2007-2008 GIRLS GYMNASTICS

Regular Season Guide
Tournament Season Guide
Forms

The purpose of the V.P.A. Gymnastics Committee is to govern interscholastic competition within the State of Vermont.

1. Gymnastics has been defined as a winter sport, thus practice may begin on November 12, 2007 and the season concludes following the state team competition.

2. During the 2007-2008 season there will be one division of competition; Girls (grades 9-12). The State Championship will be an open tournament.

Essex
U-32
Harwood
So. Burlington
Milton
Randolph
Middlebury
CVU
St. Johnsbury

(If your school is not listed, and you wish to participate as a team in girls' gymnastics for the 2007-2008 season, please contact the VPA office by November 30, 2007. Any school not listed above that has an individual gymnast who wishes to participate in high school gymnastics in 2007-2008 shall contact the V.P.A. office prior to November 30, 2007 for arrangements. NOTE: Send eligible list of individuals to all gymnastics schools, naming the school with which they will travel as an independent, using that school's competitive schedule of meets. They can not enter a meet that does not include their affiliated team.

3. Only Vermont High School Optional (Level 9) USAG/F.I.G. rules will be used for girls' gymnastics for the 2007-2008 season, as modified by the Committee. Modifications as New York scoring USAG Level 9. Middle Schools use USA/FIG level 8 modified NY scoring.

4. Compulsories are not required.

5. In keeping with the Vermont Principals' sanctioning of interscholastic sports for Vermont High School students, every participant must (a) conform to the Principals' eligibility rules for participation; (b) have had a health evaluation satisfactory to the school and (c) be adequately covered by some form of accident insurance. The individual schools participating are responsible for seeing that each of their entries fulfills these qualifications. NOTE: Students competing on a high school team cannot compete on any other gymnastics team during the sports season. REMINDER: Any competitor choosing to compete and practice with the high school team and practice with another outside facility can only compete as an individual for one outside facility.
6. During a regular season meet a High School Optional rated judge will be used per event with closed scoring. The meet director will assign officials to events and position them.

7. Score inquiries will be handled as in the past, in writing only, within these performances, in a courteous manner regarding difficulty, time, and neutral deductions. The Jury of Appeals shall be made up of the Head Judge and Site Administrator.

8. As a matter of safety, two 4" landing mats plus one 1 3/4" mat should be used for all events. An 8" mat may be used when the 4"'s are not available. Balance beam and horse vault regulation height is 120 cm or closest measurement. Low bar on the unevens may not go below 155 cm. No 12" crash mats may be used, but a "sting mat" may be placed on top of the cushion mats. For only floor exercise event up to 4 sting mats may be used, but may not be removed or moved during the routine. Host schools are not expected to provide sting mats.

9. There will be no scheduled warm-ups between events in the regular season. Head judge shall determine that the equipment meets specifications. Failure to comply with equipment regulations, the head judge will eliminate the event.

10. In dual and tri-meets a line-up roster should be called in to the host school 24 hours prior to warm-ups. A maximum of 6 individuals per school per event for dual meets, and a maximum of 4 individuals per school per event for tri-meets, unless by mutual consent of the officials and the schools involved. If six competitors per school per event for tri-meets are put up, the officials' fee per judge will be $10.00 extra. With prior mutual consent of the officials and schools, exhibition competitors may perform. Scores for exhibition competitors do not count. Exhibition competitors shall pay $3.00 per event per judge.

11. Judges fees for the regular season will be $55.00 for rated officials, plus .405 cents a mile. In the event only one official appears, that official will receive 1 1/2 fees 77.50. Judge fees for middle school competitions shall be $35 plus mileage.

12. Competing schools that have individuals affiliated with their team have the responsibility of notifying the host school what events they will be competing in. Individual competitors shall pay $3.00 per event per judge. Host school is responsible to pay officials for ALL independent competitors. Officials will be assigned by:
Kara Bissonnette

GUIDELINES FOR RUNNING GYMNASTICS MEETS
REGULAR SEASON

1. Teams - At least four different female gymnasts will be necessary to constitute a team and participate in the team scoring. Fewer than four people representing a school will be considered as individuals and cannot be considered in team scoring.

2. Uniforms must be as prescribed in the rule book, and worn during competition and any award ceremonies. The color of any undergarments which show must match the color of the uniform.

3. The use of cell phones and pagers (except in emergency situations) in the competition areas by any team personnel (coaches and athletes) is prohibited.

4. The VPA recommends the following warm-up procedure for a meet to start at 7:00 P.M. (adapt according to the meet start-time):
5:30 Gym open, completely set up, locker rooms open, guest teams arrive.
5:40 - 5:55 Warm-up and stretch time
6:00 - 6:45 Event warm-ups (coaches determine rotations)
6:55 March-in begins
7:00 Meet begins
If recommended pre-meet schedule is not possible, a minimum of a one-hour warm-up period is required to precede each meet and shall end 10 minutes prior to the designated start time. Schools must start meets on time. If the meet starts late, exhibition competitors will not be allowed to perform and, in the event of a tri-meet, only 4 competitors per team will be allowed for each event.

5. Trained and responsible people should be used as card flashers, timers and runners to assist the judges. Each team will have its own scorer for dual meets. The home team will have an adult scorer and timer. The home team will have the official score sheet at the conclusion of the meet. Judges shall check and sign the score sheets. Note-scores must be flashed as soon as available.

6. Computational errors at the scoring table may be corrected in context with the official score of the judge at any time during or within 10 minutes after the meet. The score shall be official after that time and after being affirmed by the judge's signature.

7. The order of events listed below will be used for all competition unless otherwise mutually agreed upon by the competing schools:
Vaulting, Uneven Parallel Bars, Balance Beam, Floor Exercise.

