Nationals 2009 Information

Nationals 2009 will be hosted by the NAIGC and Emory University in Atlanta Georgia, Thursday, April 16 through Saturday April 19. The event will be held at Emory University's Woodruff Physical Education Center.

Update: As of Friday, March 27, there has been a change in the host hotel. The host hotel for Nationals 2009 is now the Renaissance Concourse Hotel Atlanta Airport.

All hotel bookings that were made with the Atlanta Airport Marriott will be transfered to the Renaissance; and a representative from the Marriott will be calling each reservation contact individually to confirm and if neccessary assist with this transfer.

The change was initiated by the Marriott as a result of overbooking, and could not be avoided. The result is that all of the hotel-related parts of nationals, including the awards banquet, will now be held at the Renaissance. The new NAIGC room rate for the Renaissance is $99 per night. This represents a discount of $15 from the previously-offered rate. The Renaissance Concourse Hotel has a comparable rating to the Atlanta Airport Mariott, is just north the Atlanta Airport, and will have space available to fill our additional room requests. If you have not made hotel reservations, or if you would like to transfer a reservation from another hotel to the Renaissance, please contact them as soon as possible. More information will be posted as it becomes available.

Tentative Event Schedule (Revised 3-23-09):

Tentative Session Assignments: (Last Updated April 7)

NAIGC Annual Meeting Agenda:
(Saturday, April 18, 2008, 9AM - 11AM, at Emory University's Woodruff Physical Education Center, Room 306)

1. Opening Remarks
   • Presidential Address - Benjamin Johnson
     
   • Nationals 2009 Review - Ilana Shushansky
     
   • Financial Update - Vincent Riot
     
   • Technical Update - Vincent Riot
     
   • IGC Presentation - Brent Klaus
     
2. Nomination and Election of Directors
   • See the 2009 NAIGC Director Election Procedure
3. Nationals 2010
   
4. Bids to host Nationals 2011
5. Open Discussion
   • Women's competition rules discussion

Competition Fees and Requirements:

1. NAIGC Membership fees: $20 per person. (NAIGC Membership Online)

Membership is required to compete in NAIGC sponsored meets (Nationals for 2008-2009 season) and to participate in other NAIGC activities (ie, clinics/camps). Membership is open to athletes, coaches and anyone wishing to support the NAIGC organization. The proceeds go to help fund and support the organization.
If you pay prior to February 1, 2009 there will be a $5 early bird discount for a total of $15 per person.
After April 1, there will be a $10 late fee for a total of $30 per person.
These fees are separate from Nationals meet fees.
All members should register online, setting up a username and password of their choice.

2. Competition Fees: $65 per individual and $100 per team, Due March 1, 2009.

Each club must pay an individual fee for each individual competitor, as well as a team fee for each team that is entered into the team competiton.
The individual competitor fee includes a t-shirt automatically.
Entering a group from you club into the team competition is not required, but it is necessary to be eligible for team finals, or to guarantee a spot in the individual event finals for one person on your team using the "mercy rule".
All competition fees are due March 1.
If you pay your club's individual fees by February 1, 2009, there will be an individual discount (decreases to $60 per individual).
If you pay after March 1, 2009, late fees apply. The individual fee rises to $85 and the team fee rises to $125.
If you do not pay by April 1, you are not guaranteed entry into the competition.

3. Banquet tickets: $25 per person, Due March 1, 2009.

Tickets can be purchased for athletes, coaches, parents, friends, etc.

4. Signed Waivers: Due April 1. (Download Waiver)

A signed Nationals 2009 Waiver will be required from each individual competitor.

Registration Information:

Online Registration: (Nationals 2009 Online Registration)

All clubs must complete their registration for Nationals 2009 online.

To be eligible for online registration, you must register with the NAIGC online, and then request to be an authorized representative for your club. Furthermore, to complete your registration online, each of your club's individual competitors must be registered for membership with the NAIGC.

