I think the large display's are a great feature.  Transportation (read $
or inconvenience) of a large traveling display, extra wear and tear and
associated with moving it, might make this a challenge.  The elite sites
should have an onsite (at least in storage) outdoor display.  It would
be advantageous if the same technical protocol could be used to talk to
the displays at different venues (read:same vendor, or compatibility
layer through software). This would lead to a cost savings over time,
and to being able to upgrade ALL the venues capability, with
modification to a single application.  There are folks in this group, or
in slalom that know how to do this, and might enjoy the challenge of
working on it.



I smaller portable system might be more practical for all but the really
big races. By system, I mean, rugged weatherized display, simple to set
up and use timing system, and judging communication system.  This could
actually be put together for a reasonable cost, including WIFI (wireless
handheld PDA's) for instant, automatic propagation of section judging,
straight through to the scoreboard. A system could be put together, with
a small group (3) of techies, and the prototype could be quickly
tweaked.  Easily integrated into this scenario would be a 'kiosk'
display, scrolling a screen of full results, with touchscreen or
touchpad input device for choosing display page/format.  All this can
theoretically be done without any running wires!  With the exception of
the kiosk display, all the hardware (including the medium size
weatherized results display) could be easily packed in a small
lightweight custom shipping box, with equipment cutouts.



This system could be incredibly slick, and if done right, would take a
bunch of hassle out of running a race.  Costs for the system could be
recouped by renting out to races, to cover initial costs + maintenance.



Good announcing is also an important area.  It would be great to get a
couple more folks good at this.  Maybe next time we get these guys
(Lamar or Kent) at a race, we can have them 'coach' some other potential
announcers while having them as announcer sidekicks?  On the (volunteer)
job training.



..ajm





-----Original Message-----
From: hearn6211 [mailto:DHearnC1@...]
Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2003 6:13 PM
To: wwslalom@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Slalom] What makes a race an event?



from Jennifer Hearn

Often the goal is to host a race with excellent timing and judging
(we need good volunteers for this), follow a posted schedule, and
hope the water is consistent flow (if this can be controlled) for all
the competitors, everything else is extra credit.

Having said this, I was wondering if it would be economically
feasible for the USA to have a traveling score board for use at
the "big races" like Olympic Team Trials, Team Trials, Junior Team
Trials, National Championships, Junior Olympics, and US Cup races for
example?  Having not researched this option, I realize there may be a
programming compatibility issues moving from race site to race site?
Someone would likely be needed to oversee the care, maintenance,
storage, travel logistics and function of a traveling score board
also?  Is this a realistic goal for Whitewater Slalom?

A big score board (leader board) is KEY for athletes, volunteers, and
spectators.  It should feature instantaneous posting of at least raw
times (combine times if second runs) plus any penalties (if possible)
for at least top 3 boats, and better yet the top 10 boats in each
class.  We have had big score board at "World" events in the USA
(Wausau and others) from time to time.  Most races in Europe (and
elsewhere) have big score boards so that anyone can follow the race
without necessarily understanding the announcer.

Good announcing also adds a lot to an event.  The USA is fortunate to
have a couple seasoned professionals in Kent Ford and Lamar Sims, who
are both polished and engaging with Olympic, World Cup, and World
Championship experience.  Other knowledgeable announcers, who are
also paddlers, have added a lot to the races over the years by
keeping the action entertaining for spectators, giving info to racers
and volunteers, and servicing event sponsors with their advertising
plugs.

I believe the USA needs to host "events" to gain sponsor dollars to
help fund all of our worthwhile whitewater racing programs.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

from Jennifer Hearn

Often the goal is to host a race with excellent timing and judging
(we need good volunteers for this), follow a posted schedule, and
hope the water is consistent flow (if this can be controlled) for all
the competitors, everything else is extra credit.  

Having said this, I was wondering if it would be economically
feasible for the USA to have a traveling score board for use at
the "big races" like Olympic Team Trials, Team Trials, Junior Team
Trials, National Championships, Junior Olympics, and US Cup races for
example?  Having not researched this option, I realize there may be a
programming compatibility issues moving from race site to race site?
Someone would likely be needed to oversee the care, maintenance,
storage, travel logistics and function of a traveling score board
also?  Is this a realistic goal for Whitewater Slalom?

