Sparx said...
As far as what we need to do to reinvigorate the comp scene. For starters we, and by we I mean the people who SUP and want to compete, need to take hold of the comp scene and run it the way it needs to be run. If we rely on people who dont have our best interest at heart, be they State or National bodies or competition directors looking to add a novelty event to their schedule, then we are screwed and probably deservedly so.
In short we need a peak body, which is pretty ironic seeing as we already have two. It sounds like NSW have got it nailed and I would suggest that is a result of the strong club scene, which brings me to my next point.
National Titles should be run by the clubs with the assistance of the peak body. They should be an annual gathering of the tribe, a seven day celebration of all that is SUP held at a venue that ticks the boxes for all of the various branches of the tree. Heavily subsidised by the industry, the municipality lucky enough to host this extavaganza and financed in part by the participants. I,m talking festival here, with daily competition, industry demo's, coaching, judging clinics and a full ticket of social functions at a variety of choice locations.
The competition should be open to all comers, no pre qualification so we get rid of the State bias bulls..t. If you want to compete, your welcome. The first three or four days are trials or grading sessions. In the more structured divisions they could be time trials, in the surfing we're talking expression session. At the end of the trials we've shaken out the divisions, Sixties through to Open, Mens, Womens, Juniors, Intermediate and Novice. If you want to come there will be a division and a title to be won appropriate to where you're at. And then for the last three or four days we run an Aussie Titles in the best freakin conditions we can find appropriate to the experience and the ability of the contestants. And all the time the top end competitors should be helping out with the coaching judging and mentoring of the "development" divisions.
At the end of seven days we have Aussie Title holders in all divisions and the legitimacy of their performances cannot be questioned because they were crowned by the Stand Up community at large.
And did I mention that the presso will be a Seventies themed disco extravaganza complete with mirror ball and a spandex clad Dogman as MC and DJ spinning the platters that matters and we will all get righteously hammered.......except of course for the kids. We'll get a none too scary clown to entertain them by tying balloons into the shapes of cute animals and feed them too much cake and red cordial.
Cheers
Sparx
Hey Sparx this is exactly how the Waveski Nationals were run and it worked very well. We would have up to 100 competitors heaps of divisions and ran them at places such as Bells, Margaret River, Burleigh and Phillip Island, often with good sponsorship. There was always a massive party at the end of it and it ran over a week - they where a hoot. Problem is you need people to run it and a National body as you mention. At the moment that is Surfing Australia and I agree that there are things that need to be addressed but they do seem to be listening as there is now an O50 division (I hope your coming again this year!!).
In NSW the club thing is pretty strong although I didn't know about the Newcastle Club folding. Our SPSC (Sydney) comps are very inclusive and friendly as they should be and a great way for crew to test the Surf comp thing without a massive cost and time commitment.
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