S. YOG Team Trials.  The points available per round are as follows:

 Ranking Round = 4, 3, 2, 1
Olympic Round – 3, 2, 1, 0
Match Bonus Points – one point per victory, zero points for defeat; maximum of three points
Cumulative 3-Arrow Average – 2, 1.5, 1, 0.5

Nomination to 2010 YOG

Athletes will be nominated to the 2010 YOG U.S. Team based on the number of points accumulated during the U.S. YOG Team Trials.  Athletes will be required to stay the length of the YOG.  In the case of the first archer nominated is unable to attend the YOG the next archer from the Selection Event will be nominated.