A big score board (leader board) is KEY for athletes, volunteers, and
spectators.  It should feature instantaneous posting of at least raw
times (combine times if second runs) plus any penalties (if possible)
for at least top 3 boats, and better yet the top 10 boats in each
class.  We have had big score board at "World" events in the USA
(Wausau and others) from time to time.  Most races in Europe (and
elsewhere) have big score boards so that anyone can follow the race
without necessarily understanding the announcer.

Good announcing also adds a lot to an event.  The USA is fortunate to
have a couple seasoned professionals in Kent Ford and Lamar Sims, who
are both polished and engaging with Olympic, World Cup, and World
Championship experience.  Other knowledgeable announcers, who are
also paddlers, have added a lot to the races over the years by
keeping the action entertaining for spectators, giving info to racers
and volunteers, and servicing event sponsors with their advertising
plugs.

I believe the USA needs to host "events" to gain sponsor dollars to
help fund all of our worthwhile whitewater racing programs.

My contention from the beginning has been that you have to have a
strong citizens race program as a prerequisite. I think you
(ironring) are correct, few people can appreciate how very difficult
it is to quickly negotiate a challenging slalom course, and make it
look like easy.

From citizen racers can come many benefits. Potential spectators at
higher level races (citizen racers know how hard the moves are, they
will watch).  Get a bunch of spectators and you have sponsors
approaching YOU.  Citizen racers become judges and other volunteers,
for clubs, for races, for USACK.  A few citizen racers will be
lawyers, doctors and other highly compensated individuals, and might
want to support an athlete, or a program that they feel some
affinity for. Citizen races are the place to get new cadets and
juniors 'buzzed' about slalom or DR.  Where do we get new kids
from ... frequently one of the parents has paddled whitewater, and
probably slalom.  The more 'old hack' citizen racers we have, the
more kids we can 'harvest' from them.

The reason that there is a golf cable channel, and money in pro
golf, is that lots of hacks own a set of clubs, they know something
about what they are watching on the tube (personally I'd rather
watch paint dry) and how hard it is.

I have heard that slalom is boring to watch, well maybe, but I think
it's a lot more interesting than baseball.  Maybe more munch
potential moves at the higher level races would help?

In summary, I think that new efforts and energies are best directed
at cadet/junior programs, and entry / mid level racing. The rest of
our program seems to be working now, and will be able to benefit
from increased numbers. Sponsors and media coverage, IMO, need to
wait until we have our act together, and have bigger numbers. We
still have to promote the new races and programs, but I believe this
can be done on the cheap, with local newspapers, networking with
organizations & outfitters, posters (big ones), web, hype, etc.

So, wwslalom, tell me why I'm wrong.  Is there a better place to
start?

Allen

--- In wwslalom@yahoogroups.com, <ironring@b...> wrote:
> There are some things about slalom that make media coverage tough,
make spectating tough and make crowds look small.
>
> 1) races are long.  A lot of folks wander through and spend an
houror two and leave.  A Crowd spread over a whole day or two or
three does not look like a crowd.
> 2) Slalom is hard to watch and appreciate.  To an inexperience
spectator (and many judges all racers look the same. The speed,
moves and subtleties are lost on folks that have never raced.  There
is no head to head competition.  The only way to really appreciate
the sport is to have a leader board and post splits so a real sense
of the competition is alive with each run.
> 3) It takes a long time sitting in the sun to see who wins and not
too many folks care that much.
> 4) The stars of the sport are relatively unknown and
unappreciated.  In a world of playboats, even most boaters are also
disassociated from slalom these days.
>
> These are issues, not barriers.  But any event that does not
address these issues in some meaningful way will not reach its full
potential or market. It can really be helpful for a few in the sport
to sit down and really think creatively about how to best broadcast
a slalom event.  How to really show the skills and technique being
applied and condense the finals down to a period of time that is
within the meaningful attention span of spectators.  The leaderboard
and timing issues are a matter of money it seems.  There are
inexpensive systems that can be used indoors, but outdoor systems
must be larger and weather proof.  So add $$$ or more creativity.
>
> Those of us close to the sport care, but how do you get folks that
think whitewater slalom is rafting to care?

There are some things about slalom that make media coverage tough, make
spectating tough and make crowds look small.

1) races are long.  A lot of folks wander through and spend an houror two and
leave.  A Crowd spread over a whole day or two or three does not look like a
crowd.
2) Slalom is hard to watch and appreciate.  To an inexperience spectator (and
many judges all racers look the same. The speed, moves and subtleties are lost
on folks that have never raced.  There is no head to head competition.  The only
way to really appreciate the sport is to have a leader board and post splits so
a real sense of the competition is alive with each run.
3) It takes a long time sitting in the sun to see who wins and not too many
folks care that much.
4) The stars of the sport are relatively unknown and unappreciated.  In a world
of playboats, even most boaters are also disassociated from slalom these days.

