Novice
The Novice category is open to athletes with limited competition experience. Eligibility is based on the current calendar year. An athlete may compete in Novice as long as they have not won first place in their class at an NPC Regional competition during the same year. Once an athlete wins their class in a Novice division, they are no longer eligible to compete in Novice for the remainder of that calendar year.
True Novice
The True Novice category is strictly for first-time competitors within the NPC system. It is open only to athletes who have never competed in an NPC competition before. Previous participation or results in other federations or organizations do not affect True Novice eligibility.
Summary
Novice is for athletes with limited experience who have not won a class in the current calendar year.
True Novice is exclusively for athletes making their first-ever appearance at an NPC competition.
All definitions, eligibility rules, and category regulations are set by NPC Worldwide and are published on the official website:
https://www.npcworldwide.com