ISSA - International Slalom Skateboarding Association

Corky,

I have The Farm 6.0 listed for 8/4 & 5. I picked that up from an earlier thread.

Unlucky post just before the page break so I'll add it again. Otherwise it is really the first post that is the official one but...

This is how I read it out.

Main status subjects (1 Major 1 Main) or (2 Main)
- Statesville and Winston-Salem, North Carolina | 2nd Annual Downhillbillies Dixie Cup | November 3-5 (38 points)
- Vista, New York | The Farm 6.0 | Aug 4-5 (33 points)

Prime status subjects (3 Primes to select for 2006!)
- Columbus, Ohio | The 2nd Annual Buckeye Open | June 23-25 (27 points)
- Chicago | Chi-Town Shootout | September? (21 points)
- Jackson, Mississippi | Luna Slalom Jam | May 5-7 (18 points)
- St Louis, MO | Slalom St. Louis | September

- Athens, Georgia | Red Clay Cup | June 22-25 (18 points)


Red Clay same date as Buckey will take Red Clay out. Then we have Chicago and Luna. The dates may decide but no dates are given so far. Would be good to avoid collisions with US West and other regions high status events.

So who will rap it up?

So everybody seems happy with this.

Only problem is then who gets Prime status of Chi-Town and Luna? Both dates are unknown. The date could be of importance of how you want to do it. With no fixed date maybe one of the events are not sure to happen? Anybody having some inside info?

Corky, Ricky has posted the date for Luna. It's somewhere, I'll find it if you or someone else doesn't get it 1st.

Got it!

10 Jan 2006 09:32

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Just to let everyone know. Mississippi Grass Roots Slalom is looking at end of April, first of May for this years Luna Slalom Jam. I have meetings with the city of Ridgeland This morning. Wish me luck.

Meetings went well. Luna is set for May 5th & 6th with an outlaw event on Sunday the 7th.

Well that is a perfect date for a USA East Prime. So Luna now have an edge over Chi-Town.

I am happy the Buckeye will have Prime Status. I hope I can make everyone happy. The hill and venue is the Woodstock of racing and will be killer. We'll get some deals on hotels, lots of swag for the ams.

The big boys should make it. It will be the bomb. Hybrid from hell.

GS, TS...

Yeah, Kenny if they book a holiday they could hit a Prime and a Main in Back to Back weekends in the East, EH!

chicago is looking like september.weather ios great here then and not to hot.plus the schedule is stacked for the first six months of this year already.cf

this is our third year,without a serious ranking for the event i am not even going to waste my time trying to throw a bigger event.if its basic again,we will just throw an outlaw.basic is not even worth the headache.muchas amour,su compadre,cf

i vote to make st louis a basic.
what do you think?
i think you can suck me off.

Adams: In slalom, there's a definite winner... I think slalom should make a big comeback, because it's so competitive, even though it's a little gay. It's like skiing, in a way.

Dressen: Some of those slalom guys are kind of jocky. They're kindo of Euro-dudes

maybe i'm just an idiot, but i'm confused here.
If St Louis has been going on for years,
always the same weekend,
always the same location.
A two day event at a great race site,
after-race party,
the whole nine...

why isnt it a prime?....this should be a no-brainer

wtf?

CBara,

The USA EAST is only ALLOWED TWO PRIMES. That's it. The Farm and The Dixie Cup are Mains. So that leaves two primes between the following races:

Buckeye Open
Red Clay Cup
Luna
St. Louis
Chicago

From what I can discern it looks like the Primes went to Luna and The Buckeye. Remember the vote? If I remember Luna correctly scored ahead of St. Louis in just about every way I could figure to do the statistics.

Please don't get mad at me. I'm just reporting what happened. There are only TWO PRIMES for the USA EAST. That's not my rule. TWO PRIMES had to be spread among several races that had a history of success: Red Clay, St. Louis, Luna, Chicago and the Buckeye Open.

