Discussion: US/CAN team trials
in: Orienteering; General
May 17, 2005 3:08 AM
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I got a bit behind on the Guelph thread, so I missed the discussion about potentially combining US and Candian team trials. I'm assuming that getting to Chicago isn't much worse as far as travel than getting to/from any other spot in Canada. Getting from Chicago to St. Louis is no sweat. So... I suppose it could work.
The conflict with Sage Stomp could be resolved by moving the date one week in either direction. Pro's & cons of each:
May 12-14: Nukes Mothers Day and the mother of my child won't like that much. Also means 4 US A-meet weekends in a row. Probably not good, but doable.
May 27-29 (Sat-Mon due to US holiday): Conflicts with DVOA's ROGAINE which they may or may not be willing to reschedule. Probably not a big intersection between team hopefuls and ROGAINE competitors, but still a significant conflict. Also, weather can get toasty here by late may (although it's still not into the really hot stuff and the Ozark foothills are infinitely more pleasant than the river basins in summer). Probably the better option overall.
If there is very real interest on the part of the Canadians in moving the date and doing a joint trials, I will try to accomodate it. This has to be done fairly soon since the use of S-F needs to be scheduled a year in advance ("Be Prepared" is the Boy Scout motto and they plan their land use accordingly). I'm not sure who handles this on the COF side, but I'd be happy to try to work something out with them.
The conflict with Sage Stomp could be resolved by moving the date one week in either direction. Pro's & cons of each:
May 12-14: Nukes Mothers Day and the mother of my child won't like that much. Also means 4 US A-meet weekends in a row. Probably not good, but doable.
May 27-29 (Sat-Mon due to US holiday): Conflicts with DVOA's ROGAINE which they may or may not be willing to reschedule. Probably not a big intersection between team hopefuls and ROGAINE competitors, but still a significant conflict. Also, weather can get toasty here by late may (although it's still not into the really hot stuff and the Ozark foothills are infinitely more pleasant than the river basins in summer). Probably the better option overall.
If there is very real interest on the part of the Canadians in moving the date and doing a joint trials, I will try to accomodate it. This has to be done fairly soon since the use of S-F needs to be scheduled a year in advance ("Be Prepared" is the Boy Scout motto and they plan their land use accordingly). I'm not sure who handles this on the COF side, but I'd be happy to try to work something out with them.
May 17, 2005 3:50 AM
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PG:
I'd just like to add that there are pushes coming from several directions to get events -- and especially the major events -- scheduled further in advance.
1. Our goal with the Team Trials is to have them scheduled a year in advance. We start trying to line up hosts 18 months in advance.
2. Sandy's calendar is a great resource -- she lists stuff that people are thinking about organizing, even if everything isn't 100% set yet. For planning purposes, it helps immensely.
3. Likewise, Randy as the new chair of the Sanctioning Committee in the US is moving much quicker to deal with requests for sanctioning.
The whole point is to get the major events nailed down well in advance. Then the clubs can plan their local meets around them.
I think it would be great to have an event where both the US and Canada were having their trials. We've actually had our trials in Canada once before, in 1976. I'd be glad to have them there again. But the planning has to be a year or two in advance, not 3 months in advance.
1. Our goal with the Team Trials is to have them scheduled a year in advance. We start trying to line up hosts 18 months in advance.
2. Sandy's calendar is a great resource -- she lists stuff that people are thinking about organizing, even if everything isn't 100% set yet. For planning purposes, it helps immensely.
3. Likewise, Randy as the new chair of the Sanctioning Committee in the US is moving much quicker to deal with requests for sanctioning.
The whole point is to get the major events nailed down well in advance. Then the clubs can plan their local meets around them.
I think it would be great to have an event where both the US and Canada were having their trials. We've actually had our trials in Canada once before, in 1976. I'd be glad to have them there again. But the planning has to be a year or two in advance, not 3 months in advance.
May 17, 2005 6:11 AM
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As I have said before, I would be very interested in being able to attend both the U.S. Team Trials (MO) and Sage Stomp (BC), so I'm all for the joint CAN/US trials proposal. Unless it is a championship, I don't think a rogaine in a different region is much of a conflict.
May 17, 2005 2:23 PM
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The rogaine is actually being conducted by SVO,
not DVOA. Possibly a conflict between hopefuls
and rogaine staff.
In any case, I'm about to call this meet sanctioned
on the requested dates; it was due to be called
yesterday. If there is a chance the
dates will change, you need to drop me a note
(at my home address) asap so I can hold it and run
it thru the committee again if necessary.
not DVOA. Possibly a conflict between hopefuls
and rogaine staff.
In any case, I'm about to call this meet sanctioned
on the requested dates; it was due to be called
yesterday. If there is a chance the
dates will change, you need to drop me a note
(at my home address) asap so I can hold it and run
it thru the committee again if necessary.
May 17, 2005 2:28 PM
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By the way, its SVO hosting that rogaine on May 27-29 2006. We put it on the schedule back in early March 2005, and I have already made my case for not clobbering it with another meet - especially the team trials. Brad Whitmore and I are course setter/meet directors for this rogaine and I can't skip it. The weekend before will be hard enough for me to miss to go to the St. Louis team trials. I had already suggested moving it to May 12-14 (mother's day) but SLOC had a conflict then. I also suggested a swap with West Point for the May 6-7 to save myself the weekend before the ROGAINE for loose ends, but thats just a matter of convenience for me alone. Putting the trials on that Memorial Day weekend would eliminate me from team contention for Denmark.
May 17, 2005 5:00 PM
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A very generous offer from Eric Buckley but there are clearly consequences to trying to move things around even a year in advance. If we're ever going to organise joint trials as a matter of routine, the COF will have to get much better at scheduling their events a year or more in advance first. Though my impression is it's not the COF proper but the individual clubs that aren't planning meets that far in advance. Though for a one-time thing, the near certainty that a large number of US elites would show up might well be good enough bait to make some Canadian club commit to a date for spring 2007. If the number of US M-21s and F-21s who were trying out for the team (let alone those running those categories but not wanting to go to Japan) had showed up at the Gator Cup, it would have added on the order of 50% to the meet's attendance.
May 18, 2005 2:31 AM
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OK, well, it was just a thought. We'll stick to just US trials on the May 19-21 dates. I do hope that something can be worked out in the future where all the NA elites are in one place competing for a meaningful honor at one time. NA Champs does this to some extent, but I think team trials would draw a stronger field.
This discussion thread is closed.