Given recent escalations of the COVID-19 situation over the past couple weeks and to support the global effort to slow the spread of the virus, the Board has unanimously agreed to extend competition restrictions.
All competitions already announced where the first day of the competition is May 31, 2020 or earlier will be cancelled with immediate effect. In addition, new competitions will only be approved if the first date of the competition is June 1, 2020 or later.
We are encouraged by the initiatives being seen within the community such as online competitions, virtual meets and live streams. We wholeheartedly support and encourage these and are urging more WCA Staff to get involved with these events to support the community. Please keep checking our website for more announcements about these events.
We hope everyone in the community is staying safe by following the directives of their local governments and the World Health Organization. Thank you for your understanding during these unprecedented times.
Due to the current situation regarding COVID-19 and the measures taken by many governments to confine people to their homes, several members of the WCA community have started projects to keep the competitive spirit alive in cubing!
Several websites have been created in order to organize competitions online, you will find some here:
We will update this post as new projects get organized around the world. Don't hesitate to send us your own online competitions at communication@worldcubeassociation.org! Please note that these competitions are not sanctioned by the WCA and do not have to abide by strict WCA regulations. The results will not count towards your WCA profile.
Stay home and safe.
It is with great sadness that we announce the cancellation of WCA North American Championship 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Given the instability and uncertainty of the situation, the competition will not be postponed to a later point of the year. If you registered for this competition, you will be issued a refund that is due to be processed in the next couple of weeks. Please see the post here for the official cancellation from the competition organizers.
We appreciate the community's kind understanding during this uncertain time.
The Board of Directors would like to receive applications for WCA Continental Championships 2022 for the following regions:
1. Asia
2. Europe
3. North America
(Note that the application period for other continents will open later this year.)
Please discuss with the Delegates in your country whether this is something you are willing and able to pursue. Bear in mind that organizing a competition of this size takes a significant amount of time and effort before and during the competition.
If you are interested, send your application documents privately to board@worldcubeassociation.org between March 1st, 2020, 00:00 UTC and May 31st, 2020, 23:59 UTC. Documents must be sent in PDF format in two versions: one full version with all the details for the application, and another version with sensitive details - if any - removed to make public.
WCA European Championship 2020 will take place on July 16 - 19, 2020 in Almere - Amsterdam, Netherlands. Check out the WCA European Championship 2020 website for more information and registration.
The Board of Directors would like to receive applications for WCA World Championship 2021.
Please discuss with the Delegates in your country whether this is something you are willing and able to pursue. Bear in mind that organizing a competition of this size takes a significant amount of time and effort before and during the competition.
If you are interested, send your application documents privately to board@worldcubeassociation.org between 00:00 UTC of January 1st, 2020 and 23:59 UTC of April 30th, 2020. Documents must be sent in PDF format in two versions: one full version with all the details for the application, and another version with sensitive details - if any - removed to make public.
Dear WCA Community,
The Board of Directors would like to make a few announcements regarding the ever changing situation which is unfolding around the world with COVID-19.
Given the rapid pace of change and action from local governments being taken to combat COVID-19 the Board has decided to cancel all competitions between now and April 19th. Additionally we have decided to not allow any submissions of competitions with a starting date between now and May 15th given the high likelihood that these competitions would be faced with cancellation.
It is worth noting that the Board sees a very high likelihood that these deadlines will be extended and further cancellations will be required.
We encourage you to practice social distancing and stay as safe as you can within your communities.
Thank you for your understanding,
The Board of Directors
Dear WCA Community,
Following the classification of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), the WCA Board of Directors wants to communicate that we are in the process of drafting a policy and recommendations for the holding of WCA Competitions.
In the meantime we urge all community members to read and follow the advice of the WHO, especially in relation to attendance at Competitions.
WHO COVID-19 Site
Protecting yourself
Travel advice
Be mindful of the amount of misinformation on social media and please refer to the guidance by WHO and information recommended by your local governments or health organisations.
Please also be aware that different countries and governments have different and ever changing restrictions in place. Keep yourself up to date and abide by any restrictions and recommendations for your country and any country you are travelling to.
We are committed to the health and safety of our Staff, Community, and the general public. We all have a responsibility to minimize, where possible, the spread of the virus.
There will be an appointment of a new WCA Finance Committee (WFC) Leader, as Chris Wright is stepping down from this position. We would like to thank Chris Wright for the work he has done leading the Committee.
Candidates are expected to fulfill their terms (24 months) and to spend at least 7 hours per week on average to work for the Committee. The qualities expected of candidates are:
Unfortunately, we are here to announce that the date for the WCA Asian Championship 2020 has been postponed due to the current COVID-19 outbreak within the region. The organization team and the WCA Board are currently working together on finding a suitable date for this championship later in the year.
Please stay tuned for future updates, thank you for your kind understanding.
We are extremely excited to be partnering with Cubelelo to introduce official WCA Merchandise! Cubelelo will be our merchandise partner for the Southeast Asia & India region. We are starting off by releasing a t-shirt that you can currently purchase on Cubelelo's website.