So, you ask, "If St Louis has been going on for years . . . why isnt it a prime?....this should be a no-brainer . . . wtf?" my answer would be, "who do you think should give up a prime status, Luna or the Buckeye Open?"

so we need more flex to the rule:

there could be more primes,very easily

2 (the best results) count for the worldranking stats

how about a poll for that idea?

it's not that bad

two primes....in the fastest growing region in the states.....
talk about a buzzkill for "growing the sport"

(besides, i thought we had 3 primes?)

St. Louis

why not come up with a scoring system for the states, that incorporates all the races, east and west, in a rank order based on size, scope and destination?

Christopher Bara wrote:(besides, i thought we had 3 primes?)

Maybe we do. I'm not certain. So, if that's the case, who should get it?

Chicago
St. Louis
Red Clay

I thought it was two mains, two primes per region. It may be three. Corky has the rules online at Slalomranking.com in a document that's as big as the phone book. It's not something I've taken the time to study.

Quite honestly, it doesn't matter to me. I'm going to the same seven races I went to last year plus anything else I can afford no matter what the status.

We start the discussion in the "ISSA members private forum"
Every one can join the Forum when he get the ISSA Membership. 25 $ paypal to issa@slalomskateboarder.com

We can change some things for the 2007 season when we get the ISSA running.


We have the same thing 92 rider's in 2005, The best European Pros raced there for now 3 year's. It was the race with the most European Competitiors for 3 year's.

We had a main for 3 year's and for this year we have a prime.

It is important to do somthing, and that we can do when we have an organsiation.

contact Jani jani @ slalomskateboarder dot com to be added on the list.


/J-Rad

i think i know where the problem is:
most europeans have no idea how big the united states of america really are.
uncomparable with any european country.
the current system,which is a good one,originates from europe.
with the growth of the sport,some realignments have to be made to keep the system alive and progressive.
wesley-your turn...
you seem to be a spokesman and maybe you should take your time to explain this to corky.
it is helpful to copy and paste a few european countries and implement them on the us continent in actual size.
this makes the problem and my suggestion more understandable.

again:flexibility is the magic word.

besides that it's not that difficult to give good races the status they deserve

it won't affect the ranking system that much,when the seeding for each racer stays the same.

Donald,

I already tried that. I divided the United States into THREE regions that had approximate popluations of around 90,000,000 each. I had an East, Midwest (Chicago, St. Louis. Texas) and a West. My proposal is on PAGE ONE of this thread including a map and charts and all kinds of neat statistics backing up my suggestion.

Corky said no.

I posted polls online for the skaters to vote for what they feel different races should have for their status. Some people liked it, some people bitched that it was a hose job.

I quit trying. I'm not going to argue about it. I've already been to two events this year, signed up for another four in the next two months and will go to six or seven more. Whether or not a race is Basic, Prime or Main meant absolutely nothing to me in choosing where to race. I just go for the chance to go someplace and ride my Ick Sticks.

All I hope for is no promoter decides not to have a race because they don't like their status or some promoter raises their entry fee because they think they're a big shot because of their status.

I just want to ride through some cones as many times as possible.

shortened version.

Don, you hit the nail right on the head

by the way....mark your calendars

Buckeye Series dates
March 11/12
April 8/9
May 13/14
(race on saturdays, rain date on sundays)

The Buckeye Open still the grand daddy on June 23-24-25

more to come soon

hey,let me get my point straight.i totally have respect for the other races and luna,ohio,georgia have some prime venues.my point is simply if chicago is basic,expect outlaw in september.does not make any sense to ramp up for a basic status race in regards to time and money spent for all involved.goad,we'll come down for your race,you come to ours,detRIOT,you all come we will set up some crash pads and tear it up.cf

interesting thing about Chicago is your Outlaw spot is probably one of the most scenic downtown spots in the nation........great pavement....spectators......it kind of goes against every preconception of what an outlaw spot is, ya know?



