NTSS RANKINGS
NTSS RANKINGS AND WHAT THEY MEAN
National Team Selection System (NTSS) is the means by which Canadian pilots are chosen to represent Canada at various International events. This includes the World Championships, the Pan-American Championships, and the World Cup.
The current NTSS rankings can be found here.
A pilot’s NTSS ranking is determined by how well they did in comps over the preceding 2 years: the most recent year is worth 60% of their ranking, and the older year is worth 40% of their ranking. Each year’s portion comes from their best 3 comps in that year. One of these 3 comps must be Canadian; if the pilot did no Canadian comp that year, then their ranking is based on their best 2 comps instead.
How do you calculate how many points a pilot gets per comp they attended?
Comps are divided into 3 categories: the A comps (Nationals) are worth a total of 660 NTSS points to the winner. B comps (task-style comps that are not designated as the Nationals) are worth 600 NTSS points to the winner. C comps (open distance-style comps) are worth 180 NTSS points to the winner. However these are theoretical maximums…factors such as task validity Tq (Task Quality) (did the comp get enough tasks in or was it raining the entire time?) and pilot validity Pq (Pilot Quality) (did top pilots attend?) will influence whether a comp gets the full 100% of the theoretical NTSS points.
What about whether the comp is worth the theoretical maximum or not?
Tq is determined by whether a comp had enough tasks to determine a valid winner without it being due too much to chance. Generally if a comp has at least 3 solid tasks (= 3 days), it’s considered to be a fully-valid comp (hence longer comps tend to be more valid, since they can still get over 3000 despite some cancelled days). Because a fully-valid day is worth 1000 points, a fully-valid comp will have at least 3000 points awarded to the winner and have a Tq of 1.0.
As well, Pq influences the value of a comp…generally speaking, top pilots will bring more “status” to a comp and increase its theoretical worth. For the purposes of calculating Pq at a comp, the top 20 winners are used. These top 20 winners of the comp can bring anywhere from 10 to 50 points each, and if enough 40- and 50-point pilots (the top pilots) attend, then the comp will be fully valid with a Pq of 1.0. If the comp consists of mostly 20- and 30-point pilots, then the comp will be worth less (eg. 0.5 or 0.6).
How do you determine how many points you are worth (how much you contribute to Pq)?
Pilots can contribute anywhere from 10 to 50 points to the Pilot Quality of a comp. New pilots with no comp background (eg. No comp results) are worth 10 points. The worth of pilots with a comp background are determined as follows :
| CDN Rank | WPRS Rank | US Rank | Points | |
| 1 to 5 | 1-200 | 1 to 10 | 50 | |
| 6 to 10 | 201-400 | 11 to 20 | 40 | |
| 11 to 15 | 401-600 | 21 to 30 | 30 | |
| 16-20 | 601-800 | 31 to 50 | 20 | |
| 21-30 | 801-1000 | 51 to 70 | 15 | |
| 31 and lower | 1000 and lower | 71 and lower | 10 |
Canadian pilots use the CDN column. US pilots use the US column. All other non-Canadian/non-US pilots use the FAI (WPRS) column. If a pilot has 2 possible ranks (eg. If you’re Canadian and have competed before, you probably have both a Canadian and FAI-WPRS rank) the better of the two is used.
So, if you are looking to maximize your NTSS points, do the following:
-Attend high Tq comps. This generally means comps held in reliable weather areas. Valle de Bravo, Mexico, is a good example of a reliable weather site.
-Attend high Pq comps. This means looking at the pilot list and asking around to see who is attending. Generally a Nationals or a PWC will have a higher Pq vs. a small-scale local comp. Google some of the names or search the FAI database to see who’s who.
-Attend lots of comps. This way you can afford to “throw away” your worst comps and still have 3 comps per year that you did well in.
-Make sure you attend comps consistently over multiple years to maintain pilot skills.
So I have a NTSS ranking. What now? What is it good for?
NTSS points are used to determine the composition of Team Canada at various FAI and World Cup events. Because these events are so prestigious, space is limited, which means only a certain number of pilots from each country can attend. So if a lot of pilots want to attend a limited-space FAI event, the NTSS ranking is used to determine who gets first dibs.
As well, the NTSS rankings double as our Canadian League ranking for PWC purposes. So when applying for entry to the PWC and trying to get PWC letters, you can use your NTSS ranking as your League ranking.
For additional information, contact the Competition Chair.