- Dec 14, 2009
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There is a world of difference between sponsoring and hosting an event. ALL major sporting events have sponsors. But when was the last time you saw a high school basketball team win a state championship HOSTED by Reebok? Sponsorship helps the business because they get free advertising--and helps the event because a profitable company pays for the high cost, while a different, non-profit-gaining group takes care of fairness and regulations.
I'm just going to say it...so I'm prepared for the blasting I'm going to get: If you're an event producer, the way you make money is by having a LOT of athletes sign up for your competition. Not a lot of gyms, not a lot of teams. A lot of athletes--since that's how the current system works. We pay by athlete, not gym or team. Soooooo...if you have 15 gyms come to your competition (wouldn't that be nice?:rolleyes:) and one brings 52 kids and one brings 652 kids...a good business decision would be to have that GIANT gym take home some trophies, no? Because you sure want that 652-kid gym coming back next year. Suddenly we have a not-so-fair judging process...and THIS is why people say this isn't a sport. People who determine results should not be profitting from a competition. So now take another look at our biggest "National" events--they are FILLED with huge, big name gyms. Not saying AT ALL that those gyms aren't talented, awesome, etc., but doesn't it speak volumes for our sport when the very people profitting the MOST from the number of people coming to their competitions are also the same people deciding who gets the bids? Those decisions should be made by one group of people who don't stand to gain anything by who they pick as winners.
But I digress...back to topic. YES, there are too many competitions...:)
Your point has been argued many times in the past. I still have the wounds to prove it....lol. But fixing the jusging process is a different thing than addressing too many competitions.
This is why I suggested in the past that the judging aspect be totally removed from USASF or the event producers. One organization trains and certifies judges, EP requests them (not who but simply judges - this removes favoritism from this area as well) from USASF. This is a criteria of the USASF sanction. USASF requests from the judging organization for a USASF sanctioned competition. Judging organization selects judges based on experieince, training, cost to EP, availibility, etc. EP submits any issues particular to their company to the judging company in enough time for them to forward them to the judges assigned to the event to study. Judges meet with EP before the event to make sure all are clear.
If there are judging issues at the event a formal complaint is filed with the judging organization and USASF. If proved, that judge is retrained, suspended or not sent out by the judging organization to further competitions. Likewise if judges are pressured by EP to adjust scores to favor any team/program they can file complaint with USASF. If proven that EP loses sanction for certain events for a certain time or if bad enough permenantly. It is not perfect and requires more steps but it would go a long way to address most judging issues.