I want to host my own skimming contest, just with a few freinds and stuff around the neighborhood competing for a new board. How should it be juged, It’s gunna be a puddle contest where theres no waves to ride, so there would be sliders and ramps and things. The only solution I can think of is giving certan tricks certan point values and jsut adding up the total after like two minutes or so.
What do you guys think? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.
sounds good to me. maybe talk to a local shop owner and see if they want to give you a little press. and he and some other guys could judge it.
you need :
copious amounts of alcohol
copious amounts of teenage girls to cheer contestants on
a rock’n’roll band
a podium
either bleachers or lawn chairs
plywood kickers and skate rails
tow-in event involvin your friends ford taurus
if you combine these ingredients you will have a good contest the first year, and by next year the word will have spread and youll have a riot on your hands.
you need :
copious amounts of alcohol
copious amounts of teenage girls to cheer contestants on
a rock’n’roll band
a podium
either bleachers or lawn chairs
plywood kickers and skate rails
tow-in event involvin your friends ford taurus
if you combine these ingredients you will have a good contest the first year, and by next year the word will have spread and youll have a riot on your hands.
And, unfortunately, in these times, probably copious amounts of liability insurance.
First question is, do you have that many friends you can afford to lose?
See, for everybody who wins, somebody else and more likely several somebody elses lose. The winner will be happy for a week or so, and all the others will have at least a small grudge forever. That’s one -
Who ya gonna get to judge it? Preferably not you, as then the level of ‘ticked off’ among those who don’t win goes from small grudge to ongoing feud. Preferably not any friends of yours either. Or local surf shop people, who should already know this stuff. Some Dimwit from a magazine or what have you is good, they are assumed to have some knowledge of the stuff and at the same time they are not especially local, so they don’t have any friends among your contestants. Thing is, your judges have to be perceived as absolutely neutral. Locally here, the _______ Surfing Association surf contests tend to be run and won by the same people… and their credibility stinks. You don’t need that problem, believe me.
Let’s see - where ya gonna have it? As MTB mentioned, liability issues surface. Cities and towns don’t want those issues. And no liability waiver really prevents you from getting sued, or them from getting sued even if the case is ludicrous…and you or they have legal fees to deal with in any event. You REALLY don’t want that. Associating your contest with one of the amateur surf associations who already have multi-million dollar liability policies is about the only way to get a venue to have it in if there is any local government involvement at all, unless you know somebody and have compromising pictures of them. On federal/National Park/National Seashore beaches, it’s worse, and they cut no slack at all.
Running it under the radar/outlaw? Well, that’s nice to think about, but if the cops show up it gets ugly, and the lifeguards WILL call the cops if there is even the faintest hassle. And if one of your ‘contestants’ gives a cop some lip, well, it’s open season on you and they will prosecute you for anything they can dream up. Legal fees part 2.
Booze/beer/ganja/whatever- anybody even close to your wee shindig gets a little lit and takes his skateboard into a parking meter ( or drives their Stupid Useless Vehicle into a carload of nuns or anything in between ) you get sued. It may be an asinine lawsuit, but you have to prove it’s asinine, you have to prove that the nitwit with the parking meter print on his forehead had nothing to do with you or your contest. And that ain’t easy.
Ok, what else - PA system and something to power it, prizes and t-shirts ( so every contestant goes away with at least something and that way maybe they don’t firebomb your car), different color versions of the same t-shirts for your judges and officials and other useful riff-raff , giveaway goodies donated by whoever is on your list, sponsors ( whose names/logos go on the t-shirts), some sort of first aid people/lifeguards, someody to announce it who knows all the contestants, a reasonably sane thug or two to keep things from getting lifted or getting out of control. Someplace to do the awards at the end of it all, clipboards and forms and pens for the various entries, divisions, etc, master list plus a copy for every judge plus a copy for your announcer. Tickets, entry forms, cashbox, change. A cheezy database like the one in MS Works is nice for doing your heat sheets/divisions, by the way. Plus the jokers who always turn up at the beach.
Smart move #1 is to hand out the t-shirts when the whole thing is over, they gotta give you a ticket to get a shirt or get checked off your master list. Make 'em in one contestant color, large and X-large only. Minimum number of colors in the design itself, cuts production costs way down.
Do it like you planned on having one every year forever. Any profits you get you should donate to the local beach manager’s ( and every town/city has one ) favorite charity. That may help you get the use of the beach in the first place and if so then maybe you get it the next time. Said charity may let you run under their arrangement for liability insurance and such, if they have benefit contests or races or walk-a-thons run for them. You see a road race or something of that sort locally being run as a benefit, ask one of the organisers questions. Get permission to mention said charity when you are publicising and such, makes life less hassle and doors open up for ya.
Have a CLEANUP CREW!!! I can’t emphasize that too much. Leave the beach a mess and life gets difficult. All the way up to and including random stops and searches by the local cops.
Yah. Not nearly as easy as you might think. And a whole lot bigger than you planned on. And yes, i have had my share of contest organising. Been there, done that… and yes, I have lots of the t-shirts.
doc…
Howzit doc, As one who has been doing contests ( organizing, judging, etc) for over 30 years I'll say you've hit the nail on the head. The days of just pulling up to the beach and sending the surfers out is over . I want thank you for saving me the trouble of posting the info since you've covered the bases. Just did the first of 4 contests yesterday that was sponsored by a co.called Split who I'd never heard of but they did it right since they had the Hanalei Surf co do the work, Yeah I've also got a lot of contest tee's. Aloha,Kokua
Thanks for the kind words, Kokua. Yeah, things that were simple have kinda expanded, and what you hoped was gonna be a small, no-hassle get together with friends becomes this big unwieldy thing with masses of strangers at it doing stuff you wouldn’t dream of.
Anybody who does a lot of them has a non-profit corporation stuck in there someplace or else is sticking their neck out big time in our litigious world.
Guy locally did a contest mostly for locals, at a spot that was inacessible except by four wheel drive and even then only by people who had a town sticker, the thing was set up as a benefit for the parks and rec dept of the town it was in ( the beach comission) , flew in judges from out your way ( for judging that was unbiased ) …and I really hope he didn’t lose his shirt. Good guy, but we were all holding our breaths hoping nobody would take him to the cleaners one way or another.
I have been involved with a nonprofit non-contest for the last 30 years or so that benefits a couple of college scholarships and Big Brothers&Big Sisters, and we got sued more than once. Liability insurance is, shall we say, literally prohibitive. And my name isn’t on any paper, anywhere… and I like it like that.
Doc… ducking and weaving…
On top of Doc & Kokua’s fine comments you need ----
SPONSORSHIP
---- big time. It costs $$$ to set it up and no one in the surf industry will give you credit, (for good reason) a you won’t find and you certainly won’t find an insurance company who will either.
Wow, thanks alot doc, kokua and dman, I think I could write a book now… or you guys could. