Managing expectations is a very important skill for every athlete. Planning your training, researching the event, visualizing your performance – those are all tools that can help you soothe those competition day jitters. In preparation for the 2023-2024 Senior National Championships, I want to help you feel prepared by providing more insights into the competition.
Event Central Page
First, take the time to read the Event Central Page, and come back to it often. This is the one place where you will find everything you need to know about the event. From event location and logistics to athlete and coach registration information, this is your one-stop shop for all the information you should need. Is the information you’re looking for not available on the page ? Email us right away and we will make sure to add the information you are looking for!
Schedule
You may have noticed that the schedule is different from previous years. The major changes are the timing of the Boulder rounds (end of afternoon and early evening, rather than morning) and the fact that the Lead semi-final round will take place on the same day of the qualification event. This is explained by the difficulty of recruiting volunteers during the weekdays. We have experienced this challenge in previous events, notably the recent NACS Lead event, where we almost had to cancel the event due to a lack of belayers. Modifying the schedule will ensure that the event will be staffed with qualified volunteers.
Another important change to note is that in the upcoming 2024-2025 Season, all 3 disciplines in Senior will have their own respective weekend in the calendar. This is a change from previous years where Senior Lead and Boulder Nationals were combined. That being said, the Youth National Championships is and will remain combined. You can learn more about the scheduling principles agreed upon by the board and the provinces/territories here.
Routesetting
CEC selected an amazing team of qualified routesetters for this competition. The boulder team will be led by Kaleb Thomas, and the lead team by Nicolas Vouillamoz.
The work and skill of route setters is hard to quantify, as great setters combine both technique and art. That being said, the performance of the team should be considered through all 3 rounds of the competition, based on specific objectives for each round.
For each national and regional event, the CEC Routesetting Committee establishes “setting targets”. Those are objectives of performance given to the setting teams. They are specific to each event, and the objective of said event. For example, a Senior National event aims at challenging athletes, and determining their readiness for the next level of competition, while a Youth Regional event is meant to focus on positive achievements and continued involvement in the athlete’s development pathway.
For this 2023-2024 Senior Nationals, the setting targets are as follows:
More information on Routesetting in Canada can be found here.
Officiating
The CEC Technical Committee, led by our Officiating Consultant, Paul Ledet, has started plans to address inconsistencies in judging across all Canadian events. This is a major challenge, but also an essential opportunity to make our sport better.
The 2023-2024 National Championships will be led by a very experienced team of Officials, which will ensure a high level of efficiency in judging.
- Technical Delegate – Sebastian Powell
- Jury President – Boulder – Babak Zia
- Head Judge – Boulder – Joanne McLarty
- Jury President – Lead – Paul Ledet
- Head Judge – Lead – James Doyle
- Head Belayer – Lead – Iain Stewart-Patterson
Hosts
Both the Hive and the Richmond Oval have held CEC events in recent years, and are seasoned hosts. They know how to put on a good show, and have some of the best volunteers in the country! We are truly excited and grateful to be working with such dedicated hosts.
How to follow results
If you will not be on site but wish to follow the results, your best option is the Live Scoring Platform at https://cec.results.info/, as well as our Instagram Account @climbcanada
Unfortunately, we will not have a live stream of the event. Live streaming is a significant expense that we simply cannot afford at this time. Per discipline, it would cost $7,000, so a total of $14,000 for the Senior Nationals. To cover this expense, CEC would have raised the athletes’ registration fee by 25%. The board of directors determined that it was not an essential service in the current economic context in Canada.
In Conclusion
I hope you are excited about this event and are looking forward to a great show! I will be on site from November 21 to 28, and will be happy to meet all of you in person, collect your feedback, answer your questions. Don’t hesitate to come say hi.
Sincerely,
Christiane Marceau
YOUR Executive Director
[email protected]
