Key concepts: Eligibility, qualifying, and mobilizing

Three key terms that J.O. athletes and their parents learn about early on are Eligibility, Qualifying, and Mobilizing. You don't really have to worry about them this early in the competitive season, but they are all good things to be aware of as the season progresses.

ELIGIBILITY: Commonly used to refer to the "regular" season meets that lead up to the State and Regional Championships. An athlete must compete in at least two "eligibility meets" in order to be eligible to compete at State or Regional Championships to attempt to qualify (see below) to compete at the National Championships. An athlete can compete at State/Regional if he hasn't met the eligibility requirement, but would not be able to qualify for Nationals no matter what score he receives.

QUALIFYING: In order to qualify to compete at the Junior Olympic National Championships, an athlete must achieve a qualifying score appropriate to event and level in at least one of the two qualification meets - State or Regional Championships. Without a qualifying score at one of these meets an athlete can't compete at Nationals, no matter how good they may have done at meets earlier in the year. For some athletes this is even more important than the competition for the State or Regional titles (though those are nice, too!). We'll talk more about qualifying and qualifying scores in a couple of weeks when we discuss the competition levels in more detail.

MOBILIZING: Once an athlete has gone as far as she can at her current level, she will want to move on - or mobilize - to the next level. In order to mobilize, the athlete must achieve the mobilization score appropriate to the level and event. She must also be able to perform the appropriate "mobilization skills" for their level. We'll talk more about mobilizing and mobilizing scores in a couple of weeks when we discuss the competition levels in more detail.