You can start in any class you want, but I strongly suggest that you start in Basic, and stay there until you have mastered the lessons that you need to in order to be competitive. Too many people want to move up too fast and they pay the price of not having learned what they need to in the class they are leaving.

These are the essential lessons that I see Basic has to teach:

1 - Basic lines - horizontal, 45 and vertical lines

2 - Basic Shapes - Loops, 1/2 loops, Humpty-Bump, Hammerhead, Shark's Tooth, half Cuban Eight

3 - Basic roll elements - full roll, 1/2 roll

4 - Correct stalled spin entry and recovery

5 - Placement of internal roll elements - proper centering

6 - Speed control/Throttle management

7 - Figure placement/sequence flow

8 - Presentation of figure geometry

9 - Wind Correction

My rule of thumb for moving up is that unless you are consistently in the top 3 to 5 in a contest (and not 3rd out of 3) then you still have things to learn. Basic is perhaps the most important class there is because it is where you learn the fundamentals that you will need to build on in the higher classes.

Unfortunately many Regions treat Basic as a lesser class and will try to force pilots to move to Sportsman. Then you have to learn all these lessons while flying more difficult figures/sequences and trying to cope with Unknowns. Why not learn the lessons first ?

Also, I suggest that you visit the IMAC website and download the Aresti Made Simple article, the Aresti Dictionary, and the Judging summary card. There is a lot to learn and it is a fun challenge, but in the long run it is better to master walking before trying to run.