How are the winners of the junior most improved awards determined?
The William T. Ketcham Jr. Award for Most Improved player is awarded to the boy and girl in each age group who qualified for the Junior Nationals (and the Silver Championships) and improved their ranking the most over the past season.
The starting ranking that is used for each player is the first ranking on or after March 20 where the player had a minimum of four active exposures in his or her age group. Therefore, the starting ranking will be pulled from different rankings calculations for most players. This ranking is then compared to each player's ranking as it was calculated on the entry deadline for the Junior Nationals.
The player who qualified for each each tournament and also had the largest improvement in ranking between these two dates compared to the other participants in their division, are awarded the William T. Ketcham Jr. Award for Most Improved Player.