These are issues, not barriers.  But any event that does not address these
issues in some meaningful way will not reach its full potential or market. It
can really be helpful for a few in the sport to sit down and really think
creatively about how to best broadcast a slalom event.  How to really show the
skills and technique being applied and condense the finals down to a period of
time that is within the meaningful attention span of spectators.  The
leaderboard and timing issues are a matter of money it seems.  There are
inexpensive systems that can be used indoors, but outdoor systems must be larger
and weather proof.  So add $$$ or more creativity.

Those of us close to the sport care, but how do you get folks that think
whitewater slalom is rafting to care?

Hi, guys.

Leck, we sure did have some fun up here in NW Ct. More fun,
perhaps, than any of the Europeans....

There are many random thoughts that I have about development,
and one of these days I'll try to make sense of them, but today let
me tell you about one ball that I have been fumbling, in case
someone with better "hands" than I can scoop it up...

In our general region, the biggest opportunity is NYC; they have a
bid for 2012 which includes a slalom course in Flushing
Meadow, and the rumor is that they may build the facility whether
or not NYC gets the bid. In my opinion that would be huge; you
would not believe the media coverage that anything that happens
in NYC can generate, and it would be a permanent whitewater
facility within easy commute of 12 million. I am in the NYC "Circle
of Olympians," and have twice been to Flushing Meadow (site of
the 1964 World's Fair, right next to the big tennis stadium), for
promotional events the NYC Olympic Group have invited me
down to (also wrote a little piece for their newsletter).  But I have
not pursued the question, what will happen if the bid fails? The
NYC people have already been through permissions, zoning,
environmental impact, design, etc.--they're a third of the way
there!

The people on this list are probably maxed out in their own
areas, but perhaps someone knows of someone else in NYC
who could follow up on this very exciting possibiltiy...

Jamie McEwan

Its great to do winter training as a cross-training activity. Its
also possible to train through the winter on the water. The year I
lived in France I was able to ski and paddle(without pogies!) the
same day. It was fantastic! I think I logged 40 days of crosscountry
skiing that winter. I spent many years going to South America in the
winter but I also spent six years in Connecticut in the winter
training outside everyday, on the water, and in below zero
conditions some. It was pretty brutal at times but we accomplished a
lot and achieved very high goals. One year we had to borrow an ice
saw and hand cut a channel to paddle in! Talk about cross-training.
We wanted to do it. It wasn't something we had to do. If it was, we
may not have done it. It all takes planning and dedication and sure
some sacrifice but its still fun in the end to see what you can
accomplish,...........no matter what.
      Its really amazing what the US slalom paddlers have done over
the past 30 years or so considering our hindrances and what options
other contries have had, mainly full funding and not just at the
highest levels. Most years you were lucky to get a uniform that was
red, white , and blue. It was all on your own. We found a way to
break down the door and used positive thinking and bullish pride.
And you know what...it worked and it still can. Sitting around and
waiting for the organization to help you doesn't work. You have to
think locally and help yourselves. Good luck. I can tell you it is
hard and can be brutally personal and sad at times but if you want
to get to your goal, you can. And you can still have fun doing it.
This note is not meant to be a "this is what I did" thing but a
reminder that you have to be creative sometimes to reach your goals.

Leck,

I agree with you about the media coverage issue.  I wrote a note to
Wayner last week about the feasibility of multi discipline events
like you mention.  There is great potential for synergy if we
mobilize and integrate to some degree, different whitewater
disciplines.

A few thousand folks showed up at the Upper Ocoee for the
recent 'Ocoee River Days',  I missed the hoopla as these things are
not my personal cup of tea.  I did paddle there and witness the
numbers.  It proved that you can get lots of people who know little
about slalom/downriver/freestyle to travel to the Upper Ocoee ...
it's important to recognize that if WE were to get them to show up,
we would need to have a multifaceted plan to get them back again.
Food, music, variety of 'things', maybe even something as goofy as a
raffle, where you get a competitor's bib number ... they win, you
win (newbies might pay closer attention).  Maybe at EOD after the
big events, do a short downriver, head to head raft race with
(guided) spectators as the racers (involvement & appreciation of big
water)!  OK, OK, so I'm not the greatest idea guy ... but that's
what the group is here for!

