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Alternating World Championships

Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2005 11:11 pm
by Jani Soderhall
Jack Smith wrote:For 2006 I would like to suggest that the World Championships be held in Europe. "Slalom Week 2006" will be the home of the "2006 US National Championships".
That's really cool. It would be nice to have the World Championships rotate between the US and Europe. Ideally it should also be held in different places. For the European Championships we managed quite well in the 80's and 90's and it's coming along correct also in the slalom revival with alternating sites and countries every year.

Jack has made sure that Morro Bay, with its five consecutive Slalom World Championships will remain in the history books of slalom. Impressive!

/Jani

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 10:11 pm
by Gary Fluitt
Asia would be cool too. Europe in 2006, Asia in 2007, and US in 2008. I recommend Australia or Japan for 2007. Gives them two years to get the scene going in those places.

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 9:36 am
by Pierre Samray
I already say somewhere that "Antibes Longskate Organisation" is interesting to organize WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP in 2006 on the French riviera. We will propose a complete project during the year. But those who already come to the "Euro championship in 2003 or the Cone's festival in 2004 know the place and can judge it.

But before let prepare the 2005 world cup edition september 10 and 11.

Let me know about your point of view.

Anyway see you soon on the world slalom scene.


Pierre

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 9:47 am
by Chris Eggers
Pierre, very good idea, that will make me take the trip finally.

I think the bar lies very high after Morro Bay locationwise and Jack Smiths great organisation.
Antibes will sure do it weatherwise, I assume it is as safe as California when the right time of year is chosen.

2006 Worlds

Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 8:55 pm
by Gary Fluitt
Pierre,
I was not able to make it to Antibes, but I have heard that 2 of the 3 events were held on flat ground, in a car parking area. Is this correct? I feel that the Worlds events must be held on hills, and the bigger the better. Even tight slalom must be on a hill. Cyberslalom is the one exception, but this is not a world championship level discipline I think.
thanks,
Gary

Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 9:44 pm
by Chris Eggers
Can you state why you think it MUST be held on a hill?
I think the col thing is that slalom can be (also be) done on flat. It shows pumping skills and not how good you can go down a hill and avoid hitting cones standing in the way....(oh my god I hope I did not open a can of worms here....)

Just interested how you get this feeling nothing else....

hills vs. flat

Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 10:29 pm
by Gary Fluitt
Chris,
There are a couple of reasons why slalom racing at the World Championship competitive level should be on a hill.

1. Hills are faster the parking lots
2. It takes more skill to pump at speed then it does to pump flat ground
3. It's more exciting for spectators
4. Hills offer pitch, grade, crown, all these things a racer has to deal with
5. Slalom is a downhill racing event, it's not cross country with obstacles

All this being said, I think there are some valid uses of parking lot slalom. The first race I ever had was in a parking lot and it was great. But it wasn't a World Championships. World Championships should be held on hills. Do you disagree?

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 10:34 am
by Michael Stride
As someone who enjoys tight slalom, partly because I can thrash the lederhosen off Mr Eggers at it, I dont mind if its on a hill or flat. On the flat, if your good, you'll come out faster than you went in. (A bit like french kissing Mr Eggers I'd imagine....not that I want to imagine it.....)

How about tight on a hill, UPWARDS. Watching Luca do the course at Paris Trocadero the wrong way porves to me that a hill int essential, even at world level for tight slalom. Its all in the pump. One reason why the Brits are so good at tight is because the practise spots were all flat, not through lack of looking, and this translates well to all tight races, whether on a slope or not.

So, all in all, I dont care whether its flat of steep. what annoys me is when people dont set a proper fast tight on a hill because they think it will be too difficult or fast.

The Antibes flat course was fast enough for most people, ask those who had to footbarke hard at the end. Thats one of the joys of slalom, generating your own speed.

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 11:08 am
by Donald Campbell
you're right about antibes.
i made it into the bushes more than once,thanks to the sand being at the end of the course.
it's nice to try to footbrake and find out out that there's sand under your shoes which prolongs the braking.awesome experience hahahahahaha

idon't care if flat or steep just bring it on.

also,on a side note,that was just a genaral question,chris asked.

he's well known in germany for his shredder attitude and he won't back off from anything steep.

