These criteria and procedure will be used in selecting riders for the road and mountain bike classification of the National Cycling Team. The selected riders will demonstrate their most competent representations possible in each event and produce medal winning performances in any upcoming Deaflympics and World Championships based upon the USDCA Principles of Discretion which are described below.

Rider Selection Philosophy:

Selection for the National Cycling Team will use the United States Deaf Cycling Association (USDCA) Selection Series of USA Cycling races, USDCA tryouts and coach's scope. Final selection will vary for each discipline. It will be based on riders who have the best capabilities of winning medals at the international level competitions.

Eligible Riders:

Only National Cycling Team eligible riders will qualify to participate in the Deaflympics and World Championships by:

• being a member of U.S. Deaf Cycling Association (USDCA)
  
• being a member of United States of America Deaf Sports Federation (USADSF)
  
• being a member of USA Cycling (NGB)
  
• being able to demonstrate a consistent level of medal winning capability during the current racing season.

Petition:

Participation in the Deaflympics and World Championships may be granted to riders who have been a member of National Cycling Team, and riders who are not members, may submit a petition to the USDCA Coach five months prior to the international competitions. All petitions must include a resume and rationale of why they did not participate in the USDCA tryouts. Petition approval will consist of rider's history of performance, the results and team work during competition. The approval petitions will be granted by the USDCA Coach and USDCA President.

Due Process:

All athletes have a right to obtain due process in accordance to the USDCA and USA Deaf Sports Federation by-laws if they feel the selection criteria were not followed properly.

Final Selection:

Final selection of the National Cycling Team will be announced after the official results of the selection events of the USDCA tryouts. The Executive Officers of the USDCA Board of Directors must approve the National Coaching Staff's recommendations regarding qualifying procedures, final team selections, alternate selections, and replacements of riders prior to departure for the international competitions.

Code of Conduct:

All riders shall be required to sign and abide by the USDCA and USADSF's Code of Conduct. Failure to abide by the code will result in dismissal from the cycling team. A rider will be disqualified if he receives a positive drug test of a banned substances, fail medical control procedures, is recipient of USDCA, USADSF or UCI disciplinary action procedure, or voluntarily resigns after he is selected to the team. A replacement shall be made.

Injury or Illness:

A rider who has been selected to the cycling team may be replaced if USADSF or USDCA National Team physician certifies that an injury or illness will prevent him or her from full participation at either the final preparation activities or the international competitions.

Replacement Procedures:

Any rider will be withdrawn from the US Team if, for any reason, that he/she is not able or unwilling to maintain a training regimen that is necessary for his/her peak performance in the Deaflympics or does not abide by selection criteria requirements. Riders will also be withdrawn from the US Team if they do not satisfactorily perform their fundraising duties as required by USDCA and USADSF. If an ride is withdrawn from the team, the next place rider will be placed on the US Team.

Final Preparation Activities:

All selected riders for the international competitions are highly advised to participate in the "Final Preparation Activities" as designated by the National Coaching Director with input from the National Coaching Staff. Alternates are required to perform to the best of their ability in all final preparation activities.

News Release:

Criteria and procedure for the Selection of Riders will be available upon request. USDCA will acknowledge such available selection procedures published on the web site. The information about tryouts will also be on the website, through the words of mouth, published in the USDCA Breakaway newsletter, direct email to known riders, press release to USA Cycling (desirable), press release to deaf-related publications (e.g. SigNews, Deaf-L, DeafDigest and etc). Updates in the selection procedures will be subject to change and shall be acknowledged to the members of the USDCA.

Discretionary Rider Selection:

The purpose of a discretionary rider selection is to allow flexibility in events that requires strong teamwork, cohesion, consistency and unity among all members of the team. Based on the context of the situation, the National Coaching Staff will evaluate which riders would be included on the team in order to field the strongest, sound and unified team for the international competitions. The discretion shall be exercised in the sole judgment of the National Coaching Staff based on the criteria applicable to the respective event using the following USDCA Principles of Discretion.

USDCA Principles of Discretion

• For team events, a history of strong teamwork: cohesion, consistency, unity and dedication to preparation activities and competitions.
  
• A history of strong performance in international competition
  
• Recent improvements in international and/or domestic results
  
• Performances during the final preparation activities

Qualification Requirements:

• All riders must be at least 17 years of age by December 31 during the year of either Deaflympics or World Championships in order to be "Olympic" eligible.
  
• All riders must be U.S. citizens, have a valid USA Cycling racing license and be member of USDCA & USADSF.
  
• All riders must have 55 dB hearing loss in a better ear as required by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) testing guidelines.
  
• Completion of 10 or more sanctioned races prior to tryouts in that year is required especially for Category V and IV riders.

Miscellaneous:

• A maximum of five (5) riders is limited to each team of National and Development.
  
• The riders on the National Cycling Team are the frontliners to the Deaflympics and World Championships. They will continue the training and evaluation until the final roster for the USA Deaflympics and World Championships is determined.
  
• The riders who do not make the National Cycling Team or are younger than 17 years old will be placed on the Development Team. They will be considered as the frontliners to the National Team. They will have an opportunity to participate in training and receive evaluation. If A rider on the Development Team performs better than someone on the National Team, he or she will have a chance to be placed on the National Team.
  
• The racing rules and regulations of both the USA Cycling and the Union Cycliste International (UCI) also will be applied at the tryouts.
  
• The tryouts will be consisted of sanctioned road race and criterium selected by the National Coaching Staff. 1000-meter match sprint and 40-kilometer individual time trial events may be promoted by the USDCA if possible.
  
• The tryouts for the mountain bikers will be consisted of sanctioned cross country race selected by the National Coaching Staff.
  
• Suppose that there are only five candidates trying out for the team. Least good athlete of the five must meet the requirement of qualifications to make the team.
  
• Suppose that there are only two category-2 candidates, they may be automatically selected for the team without ever trying out.
  
• Should there be room for two additional candidates on the team and/or more than two additional candidates of same category-class such as category-3, they must participate in the tryouts.
  
• Submit without any reservations to all doping control policies and procedures of the USADSF, International Committee of Sports for the Deaf and World AntiDoping Agency (WADA).
• Complete his/her US Team application packet, which includes proof of having or in the process of obtaining a United States passport, and pay a non-refundable US Team application fee of $100 within 30 days of selection.
• Be expected to participate in a 1 to 1 1/2 week training camp prior to the Deaflympics.
  
• Be responsible for raising funds to cover training camp and Deaflympics.
  
• Announcement / publicity of tryouts should be at least 6 months prior to the tryouts.
  
• The selection of riders will be subject to approval by the USADSF Board if they intend to participate in the international competitions.
  

For more information, please contact:

Beverly Buchanan, USDCA President
800 Florida Ave N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20002

E-mail: beverly.buchanan at gallaudet.edu

Last updated: October 12, 2006