Promotion of citizen level races, possibly multi discipline events,
could be leveraged by teaming up with a deserving charity (and it's
associated marketing team), can you spell 'volunteers galore'?  This
would potentially be a winner for everyone.  I personally have run
in 5K races, ONLY because they had a worthy charity benefiting from
some of the proceeds ... and I've shamed others into doing it also.
I have done about 5 5K running races, it's kind of fun, but 4 of
them were charity races!

I know many, if not all serious racers will pooh pooh this multi
discipline idea and a 'circus' atmosphere.  How do the Euros bring
people out to races?  I've seen video with impressive numbers of
spectators in Europe and in Brazil.

I think as a group we can do many great things for slalom.  I also
think much of it will to need to be somewhat planned and sequential,
hence the particular polls recently created on wwslalom.  My
personal opinion is that one of (if not the) first steps is to
achieve 'critical mass'.  I don't think we are there now.

Anyone else on wwslalom have thoughts about this?

..ajm




--- In wwslalom@yahoogroups.com, "leckyh" <leckyh@y...> wrote:
> Hey,
>      Big kudos to Larry Mashburn who has been a big factor for
> years! A true friend of slalom and also a true friend of the
river.
>      I agree with Joe to some extent about making a big media
effort
> to draw a crowd and sponsorship and TV for the races. My question
> however is, How do we get more athletes to have a bigger race than
> say, 60 competitors? How many are we going to have for the Olympic
> trials next year? Probably less than 100.
>      Maybe we should also have a downriver challenge and a rodeo
> like we did a few years ago. That brings more paddlers into the
> scene and may make it more of a "family of boaters" affair than
just
> a "snooty" slalom racerhead deal. With shortened slalom races like
> they are today, there is also plenty of river there to share with
> the DR racers and rodeo afficionados, as well as for the cruisers
> and rafters.
>      If we want to draw media and have a bunch of athletes we
might
> want to try this instead of ending up with 10 women, 14 C-1's, 4 C-
> 2's and 30 kayaks for a slalom race. (oops! that's less than 60!).
>      Just throwing in my buck fifty!
> Oh, and Sam, Congrats on your second National Championship Gold
> Medal in C-1 Slalom (just a few more to go to  catch Davey :-)
>
> Lecky

Hey,
      Big kudos to Larry Mashburn who has been a big factor for
years! A true friend of slalom and also a true friend of the river.
      I agree with Joe to some extent about making a big media effort
to draw a crowd and sponsorship and TV for the races. My question
however is, How do we get more athletes to have a bigger race than
say, 60 competitors? How many are we going to have for the Olympic
trials next year? Probably less than 100.
      Maybe we should also have a downriver challenge and a rodeo
like we did a few years ago. That brings more paddlers into the
scene and may make it more of a "family of boaters" affair than just
a "snooty" slalom racerhead deal. With shortened slalom races like
they are today, there is also plenty of river there to share with
the DR racers and rodeo afficionados, as well as for the cruisers
and rafters.
      If we want to draw media and have a bunch of athletes we might
want to try this instead of ending up with 10 women, 14 C-1's, 4 C-
2's and 30 kayaks for a slalom race. (oops! that's less than 60!).
      Just throwing in my buck fifty!
Oh, and Sam, Congrats on your second National Championship Gold
Medal in C-1 Slalom (just a few more to go to  catch Davey :-)

Lecky

FYI, Polling results are confidential, no one can see your vote.  If
change or improvement is desirable, then consensus is an important
first step.  Help us to succeed collectively by letting your opinion
be known.  Cheers to  those who have already visited

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wwslalom/polls

and spoken.


It's also important that the right questions are being asked.  Have
a suggestion?  Go ahead and post it, or if you prefer, contact me
directly via the from: address above with your suggestion.

Enter your vote today!  A new poll has been created for the
wwslalom group:

Will increased funding, locally and
nationally, in conjunction with the
current plan/strategy, will adequately
address any concerns you may have
about slalom in the U.S.?

   o Yes
   o No
   o Maybe
   o Don't know


To vote, please visit the following web page:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wwslalom/surveys?id=11303468

Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are
not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the Yahoo! Groups
web site listed above.

Thanks!

If you haven't already done so, please take a short minute to weigh
in on the 2 active polls, you can just click on the link here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wwslalom/polls

and tick off a couple of check boxes.

FYI, The majority view from the poll on slalom participation so far,
is that numbers are either stagnant or decreasing.  Make your
opinion known so that wwslalom can have a group opinion.