Re: 2006 Worlds

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 2:15 am
by Vincent Berruchon
Gary Fluitt wrote:Pierre,
I was not able to make it to Antibes, but I have heard that 2 of the 3 events were held on flat ground, in a car parking area. Is this correct? I feel that the Worlds events must be held on hills, and the bigger the better. Even tight slalom must be on a hill. Cyberslalom is the one exception, but this is not a world championship level discipline I think.
thanks,
Gary
Perhaps not the best post to talk about that but:
I think that one of the reasons why two races were held on a flat ground at Antibes 2004, was that the year before some people complain that the hill was too steep
other reasons: - the tight race was in fact a kind of CyberSlalom that have to be on flat spot - the flat spot was really just near of the beach but also in the city, one of the greatest place to attract "Grand public" on a skateboard race (one of the top places of the French Riviera)

For sure, "La Garoupe", the 2004 GS spot, was steep enough to impress racers not used to slalom on real hills.
I can't find the official website now but here's a few pictures:
Images at Wistiti.fr, part 1
Images at Wistiti.fr, part 2

Image

Like you I was not really attracted by flat races, but these one were really challenging
and I've finished more than once in the bushes at the end of the car park too :D
And now I think that flat race could (and probably should) be part of a big slalom events (definitively needs hills too of course)

But don't worry - 2005 as 2006 will probably be differents
Pierre and the "Antibes Longskate" association can find in Antibes and around a lot of nice spots for slalom (and speed downhill too, if you like that don't forget your speedboard next time you will be in the area ;) )

<Ed note: Links made into shortcuts to make sure the line breaks work out ok. /Jani >

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 9:19 am
by Pierre Samray
Hello all!

Interesting discussion. And as usual everybody is right on few points.

I think a complete champion can be fast on a flat or steep slalom anyway. So a world champion must be the best on the diffferent sort of slalom.

In Antibes this year and next year we'll keep the famous "Garoupe hill"
héhéhé! I see some racers last year tighted their wheels very strong to go less fast!
It's a funny hill, with an incredible view on the sea and long enough to put different slalom.

But we keep the Salice parking for the tight and the nation's slalom. A lot of public can see the race and we can finish the evening with a barbecue party and swim in the mediterannée. Beachs are only 30 meters from the races


Donald! we'll clean the arrival area for you to stop before the bushes :-)

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 11:21 am
by Chris Eggers
Hey Donald not quite true...........I almost backed off from Avila´s hill.......very steep in my opinion, plus I was not prepared for it.

Now this is my personal opinion: I like slalom on all slopes except uphill, too exhausting.

It should not be too steep because Stride´s weight advantage will get too big (Paris was almost, almost too steep, I was only hundredths faster than him against the usual minute), Grueningen is just right, you have the slope AND you have to pump. That is skatebaording slalom.

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 12:32 pm
by Ramón Königshausen
pierre samray wrote:I think a complete champion can be fast on a flat or steep slalom anyway. So a worldchampion must be the best on the diffferent sort of slalom.
rmn

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:59 pm
by Gary Fluitt
I'm happy to compete on flat ground for a discipline such as a Cyber Slalom to prove my ability is this discipline (heck I even beat Stroble at this last year...). I don't think this should be the majority of the events however. As a single event that would be great. But keep the main events, or at least the Super-G, GS, & Slalom, on the hills - where they belong. And I agree that the overall champion should compete in the full spectrum of events from Super G through Cyber or Flatland tight. But there is a spectrum of events here. The Morro Bay Worlds had the best spectrum of events that I've ever seen in Slalom. Super-G on a long hill with a kilometer of gates, Hybrid slalom (Euro GS?) for 300 meters on a medium steep hill, TS on a slight hill for 200 meters, and Cyber on super flat ground (indoor even). These were all varying grades of hills from the Super G hill to flat ground and the overall winner, Jason Mitchell placed in the top 10 of every event. No doubt this was a huge hassle for Jack Smith to set up and tear down four different sites in three different towns, but that's what a World Championship race is, it's a major headache for the organizer and not one that just anyone should sign up to host. I'm not suggesting that Antibes is an inappropriate location. I would love to race there. But I can guarantee that it will be a major disappointment to come to a World Championships mostly held in a parking lot.
Thanks for whoever posted those pictures from Antibes. I think the Garoupe hill is a perfect place for a GS and a Slalom. TS could be in the car park if necessary, and Super G on the Downhill course. If so, I'm ready to book flights for 2006, as will half the American slalom scene I'll wager.
I'm passionate about this because I really DO want to see the Worlds move around to different continents. We can assure this happening if we get the just the right collection of events and locations. It's never to early to plan this, and Pierre, please enlist my help.

