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Alot of changes are on the way for the next year, but let me tell you I don’t know if we are going in the right direction!!!
First, at the meeting I was at today the HCBMX meeting, Matt stated that next year will be his last, OK, he has been at for awhile, and needs a break. So now time comes to pick another track operator, they do, I’ll let them make that announcement.
After that annoucement is made teh schedule is worked out, now taking into consideration other big races is important, but the future TO twice stresses the importance of getting riders to these races. OK
Then it is brought up that another track, that is going to be part of the state series might wanna consider moving it’s race day to sunday, since they will be in the NJ series, so HCBMX can get some of their riders on sat, again the idea of the future TO
HOW ABOUT, getting your own riders through hard work, as opposed to stealing them, through extortion, but rather putting flyers out to attract new ones. Ohhhhh wait, we could do that but someone might get sued
HOW ABOUT, not worrying about the regional program , and focussing on the local program
Now for my regularly schedulled break to bang my head against a wallGrow the local program to hell with nationals and regionals. Being raised on the nbl philosophy is a sure fire way to crush your local program.
The importance is NEVER to get our riders to big races, the importance is to get NEW riders to OUR races.
What is the freaking problem here?i know where you are comin from with” to hell with national/ regional schedule”.. but in reality if you want to keep the more competitive riders you have to keep the nat schedule in mind. not scheduling a state race on the weekend of a close national race is just good planning. unless you dont care about having a good turnout at the state races or having the faster riders participate on state teams ( which i hear is coming back with a vengence for 07 in nj…?) the local program is the most impt aspect in growing the sport i agree with you but you have to realise you will never get the riders to stop going to nationals. its a natural progression. rookies start out, get faster, turn expert then look for more comp, points…. national ranking… yada yada…just because you older riders have a decent class in just say 35x dosnt mean they do in 16x.
just my 2 cents.
dont let your anger at the nbl make it hard for the local riders or you will lose them once they dont have comp anymore locally.
you should keep the track going(locals) on a national weekend but like i said keeping the state races on other weekends just makes more sence.
If we don’t stop focusing on the national scene and focusing on the local this racing will die.
It is already on it’s death bed.
You are looking at things through the eyes of someone who has been doing this for a decent amount of time.
When we raced tracks stayed open no matter what was going on around them, the rider base supports that.
Little johnny gets bored racing the same riders because no one has the sense to say, “gee maybe I should promote this BMX thing, instead of worrying about stopping people from going to nationals or drawing riders from one track to another”.
Unless a national or regional is in this state, no track in NJ should close.
Bottom line.i agree they shouldnt close the tracks but think about it this way…. did phil get as fast as he is today by only racing at howell?
when we started going to different tracks for bigger races the locals didnt ever close. then as the more experienced riders want to venture out their parents go with them and if that person happens to be running registration then you are stuck. by the time the new riders parent gets into the local volunteer scene enough to be left alone to run things/ such as regis/ gate starting etc their kid is ready to venture into the national scene… see what i mean? its bound to happen eventually.
i think that each track should have 3 people who can do and be in charge of the reg jobs such as registration/ gate start/ scoring/ in case the reg person is not there that weekend there is always someone else to fill in.
you should keep the track going(locals) on a national weekend but like i said keeping the state races on other weekends just makes more sence.
I should reallly learn to read someones full post before posting…
Like you said above exactly, in fact 1 step further, maybe half the state qualifiers should be on weekends when a national is close so people who might not have a chance to win, do get a chance.That remains a problem, it seems that the only people who have always been taking a real interest in this have been those whose kids get “real good”, then they take over at tracks, then they go to nationals..then you have the whole, “the track has to close for lack of volunteers”. YOu have to ask yourself at some point where do my loyalties lie?
Growing MY track or the national scene.You have a lot of good ideas.
so what do yu suggest send the kid on a bus to the national so the parent stays home to work the local?
doubt that would fly with many parents even parents of the 16-19 crowd.
the reason many people enjoy the sport esp with a son/daughter is that it is a family sport. family being the operative word here. i for one would not choose running a local while my child is off racing in another state. one trip to the er will convince any parent of that….
i dont know what the answer is but trying to convince folks not to do nationals may be a waste of energy.
having a core group of volunteers who can fill in when others decide to travel is a more realistic idea…
:wink:!
having a core group of volunteers who can fill in when others decide to travel is a more realistic idea…
or….
maybe the core group (and some of us older riders who aren’t stressin on nats) should be in charge, and the parents of kids who do nationals as back up.Like a progression,
just getting in..taught to run locals.
experienced individuals off to race nats.But all of this requires…..more new riders.