Jennifer,

I missed this meeting, I was instead taking the Japanese group to the
upper Ocoee with Adrian Nye after the race on the 26th  . bad
priorities.  On the other hand, it was good PR, Masa sent me a note and
said Sae and Yume were anxious to return to the states, and that the
hospitality Adrian and I showed them was a big factor.

They all had a good time at the races and camp, although they were a bit
disappointed at the Tuck and Nanty race sites.  They had seen pictures
of Nantahala falls section on NRC website, and were expecting bigger
water.  I explained to them the Nantahala and Forest service
restrictions about gates at the falls May - October.  Originally they
had not intended to return to the states, partially due to their
extremely limited English.  Taking them down through Humongous, gave
them a different perspective of what we have to offer, and transcended
any language barrier.

I can say that output of the meeting, the ideas below are excellent and
equally applicable to general development, as well as "junior
development in the USA".

I could only add Charlotte to the "develop elite venues" item, even
though this is professionally handled at this point, the slalom group
still needs to stay involved.  And add a line item for "recruit, train
and retain volunteers".

Thanks for making this information available.

Allen

-----Original Message-----
From: hearn6211 [mailto:DHearnC1@...]
Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 11:00 PM
To: wwslalom@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Slalom] Junior Development Growth

from Jennifer Hearn

On July 26, 2003, Mike Hickey led a Junior Development meeting
following the US Cup at the NOC, inviting coaches, directors and
parents "to explore ideas on how we can all work together to
support
all of our programs and increase interest and participation in
competitive whitewater sports."

Attendees included: Mike Hickey, Lecky Haller, David Hearn, Jennifer
Hearn, Dave Kurtz, Lee Leibfarth, Jean Folger, Dirk Davidson, Bert
Hinkley, Lisa Langlinais, Vicky Greeley, Dave Greeley, Lee Poe, Debby
Dennis, and Bambi Robinson.

Mike talked about the importance of "Communication, Cooperation,
and
Consideration.  An ideal scenario would include "synergy between
paddling programs" with training camps and clinics run in concert
with the racing schedule.

Everyone was asked to contribute what they thought was the most
important thing for junior development in the USA.  Here are the
ideas shared below listed at random:

~Host races and training camps when most children are out of school
during the summer break, mid-June to mid-August.
~Recruit more participants, children.
~Access whitewater sport via plastic playboaters.
~Coordinate coaching.
~Develop elite venues.  Ocoee, South Bend, Wausau.
~Promotion.
~Media relations including follow up.
~Website.
~Quality coaching.
~Quality product, i.e. graduated standards for entry level thru
advanced racer. "Whitewater Slalom Athlete Progressions
Manual"
developed by the work of former Development Coaches: Wayne Dickert,
Fritz Haller, and Scott Strausbaugh.
~Athlete retention.
~More races.
~Outreach.
~Increase Junior Olympic participation.  Utilize this big development
tool.
~Marketing.
~Promote racing to people already in boats.

The group was steered away from debating the "how's"
while remaining
focused on what we all thought would further help develop the future
of whitewater racing in the USA.







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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

USA Canoe-Kayak has just nominated Bill Endicott to be the Team
Leader for the Athens Olympic Team in slalom.  It has to be
confirmed by the US Olympic Committee before it becomes official.
According to Mike Sloan, head of the Slalom Committee, this
confirmation should be routine.

Congratulations Bill !

The following information is from Bill Endicott, for the benefit of
us who don't know how it works on the continent :


I can explain what the Euros are doing.  I probably know as much
about it as anyone, having founded the International Coaching
Conference, which meets each fall to discuss coaching and other
trends in slalom.

1.  They have many government-funded clubs in their countries.  If
you drive around France, for example, you'd be amazed at the little
slalom courses you'll see here and there.  France even has a
Minister of sport who oversees all this stuff.  I think most
European countries do.

2.  They pay for club coaches with government money. Thus, after
someone has been an athlete he or she can aspire to a career in
coaching if they want to and get paid a salary roughly equal to what
a teacher would get (with pension and everything.)

3. They recruit kids at a very young age and feed them into these
clubs.

4.  As the kids get older, the training becomes very a very serious,
year-round, year after year affair.  The national team coaches come
from the top of the coaching pile they have in their country and are
truly professional coaches.  The athletes are paid.  In France and
Germany they can get training stipends through serving in the army;
in Italy, by serving in the Forestali (forest rangers). Some of them
might be enrolled in (free) university courses in phys ed.

