What Are Sectional Figure Skating Competitions?

Let's learn a bit about what exactly sectional figure skating competitions are about:

The United States is divided into three sections:

• Pacific Coast section - Nickname: "Coast"
• Midwestern section - Nickname: "Mids" or "Midwesterns"
• Eastern section - Nickname: "Easterns"

Each section is divided into three regions:

Figure skaters that compete at a sectional event have qualified by placing in the top four at a previous regional event. Novice, Junior, and Senior level competitors, who place in the top four at a sectional, qualify to compete at the United States National Figure Skating Championships. The U.S. National Figure Skating Championships is nicknamed "Nationals."

Now....to confuse things:

Juvenile and Intermediate level ice dancers and pair skaters don't compete at regionals and must compete at sectionals in order to qualify for the U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships. The top eight Juvenile and Intermediate teams from sectionals advance to Junior Nationals, but Junior level events are not part of Junior Nationals....

Further Reading:

• U.S. Figure Skating Regional and Sectional Map
• What is the Figure Skating Competition Season?

_{Sectional Competitor Danielle Kahle - Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images}