Which leads full circle to promote the local scene.
10,000 flyers will not be a problem.no one has to tell them to close. i am not for that at all. i think having riders run the races may be difficult. what rider do you know that will sit in registration instead of practice before a local race, or run the gate? they want to ride the track and practice. they cant score either. ask dave its even hard to announce when you race. the riders need to race/ ride that leaves parents to work the race.
if someone has a better idea im all ears.
dont get me wrong i am not for closing tracks for regionals/ nationals. i am just saying not to go against the close ones with state qualifiers if you have a choice. they never used to do it when mullica hill made 4 tracks that gave us 8 state qualifiers for the state series. they had the same amt of regional/ nationals too…the tracks should be open just run locals on those weekends if possible thats all.
torrington for example ( and i am sorry for beating a dead horse but its the best example i can use) never closes for nats / regionals they build up their locals as if they were an entity unto themselves, as if they were the only track on the planet. come hell or high water they have their locals. but they have riders who only go there, some of them dont even race other tracks in ct… because they have a local base of riders… local not an hr away… parents who live 10 mins away who run things. that is key i think. but they wouldnt run a warrior series race/ state race against just say the eht national. its just common sence.
i think nj can do both… build the rider base with the flyers and all the new promo stuff for 07 while keeping the tracks old timers happy plus build in the excitement with the new up and coming pro/am series. i think we can pull it off.
the locals are an entity unto themselves.
In our time track operators were usually not people who’s kids raced nationals all over the country. This allowed the track to be open on national weekends.
Closing ANY NJ track for a race like say south park is just not smart. South park is 6 hours away!Debbie, I think where you misunderstand me is when I say riders. You sort of immediately assume I mean people who race that day or hardcore running all over hitting big races and locals and doing the whole, race, race , race thing.
What I am saying is anyone who rides, you sorta realize Matt and his wife are considered riders…The both have hit the dirt and raced and I’m sure Matt would prefer to be pedaling the jumps at times.
Back to my freestyle tirades and analogies that you racers so love.
In the dark days of freestyle, do you know who ran the contests, judged and promoted everything? If you guessed the freestylers themselves, you’d be right.
Going by present assumptions it should have been, well who the heck would want to do all that, freestyle guys just want to practice on the ramps and get their skills down before a contest. We changed that mentality because it became obvious that freestyle needed to have the riders way more involved in the direction of the sport.Again, I’m not anti-parent, I am pro rider involvement. I swear we know what we are doing, and we are the people who want to harm BMX in any way the least. It’s sort of…”why have an awards ceremony at a ramp-park?”…because the guys and gals who ride….like to ride…
i guess i just assume that the people who are there are there to race. i dont know too many racers who are there to volunteer( besides you) and not race. riders racers its all the same to me when you look for a core of volunteers you need someone who will be there every week to do a job(dependable) i cant see howell swapping all their volunteers( i use this as an example as they seem to have the most volunteers) who are presently parents for racers or riders who are there for the daywho dont plan to race….
if you have a group of people in mind for every track then correct me if i am wrong i just dont see the numbers. the only people i see at the races who are riders/racers that would be avail are the people who come to practice and not race and they leave once practice is done ( but this yr that was not allowed in some tracks and is not allowed in most other states if you dont pay to race you dont practice)
i would love to think there is this group of people just there to volunteer but basically if your kid isnt racing/or you arent racing you arent there unless the track is in your local area. would be nice but i dont see it happen.
as far as the racers who chase nationals goes.. if you dont want racers to do that then you may as well stop the state series as well and get rid of the motivation or stop setting goals. thats all it is really when yo uthink about it.most riders have an idea of what they want to achieve weather its trying for the #1 nj plate or the top 10 national or going to make the main at the worlds..they still ride but in the process they improve and want to test their skills.. whatever drives you is your motivation to improve. im sure there is a % of riders who just go to “ride” and are not there for competition but i think that is a minority. i am not saying its right or wrong it seems to be the case. the younger kids race for a trophy, as they get better that “trophy” changes…. it may not be visable but it often turns into an individual acomplishment of some sort.
i say to each his own.
Peace
I think what we are both saying…
iswe need more people.
Which I think we are both saying, can only be done by promoting the sport more.
Not by shutting one track down so another tracks riders can move from…track to track.
I just feel like we keep saying the same thing to each other in a different way.
and…
are you a hippie?
posting peace signs,….jeesh, LOL
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