Important Announcement – Roll Out of IJS

NISA are delighted to announce the next stage in the roll out of the IJS across all disciplines in the UK. An initial pilot event took place in Dundee at the end of September 2009 to ascertain the officials and the equipment that will be required to implement this system to the lower levels. One further pilot will be necessary in terms of the equipment, facilities required etc. and this will take place at Magnum Opens on 12th and 13th March 2010.
A solo dance pilot event will take place at the Adult Championships in Sheffield on 25th & 26th February where the new criteria and software for solo dance will be tested at all levels. A further solo dance trial will take place as part of the Alexandra Palace Solo Dance Series event in May 2010.
Following the February and March events, NISA will be in a position to recommend to all Clubs/rinks the minimum specification required should they wish to hold an IJS Open. This recommendation will include details of equipment and officials required to meet the Permit requirements. The Permit system will then change to allow Clubs/rinks to apply for a Permit to run an IJS Open at the latest 6 months in advance of the event to ensure correct panels.
It will not be compulsory at this stage for clubs/rinks to use the IJS, and many may choose to continue to run their Opens under the existing RJS system. It is anticipated that this will be phased out in years to come but RJS Opens will continue in the foreseeable future while the training process for officials continues. This will also give Clubs/rinks opportunity to decide whether Opens can be combined and rotated within an area of the Country, or equipment bought and shared between Clubs/rinks.
There will be an inevitable delay from publication of the minimum specification through to the first Opens being held under the IJS. It is therefore anticipated that no Club/rink Opens will be held under the IJS before November 2010.
NISA were successful in selection for a further Junior Grand Prix event which will be held in October. This makes it impossible to fit in the usual 3 NISA run IJS events before the closing date for the British Figure Skating Championships which will be held in November 2010. Due to this and the gap which would otherwise occur before the first Club IJS Opens, there will be one further IJS Open held in Hull in July 2010. This event will be run by Hull Club, but supported by NISA in a similar way to Dundee in 2009, but will offer the opportunity to obtain test passes giving skaters test entry to the 2010 Championships in singles. The criteria for Hull Opens will be those published shortly for singles from 1st July 2010 but will operate Novice, Junior and Senior sections to allow skaters to obtain test passes. It is possible that entry may need to be restricted by number in the Novice, Junior and Senior events and in this case priority will be given to skaters needing to achieve test passes for entry to the British Championships. NISA will arrange suitably qualified officials for this event.
In line with the Board’s commitment to move Championship events to IJS as soon as possible all the Championship events in 2010 will operate under the IJS. The dates for all of these are outlined at the bottom of this document. NISA will also run two further IJS events for couples dance, singles and pairs and again the dates are listed below. The third couples dance event will take place alongside the Solo Dance Championships in July 2010, giving all skaters except synchro at this stage the opportunity to skate three NISA IJS events this season.
All synchronised skating events are now run under the IJS and it is hoped that the number of these events will be increased for the season 2010/2011 and beyond. It is hoped that these events can also be hosted by Clubs/rinks in the future, as per the other disciplines, pending availability of equipment & officials.
This year will see the start of the new Solo Dance Series events. With the exception of the pilot event outlined above, these events will be judged using the RJS (6.0) in 2010 but the Championships will use the IJS. It is anticipated that these Series events will move to the IJS next year, pending the necessary training of officials, availability of software & ability of Clubs/rinks to provide qualified officials, all aspects of which will be considered following the February and May 2010 pilot events.
NISA are sure that our members will understand the difficulties that have inevitably arisen with the Roll-Out process, as can be expected with any project of this size. However, IJS is now implemented across all disciplines and this is a building block for future years. We look forward to now moving to the next step in the process and to training more officials in all capacities, involving more skaters, coaches and judges as well as volunteers in the process.
Below are the dates of the events which will operate under the IJS in date order:

18th & 19th February - British Synchronised Championships
and National Opens All Levels

26th & 27th February - British Adult Championships Adult singles, Pairs, Couples Dance & Solo Dance

12th to 14th March - Magnum Singles Open Levels 2 to 10

12th to 16th April - Lee Valley NISA IJS event Novice Junior & Senior Singles, Pairs &
Couples Dance

24th & 25th April - NISA Cup Final Levels 7 to 10 Singles

17th & 18th May - Alexandra Palace Solo Dance Levels tbc

5th to 8th July - British Solo Ice Dance Championships & Dance Couples IJS event All Levels plus Novice, Junior & Senior Couples

9th to 11th July - Hull Singles & Pairs Open Levels 2 to 7 (tbc) and Novice, Junior & Senior

30th August to 3rd September - Sheffield NISA IJS event Novice Junior & Senior Singles, Pairs & Couples Dance

18th to 22nd October - WISA IJS event Novice Junior & Senior Singles, Pairs & Couples Dance

21st to 27th November - British Ice Figure Championships Novice, Junior & Senior Singles, Pairs & Couples Dance

NISA Office
5th February 2010