7000-304: Athlete Identification Criteria for Advancement to Provincial Games (Individual Sports)

Review Date: February 2021                

Effective Date: June 2021

To ensure fair and equitable identification of athletes to Provincial Games, the criteria outlined in the policy details below will be used to determine which athletes will advance from Provincial Qualifiers.

General Principles:

Athletes must:

●     Be registered active athletes of Special Olympics Ontario

●     Athlete must be 10 years old for the first day of Provincial Competition

●     Have been training in the sport that they are competing for the two years immediately preceding Provincial Games (See Two Year Eligibility Policy 7000-212)

●     Have competed in the competitive events at the Provincial Qualifiers. Athletes competing in Adapt Events at the Provincial Qualifier are not eligible to advance to Provincial Games in those events.

●     Have competed in the Provincial Qualifier immediately preceding the Provincial Games

Gender

Athlete identification will proportionally represent male and female athletes who participated in the Provincial Qualifier in the year preceding Provincial Games.

Age

Athlete identification will proportionally represent athletes within the age groups in which they participated in at the Provincial Qualifier in the year preceding the Provincial Games.  The athlete’s age division, which they competed in at the Provincial Qualifier will be the age used to determine identification for advancement to Provincial Games.

Performance

Special Olympics Ontario athletes who compete in lower and middle skill levels have as equal an opportunity to advance to a higher level of competition as those athletes who have participated in a more advanced skill level.  To ensure that this is so, athlete identification is determined by an individual’s performance relative to his/her peers of equal skill level.

Sport Groups

Athletics, Aquatics, Alpine Skiing, Nordic Skiing, Snowshoeing, Speed Skating

Athletes of similar ability levels are placed in divisions.  Athletes will be awarded points based on their placement within an event as follows:

Place

Points
1st

10
2nd

8
3rd

6
4th

4
5th

2
6-8th

0
Did not Start/Finish

0
Disqualification

0

Athletes’ scores in each of their events shall be totaled (excluding relays). Accumulated points shall be divided by the number of events the athlete is entered into, establishing an average point score for the athlete.  These cumulative scores are ranked within each gender and age group identified at the Provincial Qualifier in the year preceding the Provincial Games. Once athlete quotas have been determined by the Provincial Office, athletes with the highest ranked cumulative score in each of the age and gender categories will become the candidates for primary consideration in advancing to Provincial Games.  Such identification is, of course, subject to all other eligibility conditions outlined in this document.

In the event of a tie, the following criteria will be used:

  1. Most first place finishes at the Provincial Qualifier
  2. Most second place finishes at the Provincial Qualifier
  3. Most third place finishes at the Provincial Qualifier
  4. Most improved performance from preliminary performance to final performance.  The difference between the two results shall be expressed as a percentage for each event in which the athlete is entered.  The average percentage shall be calculated and the athlete with the greatest mean percentage shall be selected
  5. Athletes will be chosen by way of a random draw

Note: Alpine skiers must qualify in three of the official racing events at the  Provincial Qualifiers to be eligible to attend Provincial Games. These three events would be the Slalom, Giant Slalom, and Super-G.  They do not need to qualify in the downhill in order to attend the Provincial Games. Despite not qualifying in the downhill, athletes identified to move onto the Provincial Games will be eligible to compete in the downhill event at the Provincial Games.

At Provincial Games, all athletes will be entered into the events they competed in at the Provincial Qualifiers. Athletes will have the opportunity to remove events they do not wish to continue in, by a specified date listed in the Sport Technical Package, as long as they meet the requirements for minimum number of events.

Alpine

Alpine skiers must compete in each of the official racing events at the Provincial Qualifiers to be eligible to attend Provincial Games.  These events would be Slalom and Giant Slalom.  Despite not competing in the Downhill or Super G events, athletes identified to move on to the Provincial Games will be eligible to compete in those events at the Provincial Games.

Athletics

Due to time constraints, 10KM races will not be accommodated at Provincial Qualifiers. Athletes wishing to qualify in the 10KM race must do so at a pre-assigned, chip timed road race for their conference. 10KM race assignments will be distributed by the Sport and Competition Team in Provincial Qualifying years. Divisioning and advancement policies will apply to these race results.