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 9:38 pm
by Ramón Königshausen
I'm looking for a "competable" spot in Switzerland. There must be one...all those mountains here... ;-)

rmn

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:03 pm
by Jani Soderhall
The Antibes Garoupe Hill is ideal for all kinds of slalom, except cyber on flat (but that's not a World Championships event).

The current parking lot was fun last year (and probably will be suitable this year too), but The "race" feeling is better on a hill. I also think it's a bit too short and it's not so nice to stop, slide and do all to avoid the bushes.

But I don't think this is something we have to argue much. Pierre is perfectly capable of putting together the right mix of locations and disciplines, especially given that it'll be the third time around. The courses themselves should be set by racers and be adapted to the spot selected. So far most courses are set in advance and I agree that it's probably a good solution, but we should try to work out a way to have the selected riders arrive early and do their job just before the other skaters (they day before, or really in the morning).

Super G on the Antibes Downhill course would be pretty rad, especially if it's made really fast, it's just a pity that there will not be a single spectator, so I think I'll vote for Super G on the Garoupe hill just like last year. The hill is fast enough, it's just not as winding as the downhill course is.

I wonder if there is going to be other candidates for a World Championships in Europe?

/Jani

Canada EH!

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 11:00 pm
by Claude Regnier
One of the Future venues considered has to be Canada as well.

Europe & North America as well as Asia or any other place that competes.

Moving it around is best for everyone.

Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:45 am
by Donald Campbell
antibes for 2006 for sure

pierre has a very good crew and is organized plus he brings the experience with him.
very good proposal for a possible venue.

Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 3:57 pm
by Eddy Martinez
Claude how warm is Canada in September. Good excuse for visiting the in-laws. Eddy Texas Outlaws.

Sept. Weather

Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 4:42 pm
by Claude Regnier
You want nice weather not neccesarily warm, right?

Eddy sounds like the Texas Sizzler was a blast. Congrats! Sorry I missed it. Next Season will be different for me.

Championships

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 6:41 am
by David Baker
I have to agree with Fluit (not just because hes a friend) it is the World Championships. In any sport the World Champoinships is always the most chalenging of any event during the year. That being said, I think there is a place for a flat event in the championships. I believe cyber slalom is a champion ship event. Its like the 100 meter dash. A power sprint. Not everyone finishes a run in the Olympics either... It should be hard.

Like the La Costa boys used to say..."Any time, any where", the true spirit of racing.

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 1:31 pm
by Hans Koraeus
I like "any time, any where" but they forgot "any way you like it". ;-) But I guess that sence is included in the shorter version.

The problem with our World Championships right now (and for some time into the future) is that they are no true World Championships. The goal is to get it there for ourselves and hopefully before that for our sponsors and media. In a true World Championship only the best in the world should be allowed to attend. Then we can talk about increasing the challenge to a true World Champ limit. It won't look good if a big part of the field doesn't make the courses whether it's a World Championship or not. Especially during a World Championship maybe. People do think that the guys in a World Championship are the best in the world. For those who enter that are not, it can hit back on the sport. "Are these guys really the best in the world?". Same goes for all this "World Cup" naming in Europe. Sounds cool to sponsors, sure, but you better live up to it or the World Cup will become an empty word.

I think you should set challenging courses but challenging for the field you have. Already by having true Pro and Am classes running their own courses is a good way towards that. Pro's with a more challenging course than for the Am's.

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 3:29 pm
by Dave Gale
Let's see...some HUGE competitions, that don't lay claim to "World". U.S Open/America's Cup/British Open/Tour De' France/The Masters/Daytona 500/Indianapolis 500/24 hours Lemans, on and on and on...You can be a champion, by prevailing in any of these .But not be the "World Champion" I think in order to be a "World Champion" the competition should have earned the right over an entire season and proven worthy of competing at such a race!

