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Post by schlager7 on Sept 4, 2008 23:26:28 GMT -6
In my email tonight...Dear clubs, coaches, parents and fencers, Based on high number of participants in prior RYCs, successful organization skills by the clubs and giving the opportunity to clubs and division to host regional youth circuits in new areas, the following RYC schedule have been set for the 2008-2009 season: RYC #1 (and SSCC#2) November 1st and 2nd Fort Worth, Dallas Registration: askfred.net/Events/Prereg/existingFencer.php?tournament_id=6085 RYC #2 (and SSCC#3) January 10th and 11th Bayou City, Houston RYC #3 (and SSCC#5) March 28th and 29th or April 4th and 5th Salle Mauro, Houston RYC #4 May 16th and 17th Salle De Long, El Paso All South West Regional Youth Circuits will roll toward youth point standing. This list will be listed in www.askfred.net under point standings. Non- Southwest region youth fencers are eligible for the RYC points standings. However, only top three SW youth men and women are eligible for end-of-season prizes in each weapon and each age categories. Participation, consistency and placement throughout the entire season will be rewarded at the last RYC (El Paso). Look forward to your participation and support in the development of youth fencers! Sincerely, Margaret De Long, LAT' SW Youth Coordinator 2900 Lake Spier Dr. El Paso, TX 79936 (915) 346-4338
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Post by fox on Sept 5, 2008 6:45:58 GMT -6
The big events keep getting bigger...
I'm curious, though. Separately, an SSCC or an RYC makes for a pretty busy weekend. Lots of events and fencers. Lots of need for strips and referees.
I duno. It just seems awfully ambitious.
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Post by jazz007 on Sept 5, 2008 6:59:51 GMT -6
To whom it may concern,
This issue is currently under discussion by the SSCC Commission. Concerns have been expressed by parents, fencers, coaches, and tournament personnel that hosting RYCs in conjuction with SSCC events will negatively affect the experience of everyone involved, especially by attempting to divide resources between Youth and Senior fencers, of each of which there are MANY!
The North Texas event was submitted as a combined event and agreed to by the SSCC Commission as an experiment, based on the long tournament experience of its organizers. NO other event proposed adding an entire RYC. In accordance with the 2007-2008 Operations manual, the Commission must be notified of these in advance: Article 3.03 LOCs may hold additional events that are not designated SSCC events, provided they do not interfere with the smooth running of SSCC events in the judgment of the SSCC Commission. Such events should be communicated as part of the contract of participation.
We are in the process of discussing this issue, as well as contacting the Local Organizing Committees for these events to determine their role in this decision, before discussing the issue further. Please send all questions, comments, and concerns for the SSCC Commission to j.ailshire@gmail.com who is serving as the primary point of contact for the SSCC.
Regards, Jaimie Ailshire Assistant Managing Director, SSCC Commission Secretary, Southwest Section of the USFA
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nemo
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Post by nemo on Sept 5, 2008 8:35:06 GMT -6
Merge an SSCC with an RYC?
Yeesh!
Why not just bid on a NAC?
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kb
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Post by kb on Sept 5, 2008 11:42:55 GMT -6
Holy Mother of Pearl. While we have the BC/computing power in the SWS to run a double tournament, will we have the referees and the space to run them in a timely fashion? Some of our referees also coach the smalls-that could be an issue with two tournaments on the same weekend?
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Post by schlager7 on Sept 6, 2008 7:20:34 GMT -6
My concern is the same as kb's.
In the Gulf Coast Division we generally run the requisite one SSCC per season. We also often run 2 RYCs and one SYC per season. In each of these type of events we are generally drawing the same referees from the same talent pools.
Combining the RYCs and SSCCs (at least three times per season) will call for a much deeper draw, repeatedly.
I am not saying it can't be done (or even done well), but I would like to know how intently have those responsible looked into this issue. Do we have the resources?
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kb
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Post by kb on Sept 7, 2008 9:24:52 GMT -6
After some thought...
We might have the resources...but barely. There are some issues that are very limiting.
The January date is the weekend before a NAC. How many section refs will be working the NAC and will they be able to commit to working the SSCC/RYC event as well? I'm thinking not many doing the NAC will have the freedom to do two long weekends in a row. Remember that RYCs also run on a Friday. Using the younger directors won't be possible b/c so many of them are in school on Friday.
Second is venue space/ length of days. An RYC fills BCFA, as would a well-attended SSCC. When running those tournaments separately, they can be finished at a decent hour. Due to the number of events running simoultaneously, that would make for some long days.