Powerlifting

Identification will be based upon a proportional representation for gender.  The athlete ranking for identification will be based on the Wilkes formula for both male and female athletes.

Rhythmic Gymnastics

Athletes in levels 1 – 4 have to opportunity to advance to Provincial Games.

If the quota allotment equals the number of levels in the provincial qualifier, then the All Around first place finisher, in the highest ability division, in each level will be identified.

If the quota allotment is in excess of the number of levels, the All Around first place finisher  in each level will be identified followed by the All Around second place finishers starting with the highest ability level of competition down to the lowest level. The process will continue until all quotas have been filled.

In the event that the quota allotment is less than the number of levels, the All Around first place finisher from each level will be identified starting at the highest level of competition down to the lowest level of competition until all quotas are filled.

Athletes must compete in a minimum of four (4) events at the Provincial Qualifier to be eligible for advancement to provincial games.

Figure Skating

Athletes in levels 1 – 6 have to opportunity to advance to Provincial Games.

Quota spots will be divided proportionally by the percentage of skaters in each discipline represented at the previous level of competition.  i.e. if 20% of the athletes competed at the Provincial Qualifier in ice dancing, then 20% of the athletes selected to Provincial Games would be from the ice dancing discipline.

Quotas within each discipline will be awarded to first place finishers, in the highest ability flight, in each level, starting from the highest ability levels and working toward to the lowest.  In ice dancing, precedence will first be given to the couple representing the discipline if there are only two quota spots.  If only one spot is available, it will be given to the top ability level athlete in individual ice dancing.

5 Pin and 10 Pin Bowling

Identification will be based upon a proportional representation for gender.

The Total Scratch Score will be used for identification for Provincial Games.

If the quota allotment is equal to the number of levels in the provincial qualifier, then the first place finisher in each division will be identified.

If the quota allotment is less than the number of divisions, the following process will be used to identify athletes for advancement:

  1. The first place finishers from each division will be ranked on the highest differential score between their Total Scratch Score for all games bowled and their division’s average Scratch Score for all games bowled.

If the quota allotment exceeds the number of divisions, all first place finishers in each division will be identified followed by the second place finishers, and so on, until quota is fulfilled.  The placing that cannot advance an athlete from every division, will then be subject to the process used above, to identify athletes for advancement.

In the event of a tie the following criteria will be followed:

  1. Highest single game scratch score
  2. Second highest single game scratch score
  3. Athletes will be chosen by way of a random draw

Golf

Athletes must have a maximum score (combined score average if applicable) of 70 or lower (Level 4) or 120 or lower (Level 5) in their Provincial Qualifier to be eligible to advance to Provincial Games.

Identification will be based upon a proportional representation for gender.

If quota allotment is equal to the number of divisions at the Provincial Qualifier, then the first place finishers in each division will be identified.

If the quota allotment is less than the number of divisions, the following process will be used to identify athletes:

Ranking order for advancement:

  1. Fewest number of 10X’s from final score (1st Place Only).
  2. Lowest total strokes from the last 6 holes
  3. Lowest total strokes from the last 3 holes
  4. Lowest total strokes on the last hole
  5. Athletes will be chosen by way of random draw

If the quota allotment exceeds the number of divisions, all first place finishers will be identified followed by the second place finishers, and so on.  The placing that cannot advance an athlete from every division will then be subject to the ranking process used above to identify athletes to advance.

Bocce

Identification will be based upon proportional representation for gender. At minimum, 1 male and 1 female athlete will advance from each Conference.

If the quota allotment is equal to the number of divisions at the Provincial Qualifier, then the first place finisher from each division will be identified.

If the quota allotment is less than the number of divisions from the Provincial Qualifier, then the first place finisher from each division will be entered into the tie breaking process.

If the quota allotment is greater than the number of divisions from the Provincial Qualifier, the first place finisher from each division will be identified, followed by the second placer finishers, and so on, until quota is fulfilled. The placing that cannot advance an athlete from every division, will then be entered into the tie breaking process.

