Took me a couple minutes, and then I realized who you were talking about.
:2thumbs: I'd have to reword my paragraph a little, but it would work well on a figure skating edition of
Jeopardy! 
I still find it strategically not ideal to move Iliya to senior nationals.
A Junior national title is a thing...
ISU notes it, Sports Canada notes it, potential private foundation funders note it.
Just because he's 15 and can go Senior internationally next year, is no reason to foreshorten his time as a Junior. Especially as he's not done growing, hasn't got his quads, and has just made an impact with his first JGP medal.
If there is any flex in the system, he should be going through as a Junior.
But perhaps Skate Canada should not be creating a situation wherein our Junior Champion doesn't go to Worlds.
This doesn't work with the funding criteria from Sport Canada.
But Sport Canada's funding structure isn't built on figure skating.
Skate Canada has a fair bit of latitude because skating is an early specialization sport, but this progression is to some degree a legacy of the pre-NextGen funding incentives.
As Iliya has no chance of making the top 5 and the National senior team, and his NextGen funding is based on his TSS and elements.
So, I question whether it's time to change the system.
Iliya : love the boy, love his 3a... but he does skate like a 15 years old.. He needs to improve the interpretation and performance sides of skating and skating skills and transitions too... on top of that, the other 3 contenders all have quads... I wonder why there is such a rush for him to go to JWC this year... when he could go next year... or even in a couple years from now
TGee and 4everchan, I just wanted to say that ITA with your posts. It's ultimately Iliya's decision, but I would've preferred that he remain as a junior nationally. He's good, but he's not great yet, so I don't really see the point of him moving up to the senior ranks so soon, especially when the field is already quite crowded. The current system seems to devalue the worth of a Canadian junior title if a Junior Worlds spot is on the line. :disapp: He must
really want it, but I wish the situation didn't force him to make the jump up the ladder before he's truly ready to face our country's best senior-level athletes. There are indeed areas where he needs to improve, and I think that he should work on them first.
And while we're on this subject, why the heck is Max Denk competing as a senior?
I'm not a fan of his, but I was shocked to see that he was no longer listed as a junior during the National Summer Series. He scored over
63 points less than Bennet at GTSA, which gives you an idea how far behind he is as a skater. I don't consider Max to be Matthew Markell's equal (and Matt, who couldn't train during the off-season because of a stress fracture, did beat him at Octoberfest this past weekend), plus Max doesn't have a Nationals medal, so it makes NO SENSE whatsoever for him to be in the senior ranks.
.Her teammates Alaine, Veronik, and Alicia are going to be a fantastic trio to represent this week.