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 4:55 pm
by Christopher Bara
Dave's right....a world championship can be anywhere...but it should only be limited to people who are invited to race....even if there's an A and B bracket.....it should be people who've accomplished something over the course of the season

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 8:09 pm
by Hans Koraeus
I've had this "crazy" idea since a while back about finding a sponsor to invite, let's say, the 20 best pros from the World Ranking to an sunny island early December to battle it out. The Masters in slalom racing. I will aim to be invited as a skate caddie. I.e. carry the skateboards for the pros up the hill and polish their shoes before race.

I agree that the name World is not everything. You can build a respectable name without it but it takes time. When you put in countries in the name I think it becomes big but The Masters/Daytona 500/Indianapolis 500/24 hours Le Mans have built some reputation over the years. It doesn't take 2-3 years to come there. In Europe it may even be dangerous for the events building up reputation with World Cup in their name. What if we suddenly do start a World Cup and they don't get included...

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 8:25 pm
by Etienne de Bary
Spectators are very impressed by flat pumping. During trainings and french-cyber sessions in Daumesnil spot at night a lot of the passerbies actually sit down to stare for a while. Obviously the visible pumping acceleration has something "supernatural" that forces admiration and friendly feelings.
it does in a very different ways than in the steep and fast slope of the Trocadero: in Trocadero people somewhat admire the skill but they keep away from us as they always more or less think we are kind of evil fated nuts. On the slickest tarmac of Daumesnil people come to encourage us and congratulate before leaving, we have lots of chats with old people, rollerskaters, joggers, even dog walking ladies (though that kind always make us nervous.)

A big slope is more exciting for hard boiled racers, but i'm not sure it does such a superior communication job for the sport.

Well if it has to be flat, a good pavement and a moderate ramp would be my wish ;-)

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 8:55 pm
by Christopher Bara
Flat....for a championship race?.......

Racing should be dangerous.......it gives it an edge.....

what makes a better spectator sport?.....track and field or NASCAR and Formula I?......

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 9:01 pm
by Wesley Tucker
Christopher Bara wrote:what makes a better spectator sport?.....track and field or NASCAR and Formula I?......
Well, that depends. Are you a marketing rep for Adidas and Nike or Goodyear and Fina?

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 10:01 pm
by Ramón Königshausen
Racing is competing with other competitors.

rmn

The best

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 11:34 pm
by Jack Smith
At the 2005 Worlds, spectators will see ony the finalists racing on Saturday and Sunday. Qualifying for TS and Slalom will be off site.

Jack Smith
Bocas del Toro, Panama

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 3:29 am
by Hans Koraeus
Jack,
I liked that idea from the first time I saw it. Everybody can race but when we come to promoting and show the sport to the public we show only the best. I think that will give a better a more compact experience for a possible audience. Also more time and less stress. You can use the extra time to build up more of a show around it. In a couple of years we might see cheer-leaders parading down the course inbetween blocks of slalom racing. Let's build a circus! :-)

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 10:26 am
by Etienne de Bary
Christopher Bara wrote:Racing should be dangerous
dangerous, ill reputed, unwelcomeful to beginners, hardly legal...

i have a friend, who is a passionate skater for years, who does not want his kid to own a skateboard.
That's the future we need ?

A really dangerous sport like horseriding, a regularly harmful practice like skiing, even those syringe competitive athletic sports like bicycle or running, are all commonly considered a high level human achievement.
While skateboarding is not even considered a sport.

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 12:44 pm
by Jadranko Radovanovic
Hans,

I like you idea to build first the puzzle pieces and than an international organisation like ISSA, but i think that wouldn't work in our Skate scene.

What we need is that the ISSA define the rules of competitions and build a World Cup Series. The only thing what the World Cup means at our races in Europe is, that there are 5 or more countries represent on a Event.

The idea that the spectators see only the best makes no sense. What we need is more people who riding and goes to the competitions.
What you will show this year in Morro Bay will be "old guy's on skateboard". Sorry for my words, but it's true.

We have enough good quality races in Europe and USA. Why we don't make an World Cup Series? Where you can get the same points at every race. Than you can take the best riders for the World Champs. I think the old system was good for the 70s/80s/90s, but now is the time to change it... The idea of Corky to have an geographical balance is good, but you can't have a balance when there are regions with a few Skateboarders and others with plenty of them.