That paved walkway on curving around on the right side was the racecourse

The system was 3 years ago. The scene isn't the same as it was 3 years ago. It is bigger and there are many more races.

Look, if Corky has to change something in the USA, than he will have for sure some changes in Europe too. And there will always be people who want to change somthing.

You can't compare the size of cities between Europe an US, it makes no sense. What you have to compare is the number of racers, and how easy or not easy they can reach a high status event. This must be the most important criterias for the balance of the ranking.

I understand you guys. You have to travel a lot because of the size of the country.
What i didn't understand, that no one want's to join the ISSA. There you have the chance to change it, not for this season maybe, but for sure for next year.

There are now 40 members from 7 countries. Join the group, give your thoughts and we can make some changes.

This isn't an European or US problem only. We have this problem and we have to fix it together.

/J-Rad

what do i get for my $25?

voting power in a yet non-existent community?

To promote the growth of slalom, the statuses should be altered every year. (As stated before)

If the Farm is a Plain for '06...can SL and Chi-town both get Primes?

If the US East is allowed 2 Mains and 2 Primes can we also have...

1 Main / 4 Primes
or 5 Primes
or 3 Primes and 6 Basics
or 2 Primes and 12 basics
or 1 Prime and 20 Plains

**I personally like the idea of having 5 Primes.

Tway (formally ranked 69th)

i think this is a joke, just who is Corky anyway?
do you think his(this) system is working?
do you like getting ripped off?
do you think your world ranking matters?
do you think your world ranking is right?
its not how fast you are its the race you go to.

exactly...and how many you go to......
but i guess "it is what it is"....it's only a problem if folks put too much weight into it

We all know what races are the best run and most competative

which riders are the fastest....

...and all that

According to the problems with statuses in USA East region here is a proposal for 2006.

2006 statuses proposal
The ranking status limitations was set up in 2003 to make some sort of balance to the current world slalom scene but also taking into account and push regions with less active slalom scenes. But it was always said from the beginning that this could be changed over time depending on the current development of the world slalom scene. I still think that current Major and Main statuses should stay the same and be a way of filtering out the top world ranking events in each region every year. But the current number of Primes for each region could be seen as a base limit. And could be increased for regions in need of it. For the moment USA East is the only region having this need as I see it and I will propose that they get one extra Prime status for this year (2006).

Meaning that for 2006 you will have...
- 2 Main statuses
- 3 Prime statuses

Tway,

There is another way.

Did you read this about Splitting Pro and Am statuses

What do you say?

That's great news Hans........

Wow....Progress.....Unfreakingbelieveable.....

I shouldn't ask, but why was the push of November & December for the East unproductive until the WEST started complaining about thier situation in January?

This just villifies my belief that the USA needs a major overhaul. WT proposed 3 regions instead of 2. He did quite a bit of research on it based on population, travel, etc. It's good reading, go back to page one.

Here is my counterproposal. Why does the West have 3 & 3 and our "Eastern Progress" gets us up to 2 & 3?

At LEAST match the Eastern US to the Western US for 2006.

ADD ANOTHER MAIN TO THE EAST ALONG WITH THE PRIME THATS BEEN OFFERED. Or give us 2 & 4.

Because here is the 10 dollar question. Who gets primed? Chicago? St. Louis? You only have one to give so the other will still feel shafted.

Also begin the overhaul of the ranking system so all of the interested parties go into 2007 with a clear understanding of what to expect for the year.

Ok back to work.....

st louis(me) does not what shit.
i dont care what you voters want.
my post are to piss you off and get something done.
i think it worked.

basic for st lou.
give a prime to someone who cares.

come to st louis for the fun and the people, not the points.

First, I want to thank Corky for all of his hard work. The system is not perfect but, it is a good systems that is evolving.

