The Selection Committee is responsible for deciding which applications will be accepted fully, accepted as alternates or rejected ahead of a BattleBots season. They also play a significant role during each tournament season, debating which robots deserve to advance past Fight Night and into the Round of 32. The Selection Committee consists of various National Soccer Hall of Fame members, media and historians as well as coaches and administrators with U.S. first division experience. Each member serves a term of three years.
Despite the fact that there are still two more days of competition at USA Gymnastics world team selection camp, the top six athletes are essentially set to make this year’s world championships team. The women’s all-around champion from the first day of competition at the Katy, Texas, camp will earn an automatic berth on the team while the other five gymnasts will be named by the ASC, including one traveling alternate, on the basis of discretionary selection criteria that are detailed in the ASC’s selection procedures.
The front runners for the final spot on the team include 2021 world all-around silver medalist Shilese Jones and reigning national all-around champion Simone Biles. The other two spots will likely be awarded to the highest-scoring athlete on each of the individual events. If that’s the case, then it’s not unreasonable to assume that a pair of vault and floor specialists will make the cut, such as 2022 Olympic all-around bronze medalist Leanne Wong or 2023 national all-around champion Skye Blakely.
The fifth spot may prove to be the most contentious. The committee may have been swayed to name McKayla Maroney and Kyla Ross as their top choice, but the pair’s performances on Friday didn’t come close to matching the best from the all-around leader. That may be due to a variety of factors, including nagging injuries, but it’s still hard to believe that both would have been ranked lower than the two gymnasts who are tied for the lead.
The sixth and final spot will be determined during the second day of competition on Saturday, when the ASC selects the top performer on each event. Whether that’s the same person as the all-around winner or someone new will depend on how many routines each gymnast competes in. It’s a process that will be subject to much speculation and debate until it is completed. USAG is supposed to release a selection report detailing its decision making process afterward, but until then, gym fans will continue to debate their ideal worlds teams on social media. Then, of course, the real selection will begin at the actual worlds. It’s almost impossible to overstate how important the worlds selection process is. The results of those decisions could end up changing the whole course of the championships. That’s why the worlds selection committee must always take great care in its decision making. A single error, no matter how minor, can be enough to ruin the entire season for a whole team.