You all know that is very difficult to organise skateboarders. Why we don't make it as easy as possible. World Cup's and World Championchips. The other races should not count for the World ranking. They can have national ranking. If there are more big races in Europe than in the USA then the Europeans have more races and more chance to be higher in the Ranking. The best 4 or 5 World Cup results can count for the Ranking. That will change when there are more riders in the USA than in Europe...

/J-Rad

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 5:14 pm
by Jani Soderhall
Jadranko,

The good news is that we can have both/all!

- We can have a World Ranking that uses all events of the year.

and

- We can a World Cup series counting only those events in its own "ranking" called.


Ideally the World Championships should be something you qualify to enter, but that's only needed when there's too many competitors and a selection is needed. Unfortunately we're not there yet. Instead we have a system where anyone can enter anything. That means a lot for the individual skaters. I can go to the US, enter the Worlds and race anybody I like. That's pretty cool!

I think the ISSA should get a World Series together for next year. It should be a project of high priority. Howard Gordon wanted it already a few years ago. It's time to get started on it now for the 2006 season. I'll put together a first race organizers meeting in conjunction with the Paris event. The least we should be able to start at that time is a European Series. I'll come back with time and location.

/Jani

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 5:15 pm
by Christopher Bara
I think when Jack was referring to "only the best" he was talking about the world/national/whatever championships...the championships should showcase the best racers available. There are many races throughout the year for anybody to enter and race, but to participate in a CHAMPIONSHIP race, you should be worthy of competing for the title.

Admittedly, i would not be good enough to race in a world championship...no problem....if i'm not fast enough, i dont belong there as a racer. Only the best should be on the course.
As an alternative, you can still have the best in B-class and A-class...it would still represent the sport well.....

But when it's opened up to anybody, the race, in and of itself, cannot be a championship. It can just be the last race of the season, with a heavy point scale

Of course, that's just my opinion

As is my opinion of Flat Slalom being a poor forum for a championship...it takes skill and practice, yes....and it's as much fun to watch as Badminton...

A 'sport without danger' is a 'game'.

by the way, my 6 year old son watches me ride in the street. He's seen me come home from the hill with road rash, scrapes and some big bruises, no problem...when he first started pushing around (with his gear on) i told him he'd fall too...probably get some bruises and bleed a bit.....but shake it off and try again...that's how you learn...it's skateboarding....

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 6:58 pm
by Etienne de Bary
Just wanted to point that this idea that skateboarding is just a dangerous way to waste time is so heavily dominant that even hi skilled mature skaters, people who ride and enjoy riding for decades, will assume it when it comes to their own family. There might be a cost to changing this, if one cares to.
A big slope is exciting, that's no news.

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 7:35 pm
by Hans Koraeus
The skate scene is just like life itself. You can do a lot of things and nothing seems to change. But then suddenly without you knowing about it you do a minor thing that will be the start of a big fire. These small things you tend not notice until they burn your behind.

So what I'm saying is that we never know what things will make a big change. We can just keep on trying doing things, big and small, and in the far future someone will make the judgement of what was the spark that made slalom skateboard racing one of the biggest sports in the world. ;-)

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 7:47 pm
by Wesley Tucker
Hans Koraeus wrote: . . . in the far future someone will make the judgement of what was the spark that made slalom skateboard racing one of the biggest sports in the world. ;-)
Oh, there's no doubt about that: it's the exponential growth of MY international fan base.

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 7:42 pm
by alavoine jean paul
Etienne de Bary wrote: .
At the Trocadero people somewhat admire the skill but they keep away from us as they always more or less think we are kind of evil fated nuts.
.


WICKED!!!

A 340 rat...

Old Guys

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 9:56 pm
by Jack Smith
"What you will show this year in Morro Bay will be "old guy's on skateboard". Sorry for my words, but it's true."

Jadranko, you may be correct. I would love to see some 19 year old kid come out of nowhere and smoke everyone.

I've said it before, we need to stage events for beginners/kids. Most of the races today are geared towards "old guys".

