What level should I enter?
Are you having trouble deciding what level to enter? Below are some things to consider that might help.
If you have been participating in mostly USTA and have ANY questions about what level you should enter in NBTA, please e-mail Ann Durkin at ann@annsallstars.org and she will be happy to try and help you figure it out. If you have done mostly NBTA and have quetions about USTA please visit the CBC website or contact Anna Osborn at anna@gotossa.com. The teachers, judges and contest directors of Colorado and Wyoming welcome the participation of ALL twirlers regardless of affiliation.
- For NBTA, wins are as follows:
Novice- Once twirlers have 3 wins, they must move up to beginner.
Beginner- Once twirlers have 5 beginning wins, they must move up to intermediate.
Intermediate- Once twirlers have 8 Intermediate wins, they must move to advanced.
In NBTA all wins count toward advancement regarless of the number of competitors in the division.
- For USTA, wins are as follows:
Novice - athlete who has never won a competitive (competing against at least one other athlete) first place in that event.
Beginner - athlete who has never won at least five competitive first place awards in that event. After the fifth first place award is won, the athlete may no longer enter the Beginner division in that event. It does not matter what combination of wins equal 5. For example it could be 2 novice, 2 beginning and one intermediate competitive win earned from a combination of USTA and NBTA wins. Once 5 have been earned the twirler must advance.
Intermediate - athlete who has won less than 10 competitive first place awards in that event. When the tenth first place award is won, the athlete may no longer enter the Intermediate division in that event.
Advanced - athlete who has won ten or more competitive first place awards in that event.
In USTA only competitive wins (competing against at least one other athlete) count toward advancement
- For NBTA, once twirlers win at a higher level, they may not go back down.
For example, let's say a twirler has one novice win in solo in USTA and therefore moved to beginner for USTA. If that twirler wins at the beginner level, he or she may not go back to novice for NBTA even though they only have the one novice win.
- In USTA wins at a higher level only count toward totals and do not automatically advance the twirler to the next level.
- May I enter up a level from my current status at a competition?
In both USTA and NBTA you may enter up a level at any time you like. However the results of a win at that higher level are counted differently in both organizations.
In NBTA if a twirler enters up and wins they must now compete at that level for all future NBTA contests. For example if a twirler has three wins in beginning basic and enters both beginning and intermediate at a contest and gets second in beginning and first in intermediate, that twirler is now intermediate for NBTA and may not go back down to beginning.
Double entering (entering for example, beginning and intermediate at the same contest) is allowed in NBTA at all times, except for State, and Regional Championships and Miss Majorettes.In USTA if a twirler has three competitive wins in beginning basic, and enters both beginning and intermediate basic, and gets 2nd in beginning and a competitive 1st in intermediate, the twirler does not have to stay in intermediate because that was only his or her 4th competitive win in the event of basic. They would not have to move to intermediate until they have their fifth competitive win.
- When am I not allowed to go back down a level?
In both USTA and NBTA once a twirler has earned enough wins to move up to the next level, he or she may not move down to a lower level for that event.
- If there is now a novice level where before the first level offered was beginning, what do I do?
Basic is a perfect example of this. In both USTA and NBTA basic levels usually start at beginning, but with growing numbers NBTA has decided to offer novice (like most larger states do) in order to keep contestants from advancing too quickly. Here is what you must consider. If the twirler has even one beginning win, they must enter beginning for NBTA. If they have been entering beginning, but have NO wins, they may enter novice for NBTA until the maximum is reached.
- What should I enter in NBTA for a division that does not have levels in UTSA?
If twirlers have been entering a non-leveled event, such a modeling, it is often difficult to determine what level to enter in NBTA. The NBTA rules state that any non-leveled win counts as a win at the twirler's current level. So If a twirler has been entering beginning modeling in NBTA any win they have in USTA modeling would count at that same level until maximums have been reached. You also need to consider pageant modeling wins. If a twirler wins the modeling portion of a pageant at the Intermediate level, then that counts as an intermediate win and that twirler cannot enter modeling in NBTA at any level below intermediate. If a twirler has only USTA non-pageant modeling wins, then once they have a total of 8, three for novice and 5 for beginning, they must enter intermediate (or advanced if intermediate is not offered) for NBTA. If they have at least one NBTA beginning first, then they can only accumulate 4 more wins before moving to intermediate. If a twirler has even one win in a pageant or leveled event at the advanced level, they are considered advanced for NBTA.
- Do uncontested wins count?
For NBTA any first palce win counts even if there is only one contestant in the division. This is done because an NBTA judge may give a second place even if there is only one person in the division and they believe that contestant is not ready for the next level up. This is called the protection rule.For USTA there must be two people in a division for the win to count. So, I tell my students this, if it is a win in NBTA, it must count for both USTA and NBTA regardless of the number of contestants. If it is a win in USTA and you were the only one in the division, it doesn't count for either organization.
- Why is it important to follow these guidelines?
With the growing number of twirlers competing in both organizations it is very important that parents and teachers keep accurate records of their twirler's wins. It is wonderful for both NBTA and USTA to have cross-participation, but it is important for the integrity of the sport that everyone is honest and accurate. Nothing is more discouraging to a new twirler than to be beaten by the same twirler over and over again. If that twirler follows the rules, then even new twirlers will know that their day will come with hard work and perserverance.
If you have any questions, you may e-mail Ann Durkin at ann@annsallstars.org.