Bill Endicott

from Jennifer Hearn

On July 26, 2003, Mike Hickey led a Junior Development meeting
following the US Cup at the NOC, inviting coaches, directors and
parents "to explore ideas on how we can all work together to
support
all of our programs and increase interest and participation in
competitive whitewater sports."

Attendees included: Mike Hickey, Lecky Haller, David Hearn, Jennifer
Hearn, Dave Kurtz, Lee Leibfarth, Jean Folger, Dirk Davidson, Bert
Hinkley, Lisa Langlinais, Vicky Greeley, Dave Greeley, Lee Poe, Debby
Dennis, and Bambi Robinson.

Mike talked about the importance of "Communication, Cooperation,
and
Consideration.  An ideal scenario would include "synergy between
paddling programs" with training camps and clinics run in concert
with the racing schedule.

Everyone was asked to contribute what they thought was the most
important thing for junior development in the USA.  Here are the
ideas shared below listed at random:

~Host races and training camps when most children are out of school
during the summer break, mid-June to mid-August.
~Recruit more participants, children.
~Access whitewater sport via plastic playboaters.
~Coordinate coaching.
~Develop elite venues.  Ocoee, South Bend, Wausau.
~Promotion.
~Media relations including follow up.
~Website.
~Quality coaching.
~Quality product, i.e. graduated standards for entry level thru
advanced racer. "Whitewater Slalom Athlete Progressions
Manual"
developed by the work of former Development Coaches: Wayne Dickert,
Fritz Haller, and Scott Strausbaugh.
~Athlete retention.
~More races.
~Outreach.
~Increase Junior Olympic participation.  Utilize this big development
tool.
~Marketing.
~Promote racing to people already in boats.

The group was steered away from debating the "how's"
while remaining
focused on what we all thought would further help develop the future
of whitewater racing in the USA.

Regarding the announcement for the new water releases on the Ocoee
next year, it definitely does not happen without a lot of
coordination between many groups and agencies.  And Kevin Colburn
from AW has been really impressive with his contributions.

As I watched a whole lot of politicians and government groups
present
each other with plaques and awards last Friday at the press
conference at the Ocoee Whitewater Center, amazingly one person went
without public recognition - Larry Mashburn, the owner of the Ocoee
Adventure Group which owns two raft companies at the Ocoee and
operates the retail store at the Ocoee Whitewater Center.  Last
year,
Larry wrote a white paper about the situation at the Ocoee - the
jist
was a lot of potential and not a lot of action.  He hired a
consulting firm, who touched up the document, put into the hands of
key decision makers, and very quickly, the TVA's started the action
of re-designating the Upper Ocoee from "Power Generation"
to "Economic Developement."  From here, the difference in
speaking/negotiating/planning with TVA has been far more effective,
beneficial, and enjoyable.

Larry is definitely one of those "make the pie bigger" raft company
owners here on the Ocoee and certainly remains one of our
key "friends of slalom" - I just wanted to recognize Larry's
contributions on what has been the most important post-1996 Olympic
action take place on the Ocoee.

While the synergy between the many Ocoee stakeholders remains
critical to any growth in the Ocoee Region and that synergy should
be
recognized, I do believe that Larry's personal actions last fall
were
instrumental to slalom's future at the Ocoee in the future,
including
securing 2004 Team Trials at the Olympic venue.

Moving forward, I do believe there will opportunities for on-the-
water events at the Ocoee Whitewater Center (slalom, rodeo, etc.)
but
not without solid plan for ensuring "Event Success" as opposed
to "Race Success."  Throwing up gates for races that draw 60
athletes
and few spectators will do more harm than good.  But, if we create a
plan to draw media coverage, spectators, and volunteers backed by
outside sponsors, future events will pull a lot of support from TVA,
local organizers, and other stakeholders too.

Thanks,

-Joe

2004 USA Whitewater Slalom Team Trials Qualifier

The third 2004 USA Whitewater Slalom Team Trials Qualifier will be
October 11-12 in Glacier, WA.

Hosted by the Northwest Whitewater Association.

Any questions please contact Jim and Stacey
Good at staceyag@... or Bob
Duffner@...@portseattle.org

In brief, I would say that the main thing we need to do in slalom,
and in all canoeing and kayaking disciplines, for that matter, is to
get individual people to just go out and do stuff on their own.
There is no shortage of ideas in our sport, but there seems to be a
big shortage of follow-up.