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 10:25 pm
by Ramón Königshausen
I'm 17....;-)

rmn

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 10:27 pm
by Christopher Bara
So you suggest more grass-roots Jack?...there's no doubt that younger skaters who may just be getting into the sport will be intimidated by large events...hell, i am and i'm 40....but still, being relatively new to the sport, it's still a bit intimidating

I thought the Chicago guys did a great job last year. Favero, Sidlo and Cnova had a simple grass roots race, in the park downtown which was easy for the locals to get to...they put up flyers at the local skateparks and on the local website.
About a dozen "non-slalom" skaters showed up...some older, some kids, and they all had a good time....maybe not enough to get them into the sport, but i'm guessing if they do the same this year, the same kids will come back, and this time bring some of their friends.

The atmosphere was good. If the kids only had a street board, we loaned them our boards. The locals sat for a while if they were walking by and watched...even the cops came by and watched for a while. Everybody was civil and they never asked for it to shut down.

I know you've done similar things out west....that's what the scene needs....problem would be that most centrally located areas, like Grant Park in Chicago, would shut down an event like that in an hour. There's no way Detroit cops would let it fly.

But youre right, bring the events to the people, keep it small enough to be welcoming, keep a good vibe amongst the regular slalomers and it will reach new riders

I think park slalom, at least in the states, would have to be the best way to reach allot of skaters all at once...but that's a different game entirely....it's a blast...but it's a whole different game than downhill, or even flat, slalom

Hey Ramon....you're the next gen...Jadranko's young and fast too...what is it that got you guys into slalom?....did you do park or street first?.....what got you interested in cones?

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 10:45 pm
by Donald Campbell
hey ramon....so you are one of those "smokers",eh?

Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:43 am
by Jadranko Radovanovic
Hi Christopher,

i started skating last year in Paris, that was my first race. I only try a few times on chris hart's board. We started organising the Grueningen race in the year 2000 for the first time.

I will try to explain the whole situation. (If you don't understand my english i will write it in German and translate it trough my sister in English)

In switzerland every village has an house who opens two or three times a week for the youth people. And there are an man/woman who work there with the teenegers. Our youth worker start in 2000 an projekt with building slalomboards (i wasn't there because of no interest in slalom). After this projekt there was another projekt to organise a slalom race. In this time this wasn't normal that the youth workers makes projekts with the kids because the monay for the house and all things came from the goverment. After the contest our youth worker was fired no one knows why, but he wasn't in Grueningen anymore. In 2001 we start to organise our second competition and so on, we had many problems with the goverment, because they means we are to young to take responsibility for this and must search a person who are 18 to take the responsibility.

Now they have the problem that the offer from the goverment with the youth house is not enough for the teenegers. Only small groups of teenegers most of them are foreigner take this houses for them. They hang around and do nothing. The other teenegers shun the youth house because there are every time more and more conflicts. The City of Uster (a bigger City 30'000 population) started last year with a new offer. The goverment spend every year 30'000 swiss francs for projects (cultural events) with youth people. The teenegers do all the things allone, make meetings, search for sponsors, and so on. The youth worker is only a coach for them and only if the teenegers have question or when he see that they make somthing wrong. The target of this projects is to integrate the teenegers in the community. No one say what project they must do and how they should do this. The teenegers are 100% free of they decision. I think there is an good artikel write from the unicef in the year 2002.

There are now two things what we do.

1. We make a training for the kids/teenegers here in Grueningen. One time a week we meet us at our race side in grueningen for 2 hours. The kids/teenegers are free if they want come, when they want or not. It's normal that you must motivate them. We have now arround 10 kids/teenegers who skate every day in our small skatepark in Grueningen and they told us that they will try to skate slalom with us.

2. Our second project will be to contact to the youth worker of uster and ask him for a Slalom Skateboard projekt, with building boards and organising an event. The swiss kids/teenegers like sports who aren't mainstream like soccer or hockey.

The unicef say: The kids/teenegers have the rights to inform them, to say what they want and how they want this. Switzerland has sign this convention with the Unicef in 1997 but who they give this rights to the kids/teenegers is inadequately. There are some old politician in the goverment mostly from the right side who not give a damn about the convention. In the convention isn't fix what the geverment have to do, but it's clear that nothing goes without money. I think the solution of the City of Uster is ok. There are 30'000 for the kids/teenegers and the youth house. So they can reach the most of the kids/teenegers. At the same time that is a prevention against alcohol and drugs like mariuhana that the most kids here in switzerland consume.

