http://ozreport.com/2.223

http://ozreport.com/2.222

http://ozreport.com/2.221

http://ozreport.com/2.219

http://ozreport.com/2.217

Unlike our 2009 Nationals at King Mountain, the Competition Workgroup Working Draft of the Competition Manual and Rulebook requires that the Nationals use GAP scoring, in fact that it use the version of GAP that is accepted by the FAI (the Workgroup is confused thinking that RACE is a scoring algorithm). So the 2009 King Mountain Nationals wouldn't meet the USHPA own proposed criteria. It guess it's good that these draft rules don't apply for 2009.

Now while two mentoring sessions are required (that will go over great at the pre-Worlds and Worlds, I'm sure), there is no requirement for Sport Class unlike with Class B "events." Why not a Sport Class at the Nationals? Don't we want a Sport Class National Champion? Why require it in other "national events" but not at the Nationals? Of course, it wouldn't go over well at the Worlds.

Other requirements apply as per Class B and my critique of those issues apply here also.

Now, the USHPA Competition Workgroup does offer a carrot, along with these additional requirements (how many meet organizers are going to be discouraged by all the requirements, and decide not to put on meets?). The carrot is free ads in the USHPA magazine. Big Whoop!

Class A events get class C treatment with one free business card size ad. Class B events get a quarter page ad. The pre-Worlds and Worlds events get a bit of the class B treatment with one free half page ad or two quarter page ads. The Nationals gat a free full page ad or two half page ads?

Hmmm?! Does this sound familiar? Didn't the 2008 Nationals get an ad-hoc free full page ad? It looks like this is a retroactive "make it right" "event." A full page for the Nationals, but hey, we just can't be that generous about the Worlds (hell, only six US pilots can go to it anyway, so what is the point of the ads?)

Isn't this beginning to make no sense at all? Class A events with the smallest ads? Burdening down prospective meet organizers with additional requirements and really very little support other than some useless ads (at no cost to the USHPA)? Why isn't the USHPA providing real support for "events." I sent in a bunch of proposals to Mike Haley (the head of this Workgroup) to support competition. You'll not see any of these proposals in this Working Draft.

The Working Draft says (in the first paragraph) how the competitions can support the sport, but then does almost nothing to support competitions, adds burdens, and guts the competition system. Why exactly don't they support competition?

Here is what I recommended to Mike and others in early September:

There are a number of steps, concrete steps, that the USHPA can take to encourage many more pilots to attend competitions (and by competitions, I mean race-to-goal type competitions). I believe that competition and competition venues are vital to sustaining and growing hang gliding. If the pilot doesn't have a goal that promotes personal growth, they will drop out of the sport once they have brought their skills up to the level that they need to. No more skill growth, no more fun.

1) Encourage and support new competition organizers at all levels.

The USHPA has significant human resources that it can use to mentor new competition organizers and directors. They include Mike Haley, Lisa Tate, Steve Kroop, Jamie Shelden, David Glover and I, among a few others. These people can volunteer their time to be a mentor to others wishing to put on competitions, whether they be spot landing competitions, regional competitions, or national level competitions.

They can help with getting in the sanctioning applications, the details of organizing and running a meet, preparing local regulations, and scoring. They can make material available to the USHPA to put on their web site that will help meet organizers.

This mentor program can be advertised and made available to all the regions and all the clubs by a concerted effort on the part of the membership and development committee and the USHPA office (addresses, mailings, magazine).

2) Encourage and support the development and growth of Sport Class competition to bring in new competition pilots. Encourage meet organizers to include Sport Class competition. Pay meet organizers $200 per Sport Class pilot registered at their national level meet to help reduce the cost of entry into the meet by Sport Class participants.

Encourage meet organizers to include mentoring of Sport Class folks by Open Class pilots. Assign mentors to the Sport Class pilots and encourage the Sport Class pilots to contact their mentor and ask questions.

Let Sport Class pilots gain NTSS points by participating in tasks that are the same as the Open class tasks and score them with everyone else as well as separate their scoring out for Sport Class affirmations.

Provide Sport Class trophies for competitions. Encourage meet organizers to apply for CIVL sanctioning of their Sport Class competitions. (These can be scored separately than the Open Class.)

3) Set up two scoring laptops that can be sent to meet organizers to help them score their meets. Put all the scoring software on them, network them, and set them up so that pilots can see their flights. A few of us have the expertise and experience to set these computers up in the proper configuration.

Pilots learn a great deal at competitions and have a lot of fun. Competition can be the life blood of the sport, if we encourage its spread and growth. There are a number of barriers to this and if we see the goal, we can overcome those barriers.

And this list didn't exhaust the suggestions that I have made to the USHPA recently about how to improve competition, nor does it include other recommendations by others that were made and apparently overlooked. A lot more suggestions and fixes soon.