Tournament Participation

[MSJ]

I have read how Tournament Participation is down and have witnessed it over the last 10 years. However, in Michigan this season almost all tournaments have been full - with waiting lists. I haven’t seen this since the mid 90’s. We have two tournaments at two different sites coming up this weekend and both filled up the last few spots early in the week. We hope this continues

[jdarwin]

We were provided a report at the AWSA board meeting that showed tournament participation is holding steady for the most part.

[Than_Bogan]

Participation seems strong in new england as well. Lots of new kids. Tournaments that haven't filled in years now have to consider turning people away or else use turn and burn and run as efficiently as possible.

[cwillygood]

i think there is lots of tournament participation in awsa, but we need more in grassroots to grow the sport, i think theres a good amount of participation in New England like @Than_Bogan said but there isn't that many tournaments

[jdarwin]

@cwillygood - although participation is static, the population is growing older. M1/W1/M2/W2 numbers are not sufficient to support the sport 15 years from now. M5 divisions are often larger than M3. My first regionals in M3, there were 83 skiers. Less than 25 this year. The junior ranks seem to be doing well but we lose them starting in B3/G3. The reality may be our sport (competitive aspect) will be much smaller in future years. That has significant ramifications on how the sport will be governed and executed.

[cwillygood]

@jdarwin exactly! I think many guys take a break for a while after skiing as a kid or whatever and get back into it more towards mens 3 or 4, or at least thats what happens up here in NE, there is not many mens 1 or 2 skiers at all, and i think alot of people stop after boys 3 or girls 3

[6balls]

Most of my former collegiate ski team colleagues continue to ski, have boats and families, but do not ski tourneys. In fact I can only think of one that continues to compete, and I will be 40 this year.

My 3 primary ski partners at present have not skied a tourney in years. Having said that...it looks like I may not get to one this season despite the best skiing of my life...I guess that's life. Maybe next year it works out better.

[SkiJay]

Where slalom is concerned, I'd be curious to know if recreational course skiing is up or down relative to tournament skiing numbers, i.e. are there more skiers in courses but fewer going to tournaments?

[Chef23]

@jdarwin I think @cwillygood hit the nail on the head. In the east Boys 2 and 3 are among the largest divisions along with Men's 3/4. Personally I stopped skiing for about 15 years but came back to it with my kids and this is a pretty common story. I am not sure the numbers will be growing but I can see stable.

 

I know in my Men's 1/2 years I was busy chasing girls, meeting my wife, getting married and having kids. I was just too busy doing other stuff to ski much and I could have easy access to a boat if I wanted to which is a big problem for many Men's 1/2 skiers.

[ToddL]

Baby boomers, boomer's children, now boomer's grand children. I've been wanting to find a population study to overlay with skier population/participation... Also consider how economy can factor in for the fringe skiers and their decision to travel to regionals or nationals.

[ForrestGump]

In my Mens 3 years, I've been busy chasing girls. It's a wonder I have time to ski and go to tournaments.

[thager]

Too busy fighting paternity suits??

[klindy]

@ShaneH you've stopped chasing girls now?

[fu_man]

I'm 38 and I just joined USAWS and signed up for my 1st tourney. Also signed up my 5 year old and 7 year old to ski in it as well.

[Than_Bogan]

@fu_man AWESOME!

[harddock]

For those beginning and thinking a AWSA tournament is intimidating there are INT tournaments which is more suited for novice skiers. My son is doing both and will be concentrating on AWSA and may work jumping into his routine. Two years ago he only wanted to wakeboard. Once he discovered slalom and the sense of accomplishment just beating his own best he was hooked!

[6balls]

Didn't think I was going to make any this year...then signed up at 9:30 pm Sat for Sun tourney when scheduling window opened...up early and thru the fog and was 1st off dock. Had a good time and one buoy from prior year tourney avg. Would have liked more, but will take it given first ZO in 3 weeks for me. Saw lots of familiar faces, all pulling for one another.

[ToddL]

My issue with INT is that it is not supported/available at the same scope/pervasiveness as Class C. Further, I think the assumption that novice skiers will travel to a national INT event is a bit of a stretch, so the top INT skiers are likely not really present and the championships there might not necessarily be the top skier in that population.

 

Maybe INT needs to think about how to co-exist with Class C structure.

Also, maybe INT needs to think about a virtual nationals - where scores are somehow gathered from the local events and a national champ is determined from those local scores...

 

Then there is the whole GR/Fun sanctioning... If there was simply some documentation of GR scores at a national level, then INT might be redundant, possibly...?

 

It seems that we could call a national conference (using remote hosting technology so as to avoid travel) and facilitate a discussion to coordinate such efforts.

Topics would include:

1) Purpose of "Novice" Events - why have them, value to the sport, etc.

2) Review of Current Solutions / methods implemented nationally and locally (need local promoters hence the teleconference)

3) Problem Statements - Gaps/problems/needs of "novice" skiers

4) New Solutions Ideas to address gaps - what would ideal look like / what would it take? (don't focus on status quo or barriers)

5) What would Ideal it take to move from status quo to the Ideal?

 

 

[Razorskier1]

Here in the Midwest I think the AWSA tournaments are very welcoming to novice skiers. Novices who come to our tournaments get welcomed with open arms, get the mulligan, and everyone cheers for them and talks with them. Like @6balls, my schedule this summer basically sucked. I skied my first tournament rounds this weekend and littered the scorebox with a bunch of scores between 2.5 and 3.5 at 38, which was not very satisfying! On a brighter note, at least I was consistent! Funny thing about the 38s is that I have much greater confidence than I've ever had that I'm going to be in the right place and get a good one, and so I come in feeling like I'm ready to run the pass. If I'd just relax after the one ball, I would! Ah well, that's what keeps me coming back.

[Skoot1123]

@Razorskier1 - I know for myself that I would like to enter a tournament. I too am in the Midwest, but haven't been to a tournament simply because of my skill level. For me, a Grassroots event seems like a better option? Would like to enter one or two next year, depending on location. Any suggestions?

[Razorskier1]

I would recommend doing one of the several six round weekends, where there is a tournament Saturday and Sunday, each with three rounds. That way you get to ski six times, which is probably as much as you would if you were home, and you get get comfortable with skiing tournaments, watch better skiers, and talk to better skiers. I learn a lot watching good skiers.

[ForrestGump]

FWIW, Charles has had a number of wakeboard boat owners in the last few years trade in their wakeboard specific boats for 3 event boats or Crossovers like the Sport 200.

[Jody_Seal]

Lymanland Record this coming weekend reportedly has 45 slalom entry's three rounds= 135 pulls on saturday =13 hours .

5 jumpers! 5 trickers.

[MattP]

@Jody Seal I really wanted to ski the Record, but I have not been skiing that much and could not justify the cost right now..

[boarditup]

The history of the INT was born of frustration with a local AWSA culture and an unwillingness to make the AWSA rule structure more novice-friendly. AWSA has responded, but not fully integrated novice-friendly rules and classes as the INT has. This includes board sports within the competitive scene - something that USA Waterski struggles with. There is also a different "feel" to an INT event that a lot of families really like. Think of it as SCCA versus NASCAR - different flavors of the same sport - each with a niche that complements the other.

 

Get to an event to experience it for yourself.