ISSA - International Slalom Skateboarding Association

19. STARTING NUMBERS

Starting numbers should be provided by the organizers and must be worn by the participants. The number itself should be 10 cm high.

i don't think any skater wants a spandex shirt with his starting# to compete.
some obvious reasons why:
#1 it's lame and cannot be identified with skateboarding in general
#2 most of the skaters are sponsored in one way or the other more or less.the companies may want to see their logos on the track and in potential media cioverage.logos are on the shirts of the skaters.
this factor is very important for the industry who also grows the sport and invests a lot of money and time into the whole deal.as promotion is a very very important factor nowadays.
especially if the skater gets a shot or podiums-more interesting than banner-promotion.
i hope you will agree on this viewpoint at least.
thanks

Give out stickers to place on helmets

good idea,chris

i'm not against starting #s in general but i am against those lycra/whatever jerseys

What about that ?

Like in formula 1 racing, every racer has the starting number which is also the world cup ranking.

Fernando Alonso used to have the 1.

he or she can put the number directly on the t-shirt, Jersey, Cap, Sticker or whatever, inbetween all the sponsors.

So no race director has to organize the starting-number thing anymore !

This number is the starting number for one race season.

The new number in the next season depends on the ranking.

The rule only says taht numbers must be 10 cm high so you can see them.
But it's true that for the show and sponsors, it not bad to have

Did you like the numbers we had in Paris?
Kind of special paper that is resistant and that you can use a few times (if racers don't loose it!!) and it's normally less expensive than stickers (you can use only one time)
It's often used for bikes or running race.

the stuff used in paris is acceptable
grüningen or antibes with the jerseys please not ever egain

hope it is ok I wore my canada shirt for the dixie.

Carsten Pingel wrote:What about that ?

Like in formula 1 racing, every racer has the starting number which is also the world cup ranking.

Fernando Alonso used to have the 1.

he or she can put the number directly on the t-shirt, Jersey, Cap, Sticker or whatever, inbetween all the sponsors.

So no race director has to organize the starting-number thing anymore !

This number is the starting number for one race season.

The new number in the next season depends on the ranking.

In Downhill Skateboarding the have set up this rule one or two years ago and I believe it is working pretty well...

rmn

Helmet stickers.

f#@k numbers they look like crap. little stickers on the shirt or the helmet are maybe ok

sorry, but what are starting numbers good for anyway?
somebody explain or give a good reason, please?

Steve Hinzen wrote:sorry, but what are starting numbers good for anyway?
somebody explain or give a good reason, please?

Simple:

If a skater wears his number then there's no question who is on the ramp. As races get more involved and popular, there's no guarantee that a starter or timer will know the name of every face at the race. Numbers are easy. If the starter sees a "3" and looks at the sheet and sees that "3" is Fred Mertz, then he knows who is racing.

In the heat of racing with multiple runs it is easy to sometimes have the wrong skater on the ramp. Numbers make tracking what's going on easier for everyone.

Also, Gilmour has advocated for years some sort of directory at the races so spectators know what's going. That same sheet with numbers/names lets the people watching know who's who.

That's what numbers are good for.

Thanx, Wesley.

So we are talking about a possible instrument for organizing and presenting a race to the public, aren't we?

My suggestion for a "rule" concerning numbers is:

If the race-organizer choses numbers to identify participants (while they are racing), he is recommended to use attachable ones (like Vinz proposed f.e.) of a maximum size of 10cm.
Shirts, jerseys and similar clothes are to be avoided (for reasons written in previous posts).

Steve Hinzen wrote:sorry, but what are starting numbers good for anyway?
somebody explain or give a good reason, please?

"...starting numbers good for anyway"

If you ask like this we have to assume that you are completely against starting numbers. But what you seem to be talking about only concerns shirt/jerseys etc. (on which I agree with you)


Starting numbers are also useful to identify riders on pictures. For example if a journalist has taken a photograph and wants to know the name of the rider he can simply identify him/her by the starters list.


rmn

the current voting shows that all people voted against starting #s in general-that's interesting.

I like the idea of numbers on jerseys for identification. And it looks more "professional".


But I do not think it should be a rule.


Did you know that there is no rule in the FIFA (international soccer) rulebook that requires numbers to be on the players -- or that each number be unique? Yet all teams will have numbered jerseys for easier identification of the players.....

