YCN Proficiency Points

General Description

The YCN system recognizes five consecutive levels, in increasing order:

Bronze, Silver, Gold, Prechamp and Champ

(There is also a Novice level just under Prechamp, but it will not affect point computations here, and may safely be ignored.)

Placing in the final of a certain level earns you points simultaneously in that level and the ones below it. Once you earn 7 (seven) points in a level, you can no longer dance at that level.

Events qualify only if there was at least a semi-final danced. Points are earned as follows:

• In the level you danced in:
  • 3 points for 1st place
  • 2 points for 2nd place
  • 1 point for 3rd place
  • If there was a quarter-final danced, 1 point for 4th-6th place
• In the level below the one you danced in:
  • 6 points for 1st place
  • 4 points for 2nd place
  • 2 points for 3rd place
  • If there was a quarter-final danced, 2 points for 4th-6th place
• For all levels below that...
  • 7 points for 1st-6th place

So, that means...

...placing 3rd in a silver international cha cha event with a semi-final round will give you 1 point in silver international cha cha and 2 points in bronze international cha cha.
...placing 5th in bronze american waltz will give you no points if there was only a final or semi-final and 1 point in bronze american waltz if there was a quarter-final.
...placing 2nd in gold american bolero with a quarter-final round will give you 2 points in gold american bolero, 4 points in silver, and 7 points in bronze (thus automatically eliminating you from any bronze american bolero events).

Remarks

As always, points are awarded to each member of the couple, and couples must always dance to the higher level of the two competitors.

In multiple-dance events, points are earned for each dance according to the combined placement. E.g. if you place 3rd in a silver samba/jive event, you earn points for placing 3rd in silver samba and 3rd in silver jive, even if the actual separate placement was different (like 2nd and 4th).

If there is only one open level at a competition, points are earned as if it were prechamp. Similarly, if there is a merged-level event (e.g., silver/gold or a gold event when there is no silver offered at that competition), then points are earned at the lower level (in both cases of our example, silver).

For the purposes of the MIT Open, we request and require that you count all comps when computing your YCN points. This includes USABDA comps, so if you made a final [with a quarter] or placed in the top 3 [with a semi], you should include the corresponding number of points in your overall YCN point calculation.

If you are placed out of a certain level in USABDA, then you are definitely placed out of this level in YCN (a YCN rule). However, you still need to compute your YCN points for MIT: you may be placed out of a higher level yet.

There are no YCN eligibility restrictions for dancing the Championship level at MIT.

If you have any questions regarding the YCN proficiency points system, contact our registration coordinator. For feedback, contact the YCN council ycn-council@usabda.org.