SIGN IN YOUR ACCOUNT TO HAVE ACCESS TO DIFFERENT FEATURES

FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD?

FORGOT YOUR DETAILS?

AAH, WAIT, I REMEMBER NOW!

Sidelines MagazineSidelines Magazine

  • LOGIN
  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Subscriptions
    • Flipbook
    • Subscribe Options
    • Order Individual & Back Issues
  • Podcast
  • Marketplace
    • Business Ads
    • Directories
      • Barns, Farms, Trainers & Clubs
      • Equestrian Services
      • Real Estate
      • Stallions
      • Tack & Feed Stores
    • Classifieds
    • Horse Trailers for Sale
  • Advertise
  • Blogs
    • Show World
    • What’s Happenin’
  • Partners
  • Contacts
    • Contacts
    • Employment
0
Saturday, June 12 2021 / Published in Sidelines Feature

North American Youth Championships and the Importance of Friendly Rivalry

By George Williams

Every year as the days get longer and summer is almost here, I start looking forward to what has become an institution: one of the most instrumental dressage competitions we have in North America, the FEI North American Youth Championships (NAYC). While it’s gone by different names over the years, it has served as the international debut for several U.S. and Canadian dressage Olympians including Courtney King Dye, Ashley Holzer, Adrianne Lyle, Jackie Brooks, David Marcus, Ali Brock and many others who went on to represent their countries at the World Equestrian Games and Pan Am Games.

NAYC’s role in producing top senior riders cannot be denied, since the first ones were held in the late ’70s and early ’80s. It’s been the start of international careers for a number of U.S. and Canadian top professionals and team riders. The list of alumni is literally a virtual “who’s who” of dressage, proving that the competition is vitally important to both the U.S. and Canada.

Part of what makes NAYC so valuable is the experience of being part of a team, especially in a sport where we usually perform as individuals. To compete successfully as a team requires athletes to learn how to work together toward a common goal. An added benefit, especially from my perspective, is that for dressage the U.S. is permitted to have regional teams and Canada can send teams from provinces. That means the U.S. has the possibility of sending a total of 72 athletes.

Each of the nine USDF Regions can send a four-member team of FEI Junior riders and a four-member team of FEI Young Riders. We’re not quite to the point where each region is in a position to send full teams, but it does allow us to promote dressage throughout almost all of the United States. Without this aspect of the NAYC, it would be easy for dressage to be even more centered in areas like Southern California or Florida. Instead, this year, we have athletes applying from 28 states (over the years more than 32 states). In my opinion, that’s pretty darn good when you consider that combinations are competing at an FEI level.

Like so many competitions, the 2020 NAYC was cancelled due to COVID-19. The championships were scheduled to be held in Traverse City, Michigan. This year, fingers crossed, the Traverse City Horse Shows will add their name to the list of incredible venues that have hosted the NAYC since its inception in the 1970s as the American Continental Young Rider Championships. The NAYC is recognized by the FEI as a continental championship for the three Olympic disciplines for riders ages 14 to 21. For the last four years, the eventing championships have been held separately but dressage and jumping are still together.

A Vital Role

As we focus on growing and strengthening dressage within the U.S., one of the things that’s easy to forget is the vital role of “friendly rivalry.” Well, perhaps it’s not always so friendly — with the NAYC, we do want to emphasize the importance of good sportsmanship. But it is a sport, and as a country, it’s crucial that U.S. athletes are competing against the best horses and riders possible, meaning that it’s in our national interest for Canada to produce top competitors.

One only has to look across the Atlantic to see this at work. When I was growing up, Europe was the hot spot for dressage. If you look at the team medals won at CHIO Aachen throughout the years, Germany has remained one of, if not the, leading countries. Over the decades that I have spent in dressage, they have faced major challenges from the Dutch, the Swedish, the British, the Danish and the U.S. In response, German riders have continued to up their game.

In the end, all of the countries become stronger and dressage as a sport is the beneficiary. The same scenario plays out on this continent with the Canadians, especially the “friendly rivalry” of our young athletes. This is an extremely positive and much-needed phenomenon. As a youth coach, I’m thrilled and applaud when I see young Canadian riders like Camile Bergeron doing so well — in the long run, it will only make our riders do better.

Major thanks are owed to the foresight of those individuals who started and nurtured this important competition. They became a collective force of nature and we now have a treasure trove of instructors, trainers, judges and international competitors who are influencing not just our next generation of riders but our current riders as well. In my humble opinion, if we care about the future of our sport in the United States, the NAYC is an institution that needs to be supported and protected.

Caption:

Even though NAYC 2020 was cancelled, declared riders from Region 2 received a baseball cap to lift their spirits during the pandemic.

Photo by Ruby Tevis

Share this page:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
Tagged under: dressage, nayc, nayc dressage, young-riders, youth championships

What you can read next

Allie Heninger: The Autoimmune Equestrian
Firefighters Fighting for Furry Friends: The Charleston Animal Society and the Charleston Firefighter Calendar
Lindsay Maxwell – Growing With Grace & Charity

Download Sidelines Digital now from your favorite app store!

Sidelines Magazine - Apple store   Sidelines Magazine - Google Play store   Sidelines Magazine - Amazon store
Update iOS app. Re-download Google Play and Amazon app.

