ISSA - International Slalom Skateboarding Association

I will try to keep this post updated with the current discussion.
1. Time to find out who has plans for organizing western American competitions in 2006.
2. Who will recieve what World Ranking statuses for 2006.

World Ranking status proposal for 2006
__________________________________________________
USA West have 3 Mains and 3 Primes to set.
[Major][Main] [Main] [Prime] [Prime] [Prime]
__________________________________________________

Major status subjects (1 Major)
[Major] Boulder/Denver/Golden Colorado | US Nationals | August 18-20

Main status subjects (2 Main)
[Main] Hood River, OR | West Coast Slalom Skateboard Championships | July 8-9
[Main] San Diego CA | La Costa Open 2006 | September 16-17

Prime status subjects (3 Prime)
[Prime] Houston, Texas | Texas Cold Fussion Sizzler | Feb 25-26
[Prime] Morro Bay, CAMorro Bay October
[Prime]

Pump Station, CA
Golden Colorado, Colorado Cup



Basic Status
Basic and Plain statuses don't need any discussion since they are decided only on date when they are officially announced.
More than 1 month = Basic status. Less than 1 month = Plain status.

Others
- JPL
- Colorado Series
- Venice Beach, CA?
- Cascade Slalom Association?
- California Championship Series?

I know that this post was posted on Nov 9th. Does this mean that different race sites would take turns as far as status is concerned. I know skaters are saying they deserve to have main and prime status. But truly we are about GRS racing and promoting the sport. Tway giving his race status to DHB. That was too cool bro. Your Amigo Eddy Texas Outlaws.

Does Breck want the US's Major Staus for 06?

Forgot to ask, Jack are you going to do Morro again this year?

I plan on staging an event in Morro Bay area during September 2006.

Tentative title is the U.S. Open.

There will be some traditional slalom events, as well as some new events still in the planning stages.

Think...Eddie Would Go

Jack

Oh Yea I would definately GO!!!!!!! Big Time STOKE at Morro. It is an experience. WT I first saw you on a Mollica DVD racing there. Damm this bro is racing ala Peircy style. Place has a cool vibes. The list of bros that I met there is endless. Kenny you are my Hermano ( brother ), hanging with BLR, meeting Rene and David Carasco, Fadrid you are too cool bro. Rick Ick signing my ICK. Chicken too generous, My bros from the UK, I would definately Go Back. Your Amigo Eddy Texas Outlaws.

Who decides what race get what status on the West coast? Is it done collectively or is someone in charge of this sort of thing? I'm posting the Sizzler today or tomorrow and I thought that perhaps some people would like to know.

Marcos Texas Outlaws

Ok I spoke to Jack Smith, Gary Fluitt and Dave Hackett this morning. Jack and Gary have no problem with our race being Prime status. Dave is going to think about it and get back to me. I need to talk to Gareth Roe on the subject as well. From what my understanding is we are not part of the East Coast. The East Coast has too many hot spots of slalom that are taking off and growing. So we are closer to Colorado and fall torwards the West Coast. It has always been my understanding that in order to get Prime Status the Event must be insured, have a certain number of Pros come down and race, and have the event announced 2 monthe in advance. We do not need a racers poll to see what our race should be. I believe we are beyond that. No disrespect to anyone but we feel we have earned Prime Status. Mainly because we have stuck it out, traveled to other race venues across the country, both on the East Coast and the West Coast. Our Event will be a 2 days of racing. The Texas Outlaws have been trying to promote GrassRootsSlalom Racing for the last 2 years and will continue to promote slalom racing in the future. Slalom is starting to grow in Texas. It is amazing the rate and how these bros are interested in Slalom. I personally feel we should get Prime Status, and if we do not, we race our hearts out. Both Marcos and I have been on the GRS Tour since 2002. I still wonder what would have happened if Jeff Goad would have not come and sat next to me at Luna Slalom Jam 2002 after I did not qualify or make the course. I remember he said to me, " dude you can't quit now, go home build a start ramp, practice and I promise you that you will qualify at my race in St Louis". Thanks GO GO. I want to continue to spread the Slalom Stoke and promote as my slalom races in the coming years. SLALOM lives, it will continue to live as long as we keep it growing. Your Amigo Eddy Texas Outlaws.

