Long Rambling Idea about Restructuring Tournaments.

[ToddL]

@Kelvin - when you sanction as Basic Skills, you have a lot more flexibility about how you structure and staff the event. At least that was true a few years ago when we started it. Maybe now, there is no real difference or need to separate. I probably should review the two sanctions and the GR/F rules to see if we can keep doing what we think works under those rules.

[Mateo_Vargas]

@Dirt & @Horton called me out a couple days ago but looks like @Kindly explained the F sanction perfectly and how they can be added to a C tournament. The current framework is flexible so an organizer can do pretty much anything they want to make their event a success. What works in one area might not be ideal for your lake or club so I wouldn't want to be forced into just one way.

 

We have strong Jr Development & Collegiate programs for the younger skiers so maybe we need some more Sr Development. Yes we need new skiers but an overlooked group are former skiers. Maybe they are at a point in their lives to comeback and all it takes to become an addict again is a taste.

 

Also a word of caution when organizing a stand-alone Fun tournament. If you do too good of a job your skiers might not want to ski in class C tournaments.

[Chef23]

I grew up skiing on public water with a slalom course and 40 years later I am still skiing on that same public water and now we have two courses on it instead of 1. I didn't ski tournaments as a kid because my Dad doesn't like to hang around and didn't want to hang around a tournament site all day. We did ski the course a lot and I tricked as well. I do think that if someone could have dragged my Dad to a tournament he would have enjoyed it because he would have become a judge and a driver and realized there was very little hanging around at a tournament until the night time.

 

I got a little off track but I think the problem is different than access. When I was a kid we had a local ski club that hung out by the course on a little beach and on any given Saturday afternoon there would be 15-20 inboards lined up there with families and kids. Due to public water by 9:30 AM the wallys were out and the course was too rough to ski so we turned to tricking, skiing double or more, riding discs, shoe skis and anything to get on the water. There was another window to ski the course in the evening. I frequently got up at 6:30 in the morning to ski and when I was a kid one of the other members would pick me up at the dock to ski if my Dad wasn't around. This activity was in place at least through the early 90s when I drifted away from skiing.

 

About 10 years ago I came back to the sport. The difference I found on our lake was surprising. The community at the ski lake was gone the beach I used to hang out at was overgrown and there wasn't traffic there. There is a small community of people that ski the course and we have grown that some and added some tournament skiers but overall boat traffic is down dramatically. When I was a kid by 9:30 the lake was very busy and somedays it is 11 or 12 by the time it gets somewhat busy.

 

I think there is a broader issue and I am not sure what it is. Some of it I think is tied to the barriers to entry even for public water. It is a lot more expensive to get a boat and get out on the lake today then it was in the 70s and 80s. Plus there are a lot more distractions for kids and families. I know my tournament time this summer will be down because my son is playing lacrosse tournaments. That kind of activity wasn't going on when I was a kid.

 

I have mixed emotions about increasing the traffic in the course at my lake (which is open to anyone). I want to ski 4-6 times a week with my son and ski partners. I like that it is less busy when I want to go ski. I know that is selfish. I am happy to introduce people to the sport and have done that but I don't want to wind up skiing at 6 AM again. We are always happy to introduce people to the course that are out on the lake and I have driven and coached people that we met on the water but I will admit we have stopped short of organizing learn the course events.

 

I always encourage people to try tournaments and have met some great people there and am quick to tell people that skiers of all abilities are welcome. In the Northeast the tournament scene is very welcoming and new PBs for lower ability skiers are celebrated as much if not more than good performances by higher ability skiers.

 

This was a long post without much if any concrete help on how to improve participation. I find the AWSA tournaments to be a better value and just as open to participation as INT events. At most of the tournaments in the Northeast they run a class F for slalom so beginning skiers are guaranteed 2 passes. We just don't have that many ski sites you can run tournaments at and most of them are tucked out of the way.

 

I think for the health of the sport we need to find a way to drive traffic in general of all sorts back to the lake and I think in the days of $70K boats and $3/gallon gas that is more difficult.

 

 

[Dusty]

@ToddF- I will officially apologize for those skiers/officials/orservers who projected the attitudes you have encountered and described. Fortunately, for myself that was not the case. Even before I ever entered a sanctioned event, I was welcomed and started towards becoming a rated judge. I 've had a lot of positive help over the years allowing me to compete and officiate in a lot more areas. I have attempted to do the same for any new faces I see at local tournaments. I think we all need to do the same. (No it isn't always easy to do- especially if you happen to be Chief scorer or Chief judge, tasked with putting out all the inevitable little fires that seem to start up.)

Class F may be the way- It is obvious that we (and the AWSA) have been doing the same old thing the same old way and expecting different results. At best disingenuous and at worst a complete waste of time and resources. But... FWIW- I also don't think pissing off all the Class C 'lower level' skiers will work though. They are the 'farm team'- They still perform the lion's share of the work around here anyway. They are still the group that will pay for the tournament's operation, officiate it and in general make it happen. Without a 'middle class' of skiers I just don't think it's going to work.

[LeonL]

@ToddF‌, I'm with @Dusty. I saddened to hear that you had bad experiences at AWSA tournaments. All of us started somewhere, sometime. Fortunately my first exposure to AWSA tournaments was good. The people were friendly, the chief judge encouraged me to pursue a judge rating, the top level skiers there were very humble and helpful. Maybe if you try again, perhaps that day was just a bad one for the LOC due to problems. As far as over complicated, not user friendly, don't hesitate to PM me if there is ANY questions that I can answer to uncomplicate things.

[MattP]

@ToddF‌ Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience. I see that you are from Washington. I know that some of the most inviting skiers live in your neck of the woods. @richarddoane‌ being one of them. I would tell you give it another shot with an open mind. If you ski a few tournaments you could apply for a Asst. Judges rating with your scores being where they are. I believe your wife could too.

[ToddF]

Well, we love skiing, going to ski schools. Going to the big dawg was a truly exciting experience for our whole family. We are planning on going to the broho big dawg again.

 

It is nice to hear all of positives about tournaments, maybe it is time to give it a shot. I do like the idea of having something competitive to look forward too.

 

[Jody_Seal]

"Long Rambling Idea about Restructuring Tournaments"

 

I know what would help and change the way the organization is run!

Web Cast the AWSA and USAWS BOD meeting's!

Anounce the time to membership via official web site.

 

Id bet we could find a region or state federation to fund it!

 

[The_MS]

I would donate to that.

[Horton]

Where do I send the $

[Tyler_R]

I think that the problem is acess. I have a boat, I have an Openwater course, and I can usually get someone who knows what they are doing to go ski with me, but even for me at times it's hard to ski. I know of several "Private" sites near by that have members unable to find ski partners. What we need to do as a sport is encourage more people to just come hang out with us. most of us can teach someone how to give us a half way decent pull if we could only get them to come hang out and drink our beer for a little bit. As for live streaming the bod meetings, I've done 2 charities meetings this year with my new company, it's not that hard to do especially since all you really need is a wide angle shot covering the whole room and a few microphones.

[klindy]

@Tyler_R‌ the "hang out with us" idea is exactly what the Life on the Water campaign is all about. @The_Krista‌ and team at USAWS has been working on getting traction with that program for the past year or so. Usawaterski.org has more info.