Since kids are more "awake" in the mornings, would the Y10/ Y12 crowd mind starting to fence between 7-8 a.m.? That would make registration starting at 6 a.m. at the latest. Long day for refs working both events, not to mention armory, registration, BC, etc.
Will the seniors mind starting later and finishing later? What about a Friday night event? That would cut into senior travel time.
Could we find/afford a larger venue? The only things bigger would be those that cost mega-bucks to get in to. Also an increased volunteer staff to set up and tear down.
What about tacking on a ref clinic? Could we do that to increase the ranks over the weekend? Can we afford to bring in some out of section refs?
I also have questions about registration fees, accounting and volunteers.
We'd need to take a hard look at the whole thing and get firm committments from all parties involved before saying "yes".
Of course if the SSCC officials say no, then discussion over.
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Post by DavidSierra on Sept 7, 2008 19:35:12 GMT -6
Remember that RYCs also run on a Friday. Using the younger directors won't be possible b/c so many of them are in school on Friday. A point of correction. >RYCs< are two day events. >SYC< tournaments are three day. No events would be run on Friday. The rest of your points are valid.
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Post by schlager7 on Sept 7, 2008 21:57:19 GMT -6
Does not the SSCC Ops Manual require that Saturday events finish by a certain time? And Sunday events by a slightly earlier time?
It may not be a question of what fencers are willing to do, but what the SSCC requires.
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nemo
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Post by nemo on Sept 7, 2008 23:09:04 GMT -6
Does not the SSCC Ops Manual require that Saturday events finish by a certain time? And Sunday events by a slightly earlier time?
Yes (and I pulled this off your own rogue site's "Documents" page). "The LOC is free to set the competition schedule for the tournament, provided it is limited to 2 days of competition, fencing is scheduled to be completed by 7pm on Saturday and 5 pm on Sunday, and the required events are held."
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Post by schlager7 on Sept 8, 2008 8:23:34 GMT -6
At this point let me add that, while it sounds like a real meat-grinder of a day (or two), I do believe that an RYC and an SSCC can be successfully merged.
Why someone would wish to is a bit beyond me, but to each their own.
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Post by Aldo N on Sept 8, 2008 8:39:40 GMT -6
I don't know where the Dallas folks plan to set up their combo events, but I would think Lepie's place and Rice are more than large enough for anything this side of a NAC.
My question is this. What is the benefit of so large a tournament?
Since the resource question is a serious one, what is the reward of creating a combined RYC-SSCC?
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Post by DavidSierra on Sept 10, 2008 7:15:56 GMT -6
I don't know where the Dallas folks plan to set up their combo events, but I would think Lepie's place and Rice are more than large enough for anything this side of a NAC. Maybe, maybe not. We're talking the potential for multiple events running at the same time using 5-6 strips. No individual event is massive, but put enough medium sized ones at the same time and you can quickly run out of space. My question is this. What is the benefit of so large a tournament? Since the resource question is a serious one, what is the reward of creating a combined RYC-SSCC? For us in DFW, we operate under a slightly different set of tournament economics than you folks in GC. To put it simply, we have no free venues that we can get easy access to that will support a large SSCC or a large RYC by their own. The free venues (or reasonably cheap) we can get will hold about 4-6 strips maximum. Also, the SSCC and RYC events in DFW are historically significantly smaller. [Side note: They also attract fencers from a fairly wide area. Last year at our RYC, we had people from STX, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Amarillo... Interestingly, we had almost no-one from GC. That is not to critique anyone, that is merely just to point out the fact that GC has two opportunities for kids to fence in RYCs, so they don't need to travel as much as everyone else.] So, in order for DFW to put on a strong, successful large tournament, we've got to find a way to be able to afford the venue needed to house it. So, after some brainstorming, we came up with the idea of doing an SSCC and an RYC together. We researched the heck out of it, and put together a very strong plan. Note, I say "we." This endeavor is being put on by two clubs working together, with the strong and active support of the Division. All all of the proceeds will go into the Wang Scholarship fund. The venue we have is a pretty good sized (but still not huge) space at the Will Rogers Memorial Complex - and you don't want to know how much that space is costing us. We're pulling in the best referees and BC staff possible, and that is only possible because of the many years of work I have personally done building relationships with those people. Its going to have all metallic strips and hopefully all scoring machines will have score and timing displays (that is a little trickier, but we're trying). The only way to pull this off is to make it big and strong. Why do that? Well, it benefits our fencers to have a strong event in their backyard. Our folks travel all over - a LOT, and we don't have a strong, large event in our Division, despite having some of the best fencers in the region. Its worth it to us to put in the work to do it to benefit our fencers. That is why its worth it to us to do it. And we had to convince a lot of people that we were capable of it, and overcome a lot of resistance to the idea. We did it by showing immaculately researched and organized plans. I'm not saying that the two clubs in GC >can't< do a combined SSCC-RYC. But, they also have the luxury of not >having< to do so. We'll see how it goes!
