Competitive Youth Team

Team Mission:

  • Instill positive values such as respect and sportsmanship into the young climbers in our community. 

  • Build character through hard work and goal setting.

  • Infuse a passion for climbing in a fun, supportive environment.

  • Support the growth and development of climbing-related skills, strengths and techniques.

  • Emphasize a respect for the importance of safety while climbing.

  • Create a group of ambassadors that represent the ELEV8 climbing community when traveling and climbing in other locations.

Team Composition

The team will be split into two age groups. The younger team will consist of ages 12 and younger, and the older team will consist of ages 13 and older. Each team will be coed, led by two coaches, and will have a maximum of 10 team members.

Team Tryouts

Tryouts will consist of a group climbing session in which climbers will be evaluated based on their ability level, attitude, willingness to try, coachability and fit within a team dynamic. We will also ask that each athlete write a short essay to be handed in at tryouts.

LINK TO SIGN UP FOR TRYOUTS AT BOTTOM OF PAGE

Essay:

Each athlete will be asked to write an essay of why they would like to be on the team, to be handed in on the day of tryouts. We will be looking for characteristics that represent our team mission. When composing the essay, you can use the following questions as guidelines:

Why do you want to be on the team?

What makes a good teammate?

What would you bring to the team dynamic?

How do you hope to improve your climbing / what are your climbing goals?

Governing Organization

USA Climbing is the national governing body of the sport of competition climbing in the United States. The state of Michigan falls within Division 6, Region 62, along with Indiana, Ohio, Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The other region in Division 6 (Region 61) consists of Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Divisions

Category Name (Birth Year)

Junior (2004 or 2005)

  • Rope competitions will be done via Lead.

Youth A (2006 or 2007)

  • Rope competitions will be done via Lead.

Youth B (2008 or 2009)

  • Rope competitions will be done via Lead.

Youth C (2010 or 2011)

  • Rope competitions will be done via Top Rope.

Youth D (2012 or later)

  • Rope competitions will be done via Top Rope.

Season

The season will begin the second week of September, 2022 and will continue through April, 2023. At that point, athletes who qualify for regionals, divisionals, etc can continue to train for those events under the guidance of our coaches. Exact dates for USAC-sanctioned competitions have yet to be released, but must be released at least 30 days prior to the event.

The first portion of the season is focused on bouldering, with bouldering competitions throughout the region from October through December. A regional competition and a divisional competition are held in January and February, respectively.

The second portion of the season is focused on roped climbing, with rope competitions starting in February through April. A regional competition and a divisional competition occur in April and May, respectively. Nationals for all disciplines occur in late July. 

GENERAL SCHEDULE:

Start of Bouldering Qualifying Events: October 15, 2022

End of Bouldering Qualifying Events: December 10, 2022

Bouldering Regionals: January 14/15, 2023

Bouldering Divisionals: February 11/12, 2023

Start of Lead/Top Rope Qualifying Events: February 25, 2023

End of Lead/Top Rope Qualifying Events: April 15, 2023

Lead/Top Rope Regionals: May 13/14, 2023

Lead/Top Rope Divisionals: June 3/4 or 10/11, 2023

Youth Nationals: July 10-16, 2023

Training

Teams will meet twice weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays, after school for the duration of the season. The younger team practice will be from 4:30pm-5:45pm and the older team will train from 6:00pm-8:00pm. The older team will have optional “third day” training schedules they can choose to pursue in an independent fashion.

Training sessions will consist of a lot of climbing, some strength training and agility exercises, and also learning about competition formats and strategies for peak performance in competitions.

Competing

There are numerous Qualifying Events (USAC-sanctioned competitions) that occur within our region during the season. Last cycle, there were 5 bouldering events and 4 lead/TR events. These events are spread throughout the region. As a team, we will decide on 4 competitions (2 bouldering and 2 lead/TR) to attend. The costs for the coaches to travel to, and coach at, these tournaments is included in the team pricing. Athletes and their families will be responsible for competition entry fees as well as any personal travel expenses, this includes chaperoning their child at competition events. Athletes can attend competitions under the supervision of other parents/families given they have written consent from the athletes parent/legal guardian. 

If athletes wish to compete at other competitions, we will discuss logistics and additional pricing to be able to have coaches travel and attend.

Equipment

Athletes are encouraged to have their own climbing gear (shoes, harness, chalk bag, belay device/carabiner (older team) ). ELEV8 will supplement and provide any additional gear needed to train and compete.

Athletes will receive 25% discounts on gear purchased for themselves from the ELEV8 retail space.

Uniform

Athletes will be encouraged to wear a team shirt during practices, and required to wear them for competitions. A shirt is included in the team dues. Additional team gear can be purchased by each athlete at their own discretion.

Memberships

Athletes will be required to have active memberships for the duration of the team season. This will allow them to climb/etc before and after practices, and come in on off days. 

We played around with various models for pricing, some including memberships, some not, and this is what we decided to make the most sense. Given that we have so many different pricing options for youth memberships (single-month, EFT, family add-on, reduced-rate), there was no easy way to bake it into the price, so instead we ask that each athlete obtain a membership that best fits them.

Pricing

Half-Season Cost (can be split into multiple payment installments):

If price is an issue, reach out to us and we can work something out.

  • Older Team: $750

  • Younger Team: $650

Included:

  • Twice weekly training sessions led by two ELEV8 coaches from September through April (~65 in total, or about 32 for the half season)

  • For the older team, additional training curriculum for a third, independent training day each week.

  • Coach expenses to attend four competitions, two boulder and two Lead/TR.

  • Team shirt

Additional expenses:

  • USAC Membership

    • $30 for Introductory Membership (scores at qualifying events will not go toward qualifying for regional, divisional or national level events)

    • $105 for Competitor Membership

  • Competition entry fees

    • Usually ~$40-60 per competition for qualifying events, ~$110 for regionals, ~$125 for divisionals, ~$225 for nationals.

  • Travel expenses to and from competitions

  • Coach travel expenses to additional competitions beyond the 4 included in the season pricing

  • Additional team apparel

Cancelation

Team dues are non-refundable.

Future Years

Each year tryouts will determine who does and does not make the team. Knowledge of previous years’ performance and team dynamics will be taken into account.

Full Season Conflicts

If you are unable to commit to the entire season, let us know and we will do our best to work with you. We intend to prioritize athletes that are able to commit to the entire competitive season, but will try to accommodate athletes only able to participate in one portion of the season.

Resources To Learn More

Some websites to check out:

  • Usaclimbing.org

  • www.theshortbeta.com/home/our-purpose

  • USA Climbing Youth Region 62 Facebook group