U21 Worlds: 2025 Team Selection & Skier Qualifications

2025 U.S. TEAM SELECTION and INDEPENDENT SKIER QUALIFICATIONS AND PROCEDURES

Under 21 World Championships

Version 2: Clarification of Age Eligibility

A. Team Description

A six‐member team will be selected to compete at the 2025 Under 21 World Championships.  The tournament will be held July 28 to August 2, 2025, in Calgary, British Columbia, Canada.  The team will be announced on or about APRIL 29, 2025.

B. Team and Independent Athlete Eligibility Requirements

Eligibility for selection to the U.S. Team shall be:

1. U.S. citizen or passport holder (see IWWF Rules of Eligibility for World and Confederation Titled Events; see also IWWF Rule 14.13);
2. Active member of USA Water Ski & Wake Sports in good standing, and 20 years old or younger as of December 31, 2024 (per IWWF eligibility rules).  Age qualification rules are set forth in IWWF Rules 2.03, 17.01. 

C.  Notice of Interest Requirements and Procedures

To be considered for a position on this team, or to compete as an independent athlete (see IWWF eligibility rules for independent athletes at IWWF Rule 17), ALL ATHLETES MUST FULLY COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING STEPS BY APRIL 6, 2025.

1. Notice of Interest to be selected as a member of the U.S. Team (athletes must indicate the event(s) in which they are interested in competing) must be submitted; 
2. Notice of intent to participate as an independent athlete must be submitted (independent athletes can only participate in the tournament through this process; independent athletes not completing this process will not be entered).  If applicable (see IWWF Rule 14.15): Independent athletes first qualifying through the IWWF Weekly Ranking List (after the Notice of Intent deadline) may still be allowed to enter, but may have to pay an increased entry fee.  
3. These notice forms are online at https://forms.gle/cxn5MTmG6aydeRT6A. All completed athlete Notices of Interest will be acknowledged. 
4. In completing these forms, all athletes (or their parent/guardian in the case of minor athletes) must acknowledge and agree to the USA Water Ski & Wake Sports Code of Conduct and Athlete Agreement. Those documents are available for review online at USA-WSWS’s website.  All athletes must also complete all applicable SafeSport requirements, and (for athletes 18 years and older) complete a background check.
5. Full payment of all entry and team fees must be received by the official U.S. team manager, not later than the Notice of Interest deadline.  All athletes filing a Notice of intent to participate will be advised of the entry and team fees in advance of the payment deadline. All fees are non-refundable (for any reason) except: (a) full or partial refunds will be made to athletes selected as team members in the event/to the extent that team funding is available; and (b) refunds will be made to athletes who only express interest in being selected to the team, i.e., no refund will be made to athletes submitting a Notice of Interest and also indicating an intent to participate as an independent athlete.  Forfeited fees will be used to fund team expenses, as determined by the IAC and Team Manager.
6. All minor athletes must be accompanied at the tournament by a parent or legal guardian. 
7. A list of all submitted athlete Notices of Interest (who have filed a Notice of Interest and paid all fees) will be available online beginning approximately four (4) weeks before the Notice of Interest deadline.  Notices of Interest will not be considered as received unless the Notice of Interest form has been completed and payment of all fees has been received.
8. Primary consideration will be given to those individuals who have completed this process on a timely basis, but the IAC reserves the right to consider other individuals for the team.
9. Questions regarding this process should be addressed to IAC members Lyman Hardy (lymanland@att.net) and Lori Krueger (kruegerski@gmail.com).  
10. Wild Card Entries.  “Wild card” entries may also be submitted by the IAC per IWWF Rule 14.14, allowing the entry of skiers will may not otherwise be qualified to ski in this tournament (or who may be qualified to ski some, but not all, events).  These entries will be selected by the IAC in its sole discretion.   Athletes who wish to be considered for a “wild card” entry should contact IAC members Lyman Hardy (lymanland@att.net) and Lori Krueger (kruegerski@gmail.com) to advise them (not later than the above deadline) of their interest, and should also submit information supporting their request for consideration.  