When talking about which race will be given a certain status their must be many different factors taken into consideration.
How many times has a race been held? What was the highest and lowest number of racers?
Does the race promoter want a race with less than 30 racers or 50 or more? Does the race promoter have official premission to hold the race? How far in advance is the race posted? Does the promoter want the race to be for amateurs only or pro only? I have been to many races, some have been big and well run or not. The same can be said about small races. Just because a race was run well with 35 racers does not mean it will run smooth with 75 racers. To just randomly switch status year to year not a good idea.

I have to say I am tired of hearing how negative most Americas are on the world rankings and this forum in general. If you care at all about slalom skateboard than work together. I rememmber THE FEELING years ago when I realized I was running out of slalom equipment and the stuff was not made anymore. I am thankful I have new Radikal trucks, foamcore decks and wheels as fast as ever.

For this sport to cotinue to grow we need a world ranking and a governing body. Is this the final version of the world ranking? I do not think so. Is the ISSA the governing body? I do not know but, I will support it. The sport does not need to be turned into roller-derby-fighter-whatever to grow.

Keith, Teams Radikal & Pocket Pistols & Oust.

Keith, I hear you dude. I agree with you that now is the time, more than ever, that we need to all be pulling together to make this thing work rather that sit around and complain about it. That was my point on the other site when everyone was talking about "someone needs to do this, or someone needs to do that" blah, blah, blah. That "someone" is all of us.
Stepping up to the plate, taking a leadership role, investing our time, etc. Otherwise this sport will again fade into obscurity and we will back where you were before: without equipment, without races, and without anyone driving it.

Regarding the concern about having to pay money to join ISSA to be a voting member: The majority of us are willing to pay twice and three times that as an entry fee to a race. Why would we not pay a one time membership to an organization that is actually trying to help the sport we participate in? Competitive cyclists, be it road racing or mtn. bike, have to pay a membership to USA Cycling and/or NORBA, or they can't even participate in a race. This is an annual fee that is far more than $25. I grew up on mill hill (translation: upper lower class) and I have a deep respect for how much $25 is to the majority of us. I also know a pair of wheels most of us ride cost that much. So for the price of two wheels we are not going to join and support basically the only organization out there for now that is remotely developed enough to support our sport? Do I think ISSA is perfect and doesn't need change? Absolutely not. Have I heard even one good alternative to it with someone behind the idea that actually can pull it off? Absolutely not. By joining the association at least you can put yourself in a position to help influence it's direction. Otherwise, you are left on the sidelines bitching and complaining about something you have no remote possibility of ever improving. Man, I am amazed daily at the number of people in this life who want to complain about everything under the sun but never will put forth a positive effort to change it.


There is a third prime up for the offering in the USA East. Goad, I appreciate your attitude about the ranking thing because that is the same approach we took with the Dixie Cup. We left it up to the racers to decide what status we were given rather than lobby for this level or that level. It may have not been the most effective way to do it but that was the point of the poll that was taken. I posted it then and I will post it now, regardless of the status we will work hard to put on the best event possible for the racers.

Maybe we should revisit that approach in deciding where the third prime should fall? Then, with that info go to Corky and say here is the data. This would not require "membership" just the time it takes to vote. What do you think?

So this is it then?

Main status subjects (1 Major 1 Main) or (2 Main)
- Statesville and Winston-Salem, North Carolina | 2nd Annual Downhillbillies Dixie Cup | November 3-5 (38 points)
- Vista, New York | The Farm 6.0 | Aug 4-5 (33 points)

Prime status subjects (3 Primes for 2006!)
- Columbus, Ohio | The 2nd Annual Buckeye Open | June 23-25 (27 points)
- Chicago | Chi-Town Shootout | September? (21 points)
- St Louis, MO | Slalom St. Louis | September


- Jackson, Mississippi | Luna Slalom Jam | May 5-7 (18 points)
- Athens, Georgia | Red Clay Cup | June 22-25 (18 points)

So St Louis takes the 3:rd Prime.
Luna have passed the date limit for a Prime.
Red Clay same date as Buckey will take Red Clay out.