AFTER REGISTERING YOURSELF WITH THE NAIGC ONLINE, you may Request Authorization to register for Nationals 2009 by sending an email to Karen Heilman at heilmank@gmail.com, providing your name, the club to which you would like authorized access, and your status/position within the club. Once you are authorized to register online, you can access Nationals 2009 Online Registration by clicking the preceeding link, or you can select "Meet Registration" under the "My NAIGC" link to the left.

In order to complete your registration online, you must create at least one team, assign all your club's competitors to teams, and then specify which events each person will be competing. You will only be able to register individuals for Nationals 2009 if those individuals are already registered for NAIGC Membership Online. If necessary, authorized club representatives can register their teammates for membership, one at a time, by creating for each teammate a unique username and password, and logging out between creating each member. But you really should request that your club members do this themselves.

After completing your online registration, the only paper forms you need to mail are
1. The Signed Waivers for each competitor (pdf),
2. This Check Submission Form (pdf/doc), and
3. Your Payment

Payment Information:

Please make all checks payable to "NAIGC".
Send all checks, forms, and waivers to the following address:

Vincent Riot
8100 Greenly drive
Oakland, CA 94605

Hotel Information:

Note: this hotel information is no longer accurate. The new host hotel is the Renaissance Concourse Hotel Atlanta Marriot. Revised details will appear here when available.

The host hotel is the Atlanta Airport Marriott.
The NAIGC Nationals rate is $114 per room/per night, for rooms reserved Wednesday night through Saturday night.
To make a reservation online, click here to get the NAIGC group rate. Under Group code it should say nslnsld.
To make a reservation by phone, call 1-888-236-2427 and reference NAIGC Nationals.
The deadline to get the NAIGC group rate is April 1.

Car Rental Information:

From Hotel to Emory (WoodPec):
Distance/Time: 17 miles/27 minutes

15-20 large passenger vans will be available at the Airport Enterprise soon (they had previoulsy run out of vans for the weekend). If teams use the Emory corporate account number, which was sent to the NAIGC listserve by Sarah Kurinsky on March 19, they will be able to reserve these vans at the discounted rate. Teams should contact the Atlanta Airport Enterprise reservations line directly to make any reservations: (404) 763-5220. If teams are just renting a car and not a van, they can feel free to call anytime, give them the same Emory corperate account #, and get the discount on the car rental of their choice. The deadline for reserving these vans is April 1.

Teams can also feel free to use a different car rental company if you or your school already have an exsisting relationship.

As a note, while Atlanta does have public transportation that runs almost directly to Emory, we highly recommend renting cars for the weekend. The hotel is somewhat far from the gym and having to use public transporation, especially if you are in an early morning session, could get inconvienet. We also suggest that all teams bring a GPS with them if they have one. Atlanta is not the most well planned city you could say and directions can get very confusing, making it very easy to get lost.

Parking and Directions:

There will be free parking for all teams and spectators at the Peavine Parking Deck, which is across from the WoodPEC (the gym) on Emory's Campus. There will be signs directing you towards this parking deck when you arrive on campus.

The address of the WoodPEC is:
600 Asbury Circle
Atlanta, GA 30322

Competition Format: (revised 3-24-09)