8. The format for the Opening Ceremonies is as follows:
A. Dual and Tri Meets--Team will stand; Team introduction (name of school) and the introductions of Captain(s) and Coach(s). After all teams have been introduced the National Anthem should be played, followed by the seating of the teams and the beginning of the first event.
B. State Meets -- 1. Teams march in
-- 2. Introduction of Coaches and Team Captains from
each school
-- 3. National Anthem

9. Team score will be determined by totaling the top four performers' scores in each event. The event totals will then be added together determining the final team total. The expectation is that individual scores will be announced or flashed.

10. All athletes should remain in the competition area during the entire meet.

RULES GOVERNING THE STATE MEET

1. The Vermont Principals' Association will sponsor the state gymnastics competition. At the end of the regular season, the VPA committee will seed all the teams based first by overall record, then head to head competition. The VPA Gymnastics Committee will break any remaining ties using the VPA tie-break procedures.

The top five seeded teams will qualify to the State Championship meet. The top 10 individuals on each event, determined by season average score from schools NOT qualifying and independents will also qualify for the State Meet. The 10 individual qualifiers will be assigned to rotate with the five teams (two individuals per team). NOTE: Individual competitors only need to submit their top 5 scores. Tri meets only count as one score.

The state championships will be February 16th , with a start time of 2:00, at Essex. Please note that there is an entry fee this year. The fee is $50 per team, $3 per Individual (from a team that did not qualify) per event not to exceed $50 per school; and $3 per Independent per event. This fee is to be sent to the Meet Director. Teams cannot arrive until 11:00am. Warm-ups will begin at 11:30 am. A full meet schedule will be sent to schools after the seedings meeting.

These competitions will be supervised and technicalities controlled by the Vermont Principals' Gymnastics Committee. The Meet Director and Tournament Chairman will be knowledgeable as to the V.P.A. Gymnastics Guidelines and will conduct the meets in accordance with these rulings. The Vermont High School Gymnastics Coaches and Officials will work with the committee and offer suggestions concerning the technical aspects of the competition, based on the experience gained from previous competition held in Vermont.

2. IT SHALL BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SCHOOL WHETHER APPLYING AS A TEAM, INDIVIDUALS, OR INDEPENDENTS TO:
A. Submit an application , including averages, electronically filed to the VPA office no later than 9:00 a. m, February 11, 2008. Applications received late, but before pairings are complete, will be accepted, but carry a late fee of $100.00.
B. Exclude J V and B meets from the application
C. Calculate team meet scores by totaling the top four individual scores on each event

IT SHALL BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE COMMITTEE TO :

A. Meet on Feb. 11, 2008 at Noon.
B. Establish the seeds for the championship meet by utilizing the overall record of the teams.
C. Use head to head competition to determine the seeds in cases of ties.
D. Notify schools of their seeding position and individual qualifiers on Monday afternoon, Feb. 11, 2008.
E. Notify schools of the tournament schedule and sites as soon as possible

3. A gymnast must have competed in at least five interscholastic competitions prior to the Championship Meet, including two scores from two different away locations. Tri meets only count as one competition.
A student is considered registered (entered) only when her name appears on the official entry blank. There will be no registration on the day of the meet. Any student whose name did not appear on the official entry blank will not be allowed to compete on the day of the meet in question. All alternate entries must be entered during the scratch session prior to the meet or prior to the start of an event unless there is an injury. A team will be allowed a maximum of six (6) entrants per event, plus one alternate. In the event that one of the six is unable to compete on the day of the meet, the team will be allowed to have the alternate replace the intended performer, provided the alternate was listed as such for that particular event(s) on the official team entry blank. If an alternate is entered in the meet, another alternate may be named. The alternate must perform in the replaced performer's spot in the event order. If a performer does not intend to compete, the meet director must be notified immediately.

4. Requests for alternate performers availability are to be directed to the V.P.A. (Activities) Director or meet director.

5. Performance Order - Coaches are asked to list on the entry blank their gymnasts in the order in which they wish them to compete in each event. The state meet director will arrange the final roster of performance according to seed. Rotation will be determined by the seeding committee.

6. Judges - The V.P.A. Gymnastics Committee will appoint judges for the State Meet after consultation with the women gymnastic judges associations. Rated judges will be used whenever possible. The judges fees for the championship meet will be $60.00, plus .405 cents a mile.

7. The V.P.A. will appoint a Meet Director for the state meet.

8. Adults must be used as Head Meet Director or Timers for state competition.

9. The following team awards will be presented at the State Meet: A championship trophy and finalist plaque. A rotating trophy is also presented which must be returned to VPA prior to the next year's championship meet.

10. Individual awards will be presented at the state meet for places 1-8 in four events, plus all around. VPA individual awards[medals] will be presented to team champions and finalists.

11. A Jury of Appeal for the State Meet will include the Meet Director, Head Judge(s), and representatives from the VPA to rule on conduct of coaches and/or teams.

RULES GOVERNING INDEPENDENT COMPETITORS
1. An independent competitor is a gymnast from a member school that does not sponsor a gymnastics team.
A. To qualify for the state meet the school of the independent gymnast shall notify the VPA office prior to Dec. 1 for arrangements [see paragraph 2, page 1].
B. The school will send a list of all eligible independents to all schools sponsoring a gymnastics team naming the school with which the independent gymnasts will travel. The independent gymnast must use the affiliated schools competition schedule of meets and may not enter a meet that does not include her affiliated school.
C. Any school sponsoring an independent gymnast must ensure that the gymnast does not compete as a team member for any other non school group. [VPA by law Article 2, Section 3A ].
D. Any school sponsoring an independent gymnast who wishes to appear in the State Meet must follow the process in this guide which is found on page 2, sections 1-5.