Texas Prime
Ok, Texas Sizzler as Prime have to be decided. If both Jack and Gary is ok with it and David at least didn't say no I think it's a go. Unless David or someone else screams out load the coming 2-3 days.

American statuses
Next to be decided before Dec 31 is if you want to keep the current balance of World Ranking statuses as is (West 3 Main, East 2 Main) or if you want to switch to (West 2 Main, East 3 Main). You have to come up with a list of some important people behind such a change or it will stay the same for 2006. And that there is not a second list with some important names going against it of course.

This is how I see the current situation

Main status subjects (1 Major 2 Main) or (3 Mains)
Hood River, Oregon | 2006 West Coast Slalom Skateboard Championships | July 8-9
Morro Bay, California September 12-18?
Boulder/Denver/Golden Colorado | US Nationals | August 18-20

Prime status subjects (3)
Houston, Texas | Texas Cold Fussion Sizzler | Feb 25-26 Prime status is set!
San Diego CA | La Costa Open 2006 | September 16-17
Pump Station, CA
Golden Colorado, Colorado Cup


Morro Bay, Pump station final, Colorado Cup have no date. US Nationals for the Major status?

Time to take it one more step ahead.

So everybody seems happy with this.

The only problem now is that there is no date for Morro yet and maybe it's not sure it will happen.

Then there is one more Prime to set. Maybe a Pump station final like last year? Or we can just wait it out and see what events will happen later on.

Morro Bay late September or early October.

Boardercross and slalom.

Hans Koraeus wrote:This is how I see the current situation

Main status subjects (1 Major 2 Main) or (3 Mains)
Hood River, Oregon | 2006 West Coast Slalom Skateboard Championships | July 8-9
Morro Bay, California September 12-18?
Boulder/Denver/Golden Colorado | US Nationals | August 18-20

Prime status subjects (3)
Houston, Texas | Texas Cold Fussion Sizzler | Feb 25-26 Prime status is set!
San Diego CA | La Costa Open 2006 | September 16-17
Pump Station, CA
Golden Colorado, Colorado Cup


Morro Bay, Pump station final, Colorado Cup have no date. US Nationals for the Major status?

Time to take it one more step ahead.

My vote:
Major: US Nationals -- Colorado
Main: West Coast Championships -- Oregon
Main: La Costa -- California

Prime: Cold Fusion -- Texas
Prime: Moro Bay - CA
Prime: TBD need some discussion, or perhaps wait awhile to see what develops -- races are still being anounced and planned.

Basic: Everything else

If Jack is ok with a Prime status for this year it's settled and I will swop LaCosta and Morro for one of the Main statuses.

Don't worry for Basic and Plain statuses. There are no limits on those. They get their status automatically depending on if they are published officially earlier or later than 1 month before the event in the calendars on this site or at the contest calendar at ncdsa.

Why don't you post this on NCDSA's Slalom page. That's where all of the debate seems to be raging.

Marty, both sites serve a purpose. Why don't those really give a #$%^ come over here and support themselves through organization.

That's ok if the debate is done elsewhere. Just bring over the final judgement here when you are ready.

It's tough enough as it is for me to handle all the World Ranking forums here on this site. If I was to run around on all regional forums out there I would break down very quickly. So please help out with gathering info from your regions.

My initial hope was that someone from each region would step up and take the responsibility to fix this sensitive task for themselves. But I could not make the World Ranking system depend on it because then it could potentially make the whole system collapse. The World Ranking administor is the last resort to finalize the statuses if not done by the regions themselves. This might maybe feel better for many to let the World Ranking administrator do it. Then everybody can blame him instead of themselves.

If someone don't want to post here feel free to e-mail administrator@slalomranking.com

La Costa Boys Racing recommend that the La Costa Open is a Main (3 cone) race. This will be the 4th La Costa Open. There were over 80 competitors at the 2004 race. San Diego is a resort destination, which in itself attracts many racers and their families.
Jack Smith has stated that his race will be held in October and will not be considered a World Championship. Jack, please correct me if I'm wrong.
In fact so far on Slalomranking.com there are no North American 4 cone races. This is listed in the scoring process as a necessary rule, and it is a very good rule, since many people have to pay their own travel expenses.
The Pump Station races, like the Colorado Cups are designed to be two or one cone races, as they attract 20-30 of the best racers in their regions.