• Overview:
  • Nationals 2009 will have 6 preliminary sessions and one finals session.
  • Women will compete in all sessions.
  • Men will compete in the two evening sessions, concurrently with the women.
  • The finals session will consist of combined team finals, all-around finals, and event finals.
  • All women's sessions will be conducted in capital cup style.
  • All men's sessions will be conducted in warmup-compete style.
• Preliminary Sessions:
  • Each club may register any number of teams for the prelimnary sessions.
  • Each team may have up to eight individuals compete on each event.
  • Women's team scores are determined by summing the four highest scores on each event.
  • Men's team scores are determined by summing the three highest scores on each event.
  • To be eligible for the team finals, the team must have paid the team fee and registered by the appropriate deadline.
• Women's Team Finals Qualification:
  • The highest-scoring team from each of the women's preliminary sessions will qualify for the women's team finals.
  • In addition, the next two highest-scoring women's teams from among all sessions combined also qualify.
  • Each qualifying team will be allowed to select five competitors on each event to compete in the finals session, with the top four scores counting toward the team score.
  • To be eligible as a team member in team finals, an individual must have participated for that team in the preliminary competition.
• Men's Team Finals Qualification:
  • The two highest-scoring teams from each of the men's preliminary sessions will qualify for the men's team finals.
  • In addition, the next two highest-scoring men's teams from both sessions combined also qualify.
  • Each qualifying team will be allowed to select four competitors on each event to compete in the finals session, with the top three scores counting toward the team score.
  • To be eligible as a team member in team finals, an individual must have participated for that team in the preliminary competition.
• Women's All-Around Finals Qualification:
  • The three highest-scoring all-around competitors from each session will qualify for women's all-around finals.
  • In addition, the next five highest-scoring all-around competitors from among all five sessions combined also qualify.
• Men's All-Around Finals Qualification:
  • The five highest-scoring all-around competitors from each session will qualify for men's all-around finals.
  • In addition, the next five highest-scoring all-around competitors from among all five sessions combined also qualify.
• Women's Event Finals Qualification:
  • For each event, the three highest-scoring individuals from each session will qualify for women's event finals in that event.
  • In addition, the next five highest scores from among all five sessions combined also qualify.
• Men's Event Finals Qualification:
  • For each event, the five highest-scoring individuals from each session will qualify for men's event finals in that event.
  • In addition, the next five highest scores from both sessions combined also qualify.
• The Mercy Rule:
  • A team qualifies for the mercy rule if it does not qualify for team finals, and it does not have an individual from the team qualify for event finals.
  • Any team that qualifies for the mercy rule is allowed to select one individual from the team to compete on ONE event of their choice in the event finals.
  • For this rule to apply, the competitor must be from a team which has paid the team fee and registered by the appropriate deadline.
• Awards:
  • Team awards will be given to the top three women's teams and the top three men's teams from the team finals.
  • All-around awards will be given to the top ten women's all-around scores and the top ten men's all-around scores from the all-around finals, among those who are participating in all-around finals.
  • To be eligible for an all-around award, an individual must have qualified for all-around finals during the preliminary competition. Individuals participating in the team finals who did not qualify for all-around finals in the preliminary competition are not eligible for an award in the all-around competition.
  • Event awards will be given to the top ten individuals on each event, among those who are participating in the event finals.
  • To be eligible for an event award, an individual must have qualified for individual event finals on that event, or have entered the finals session through the Mercy Rule; team finals participants and all-around finals participants who did not qualify for event finals during the preliminary competition on a given event are not eligible for an award on that event.
• Ties:
  • Any ties for scores in the team, all-around, or individual event competitions will be recorded as a tie. There is no tiebreaker.
  • During the award ceremony, tying individuals will be recognized as tying for the place they earned; however there will be only one award purchased in advance for each place. One of the tying pair is expected to volunteer to receive a duplicate award in the mail after the event. The volunteer may also choose to keep the next lower place award (when available).
• Judging:
  • Women will be judged using FIG JO skill values and level 9 requirements. Level 9 and 10 bonus is used to the advantage of the gymnast. D's and Es will be given additive value of .1 and .2 respectively and recognized in connection value.
  • Men will be judged using FIG JO skill values and level 9 requirements.
  • Additional note: Yurchenko-style vaults will be allowed for both men and women. A safety collar and hand placement mat will be provided.

Public Transportation:

M.A.R.T.A (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority)
Time from Airport to Hotel: complimentary airport shuttle service, 4 minutes
Time from Airport to Emory: 45 minutes
Time from Hotel to Emory: 45 minutes
Cost: $2.25 per ride, each way

Other Information:

Please e-mail John Vajda at vajda.john@gmail.com or post on the message board (located under the "Communication" link at the left) with any questions.