Juvenile, intermediate and novice level skaters and teams compete in their respective sectional singles or pairs or ice dance finals to earn a spot at the National High Performance Development Camp and in the National Development Team. The camp is held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January. There are two main components to the camp: the performance, educational, and training part and the observation of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The first part provides group training meant to accelerate exposure to the high-performance program and Team USA. Skaters who perform well at camp may be chosen to participate in advanced novice and junior international competitions.

The National Development Team identifies skaters as top-developing athletes in their discipline. It is a significant achievement towards becoming an elite figure skater as these athletes are earmarked as potential future Team USA members.

The advancement criteria for the National High Performance Development Camp is based on the singles sectional and pairs and ice dance finals as follows:

Singles

• 12 skaters per level
  • Top 4 skaters from each section

Pairs

• 9 teams overall
  • Top 6 teams from the U.S. Pairs Final in novice
  • 3 additional teams from juvenile through novice per criteria approved by the Pairs Development and Technical Committee (emphasis placed on skating skills, side-by-side jumps, and potential future international selection)

Ice Dance

• 9 teams per level
  • Top 9 teams from each level from the U.S. Ice Dance Final