Lynn, I believe the US Nationals to be held in Boulder is the 4 cone race for this region of the World if I read that correctly. I agree that La Costa should definitely be a Main....hopefully someday I will get there and am working on my schedule now for this year to see if I can make it.

You are correct, Jack is not holding the Worlds this year. Donald Campbell is in Brixlegg, Austria. That wil be the Major for that side of the world.

Here in the East this whole debate started back in November and hopefully we have it sorted out a bit but there still is a Prime up for the offering.

By the way, did Fluitt get you the contact info for Pat O'Connor at City Securities for the ASSA insurance deal?

Cool! The system is working.

We are agreeing that the US Nationals should be the MAJOR (4 cone) event, and that La Costa should be a MAIN (3 cone) event.

Definitely agree with others that there appears to be plenty enough growth and geographic separation to support more than 3 PRIME events.... So I hope there are mechanisms soon to add more PRIME events.

-- Pat

Pat, one of the suggestions that Tucker made back during the late fall when we were beating this horse black a blue was the need to create a third region in the US to accomodate the need for more rated races. He laid out a very good argument that cited population and distance as supportive factors. You know as well as I do that it's one thing to try to keep Europe and the US on a level playing field but lets face it, we have to travel further to race here just simply because of the massive geography. A rider in Paris can take a train ride to a race almost anywhere in Europe in a few hours. On the other hand a flight to the West Coast for me is basically an all day affair when you calculate time to the airport, waiting through all of the security, the flight itself, waiting on baggage, getting a rental car, driving to the hotel or race course, etc., etc. Then it's another full day to get back.

Just in my own region of the world a race is either a flight or a very long drive:

Statesville to Athens, Ga(66's Race and Southeast Winter Outlaw #2): 235 miles 3 hrs 58 minutes

Statesville to Dublin, Ga (Southeast Winter Outlaw): Total Est. Time: 296 miles5 hours, 7 minutes

Statesville to Columbus, Oh (Buckeye Open): 386 miles 6 hours, 30 minutes

Statesville to Bethel, Conn (The Farm) Got to Fly or drive 12 hours plus.

Statesville to St. Louis (Goad's Race) or Chicago (ChiXXill Race) Got to Fly or drive 12 hours plus


Texas even further...Colorado much further, Detroit long darn ways, etc. etc.

You get the idea.....Three regions witlh an expansion of Mains to 6 instead of 4 in the country and expansion of Primes proportunately throughout the country would at least help.

If there is a concern that some locations would get a Prime and not put on a Prime quality event then their could be guidelines that set minimun levels of attendance and number of races per event. 1 to x Basic, x to y Prime, y and above for Mains. Keeping in numbers that are acheivable but also tax the promoter to put on a race worthy of the status.
Numbers would have to be resonable because certain venues or dates dictate limited or capped number of competitors. The better managed, executed, and appealing races would get the better statuses again within reason. Also, a population factor may have to be implimented for such a system: For example, a race held in say San Diego for instance has several million people to draw from almost locally but a race in Statesville, North Carolina only has a local population of a little more than 100,000 and in a "metro" area that is considered to have a million people at best.

Regardless of how its done, I agree with you, the sport is growing and the system should grow with it.
Corky thanks for the work you are doing! Thankless job there but you seem to handle it well.

I agree with Marion and Pat that Boulder would be a good race to call Major. It is in the Center of the US. It is the hub for United Airlines. Boulder has over 300 sunny days per year (unlike Breck) and it's already slated as the US Nationals. It's also in the summer when kids have off school.

The only part I don't get is how Wisconsin got slated as a west coast state.(?)

Lynn Kramer wrote:The only part I don't get is how Wisconsin got slated as a west coast state.(?)

Not "west coast" but "west." I could say the same thing about how Ohio got to be an "east coast" state."

When I did my "three region" map, there is a little gerry mandering that keeps all the borders from nice straight line. The important thing for me, though, was getting three regions that were approximately equal in population. When Corky did the USA into two regions, he just drew a straight line down the middle of the country and said, "here be the west and here be the east."

we have kicked around the idea of a wisconsin race instead of chicago.we are contacting alpine valley ski resort as they have a gnarly hill for g/s and the backside would be great for hybrid,would this be a west race?

Chris Favero wrote:we have kicked around the idea of a wisconsin race . . . would this be a west race?

