Tournaments on Demand

[Kelvin]

@zman, So golf should just scrap the handicap system and turn their focus entire focus to the US Open.

[santangelo]

For the purposes of having these onDemand tournaments, it didn't make any logical sense to me as to why this would count as a sanctioned score. It goes against all the basic rules of competition and trying to apply as level a playing field as possible to skiers. Practice is not Class C, is not Class ELR. They are different and and each applies additional rigors to ensure the scores are as accurate as possible according to the rulebook.

 

With that said, I do like the approach @elr laid out. In general, I can see that working without interfering with the existing process and how the handicapped league can play into the rankings list league at seeded tournaments...good thinking.

 

@ToddL , regarding API's to access data, Mark Crone did develop a Membership web service to access public member data for the purposes of validating USAWS Membership ID's that returns XML data. I use the service for new/joining members of our club (since USAWS is required) and to validate that existing members have current/active USAWS accounts on a yearly basis. We did discuss other services such as scoring, tournament, and rankings services. Mark thinks they would be great to have, but their time/budget is limited. He volunteers much of his time to do this work. I could use a rankings list service in a mobile web app I have currently. I think this is something that USAWS should look at developing more of. As you said, it will encourage developers to build programs to engage its user base...always a good thing.

[santangelo]

For the purposes of having these onDemand tournaments, it didn't make any logical sense to me as to why this would count as a sanctioned score. It goes against all the basic rules of competition and trying to apply as level a playing field as possible to skiers. Practice is not Class C, is not Class ELR. They are different and and each applies additional rigors to ensure the scores are as accurate as possible according to the rulebook.

 

With that said, I do like the approach @elr laid out. In general, I can see that working without interfering with the existing process and how the handicapped league can play into the rankings list league at seeded tournaments...good thinking.

 

@ToddL , regarding API's to access data, Mark Crone did develop a Membership web service to access public member data for the purposes of validating USAWS Membership ID's that returns XML data. I use the service for new/joining members of our club (since USAWS is required) and to validate that existing members have current/active USAWS accounts on a yearly basis. We did discuss other services such as scoring, tournament, and rankings services. Mark thinks they would be great to have, but their time/budget is limited. He volunteers much of his time to do this work. I could use a rankings list service in a mobile web app I have currently. I think this is something that USAWS should look at developing more of. As you said, it will encourage developers to build programs to engage its user base...always a good thing.

[bigtex2011]

Not a big fan of on demand tourneys. To me the whole point of a tourney is to test your skills on a larger scale then a practice set. It's fun. If you go to enough tourneys your score will probably get close to your tourney score.

[bigtex2011]

Not a big fan of on demand tourneys. To me the whole point of a tourney is to test your skills on a larger scale then a practice set. It's fun. If you go to enough tourneys your score will probably get close to your tourney score.

[jdarwin]

I believe this has merit - the point is to bring more skiers into the competitive arena (AWSA or not). If we "clear" our minds of the over-regulated competitive environment we currently find ourselves in, we can begin to envision an internet based universe of scores that aren't restricted to a tournament environment but are simply achieved similar to how a golf handicap is achieved; by performance. This would be separate and apart from the AWSA rankings list which is NOT attractive to the majority of skiers (Horton can provide the number of visitors to this site vs. the number of skier who ski tournaments). If the goal is to attract more skiers into a competitive arena, we have to go to where THEY are - not expect them to come to us. I love the exchange of ideas on this topic...figuring out a way to make this happen is a worthwhile endeavor, IMO.

[jdarwin]

I believe this has merit - the point is to bring more skiers into the competitive arena (AWSA or not). If we "clear" our minds of the over-regulated competitive environment we currently find ourselves in, we can begin to envision an internet based universe of scores that aren't restricted to a tournament environment but are simply achieved similar to how a golf handicap is achieved; by performance. This would be separate and apart from the AWSA rankings list which is NOT attractive to the majority of skiers (Horton can provide the number of visitors to this site vs. the number of skier who ski tournaments). If the goal is to attract more skiers into a competitive arena, we have to go to where THEY are - not expect them to come to us. I love the exchange of ideas on this topic...figuring out a way to make this happen is a worthwhile endeavor, IMO.

[Zman]

@Kelvin Just having a lil fun. And, to not kid ourselves that scores will be different. I like the idea, maybe, if used as @Horton suggested, maybe to get skiers started - up to about 28 Off. And, like @jdarwin said, bring more skiers in. JH suggestion for ambassadors may help along with this. I'm just not a big fan for this after skiers get beyond, say 28 off for this concept. Just my 2 cents. No real big deal either way. I also like Bruce B's take on this.

C'mon, golf? Beating some lil white ball all over the place until it falls in a hole....a lil less sense that skiing around 6 balls, turn around and repeat...

[Zman]

@Kelvin Just having a lil fun. And, to not kid ourselves that scores will be different. I like the idea, maybe, if used as @Horton suggested, maybe to get skiers started - up to about 28 Off. And, like @jdarwin said, bring more skiers in. JH suggestion for ambassadors may help along with this. I'm just not a big fan for this after skiers get beyond, say 28 off for this concept. Just my 2 cents. No real big deal either way. I also like Bruce B's take on this.

C'mon, golf? Beating some lil white ball all over the place until it falls in a hole....a lil less sense that skiing around 6 balls, turn around and repeat...

[Triplett]

So it seems we need a BOS waterski league. That would be pretty cool.

[brody]

I like this idea, as a shift worker with kids who participate in other activities, attending a tournament on weekends is not always easy. This would definitely get me to compete a lot more often.