So, I would hope we could empower a handful of people to take
ownership of some pet projects and run with them -- without a whole
lot of interference from the rest of us.

Some things I am thinking about when I say this are:

*  A few clubs that take in young kids and expose them to all sorts
of kayaking and canoeing, whether it be flatwater, whitewater,
kayaks, canoes, you name it.  One of the great advantages we have in
canoeing and kayaking is that there is always an event to fit your
body type.  It's not like football or basketball, where if you don't
grow up to be really tall, you're out.  So, I think the way to go is
to recruit 8-9 year olds into camps that just have a lot of fun with
canoeing and kayaking generally and get the kids into little races
and little training sessions with their friends so that they just
have a blast with it.  One day you do flatwater kayak, the next
slalom C1, the third wildwater and the fourth sea kayak, and so on.
The main thing is to make sure the kids have a lot of fun and do a
lot of pulling with the arms and upper body!  Then, in due course,
as they get older, they can choose a discipline that they seem most
suited for and they would have come from a great all-round
background.  All the competitive disciplines of kayaking and
canoeing could benefit from this kind of feeder program and whoever
started it and became its "pied piper," would be able to really take
it and run with it.

*  Citizens race.  Someone ought to take over citizens races --
slalom races (and maybe even wildwater races or flatwater races) in
rec boats.  This could be like the citizens racing that they have
(or had, I don't know whether they still have it or not) in skiing.
This could become an international program, too -- you could have
international races and everything.

In both these instances, we'd need a promoter type person, a
visionary who just wanted to get a lot of self-satisfaction out of
it at first, but who could eventually, I think, even aspire to get a
lot of money out of it, too.  Hundreds of thousands of people could
have a great deal of fun out of participating in the events.

I'm not really sure why more people aren't grasping the
opportunities that are available.  Take wildwater racing, for
example.  Wildwater is a really great sport, but very few people are
interested in it in this country.  That doesn't make a lot of sense
to me.  I guess they can't look at it for its own intrinsic value --
which is great -- but instead look at it in comparison to slalom and
are put off by the fact that their friends might feel that they're
not in an Olympic event and therefore there are other "cooler"
things to be doing with one's time.

So, I worry that if more people don't see the intrinsic value of
these canoeing and kayaking disciplines, then there may not be a
whole lot we can do about it.  At times like that, I just withdraw
and do what I can for the pure fun of it.  Then, at other times I
start to think again about how to make the sport grow!

-- Bill Endicott

I am here and hope to learn more about what people's opinions are
about ways to improve our great sport.  Insight with action is a
powerful thing.

sam

Enter your vote today!  A new poll has been created for the
wwslalom group:

Do you think U.S. team members should
have their travel fully funded when
representing the U.S. in international
competition?

   o Yes
   o No
   o Didn't know they had to pay for travel


To vote, please visit the following web page:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wwslalom/surveys?id=11296436

Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are
not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the Yahoo! Groups
web site listed above.

Thanks!

Need sponsorship to finance your slalom career, but don't know where
to start?

The tag line "The Jacobi/Taylor Canoe Team: Responsible Risk Takers
who excel at the confluence of extreme sport & the Olympic Ideal.",
eloquently states the obvious, for those that know Matt and Joe.

If you are not independantly wealthy, and you need to develop
sponsorship to further your slalom career, check out how masters of
the game do it at http://www.canoeracer.com.  Your campaign may not
start out quite as polished, but you can use stepwise refinement to
tune it up as you go.

If you are not familiar with the City of Chattanooga Rapid Learning
kayaking program, check it out at http://tinyurl.com/pavv. They pull
out all the stops with Olympic and World Champion heavyweight
kayakers and canoeists to boost their program. Can this be a farm
club to harvest new slalom paddlers from?

This shows what local government can do when properly channeled.
What's you local government involvement in paddling? Who do you know
that has someone's ear at city/town hall or at the recreation
department?  There is great opportunity for synergy between clubs
and government.  Any ideas floating out there?

Anyone who hasn't read this article in Paddler Magazine Online from
July/August 2001 at http://tinyurl.com/paui, should do so.  Slalom
is on the rebound, so what can you do to help gain momentum?

That's what Yves Narduzzi did with the US Canoe team last winter.
Check out the article on USOC's site by Bob Campell at
http://tinyurl.com/parz.

Another issue that needs to be addressed is recruitment and training
of a ready group of volunteers for each LOC.  I don't see that
happening now as it did leading up to the 1996 Olympics.

