Please explain, Michelle's suggestion seems to be perfectly workable to me.Kendall wrote:I disagree, this is unlikely to be either cost effective or sustainable.
British Open in November
Re: British Open in November
Re: British Open in November
I think it is great that the event is running at Lee Valley. It cannot have been easy trying to work out how to get this event to work and good on the committee for recognising that we need events at Lee Valley. It would be a tremendous loss to not use once of the best facilities in the UK for an event.
If we need to budget for £40 for entry fees to this race so that we can paddle here, then that is the financial reality. If we cannot get enough paddlers to enter this race because the fee is off putting, then the slalom committee will need to look at alternative ways to attract entries e.g. it may be that the committee need to increase all premier administration entry fees (and therefore overall entry fee) to average out the cost so that the additional administration fees can be used to offset the running of this event so that an enhanced entry fee is not required. As a parent of a paddler doing most of the premier races, it will cost £225 for entries in 2013 (£18.50 * 10 events + £40 for Lee Valley). If this was charged as £20.50 per entry then we would still be paying the same over the year.
The entry fee is actually only a small part of the overall cost of the weekend and indeed the cost of competing in slalom in a year. As a family, we will spent £140 on fuel, £120 for 3 nights accommodation and food. Factor in a new boat, paddles, getting to training, then the sport (like all sports at this level) is not cheap.
Decisions need to be made in the best interests of the overall sport. In today's world, having funded coaches is absolutely essential to not only coach the top paddlers but coach as many developing juniors through to future success. To have funded coaches, we need to have success at world level to ensure the continuation of GB, SportsScotland, England and Wales funding. Top level events at Lee Valley are essential and give our paddlers experience on top quality water which enhances our chances of success abroad. More juniors paddling leads to more parents being involved who in turn become volunteers to run races.
I have been involved in Scottish Slalom for 30 years and can see the what a huge difference it has made to not only the number but also the quality of junior paddlers in Scotland in the last 5 years since quality committed funded coaches were recruited.
If we need to budget for £40 for entry fees to this race so that we can paddle here, then that is the financial reality. If we cannot get enough paddlers to enter this race because the fee is off putting, then the slalom committee will need to look at alternative ways to attract entries e.g. it may be that the committee need to increase all premier administration entry fees (and therefore overall entry fee) to average out the cost so that the additional administration fees can be used to offset the running of this event so that an enhanced entry fee is not required. As a parent of a paddler doing most of the premier races, it will cost £225 for entries in 2013 (£18.50 * 10 events + £40 for Lee Valley). If this was charged as £20.50 per entry then we would still be paying the same over the year.
The entry fee is actually only a small part of the overall cost of the weekend and indeed the cost of competing in slalom in a year. As a family, we will spent £140 on fuel, £120 for 3 nights accommodation and food. Factor in a new boat, paddles, getting to training, then the sport (like all sports at this level) is not cheap.
Decisions need to be made in the best interests of the overall sport. In today's world, having funded coaches is absolutely essential to not only coach the top paddlers but coach as many developing juniors through to future success. To have funded coaches, we need to have success at world level to ensure the continuation of GB, SportsScotland, England and Wales funding. Top level events at Lee Valley are essential and give our paddlers experience on top quality water which enhances our chances of success abroad. More juniors paddling leads to more parents being involved who in turn become volunteers to run races.
I have been involved in Scottish Slalom for 30 years and can see the what a huge difference it has made to not only the number but also the quality of junior paddlers in Scotland in the last 5 years since quality committed funded coaches were recruited.
Re: British Open in November
Please explain, Michelle's suggestion seems to be perfectly workable to me.[/quote]
There are simply not enough paddlers in Div 1 or Prem to support Michelle's suggestion. The fee increase would have to be significant. I refer to my own comment, earlier, regarding sustainability; it is all very well drawing more paddlers into the sport but, even if an extra 300 start today, this will not have any effect on Prem and Div 1 numbers for at least three years. And, by the time that three hundred reach year three, they will have dwindled significantly, meaning the funding for "pumped water" courses will still be pitifully small. As well as this, it does not take into account the immediate and mid term requirement for funding. A grass roots levy on every paddler will have a greater effect. Once we have sufficient paddlers in Prem and 1, we can kill the levy. Times they are a changing. I still have not seen a viable alternative.
There are simply not enough paddlers in Div 1 or Prem to support Michelle's suggestion. The fee increase would have to be significant. I refer to my own comment, earlier, regarding sustainability; it is all very well drawing more paddlers into the sport but, even if an extra 300 start today, this will not have any effect on Prem and Div 1 numbers for at least three years. And, by the time that three hundred reach year three, they will have dwindled significantly, meaning the funding for "pumped water" courses will still be pitifully small. As well as this, it does not take into account the immediate and mid term requirement for funding. A grass roots levy on every paddler will have a greater effect. Once we have sufficient paddlers in Prem and 1, we can kill the levy. Times they are a changing. I still have not seen a viable alternative.
Re: British Open in November
If you have more competitors, it will take longer to run the race, so you will have to pay more. So the cost per paddler will not reduce.
Besides, the Premier division needs to be focussed on the elite paddlers, so that means keeping it small. If there are more competitors in the sport as a whole this is not a reason to increase the size of Prem. It would be great to have more paddlers in the sport as this will make Prem even more exclusive.
I agree that the fee increase would have to be significant but I don't think it will put many paddlers off racing there. As pointed out above, the increase might be a big percentage of the normal entry fee, but it is a much smaller percentage of the overall cost for the weekend. Besides, you are paying to have guaranteed world class water to race on, something you can't have on our cheaper courses. Which is the point of building the course in the first place.
So I think it is workable.
Besides, the Premier division needs to be focussed on the elite paddlers, so that means keeping it small. If there are more competitors in the sport as a whole this is not a reason to increase the size of Prem. It would be great to have more paddlers in the sport as this will make Prem even more exclusive.
I agree that the fee increase would have to be significant but I don't think it will put many paddlers off racing there. As pointed out above, the increase might be a big percentage of the normal entry fee, but it is a much smaller percentage of the overall cost for the weekend. Besides, you are paying to have guaranteed world class water to race on, something you can't have on our cheaper courses. Which is the point of building the course in the first place.
So I think it is workable.
Re: British Open in November
Actually, thinking about it, there are only 11 Prem races on 9 weekends in the year. Even if a Prem paddler entered all the races he is racing a lot less than most ambitious Div 1 paddlers. So the cost of racing in Prem will be lower than Div 1 for most paddlers, so they should be able to stand the increase in entry fee to race on Lea Valley.
Re: British Open in November
Anne Hounslow has taken over organisation of The Open. Details on the web site. I hope it goes well for you all and will try and make it but not expecting to be able to manage it.