Say Goodbye to Excel Beginner & High Beginner, Pre-Free, and Free Skate 1-6!

Introducing Aspire 1-4 Competition Levels!

I just got off a call with U.S. Figure Skating, where they have finally announced the new Aspire competition levels! I will be doing a video on this, as it is a lot to unpack. But I want to give you a quick summary:

The new levels are included in the Compete USA section of the Learn to Skate USA website here: https://learntoskateusa.com/competeusa. They will also appear within U.S. Figure Skating Members Only.

On the call, they stated that Aspire 1-4 will not be part of the Excel Series. HOWEVER, the Excel Committee has not yet made that announcement, so it is possible (as has been the case in the past) that it may change!

There are two sets of rules:

1. September 1-December 31, 2023
2. January 1- June 30, 2024

HOWEVER, some competitions have been approved before this announcement was made. So, ALWAYS check the competition announcement to be sure you are following the correct rules for the specific competition!

Full Video Transcript:

Changes are coming to Compete USA. These are critical for you to know if you plan on competing in Excel Beginner, Excel High Beginner, or the Learn to Skate USA free skate levels. I'll review all the changes and when you can expect them.

Hi everyone. This is Aimée. Welcome to my channel. If you subscribe to my channel, I've discussed how these changes have been coming. Now we finally have more details.

Before I dive in, I want to remind you that while I'm a PSA-ranked and rated U.S. Figure Skating member coach, I'm not an official spokesperson of any kind. Always check with your own coach to make the best decision for you and your skating.

This is the latest information as of September 1st, 2023. Everything I'm covering today is breaking news. Well, almost everything. Let's go over the basics first:

Compete USA is designed to promote a positive grassroots competition experience, enabling a fun introductory competitive experience for all participants. Competitions incorporate skills from Learn to Skate USA and U.S. Figure Skating into a competitive format. Compete USA competitions are open to any skater who is a current member of Learn to Skate USA or is a full member of U.S. Figure Skating, including Aspire members.

That means you can be a Learn to Skate USA, Aspire, or a U.S. Figure Skating member directly or through a rink, program, or club, but you're not required to represent a club or program. 

It is entirely okay if you're an individual member of Learn to Skate USA or U.S. Figure Skating directly. You are not required to be affiliated with a program or club. Suppose your rink is ISI or has a different program. In that case, you can still join Learn to Skate USA or U.S. Figure Skating directly to be eligible to compete from Snowplow Sam to Basic 6. As long as you've not taken any official U.S. Figure Skating tests, which does not include Learn to Skate USA instructor evaluations.

You cannot pass any official U.S. Figure Skating test, such as skating skills, dance, or singles, and compete at the Basic one through six or Snowplow Sam levels. 

Even though there have been changes to the testing and competition rules, you still may not have passed any official U.S. Figure Skating test for the basic skills levels. The levels you pass and Learn to Skate USA are not tracked. It's an honors-based system. Work with your coach to ensure you are competing where you genuinely belong at a challenging level where you can still be competitively successful.

There should be no more than six competitors maximum in a group, and all six should receive an award. 

The award doesn't have to be a medal. It could be a ribbon or a certificate or anything, really. There definitely can be less than six skaters. Many competitions do not always follow that guidance. Often not all skaters receive an award, so keep in mind that not all competitions follow that guidance! Competitions will specify this in their competition announcement, so you must read that and understand how that competition will handle placements.

Now let's get into the changes. What exactly is changing?

We used to have a manual for the entire season. Now we have a webpage with links. The manual that's at the top has turned into more of a how-to guide for local clubs that are hosting the competition. 

Below are the new program requirements. You'll see that there are two different links for most categories. September 1st through December 31st and January 1st through June 30th. 

There's two sets of rules with these different dates!

It's essential to read the competition announcement because whatever is in that announcement will prevail regardless of the competition dates. Some competitions were approved before these new requirements were announced. Say it's a competition for October. Refer back to that announcement that's already been approved.

Nothing will be changing for Snowplow Sam, and nothing is changing for Basic One through Basic Six.

The changes begin with the Pre-Free Skate to Free Skate 6 as well as Excel Beginner and Excel High Beginner. 

I have talked about this a little before in a YouTube short and in my video about upcoming changes to the Excel Series.

There were something like a dozen different levels to choose from, so it could be difficult for local clubs hosting the competitions, and it was also challenging for us coaches to understand where to put our skaters. 

Should we place them in Free Skate levels or Excel Beginner and Excel High Beginner?

What was happening was that free skate one had two skaters maybe, and maybe free skate two had three skaters. Then perhaps there were a whole ton of skaters in Excel Beginner and High Beginner. When you look at the skills, sometimes they're very similar. There was a lot of overlap.

They wanted to reduce that redundancy and make it easier to understand. The way they did this was to take nine levels and reduce them down to four. They took Pre-Free Skate through Free Skate Six along with Excel Beginner and High Beginner and condensed them into Aspire One through Four.

It is critical to understand that this is only for competition levels. The free skate levels and curriculum still exist in Learn to Skate USA. Aspire One through Four are only competitive levels. 

It's not part of the curriculum for group classes or even the Aspire program. We're still teaching Pre-Free Skate through Free Skate Six.

The idea is we would be able to have those larger groups of up to six skaters and then have the age banding where the local club pays attention to the ages within that group so you wouldn't have a five-year-old competing against a 15-year-old, hopefully. The idea is that this will create larger groups of up to six skaters maximum for competitions.

