This is an open letter to all skimboarders, especially those that like to compete. Please send me your comments. tex@victoriaskimboards.com and I promise to get back to you all with an update on any directions I receive. We all want the same thing. Good contests. Fair, not too long, with understandable criteria.
I am writing this In the interest of standardizing the format for a skimboard contest tour wherein everybody understands the rules and criteria.
First premise: You will need trained judges to do a good job. Judging is hard and cannot be learned on the fly and needs experience to do it well. Our best judges are the retired pros.
Lord know there are a lot of super psyched old skimmers out there that would happily judge the Pros for a couple of half days on the beach. Provided you paid them a modest sum for the work and covered their gas costs for driving. Three from up North, Three from down South or in the middle and three spares. SKIM USA ….is this doable?
With consistent judging, the headaches and arguments largely go away. That alone is worth the expense for judging. There is not much worse than taking abuse from parents/riders for a job you are trying to volunteer out of the goodness of your heart for the good of the community. It absolutely kills all desire to volunteer again.
All contests should have an appointed, designated head judge for each division. He alone is the final arbiter of all interference calls and judging results. Under no circumstances shall the main organizer of the event make any decision regarding the results of competition. He or she has an inherent bias toward their own riders and they cannot be expected to make a fair and unbiased decision.
No one should have to judge. It is hard, it takes a lot of concentration, and it is unfair to the competitors. Pay judges from the entry fees money. There should be more than enough to cover that expense. Average judging job would be 4 hours per day, for two days at $15./ hour or $120 per judge. With 6 judges that comes to $720. Three of the six judges may require an additional $200 per person for gas, adding another $600 to the budget. Total is approx. $1,320. Average contest entry is $40 for Ams, and $100 for Pros. 100 Amateurs brings in $4,000 and $20 Pros brings in another $2,000. Usually we pay the announcers as well and a score keeper. Everyone else is volunteer. Some judges prefer to donate their services. Bless them oh lord.
Heats should be 3 man heats, dropping one person each heat. Why? Because it is a ton more interesting to watch three than to watch two. It’s just good marketing.
West Coast: Same thing, if the event is on the tour, then it has to have the trained known judges at least for the Pros. And paid judges for the amateurs as well.
Travel expenses are a killer. Make the Tour a Four Stop or Three Stop package. Vic, Oktoberfest, Dewey and one international, that rotates every year between Europe, Asia, and Mexico.
Pros need to get together and vote on these format options. They should decide what is best for the competition and best for the marketing of the sport. Pros should also have to qualify, and should have to sign performance contracts to protect the sponsors from bad behavior.
Until this happens, the tour will continue to be a fractured, uneven creature with little continuity between the events.
The Vic will again be run on a fixed schedule, so no surprises on when you go, either day. Assuming of course that we schedule the pros for the best hours of the day as usual.
The Los Angeles Olympics will be in 2028. They have expressed interest in using skimboarding as a demo sport. But first the Pros have to organize a professional organization to represent themselves as a legal entity. Someday soon we will pick a day to get started. All Pros will be invited to participate. We are hoping to have a pro athlete from another sport, such as women’s pro volleyball, speak to us about the benefits of organizing.
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