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Post by katyblades on Sept 14, 2008 18:45:11 GMT -6
It will work, and you just need to plan it. You are now thinking outside the box, and you will see the sport and events benefit from your thinking. We had multiple 100+ events in Houston, (Rice), and had pools to the top 16 with DEs. Finished in time for the party that night. 4 or 5 rounds of pools for a single event with multiple events, and the party was at my apartment complex's gameroom. It can be done.
I think what David has started is very good. It gives the students an opportunity to see their coaches participate if they do, either as a ref or fencer. They see the better fencers, (hopefully, but those Y14 fencers are tough see Jack Hudson or Craig Parker).
It just needs the events planned. They have a history, and if they can count on numbers within reason they are fine. If things expand they can limit the SSCC or move the times.
Assign a separate person for the SSCC and the RYC bout committee and computer. Assign individuals to run the events, check the strips and make certain the events don't bog down.
Injuries can hurt your timing, electrical problems, strip problems, etc. You just plan the best you can and go on.
At the Olympic Festival in Houston, Carla Mae was raking over the Houston organizers because the provided coffee machine broke, (actually bent and would not heat correctly). Refs without coffee. I sent Mike Kowalski to buy coffee and hoped they would reimburse me. I promised Carla Mae it would be fixed in 30 minutes, and that was the end of it.
There will be individual issues. They can fix them as they come up. It is not rocket science, or programming life safety computers or breaking into Michael Bloomberg's data (legally). It is just fencing.
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Post by schlager7 on Oct 8, 2008 6:26:43 GMT -6
an update found in my email...The following dates have been designated for 2008-2009 RYC tournaments: Date Division Host club Location Contact Nov.1-2 North TX FIT Dallas, TX Brenda Waddoups Jan. 10-11 Gulf Coast BCFA Houston, TX Louise Lepie Mar. 7-8 North TX GBFC Dallas, TX Mohamed El Sakhawy Mar. 28-29 Gulf Coast SM Houston, TX Mauro Hamza or Apr. 4-5 May 16-17 Border TX SDL El Paso, TX Margaret De Long Preregister for RYC#1 Nov. 1st and 2nd. Deadline Oct. 16 askfred.net/Events/Prereg/existingFencer.php?tournament_id=6085Questions? Email Margaret De Long, SW Regional Youth Coordinator at salledelong@elp.rr.com
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nemo
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Post by nemo on Nov 23, 2008 11:14:39 GMT -6
I looked at the pdf file that is on the USFA site. I saw the SYC at BCFA next spring, the Wang Memorial in Ft. Worth (just recently held) and the Gold Blade RYC now in January. Looking back... an update found in my email...The following dates have been designated for 2008-2009 RYC tournaments: Date Division Host club Location Contact Nov.1-2 North TX FIT Dallas, TX Brenda Waddoups Jan. 10-11 Gulf Coast BCFA Houston, TX Louise Lepie Mar. 7-8 North TX GBFC Dallas, TX Mohamed El Sakhawy Mar. 28-29 Gulf Coast SM Houston, TX Mauro Hamza or Apr. 4-5 May 16-17 Border TX SDL El Paso, TX Margaret De Long I see the ones to be hosted by Mauro and Louise in the spring half of the season are now MIA. Is the USFA schedule just a partial? Did the SSCC axe the RYC halves of Lepie's and Hamza's tournaments? Did Margaret get in a hissy? Her RYC is also among the missing. Palace coup?
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Post by fox on Nov 24, 2008 13:54:02 GMT -6
Charming. The RYC Wars continue...
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nemo
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Post by nemo on Nov 25, 2008 18:36:32 GMT -6
Charming. The RYC Wars continue... Actually, it is entirely possible that the schedule posted on the USFA site is only a partial. I guess we should grateful even that much was up.
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Post by DavidSierra on Nov 26, 2008 10:07:01 GMT -6
Apparently a new Youth Coordinator has been hired at the National Office. That should help a lot.
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