Youth and College Network Leadership Problems?

[ACtenDance]

I overheard some people talking about some kind of YCN leadership problems. Something like a bunch of YCN coordinators quit and Collegiate Nationals over at OSB might not happen. I wasn't able to catch any specifics, and I'm not even sure if the people I heard it from knew what they were talking about...

Is this true? Does anyone have more info?

[Chris Stratton]

Perhaps the more interesting question is to ask, "what is YCN?"

I realize it's a question with an official answer, but I suspect the practical answer may be somewhat different, and though this is mostly speculation, would not be totally surprised if the difference were a factor in any turnover of officials (which despite being something I cannot confirm has occured, I would not be totally suprised to see)

[pygmalion]

Interesting. I raised the "what in YCN" question before we had many collegiate dancers, and didn't get too much response, if I remember correctly. (Understandable, of course.) So what is YCN? What is its relationship with USABDA (official or unofficial?)

[DancePoet]

Ok...someone help us out...what is YCN???

[etchuck]

It is the Youth and College Network, which is part of USABDA. Supposedly it is a network for college and high school ballroom clubs across the country.

I don't really know much about it though. But you can look it up here : http://usabda.org/youth_&_college_dancers/index.cfm .

[tbrennen]

Ok...someone help us out...what is YCN???

The Youth College Network is one of the three arms of USABDA. Its primary goal is to promote ballroom dance for the youth and college students in the US. For the purposes of this forum, it might be best to say that it acts as a framework and communication network between the various college clubs who are members of the YCN. Yes, the website is out of date but hopefully that will be remedied sometime soon.

I will go ahead and forward to the USABDA Executive Committee the dismay I seem to have heard in several posts recently about the worry that the National Collegiate Championships would not be held. I can say that I have not heard that the event would not be held (I hate double negatives but that is what I meant).

Ciao!

[Chris Stratton]

I get the impression that some of the YCN officials might have been frustrated by being caught in the middle of a two or three way argument between some popular and vocally promoted traditions of some of the college-centered competions, entrenched views of certain USABDA officials about how the collegiate circuit should be run, and to a lesser extent the OSB organizers. Since Collegiate Nationals (And IDF when it happens) is one of the few events under any degree of actual control by YCN's officials, a lot of the political fighting gets concentrated on it.

I think it's interesting though that there's been more fear and concern about the possiblity of same sex couples dancing at collegiate nationals than about clearly defining and firmly enforcing exactly who is considered elgible to participate in a collegiate championship. That question is really every bit as hard a problem - use a strict definition of "student" and a lot of the top student dancers will loose out as their partners are non-students. Use a loose definition (or no restriction at all, like most of the actual college-hosted competitions) and simply create yet another amateur "Nationals" - but USABDA has a real issue with diluting that word. Presently there is a somewhat vague elgibility policy that seems subject to an even larger degree of personal interpretation. I don't mean to rain on the parade, but I don't really see how to make a very strong argument for holding a championship until its purpose is clearly defined.

Of perhaps more far-reaching importance to general amateur dancing in the US is that while the whole college-centered competition system has met its stated goal of providing some exposure to huge numbers of student dancers, it has also really re-vitalized adult syllabus & pre-champ dancing, by creating a large, active, and accessable setting where students and non-students mix without distinction. If you look at something like MAC, which is one of the few traditional USABDA comps of any real size, the seeming bulk of adult entries (and the majority of finalists) outside of the championship division are from college-circuit regulars, but not necessarily true college students; it's primarily due to the presence of this mixed community in the northeast & mid-atlantic that MAC is the largest of the regionals. Some of us remain rather unconvinced that USABDA leadership understands the real nature and causes of this success, especially at times when the difference of vision arguments heat up.

[Joe]

I think the collegiate nationals should be open to actual college/grad students only. USABDA keeps diluting the candidate pool for USABDA Nationals. They might as well open it up to all professionals--why just the "amateur" professionals? It would be a shame to let the collegiate nationals undergo the same dilution.

[Chris Stratton]

I think the collegiate nationals should be open to actual college/grad students only. USABDA keeps diluting the candidate pool for USABDA Nationals. They might as well open it up to all professionals--why just the "amateur" professionals? It would be a shame to let the collegiate nationals undergo the same dilution.

Just to clarify my position, I am not arguing that opening up the event to all dancers is the right answer. Rather I'm arguing that the justification for holding a championship needs to include a clear, and seriously enforced, elgibility policy of some sort. After listening to arguments for why I should have gone despite not being a student, and looking at names of those who did attend, I'm unconvinced that this is currently the case.

If YCN Nationals is run as a purely student event, it's likley to have only limited overlap with the college-centered competition community. There's nothing wrong with that - actual and purely collegiate dancing is an interesting idea, and having one event that highlights it could be good. But it's important to avoid confusion between that and the thriving, mixed community in parts of the country that would suffer a critical loss of momentum without non-student participation.

[Laura]

As someone who comes from an area where the USABDA and college communities work closely together and support each other, I have no problems with there being a true student-only Collegiate Nationals. I certainly don't mind being able to go to local University events without being able to go to the Collegiate Nationals -- I've already got the USABDA Nationals to attend if I want.