Far from it. Corky's East-West border is the line between Minnesota and the Dakotas. Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and Lousianna are all EAST. The line Corky drew is NOT the Mississippi River, but the next longitudinal over to the west. Wisconsin and Illinois are firmly in the West Atlantic: USA East region.

Who really cares what you call it?
Someone needs to say "I'm in charge, and these are the three cone races"
Then people will come. Any Coast.

why don't we make it easy then?
let's say corky is in charge,since he created the system,so we all go along with what he does.

situation is as follows:
he does the ranking,he decides.
no other ranking system is existent,nobody is as near as to getting a full detailed list as corky is.


end of discussion-period.

I was gonna say that, but it's not like me to volunteer people to do something they may not want to do unless it benefits me directly.

__________________________________________________
USA West have 3 Mains and 3 Primes to set.
[Major][Main] [Main] [Prime] [Prime] [Prime]
__________________________________________________

Major status subjects (1 Major)
[Major] Boulder/Denver/Golden Colorado | US Nationals | August 18-20

Main status subjects (2 Main)
[Main] Hood River, OR | West Coast Slalom Skateboard Championships | July 8-9
[Main] San Diego CA | La Costa Open 2006 | September 16-17

Prime status subjects (3 Prime)
[Prime] Houston, Texas | Texas Cold Fussion Sizzler | Feb 25-26
[Prime] Morro Bay, CA | Morro Bay | October
[Prime]

Pump Station, CA
Golden Colorado, Colorado Cup
TBD?

This is how it looks like right now. There is still 1 Prime status for the offering.

Corky! Why exactly is Luna too late? Is it because there is no registration yet?

Ricky is trying to confirm everything before posting it on the Contest Calendar. It has been anounced for quite some time.

Claude Regnier wrote:Corky! Why exactly is Luna too late? Is it because there is no registration yet?

Ricky is trying to confirm everything before posting it on the Contest Calendar. It has been anounced for quite some time.

Claude: This discussion belongs in the USA EAST discussion topic area.

But the process still does seem somewhat broken: Lack of a decision from the World Ranking organizer by a certain date guarantees that a race will pass the "deadline" and then be out of luck for gaining Prime status. Lack of participation from the race organizer (posting info, promoting the race, making a case for the desired status, etc) makes it look like no progress is being made on the race and seals the fate.

I am hoping that this is something the ISSA can address once we get a Board of Directors in place and start working on initiatives for 2006....

-- Pat

Seeking a BASIC status for this race:

http://www.ncdsa.com/contest_registrati ... testID=228

Two-day three-event race of AMATEURS only. Part of the State Games of Oregon. Limited to residents of Oregon and adjacent states (Washington, California, Idaho, Nevada).

-- Pat

Pat,

You don't have to seek or demand status for Basic races. If it is officially announced more than 1 month before the race it has a Basic status automatically.

Limiting races for classes (PRO, AM, WOM, JUN, ....) is ok in the eyes of the World Ranking Rules.

Limiting racers on geographic belonging in a class is NOT allowed according to the World Ranking Rules. If you want a state championship results list you have to make up a second "state" result list done from the "open" result list and filter out only those from the state.

Yes, that previous posting was more of a contest anouncement. .... Just to make sure that the contest is anounced in the proper place at the proper time, and to make sure that I'm not seeking PRIME MAJOR or MAIN status....

As far as limiting racers.... It is the policy of the State Games organization, not my own personal policy. I hope that someday every state that has a State Games will include skateboarding. I also hope that even if they are restricted by geography, they could still earn a BASIC status.....

Just to be clear: Is this contest being denied a BASIC status because it is limited to residents of certain states?

Pat

Pat, according to the rules yes but...
I think that specific rule is more intended for the higher statuses so for Basic and Plain statuses it makes no sense. So...
Let's make this rule only be true for PRIME, MAIN and MAJOR statuses.

One more example of why the WR rule book is growing. Real life is the best test of any theories. Also one of the reasons why the ranking was done at all. Instead of talking world ranking why not do it! And then see what happens and try to adjust.

Hans Koraeus wrote:Pat, according to the rules yes but...
I think that specific rule is more intended for the higher statuses so for Basic and Plain statuses it makes no sense. So...
Let's make this rule only be true for PRIME, MAIN and MAJOR statuses.

Excellent! That makes perfect sense. Thank you.