Here in Grueningen the goverment are all right no one is interested what we have done about the last 6 years with our competition. They never spend some money nothing. Some people told us that we are crazy and other things... They hassle us with the start and end times of the competition. We had discussion with them and the only thing what i told them is: If we don't get the permissions i will go one instance higher to complain about the shit what they do. But there are more and more people who assist us. In the next year 4 of the 7 people from the goverment will left the goverment this is our chance to vote the right person in the goverment and that is what we will do....

Sorry for the long text... and the post on the wrong place...

/J-Rad


PS: i started skating because chris hart told me every time do it, do it, do it, do it. And i want that he quit with the shit and i done it. And it makes fun !!!
see you in Athens

Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:53 am
by Chris Eggers
I have to add:

Jodli (Jadranko) is pretty good at something he did not want to do at first. He has become fast. Fear him.

AND: Many many thanks for 3 years of great times in Grueningen. I hope to make it to the 20th anniversary of this race! Thank you guys, you deserve big respect for the things you have done, thank you. See you in June.

Chris

Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 11:04 am
by Etienne de Bary
As i was a beginner myself, 8) i always insisted that we do the thursday sessions on EASY spots.

i'm always hooking passerbies, those who look happy at seeing us: "- want to try ?", and i suppose i'm not too bad at showing how to push for the first time. Even old people, they say "- Oh no, really, i would hurt myself, i couldn't" but everybody's happy. i invite friends on the sessions.

But the main part is longskaters we drag from the Riderz.net forum, that's good ones, they already know how to ride, all they need to learn is pumping. So lesson N°1 would be not to cut the links with the downhill nation. infiltrate their events is also a good idea, each time we put down cones on a DH event we sell a few decks in the neighborhood in the following monthes, of course we bring much more decks than we need.

Cops, i actually don't remember ever having problems with them [we had them bothering about yhe way our cars were parked on the spot sometimes]. DownHill riders do: if the cop thinks you're about to kill yourself he has to do something...
...Our cops are not your cops...

However a winning tactic is to set up on spots where rollerskaters are already accepted. Which is also good for other reasons: that's generally nice places to meet people and convert them, if it's flat and a narrow set-up, it'll do much better... And it replaces the image of the sport closer to other "normal" practices.

Fear: i have this point of view that fear is useful, when fear tells you you should not do one thing, it's probably right. i say it, and so people feel welcome to tell when they are afraid.
it's like in ski and snowboard: everybody ends up on tracks much too difficult for them, where they develop bad habits and eventually hurt themselves. We're here to have fun in a friendly, respectful and open minded way, not boost our egoes.

look at this :
http://www.debary.nom.fr/book/movies/Ro ... nd.hiQ.mov
Riders you see on this movie : Lau: 3 years ago, he had a skate to go to the baker shop, Allan: 3 Years ago was in hi-school and trying to do the ollie a bit, Fred: would ride only bicycles (but his brother was a skater)

Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 11:35 am
by Etienne de Bary
Jadranko Radovanovic wrote:Sorry for the long text... and the post on the wrong place...
it's Jack's fault ;)

Jack's fault

Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 2:33 pm
by Jack Smith
I accept full responsibilty!

Great responses, keep them coming!

Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 4:51 pm
by Etienne de Bary
Next step might be: setting up easy races, on easy spots with easy starting ramps.

Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:40 pm
by Christopher Bara
Those are good posts from Etienne and J-Rad. It seems to me that it's a whole different mentality in Europe...perhaps without as much media saturation as here in the states, which is unfortuante (for us in America)....these are young skaters who were open minded enough to try a kind of riding other than street and really work at their game.
I met Jadranko in West Virginny and he's a very good skater...not just fast, but he has style too.
I keep reading "how do we grow the sport?" (primarily from the US)...well, there's good skaters out there, but we wont reach them until they see outside of their little boxes and notice there's other forms of skating that are fast and fun. The younger street and park skaters that have taken up slalom do pretty damn good...and they pick it up fast if they WANT to.

Yep, this ties in to Jacks comments.....that it'd be nice to see a young skater come to the championships and knock the old dudes off the throne.....most of us would agree with that.

JRad....see ya in Georgia.....it's gonna be a great race