Originally Posted by
Doge
It is inconsistent with USA Cycling that has age and ability divisions.
Nationals has U23, Cat 1, pros, age based etc.
Collegiate As has ages 17-35 Pros, 1s,2s,3s and 4s all in the same race.
The top division is at the moment not as strong as the 2nd division.
Some teams have paid staff, equipment and 8 members/riders others have 1-2 kids and no support.
Then the labeling and registration Div I (Club)/Div II (Varsity) is flipped.
So I won't value if that is a big deal or not, but I think it needs some work and thought.
I'd dump the pros, and 1s from it. Maybe the 2s as well. And then remove the Varsity/Club designation.
I don't get the club/varsity designation.
When I was in college DII was simply a matter of being a smaller school versus DI. It had nothing to do with varsity/club. In fact, I was on a cycling scholarship, we had a coach who recruited, drove us to races, etc. in the van and trailer, all fees and hotels and travel (even meal money) taken care of, kits, some equipment, etc.
DII could race DI at nationals if they desired, and the year after Bookwalter won I think Lees-Mcrae started doing just that. But it wasn't a matter of one field being physically "better" or not. Just the size of the school. I guess DI always sounds better.
But I don't know. I thought it was fine. Bookwalter, Guttenplan, and Gaimon all raced collegiately in the southeast while I was racing. They were all good then and obviously improved quite a bit. I think it can be a big stepping stone in that regard. Of course, they were all legitimate 20-21 year old sophomores and juniors, etc., age/schooling-wise.
I'm not a fan of 30 year old grad students, though. I think it should be restricted to undergrad. Even then you have some ringers come in. My school recruited a previous Canadian national champ and then an Aussie that had been racing well in Europe and both of them came in and won collegiate national titles while a bit older than most students.