re: Capacity
Our event is just over 2 weeks away
Still receiving email enquiries & entries in the post
Running a wait list of 28 for Saturday & 37 for Sunday
If the Answer is 42, what is the Question?
-
Nick Taylor
- Posts: 70
- Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2015 5:31 pm
- Location: Bedford
- Contact:
Re: If the Answer is 42, what is the Question?
Going back to the 80's, one of the HUGE problems for me was getting to div 2 slaloms as, appart from two on the Thames, they were all up North, as us southern softies st don't have the water for it. I agree that going back to the old five div system would be great, but spare a thought for those div 2's that live in the south.
How about the old system of running team/c1/c2 one day and individual runs the next?
How about the old system of running team/c1/c2 one day and individual runs the next?
Re: If the Answer is 42, what is the Question?
Clearly a topic that has engagement.
I think we do have a problem and it is real. We are refusing entries from paddlers who are capable and wish to paddle in races. The refusals are for quite reasonable reasons and as such appropriate. If it was just a handful in a year I would not lose any sleep over it, it is more than this.
We thus need to engage with the need to increase the opportunity to paddle (increase capacity John) and this can either be increasing the number of accepted entries during a race day or perhaps increasing the number of races.
There are some options to consider which have been mentioned here or discussed with me elsewhere.
1. We could run single races over two days which would allow much larger entries and probably give time to run team races which seem when provided to be greatly enjoyed and appreciated.
2. We could perhaps increase the number of entries slightly and still maintain some sanity for the volunteers by running a double with practice only on the Saturday morning and no practice on the Sunday allowing a 'better finish time' on the Sunday. A sort of half way preparation fro Prem.
3. We could shorten the time between paddlers however this would increase the rate of catch ups particularly in some of the Div 1 classes which would not be desirable however might allow us to squeeze a few more paddlers in and is good for spectators.
4. The next paddler could be triggered by the previous paddler passing a pre defined trigger point. There would be objections to this from paddlers who currently refuse to go unless it is their posted departure time. This however might allow us to run reduced average intervals without too many complications.
5. We need to 'Value our Volunteers' better than we currently do and while there has been suggestion that the levies be reduced there is the option open to clubs to increase the entry fees to ensure financial viability and reasonable costs incurred supporting and providing for volunteers e.g. drinks and feeding them would be favourably considered in an application for an increase in fees. The levies do pay for a lot of other things and are not creating a huge barrel of dosh for the slalom committee. Clubs should feel free to request approval of increased fees provided they have clear and sensible rationale for so doing.
6. While we are here focussed on Div 1 as 'the Problem' we should not forget that to maintain a healthy and expanding sport we must continue to pay attention to the other lower divisions and do not want to see these races subjugated to running more Div 1's
7. The suggestions of increasing the number of divisions is unlikely to be an answer as we move towards portable points which will of itself I believe lead to some mitigation of the current issues although only time will actually tell. I do think we may find ourselves moving some of the problem up into Prem races.
We need to ensure that we are not alienating the potential future stars of our sport by refusing entries except in exceptional circumstances and this does not mean we should run huge races which then instead alienate the volunteers on which the sport is completely dependent.
On that note as I am running the Tees Prem in October without the support of any club on behalf of the Slalom Committee any volunteers prepared to help would be greatly appreciated. We will make sure any profits that we make do go back to supporting future racing.
I think we do have a problem and it is real. We are refusing entries from paddlers who are capable and wish to paddle in races. The refusals are for quite reasonable reasons and as such appropriate. If it was just a handful in a year I would not lose any sleep over it, it is more than this.
We thus need to engage with the need to increase the opportunity to paddle (increase capacity John) and this can either be increasing the number of accepted entries during a race day or perhaps increasing the number of races.
There are some options to consider which have been mentioned here or discussed with me elsewhere.
1. We could run single races over two days which would allow much larger entries and probably give time to run team races which seem when provided to be greatly enjoyed and appreciated.
2. We could perhaps increase the number of entries slightly and still maintain some sanity for the volunteers by running a double with practice only on the Saturday morning and no practice on the Sunday allowing a 'better finish time' on the Sunday. A sort of half way preparation fro Prem.
3. We could shorten the time between paddlers however this would increase the rate of catch ups particularly in some of the Div 1 classes which would not be desirable however might allow us to squeeze a few more paddlers in and is good for spectators.
4. The next paddler could be triggered by the previous paddler passing a pre defined trigger point. There would be objections to this from paddlers who currently refuse to go unless it is their posted departure time. This however might allow us to run reduced average intervals without too many complications.
5. We need to 'Value our Volunteers' better than we currently do and while there has been suggestion that the levies be reduced there is the option open to clubs to increase the entry fees to ensure financial viability and reasonable costs incurred supporting and providing for volunteers e.g. drinks and feeding them would be favourably considered in an application for an increase in fees. The levies do pay for a lot of other things and are not creating a huge barrel of dosh for the slalom committee. Clubs should feel free to request approval of increased fees provided they have clear and sensible rationale for so doing.
6. While we are here focussed on Div 1 as 'the Problem' we should not forget that to maintain a healthy and expanding sport we must continue to pay attention to the other lower divisions and do not want to see these races subjugated to running more Div 1's
7. The suggestions of increasing the number of divisions is unlikely to be an answer as we move towards portable points which will of itself I believe lead to some mitigation of the current issues although only time will actually tell. I do think we may find ourselves moving some of the problem up into Prem races.
We need to ensure that we are not alienating the potential future stars of our sport by refusing entries except in exceptional circumstances and this does not mean we should run huge races which then instead alienate the volunteers on which the sport is completely dependent.
On that note as I am running the Tees Prem in October without the support of any club on behalf of the Slalom Committee any volunteers prepared to help would be greatly appreciated. We will make sure any profits that we make do go back to supporting future racing.
-
Arrowcraft
- Posts: 72
- Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2015 6:46 pm
Re: If the Answer is 42, what is the Question?
Hi. Some good ideas. To encourage helpers to attend and get value from their efforts, why not give let paddle ups do your judging. So they get their ranking runs, they pay a normal fee and they do the judging, work in control etc. They get a couple of timed runs down the course now anyway. So the organiser gets more fees, judging posts will be filled and slaloms will probably run smoother as the paddlers or their parents probably, are assisting their little Jonnie or Jinnie get valuable race entries. You would be turning judges away.