CNESSPA’s 2024 New England Championship Packet
GIRLS GYMNASTICS (2024-2025)
The purpose of the V.P.A. Gymnastics Committee is to govern interscholastic competition within the State of Vermont.
2. During the 2024-2025 season there will be one division of competition; Girls (grades 9-12).
Schools Participating in Gymnastics
Independent Gymnastics Participants’ Schools:
(If your school is not listed, and you wish to participate as a team in girls’ gymnastics for the 2024-2025 season, please contact the VPA office by January 1, 2025. Any school not listed above that has an individual gymnast who wishes to participate in high school gymnastics in 2024-2025 shall contact the V.P.A. office prior to January 1, 2025, for arrangements.
NOTE: Send an 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. USAG Level 8 rules are used on all 4 events for Vermont High School gymnastics. Middle Schools use USAG Level 6 rules with the exception of Vault which will follow USAG Level 5 rules.
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.
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. With 48 hours’ notice coaches/judges agree that two judges per event may be used.
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 instead of the 2 four “ landing mats if needed. In addition a sting mat,
4” throw or 8” skill cushions are permitted. For floor exercise, up to 4 manufactured mats (panel, sting, landing, skill cushion, etc.) These mats may be removed or moved during the routine as long as it doesn’t obstruct the judge’s view of the routine being performed. Out-of-bounds lines should be chalked or taped in if the mat covers the lines. Host schools are not expected to provide these mats.
9. There will be no scheduled warm-ups between events in the regular season. Athletes will warm up prior to the start of the meet and then be awarded a 30-second “bump touch” after completing the first event. The “bump touch” cannot be blocked and will be done in between judges scoring routines. Independent athletes will be guaranteed a maximum of a 2-minute warm-up on each event should they not receive it within the team warm-up. The 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 into the host school 48 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.
11. Judges’ fees for the regular season will be $97.50 for rated officials, plus .60 cents a mile. In the event only one official appears, that official will receive 1+1/2 fees $127.50. Judge fees for middle school competitions shall be $67.50 plus mileage.
12. Competing schools that have Independent Competitors 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. The host school is responsible to pay officials for ALL independent competitors. Officials will be assigned by: Ashley Godin
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 Independents 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 shown 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):
5:45-6:00 General/Open Stretch
6:00 – 6:25 Each team warms up 2 events
6:25 – 6:50 Teams switch 2 events
6:55 March Out/Team Announcement/National Anthem
7:00 Start of Competition
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 competitions 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 Meet–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 each event’s top four performers’ scores. 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.
11. During the regular season male competitors will be allowed in an exhibition capacity only. Please note that males will be judged using the women’s rules. Exhibition Gymnasts do not qualify for any placement recognition or team scores and are not eligible for the state championship.
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 on overall record, then head-to-head competition, then common opponent, and finally a coin flip. All independent gymnasts will also qualify for the state championship. Independent gymnasts’ seedings will be determined by the season average score on each event. The VPA Gymnastics Committee will break any remaining ties using the VPA tie-break procedures.
All teams will be seeded for the State Championship meet. The top 5 Independents on each event, determined by season average score will also qualify for the State Meet. NOTE: Independent competitors only need to submit their top 5 scores. Tri meets only count as one score.
The state championships will be on February 17, 2025, location TBD. Please note that there is an entry fee this year. The team (4+) fee is $200, (3 or fewer) individual fee $40 each. This fee is to be sent to VPA Office. More information will follow 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 the previous competitions held in Vermont. There will be no pre-championship practices allowed at the championship facility.
2. IT SHALL BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SCHOOL WHETHER APPLYING AS A TEAM OR INDEPENDENT TO:
B. 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 February 12, 2025, to meet or hold a conference call.
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, February 12, 2025. Schools Must Turn in their Information to make this possible.
E. Notify schools of the tournament schedule and sites as soon as possible
3. A gymnast must have competed in at least four 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 five 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. 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 performances according to seed. Rotation will be determined by the seeding committee.
5. 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 is TBA, plus .60 cents a mile.
6. The V.P.A. will appoint a Meet Director for the state meet. The Meet Director must be a rated official.
7. Adults must be used as Head Meet Director and Timers for state competition.
8. The following team awards will be presented at the State Meet: A championship trophy and finalist plaque.
9. 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.
10. 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. 5 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.