(thread drift apologies…)
These stratified hierarchies, as implied by a number of posts on this thread and others, have broader repercussions Among coaches and some parents and skaters, there seems to be a strong set of biases and prejudices against the “easier” requirements of, say TT or ISI competitions. As Sierra has (incorrectly, IMHO) come to believe, skaters who “do” TT are perceived as unequal to their competitive peers. In her case, this conviction appears to emanate from other skaters and probably their parents.
The distinction is only technical in skating terms but the biases have very real consequences. For example, our club (long before me) was nearly torn apart by quarreling about which skaters deserved club funding—“competitive” skaters who put the club’s name in lights; or the vast majority of skaters, who skated recreationally. Naturally, all of this negatively affected rink culture.
Moreover, cultivating “competitive” skaters actually can affect your non-profit status with the IRS. It is the difference between an athletic organization (501 c 3) or a social welfare club (501 c 4). Given the difference in tax deductable write-offs for the two (former = yes, latter = no), it is of almost no $$ benefit for a club to serve non-competitive skaters.
It seems that the effort to include more non-competitive skaters in USFS competitions has led to greater and greater anxiety among parents and skaters, never a good thing.