Pat Chewning wrote:I like the idea of numbers on jerseys for identification. And it looks more "professional".

But I do not think it should be a rule.


Did you know that there is no rule in the FIFA (international soccer) rulebook that requires numbers to be on the players -- or that each number be unique? Yet all teams will have numbered jerseys for easier identification of the players.....

comparing skateboarding with soccer is ehm ridiculous?

Pat Chewning wrote:I like the idea of numbers on jerseys for identification. And it looks more "professional".

- it looks more professional for peoples who are watching the race and can easily identify racers, especially if numbers are given by the world ranking
- it s a possible place for race sponsors, or ISSA sponsors

I don't know how to solve it, but somehow numbers are needed.

Little stickers and little pieces of paper that you're supposed to stick somewhere (and find again the second day) won't do it. Nobody sees them and then we're better off without them.

For me the main idea is to:
- See that it's actually a race going on and not just a session (especially on photos afterwards)
- Help organizers know who's who

The idea of keeping a number the whole year is cool, but can we count on everyone to bring their number? If they do it's cool, will most likely only happen in the pro class. If they don't bring any they are assigned jerseys. But it'll be messy to deal with.

/Jani

so when you want to go with the starting# provided by the ranking system,this # is constantly changing during the season.
so that doesn't make any real sense.jerseys would have to be traded during each event or sent around through europe and the world.
that sounds like a mission impossible for me.

any solutions for that?

a sticker that can be applied to the board of the rider in question would make sense,or the helmet sticker too.

on jerseys such as antibes or j-rad had them i can see no big interest from the riders side.
you should not forget the sponsors who invest a lot of money and time into riders,their career,bringing them to events.
from my personal side i see this discussion very sponsor-unfriendly.
as we can see by the current voting(which doesn't really reflect the majority,but let's go on with the discussion) there is a big part against starting#s in general.
the time we live in is now and not yesterday,a lot of things have changed and still do so.
why in god's name has the slalom scene the tendency to set itself apart from any other skateboard group?
any other contest in professional skateboarding with starting #s.
people would laugh at you(not my words,but a realistic approach at the situation.
big events such as etnies,vans,globe,carhartt contests which have way over 100 contestants,never considered the thought of starting#s.

in tha part of skateboarding the skater is supposed to wear clothing of his sponsor.
i can't imagine seeing any skateboard mag with shots of pros or ams in starting# jerseys.

so why is this carried on then?
any reasonable explanations for that procedere?

i think we will never be in "classic" skateboard mag because we do not do Air or Flip with our board. No one will change that.
For me slalom is much close to ski or snowboard racing, where racers do wear jersey numbers(they wear it also in half pipe).

Every racer himself is responsible for his own starting number so he can put it wherever he wants as long as it is properly visible and big enough. Team shirts can easily be printed with numbers on (compare with the coneracing shirts for example)-

The starting number shall be the world ranking number of the past season ranking and remains the same until the running season is over. Newbees are given a special number (f.e. N01, N02 or G(reenhorn)01...)


rmn

hey guillaume

brixlegg was in 2 classic skateboard mags.
vince will upload the pdfs shortly.i had to wait for the release of those articles in order not to infringe the publishers' copyrights.

also,if you read skateboard mags from time to time you will find coverage of contests especially in concrete wave magazine,transworld did alsoa bit on contest coverage in the past.

skateboarding is and will remain a stand-alone sport.

hey ramon.good suggestion

don, i hope you're right but I can't see that.
how many kids do skateboarding and how many kids know something about slalom?
anyway, i always think slalomskateboarding is more closer to snow racing than anything.

Guillaume Saint-Criq wrote:don, i hope you're right but I can't see that.
how many kids do skateboarding and how many kids know something about slalom?
anyway, i always think slalomskateboarding is more closer to snow racing than anything.

guillaume:
slalom is not so much fun as street-skating is for the general masses.,the#'s of skaters involved compared to each discipline show you what i'm saying.
do you think putting #s on the skaters would encourage more kids to start skating?
i doubt that.
gs slalom has a good carve feeling sometimes that comes close to carving a bowl.

but we could continue this discussion with no outcome.
for a skater with a background other than slalom,this talk is pointless.