After recent voting by WCA staff members, the proposed amendments to the Motions have been approved by a good majority. The Motions are effective as of January 31, 2020, and a summary of the included changes has been compiled below:
Dear WCA Community,
For this last Digest of 2019, we want to summarize everything achieved by the WCA Disciplinary Committee over the year that ended a month ago.
We are happy to announce that we have a new Committee Leader. Wilson Alvis will become the new Leader of the WCA Competition Announcement Team (WCAT).
Wilson was selected by the WCA Board and approved in a vote among the current Committee Leaders and Senior Delegates, following Section 4 of our Motion 10.2019.0 about WCA Committees and Teams.
We thank Henrik for the work he has done as the leader for the WCAT, and wish Wilson Alvis best of luck in fulfilling his new duties.
The new Leader has already been already promoted. Wilson Alvis was among the two applicants who applied and the candidacy documents can be found here if you are interested in viewing them.
The WCA Results Team (WRT) is looking for new devoted and trustworthy team members!
Do you like numbers? Are you the type of person quickly spotting typos or inconsistencies in restaurant menus that others miss? Does it drive you crazy when people lack precision with data? If yes, then you might be a very good fit for the WRT!
The qualities that you should bring to become a WRT member include:
- You must be very responsive and be willing to work on WRT tasks regularly.
- You should have a good sense of detail and you must be able to handle data precisely and consciously.
- Since the WRT operates on the WCA results database, you have to be a very trustworthy and reliable member of the WCA community. Ideally, you are already a WCA staff member or you have a recommendation from one.
- You should have a basic understanding of what a (relational) database is.
- Existing experience with SQL (MySQL) and programming are beneficial, but not strictly mandatory.
Dear WCA Community,
We had another successful year of cubing and developing the WCA as an organization in 2019! We would like to take this moment to share the highlights of what we have accomplished this year with all of your help.
WCA competitions were introduced to eight new countries and there were over 27,750 new people who competed officially for the first time. This year, our competitors broke barriers and achieved 61 world records, 205 continental records, and 3,760 national records.
New WCA Regulations and Guidelines are in effect as of January 1, 2020. Please see the original announcement for details.
TNoodle-WCA-0.15.1 is now available on the Scrambles page.
Changes since the previous version:
Please remember that official competitions must use a current version of the official scramble program. This is always available from:
https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/regulations/scrambles/
Dear WCA Community,
The WRC would like to inform you about the versions of the WCA Regulations and Guidelines, which are going into effect January 1, 2020.
You can review all changes in this comparison on GitHub. You can click on “Files changed” to see the complete files of the Regulation and Guidelines, where all changes and additions are marked green and removals are red.
Simplifications
Accountability
Miscellaneous
The WCA Competition Announcement Team (WCAT) is seeking new members to help them with their mission! Applications are open to everyone and community members not currently holding a WCA position are encouraged to apply.
The daily tasks of a WCAT member include:
Reviewing and announcing competition submissions with accuracy and correctness.
Handling change requests to competitions.
Debating and voting with the rest of the Team.
The official rights and duties of the WCAT are documented in WCA Motion 10.2019.1.
We are happy to announce that we have a new Committee Leader. Daniel Vædele Egdal will become the new Leader of the WCA Quality Assurance Committee (WQAC). Daniel was already working as a member of the WQAC.
Dear WCA Community,
Here you can find some noteworthy updates about the activity of the Disciplinary Committee over the month of November 2019.
Dear WCA Community,
After a full year of feedback and review, the WRC and the WCA Board have come to the conclusion that 3x3x3 with Feet should be removed from the list of official WCA events as previously planned, on January 1, 2020. Although it is clear that some people will be significantly impacted, there has not been a significant change in participation in the event throughout 2019. 3x3x3 with Feet remains the least popular speedsolving event by a significant margin, and concerns from organizers about hygiene and logistics remain.
We know that this outcome is disappointing for many community members, and understand the frustration that removing an event from the official list will have a significant impact on its popularity. However, any competition is still welcome to hold it as an unofficial event, and organizers may allow competitors with medical considerations to compete using feet during 3x3x3 Speed Solving. (See Guideline 5b+ and Regulation 2s.)
We also welcome suggestions to bridge the gap between unofficial and official events. For example:
We would also like to take this time to apologize for the flaws in the process used for this decision. We have learned greatly from the community's feedback, and will prioritize a clear and transparent process for event changes in the future.
Lucas Garron
WRC leader
On behalf of the Regulations Committee
Dear WCA Community,
Here you can find some noteworthy updates about the activity of the Disciplinary Committee over the month of October 2019.
The WCA Quality Assurance Committee (WQAC) is seeking new members to help them with their mission! Applications are open to everyone and community members not currently holding a WCA position are encouraged to apply.
What does the WQAC do?
The WQAC is responsible for developing and ensuring quality standards within the WCA. This includes producing educational material for the WCA Community and ensuring that Staff Members throughout the organization maintain the required skills for their positions. The WQAC will be highly involved in the work that WCA Delegates perform and will look into quality concerns in various communities.
The official rights and duties of the WQAC are documented in WCA Motion 10.2019.4.