D. Team Selection Considerations

The AWSA International Activities Committee (IAC) is tasked with the responsibility of selecting athletes to participate on the Water Ski Teams that will represent the United States in International Competitions.  The committee’s primary goal in this process is to select teams that will have the greatest opportunity to win each of the international competitions.  In this selection process there are numerous considerations that the committee will utilize in the effort to select the best combination of athletes for each tournament, with the ultimate goal to win the team title.  These elements include, but are not limited to:

1.     Numerical Division of Male / Female athletes to make up the team;

2.     Numerical scores from selected tournaments that precede the event and are close enough in time to the event to produce the most viable team (see Team Selection Score procedures below).  These scores are compared to expected scores from other international teams to predict the anticipated scores that may be produced;

3.     Each individual skier’s past performance in recent premier tournaments, to include any issues that may or could possibly affect anticipated scores in the target international competition;

4.     The ability of any skier to function in a team atmosphere, contribute to a team effort, and other positive or negative factors that may exist.

The IAC reserves the right to rely on all of these factors in selecting this team.  In the event of unforeseen circumstances which, in the judgment of the IAC, render these considerations and procedures clearly ineffective, the IAC may (by a two-thirds vote of the full IAC committee) amend these qualifications and procedures as necessary to accomplish the goals of the AWSA International Competition Program.

E.  Team Selection Procedures and Score Calculations (Team Athletes Only)

1.    The team will be selected based on the above requirements and criteria.  No team trials will be held.

2.   Sex distribution for the team shall be 3/3 or 4/2.

3.    Each athlete’s "Team Selection Score" shall be determined. The Team Selection Score shall be the average of each skier's two best tournament scores in each event (the "events" being slalom, trick, and jump) which shall be extracted from USA Water Ski & Wake Sports ranking list performances (Class E, L and R only) during the period beginning April 27, 2024 and ending on April 27, 2025 (inclusive).  The IAC reserves the right to give preference to scores achieved in calendar year 2025.  Each round score must be from a different site. To be considered, all scores must be reported (through each tournament's local organizing committee or scorer) to USA Water Ski & Wake Sports not later than Monday, April 28, 2025 at 11:59 PM (PDT). It is each athlete's responsibility to ensure that all eligible scores are submitted in a timely manner.  

4.    Team Selection Scores shall be based on the 1,000 point system where 1,000 points is the greater of the average of the top two Ranking Values on the most recent “officially posted as final” IWWF Rankings List and the highest score among U.S. scores posted for this selection process, excluding those who have aged out.  The Team Selection Scores shall be computed in accordance with IWWF (U21 Competition) Rule 17.04. The scores resulting from these calculations (including an overall score computed based on the sum of these Team Selection Scores (from each event), in accordance with applicable IWWF Rules) shall be used in the numerical score evaluation process. 

5.    The top male and female skiers based on "overall score" will be selected first provided that the skier contributes to the team score in at least one event.  "Overall score" is computed as the sum of the Team Selection scores from each of the three events. 

6.    The next skier will be the male or female skier with the next highest "overall score" provided that the skier contributes to the team score in at least one event. 

7.    The fourth and fifth skiers will be the male and/or female skiers with the highest "two event score" not already selected on the team, provided that the skier contributes to the team score. "Two event score" is defined as the sum of the two highest "event scores" for a skier.

8.    The sixth skier will be the male or female skier with the highest “one event score” not already selected on the team, provided that the skier contributes to the team score.

9.   The six skiers chosen following the above criteria will be Team 1.  Then other combinations of six U.S. skiers will be identified and shall be hereafter referred to as “Team X.”  Each Team X shall meet the gender requirements above, and shall have at least three skiers in each event (slalom, tricks and jump).  The Team Score for Team X will be calculated by summing the best three individual Team Selection Scores from each gender in each division (3 slalom, 3 tricks, and 3 jump). Consideration will be given to the number of scores per event, with the preference of at least four scores in each event (4 slalom, 4 tricks, and 4 jump). Team X having the highest Team Score will be named the U.S. Junior World Championships Team.

10. If there are no qualifying overall scores meeting some or all of the criteria (male and/or female) set forth in any of the above steps (steps (E.5-8), the IAC will consider alternative criteria and procedures as necessary to accomplish the goals of the AWSA International Competition Program. 

11. The IAC reserves the right to choose another combination of athletes who create a higher team overall score than chosen using the above steps.  

12. The team selected through this process will be designated as the official 2023 Under 17 World Championships Team.

F.  Other Information

1.    All registered independent skiers for the U.S.A. will be designated by the IAC as alternates to the team. The method of selecting these alternates will be at the discretion of the IAC and will not necessarily be based on any fixed formula.

2.   Partial funding may be available for team members, but all skiers are responsible for all unfunded costs. 

3.   Excellence in competition is the sole determining factor in making any U.S. Team. The policy of the IAC is always to send the best possible team.