Follow on Instagram!

sidelines_magazine

Sidelines Magazine
Let Alexander Academic Access guide you on your jo Let Alexander Academic Access guide you on your journey to the college of your dreams! Alexander Academic Access opens doors to higher education with personalized services, provided by highly qualified college admissions experts. Check out our website AlexanderAcademics.com or call us at (636) 566-5959 to learn more about our approach to the college application process, including our exclusive campus visit travel concierge service. *Mention this post for 50% off an initial consultation or 5% off a full package. *WE WILL BE HOSTING BREAKFST AT THE REGION 10 MACLAY REGIONALS THIS SUNDAY IN WELLINGTON, FLORIDA. Please come visit us and enjoy the food. Best of luck to all the competitors! #collegecounseling #studentathletes Alexander Academic Access
Unbridled with Joe Norick! 🐎 Joe Norick stays Unbridled with Joe Norick! 🐎 Joe Norick stays busy with not one but two full-time jobs with companies that span the nation. The first is as a senior vice president for equine, farm and ranch clients with Alliant in West Palm Beach; the second, which he took on in October of 2022, is as the chief customer officer for HITS Shows. But Joe doesn’t care about titles. “I more consider myself the architect of what we’re creating here in the new HITS,” he said. Along with CEO Peter Englehart, Joe oversees all HITS Shows across the country—which is why he says lately it feels as though his home base has been American Airlines, traveling to each of the six unique HITS venues. “I love the fact that in Ocala we have so many beautiful paddocks, and over 500 acres that you can ride on and the horse can be a horse, and a horseman can be a horseman,” Joe said. “I love the beauty and charm that we have at our Chicago facility. I love the family aspect of Vermont. I love the high level of competition we have at both Del Mar and Saugerties, which we now call HITS Hudson Valley because of the amazing Hudson Valley. I love the tradition that we have in Virginia at our Culpepper facility. They all have something special.” Get to know Joe in this month's edition of Sidelines Magazine! and never miss an unbridled by subscribing for just $14.95 A YEAR! Link in bio! 📸Photo by ESI
Growing up, Zayna Rizvi put fashion ahead of funct Growing up, Zayna Rizvi put fashion ahead of function when it came to her riding attire. “I would only ride my first pony, Buttons, in a princess outfit. I refused to wear regular riding clothes and only wanted to ride in my tutu,” she said. The 2021 Maclay Finals winner has since shed her tutu and these days can be found sporting breeches and boots as she tackles the jumper ring in the High Juniors, U25 series, the FEI classes in the two-star and three-star divisions and occasionally makes her way back into some equitation classes. Immersed in the equestrian life from the start, Zayna can be found, if she isn’t doing schoolwork, in the barn trying to refine her riding as she aims to move up the ranks in international competitions. To read more about Zayna head on over to our website. Link in bio! 📸Portraits by Melissa Fuller
Check out Biostar US for innovative supplements to Check out Biostar US for innovative supplements to support your horse’s gut health! With specific plants found in old English hedgerows, Hedgerow GI supports GI tract homeostasis, microbes, immune cells, metabolites, and the tight junctions of the gut. This exclusive blend provides dimensional support for gut homeostasis. ⏩Link: https://www.biostarus.com/products/hedgerow-gi #biostarus #wholefoodforhorses #horses #equestrians #horsecare #equinehealth #hedgerowgi #hedgerows #horseguthealth #horsesupplements
Load More... Follow on Instagram

From Our Classifieds Ads

  • ARNOLD KIRKPATRICK & COMPANY
    Central Kentucky’s Most Respected Farm Broker 859-576-8195 www.kirkfarms.com

    [Read more]

  • BUNNY FRENCH
    Loring Woodriff Real Estate Associates 434-996-1029 www.loringwoodriff.com

    [Read more]

Sidelines Articles by Email

Subscribe to Sidelines Magazine Articles by Email

RSS Sidelines Blogs: What’s Happenin’

  • Woodside Recognizes the Best in the West
  • Get More for Your Money with an Adjustable-Rate Mortgage
  • Longines Global Champions Tour of New York Returns to Governors Island

RSS Sidelines Blogs: Show World

  • Conor Swail Was the Best Bet in $15,000 CSI2* Markel Insurance Welcome at San Juan Capistrano International
  • Lillie Keenan Leads in CHF68,000 South Coast Plaza Welcome Speed at San Juan Capistrano International CSIO5*
  • McLain Ward Wins CSIO5* Longines Grand Prix at San Juan Capistrano International

Category

Recent Posts

  • Zayna Rizvi: Horses from Family to Finals

    By Laura Scaletti Portraits by Melissa Fuller &...
  • Samantha Wolfram: Finding Success in America and Overseas

    By Juliana Chapman Portraits by Kirsten Hannah ...
  • Cedar Potts-Warner: At Liberty and Beyond

    Story and Portraits by Jennifer DeMaro   P...
  • Jordan Melfi: Turning a Secret Horse Life Into a Career

    By Veronica Green-Gott Portraits by Shelly Cart...
  • Olivia Williams: From University of Notre Dame to European Dreamin’

    By Veronica Green-Gott Portraits by Melissa Ful...

Copyright © 1987 - 2021 Sidelines Magazine
Privacy Policy · Returns & Refunds Policy · Hosting by Lucian Web Service
· Login

TOP
Get the Sidelines Scoop — your weekly look behind the scenes.Sign me up!