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.

I'm trying to twist some arms. And look, a Canadian comes to the rescue. Let's give it 1-2 days for the region to decide. If not enough people is speaking up for/deciding Luna as a Prime, well I guess it is not a Prime. You know best.

Prime should be decided 2 months ahead. Luna being set to May 5 means limit for Prime status was March 5.

Many events are registered 2 months before but that doesn't mean it's a Prime status. The region have to decide.

It is/was between Luna and St Louis.

Corky,

I already thought that Luna was a prime?

I have read through the posts above and it is hard to draw any conclusions. I can't see any descision made from you guys in the region. Descisions are hard. Would you rather like me to decide?

Luna or St Louis?

For me Luna looks better since it will spread out the statuses over the year. St Louis is in September where you already have a Prime (Chi-Town). And having Primes early on in the season makes more sense to me than having them very late in the season.

But... if not more people speak up for Luna today (Mar 15) the Prime status for that event is gone.

YES. I think Luna should be a prime.

Reasons:
1) Historically a great event.
2) Spread events out over the year.
3) Early PRIMES are better than late PRIMES.
4) Possibility that # of primes can increase this year, and it would be a shame to miss Luna in the (potentially increasing) number of PRIME events.

I am not in the Eastern USA region, but this is my opinion anyway...

-- Pat

I agree that Luna should be a prime if not for the sole reason that on 2/01 Goad said he did not want that designation. Honor his request and let Luna have the prime and St. Louis go basic.

Luna is on the NCDSA Contest Calendar with a full slate of events.

Notice how I stay out of this discussion. I feel it's up to the racers to decide status not the organizers. I'm not campaining either way. It would be an honor to be voted Prime by the racers. That's one of those things that makes the work worth it. It feels good to know the racers respect the event enough to make it Prime. It will be the same race no matter what to me. Luna will be a cool event this year. We are guaranteed many, many spectators due to the awesome location. We are involving all skaters in this event, slalom, longboard, street.

I did withhold the contest calendar on the other channel just because I wanted to be sure I had the spot before hand. The date has been set for a while now on this site.

It's up to you guys. I'll be at the timing table Friday, May 5th, no matter what. I hope to see you there.

After a nights sleep I realized that maybe I was too hard and that you did do decide after all. I mean that is what all those points are about after all.

So this is it for 2006...

Main status subjects (2 Main)
- Statesville and Winston-Salem, North Carolina | 2nd Annual Downhillbillies Dixie Cup | November 3-5 (38 points)
- Vista, New York | The Farm 6.0 | Aug 4-5 (33 points)

Prime status subjects (3 Primes for 2006!)
- Columbus, Ohio | The 2nd Annual Buckeye Open | June 23-25 (27 points)
- Chicago | Chi-Town Shootout | September? (21 points)
- Jackson, Mississippi | Luna Slalom Jam | May 5-7 (18 points)


Other candidates
- Athens, Georgia | Red Clay Cup | June 22-25 (18 points)
Red Clay with same date as Buckey took Red Clay out.
- St Louis, MO | Slalom St. Louis | September
St Louis was not in the vote and did not show interest for the Prime status.

I have no comment on what status this year's St. Louis race should have. But for the record, it's being planned for the last weekend of MAY--just as it has been the past three years--not September. I have no idea where that September date came from.

I also don't want to speak for Goad, who is more than capable of doing that himself. But regardless of what status this year's Slalom St. Louis has, it will likely once again be a very fun race. And wait 'til you see the trophies...

Well said JBH. It done for the fun, not for the status (from an organizers point of view). See you in St. Louis.

I'm with you Ricky! I was happy that the Sizzler went prime. But speaking for myself, it would have made no difference at all. I would still have put on the contest.