There's still a spot for everyone. There will always be some kind of skill that you're working on, and you might be struggling with. It could be a spin, it might be a jump, maybe it's a skating skill. As coaches, we need to use our best judgment to place our skaters at challenging and appropriate levels. This puts more responsibility on us, your coaches, to choose your levels.

Will Aspire 1-4 be included in the Excel Series?

Having haven't heard anything from the Excel Series. They did talk about this before at the PSA Summit, where they included those Aspire One through Four in the Excel Series discussion. I think we're just going to have to wait and see what happens. I'll be sure to keep you posted, so subscribe and ring that bell so that you don't miss that video when I post it.

What are the program requirements for these new Aspire 1-4 levels?

The intention is to be able to move skaters through Aspire 1, Aspire 2, Aspire 3, and Aspire 4. 

• All these levels have a maximum one-minute and 40-second program duration 
• With five jump elements, a maximum of two of any of the same jump, 
• Two spins, and 
• One half-ice choreographic step sequence. 

The idea behind the five jump elements is to facilitate progression. It's much easier to change a program from five jump elements instead of attempting to plug in a fifth jump and going from a program with four jumps to five.

• For Aspire 1, the permitted jumps are waltz jump, half flip, and half Lutz with a maximum of one waltz jump+waltz jump sequence with no turns or hops between the jumps. Permitted spins are a two-foot spin and a forward one-foot spin.
• In Aspire 2, you can still perform all the jumps that are permitted in Aspire 1, plus a single Salchow and single toe loop. You are permitted a maximum of two jump combinations or one jump combo and one jump sequence. Jump combinations are waltz jump+toe loop, and Salchow+toe loop. You can also do the same waltz jump+waltz jump sequence permitted in Aspire 1. Permitted spins or any spin from Aspire 1, back upright spin, or a sit spin.
• For Aspire 3, any jump element from the previous two levels is permitted plus the Euler or half loop jump and the single loop jump. There is a required spin at this level, that is the forward upright to back upright spin combination. Your additional spin can be a camel spin or any other spin from Aspire 1 and Aspire 2.
• In Aspire 4, the single flip jump and Lutz are permitted, as well as any jump from the previous levels. The required spin is a forward camel to sit spin combination. Then any other aspire one, two, and three spin is permitted.

The focus here is on the spins, which they see as the pain point for many skaters. 

That puts the spotlight on athlete development and getting the fundamental spin positions down. So all spins are at a level base. These are just basic positions. 

No sit forward, sit behind, sit side, any of those. They want to see the focus on the basic positions at these levels. Skaters need to develop strong basic positions. There are also no flying entries permitted.

For Aspire compulsory, the requirements are similar to those of the free skate. We don't have the details for the jump or spin challenges yet, but I imagine they will be similar to what's required at each aspire level.

These changes go into effect on January 1st, 2024, but remember, check your competition announcements and follow the program requirements as listed in those announcements.

There are no changes to any other levels. The changes are only for the Learn to Skate USA Free Skate levels Excel Beginner and Excel High Beginner. Basic 6 and lower remain the same. Adult 1-6 remains the same.

Pre-Free Skate through Free Skate 6 are still in the Learn to Skate USA curriculum. These changes are only for the competitive levels.

Considering the consolidation of these levels. What level should you compete?

You need to discuss this with your coach. It's their responsibility to ensure you're placed at the best level for you where you can be challenged yet competitive. I often sit down with my skaters and review the program requirements with them, explaining what's expected at each level so they can be part of the process.

Sometimes a skater will want to compete at a level above what I would consider to be their skillset because they really want to be challenged. Before we decide that. I also discuss it with their parents, and we collaborate on the final decision.

The thing is, these Aspire 1-4 levels are brand new, so we don't have a baseline yet. How they will look in practice, in terms of how competitive they'll actually be, or if there will be egregious sandbagging. Of course, that's also going to depend on what area of the country you compete in. Some areas have more sandbagging than others.

The beauty of the new Aspire 1-4 levels is that you can start at Aspire 1. If you're successful at one competition, you can easily switch out your jumps and spins and keep the same music to move up the ladder to Aspire 4.

Think of Aspire four as somewhat equivalent to Learn to Skate USA Free Skate 6. 

Before these changes, a Free Skate 6 skater could compete there, or they could have been Excel Pre-Preliminary or Well-Balanced No Test, neither of which require an Axel jump. But if you consistently land your Axel, you could be Well Balanced Pre-Preliminary or Excel Preliminary Plus.

Speaking of No Test, if a skater has passed the Pre Preliminary Singles Free Skate test, can they still skate in no test?

As of now, yes. Yes, they can. Theoretically, they could also even skate in Aspire 1. That's what the new competition rules say, anyway.

But no test should mean no test, right?

It should, but since the eligibility restructure decouples tests and competition levels, the door is currently open for a skater who has passed a singles free skate test to compete in No Test. But just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do that thing. This is something that you need to discuss with your coach.

Keep in mind that No Test may go away in the future. There are committees discussing that. However, as of today, no test is open to skaters who have passed singles free skate tests.

✅ July 31, 2023 Webinar: https://usfigureskating-org.zoom.us/rec/share/O7LcGI_27EuO7PbRVZezqjouC4KyP5OvBifl2uDkiIKoue5FanyMD_320Bkf6n26.sTZxlJ-APK0mj9t6 (source)