Tie Breaking Process

 The following is the tie breaking process for advancement of Bocce athletes:

  1. Identify the athletes which are tied from each of the divisions, as determined by the circumstances outlined above. Total each athlete’s win/tie/loss record from their tournament according to the following points system: 3 points for a win, 2 points for a tie and 1 point for a loss. Divide the point total by the number of games played to determine average points per game. Identify the athlete(s) with the highest average points per game.
  2. If a tie still exists after step one, the athletes with the lowest points against divided by the number of games played in the tournament, will be identified.

If the athletes did not play the same number of frames in all games in the PQ, the average points against per frame will be used.

  1. If a tie still exists after step two, the first place athlete with the most points for divided by the number of games played in the tournament, will be identified.

Athletes that did not play an equal number of frames in all games in the PQ, the average points for per frame will be used.

  1. Athletes will be chosen by way of a random draw

Cancellation of Provincial Qualifier

In the event a Provincial Qualifier is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances, athlete identification will be based on their qualifiying scores/times.  Divisioning will take place based on qualifying scores/times and the identification process will take place based on these divisions.

For timed/measured sports, athletes will be ranked based on their submitted times within each division. For score based sports, athletes will be divisioned based on their submitted scores/averages, and placements within each division will be decided via random draw. For powerlifting, athletes will be divisioned by their gender, and final ranking within each gender will be determined via random draw.

Athletes will be eligible to compete in all events in which they were registered to compete in at the cancelled Provincial qualifying competition. To register athletes at Provincial Games for timed events, communities would be required to submit provincial qualifying times or the athlete’s most recent best times.

Athlete Endorsement

While point results may be available at the conclusion of the Provincial Qualifier, a final decision on athlete identification necessitates a great deal of consultation between SOO, Community Coordinators, Educators (for School Based athletes), Club Coaches, and Parents or Guardians.

Due to the demands that are put on athletes at Provincial Games and the fact that the experience should be enjoyable for all involved, athletes should have demonstrated the ability to cope with the pressures involved in traveling,  staying in the designated Athlete’s Village, competing and being removed from their usual environment for up to a four day period. With this in mind, athletes who have demonstrated uncontrollable problems with social adaptation or behaviour, in the past, should not be endorsed.  These athletes may deprive other team members of a pleasant and rewarding experience and place undue stress and responsibility upon coaches assigned to their supervision.

Upon receipt of the Athlete Endorsement list, District Developers will confirm the athlete eligibility:

  • Ensure athlete’s name appears on the Athlete Eligibility List provided by SOO
  • Confirm the athlete meets the minimum age requirements

 

After confirmation of the Athlete Eligibility, the District Developer will continue with the endorsement of the athletes in consultation with Club Coaches, Parents and Guardians to determine each athlete’s suitability as a Provincial Competitor.

Athlete Assistants at Provincial Games

Athletes who require an athlete assistant for support with essential daily living activities may submit a request to SOO three months prior to the Provincial Games.  For more information regarding athlete assistants and what documentation is required in the application please view policy 7000-313.

Athlete Code of Conduct

Athlete must be a member in good standing within their sport club and community. He/ she must be willing to adhere to the Athlete Code of Conduct and Athlete Rights and Responsibilities.

Athlete Code of Conduct can be found in the Athletes section of the Resource Library.

Final Athlete Identification

Where the identification of athletes requires a decision, which falls outside of circumstances outlined above, the Sport and Competition Team shall enlist a committee to make the final determination. All decisions of the Identification Committee are final.

No athlete, coach, volunteer or parent/guardian shall presume that an athlete has been identified to attend the Provincial Games until an ‘OFFICIAL’ Team list is distributed by Special Olympics Ontario.

Any individual who informs the athlete that he or she has been identified prior to the official notification from SOO will assume responsibility for his/her actions.

Once Provincial Games competitors are announced, competitors will be registered in events according to their results achieved at the Provincial Qualifiers in the year preceding the Provincial Games.

Identification Appeal Process

Athletes will have the opportunity to appeal the identification process. See Appeal Policy for more information.