Prior to the Games, LOC's were actively recruiting folks, training
them, getting them certified and forming teams that worked well
together.  Whenever there was a slalom race on the Ocoee or
Nantahala, the LOC merely had to go to their database and notify
folks they were needed.  A volunteer coordinator would make the
LOC's
needs known and volunteers would be signed up to help.

With the passing of the Atlanta games, there is no new or continuing
program that I am aware of to get new folks and keep the "old folks"
involved in the volunteer positions that make slalom races
possible.
Those veterans who had worked most every event leading up to the
1996
Olympics either dropped out altogether or reduced their
availability.  If this trend continues, racers themselves will be
the
only ones committed to slalom racing and will have to man all the
posts (judging, timing, scoring, etc.) if they wish to continue
racing in the US.

So, as one of the volunteers still involved, I see the need for a
long term effort to re-build and maintain the volunteer pool.  While
raising this as an issue, I am not in a position to organize
anything to address it.  But, I would be happy to brainstorm the
possibilities with others who are willing to implement them.

Enter your vote today!  A new poll has been created for the
wwslalom group:

Do you think the participant numbers
in slalom in the U.S. are (multi
choice) :

   o Increasing
   o Decreasing
   o Stagnant
   o Adequate


To vote, please visit the following web page:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wwslalom/surveys?id=11293788

Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are
not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the Yahoo! Groups
web site listed above.

Thanks!

2004 USA Whitewater Slalom Team Trials Qualifier

The third 2004 USA Whitewater Slalom Team Trials Qualifier will be
October 11-12 in Glacier, WA.

Hosted by the Northwest Whitewater Association.

Any questions please contact Jim and Stacey
Good at staceyag@... or Bob Duffner at
buffner.r@....

ajm posted per bp.

A note of thanks to U.S. Team coach Yves Narduzzi for helping
athletes that were not on the original access list gain access to
the Ocoee Olympic site last weekend, during the Ocoee River
Days 'Lumberjack Festival'.

Allen Mayers

From Chuck Hines.  We in recreational paddling and slalom rac-
ing owe a debt of gratitude to American Whitewater for success-
fully negotiating - with TVA -  for the release of 54 days of water
ANNUALLY on the Upper Ocoee River over the next 15 years.

      This is the famed Olympic Whitewater Slalom section which
drew 15,000+ spectators for three consecutive days at the 1996
Olympic slalom competition.  It's a classic Class III-IV run, used
not only by top-grade racers but also by recreational paddlers.

      The availability of the Upper Ocoee will bring in Thousands of
dollars annually, primarily from rafters, to the Ocoee area of east
TN, which includes Copperhill, Benton, and Cleveland.  It should
also enable us in whitewater slalom racing to once again sched-
ule important races on the Olympic slalom course, perhaps even
the 2004 U.S. Olympic Slalom Team Trials.

      For further details, log onto www.americanwhitewater.org and
while you're there, join AW if you're not already a member.

      The success story on the Ocoee emphasizes the importance
that teamwork plays in our sport.  We need all the organizations
working together.  We need all the clubs working together.  And,
we need all of us as INDIVIDUALS working together by 'reaching
out' to help each other.  This is the message I am receiving from
coaches and parents and racers from All Over the Country, most
recently from Colorado (just yesterday).  So let's do it!

      Thanks, Risa, Kevin, and All Of You at American Whitewater,
for your unending efforts to protect rivers and benefit paddlers ....

Countless great ideas have circulated in the U.S. slalom community
recently.  I established this forum because I could not find a
repository of ideas for the sport.

Much ground has been gained recently in establishing new race
series, providing coaching that now spans most of the country, the
Junior Olympic program, getting water turned back on at the 1996
Olympic site, development of current and future elite level athletes
and much more.

Our sport has a wealth of smart, motivated people.  If we establish
a unified set of goals, that all can agree to, a strategic plan for
slalom development in the U.S. can emerge.  With such a plan, all of
us can grab a piece or two that most interests us, and the sky will
be the limit.

My personal (incomplete) view of a potential goal list would start
out like:


* Better funding for U.S. Team athletes with a reasonable criteria
* Development of Junior program
* Further development of race series, from elite down to citizen
level
* Increased participation - critical mass
* New Sponsorship
* Maintenance of training sites and race venues
* Improved Training resources
* Establishment of a video library of top level racing technique,
accessable to all (DVD compilation?)
* Volunteer recognition and development
* New race venues

So,  lets hear your ideas for development and positive change !



Allen Mayers