With another exciting National Showcase in the books, plans are being finalized in the next two weeks for the inaugural National Showcase Series.

This 2026-27 qualifying series, which will run Oct. 1, 2026, through June 6, 2027, will feature dozens of competitions from coast to coast, with the top finishers in six categories earning berths to next year's National Showcase.

Tremendous growth in showcase skating prompted this new qualifying structure, making National Showcase more manageable for everyone, while also adding an extra level of prestige to the competition.

"Showcase has literally doubled in size, and continues to grow," Lori Osborne, national vice chair for Showcase, said. In some cases, 50 percent year over year. It's gotten so large that it's hard for us to find hosts for the competition. It's hard to have such a long week for coaches, skaters, families, officials. It's a six-and-a-half-day event. That's a lot of financial burden on people, as well as LOCs and officials; it's a lot of time off work for those people who this might not be their primary job.

"That, along with the fact that we want to make National Showcase a bit more prestigious. In the past, they had a few qualifications to attend National Showcase: if you were in a contested event, you had to be in the top four, and if you were in an uncontested event, you were automatically able to enter National Showcase."

The list of series competitions will be made public on Sept. 1. Skaters will be designated into three sections (Eastern, Midwestern, Pacific Coast), based on where their home club or hometown (for Individual members) is located.

The six category events in which they will compete are emotional performance, lyrical pop, character performance, comedic impressions, choreographic artistry and theme.

Like the National Qualifying Series and the Excel program, skaters will be ranked online within their section. Each category and level will have a ranking.  At the preliminary, pre-juvenile, and juvenile levels, the top 25 skaters per section qualify for the National Showcase, with the next five highest scores in the level and category also securing spots. For intermediate through senior elite/pro-am and all adult levels, the top 10 skaters per section will qualify for the National Showcase, along with the next five highest scores in the level and category. 

To qualify for National Showcase, skaters must compete in a minimum of two series events, but not more than four. If they compete in a competition that isn't part of the series, those scores do not count.

A skater's top two series scores (per category) will be averaged for the standings. Updated minimum score requirements will be unveiled on Sept. 1.

Osborne, who has been involved with Showcase since 2021, said in addition to the program's growth, the quality of Showcase has taken an equal step forward.

"The [programs] are getting consistently more exciting and more like a show program that you might see if you went to a Disney on Ice, Holiday on Ice, or even some of the group numbers you see with Stars on Ice.

"These skaters are setting themselves up for a career beyond their competitive realm. They have an opportunity to go and skate in some of these shows and tour, whether that's with Disney or Feld [Entertainment] or somebody like that, or on a cruise ship. They are really strong."

To help facilitate this opportunity, preliminary discussions are underway to include a camp during National Showcase that would include classes on movement, performance, expression and more.

"For those who maybe are getting ready to apply for some of these shows, or cruises, giving them some tools to create a good resume, have a good reel that they can send in for tryouts etc., that's where we see that going. Want to look at it long term," Osborne said.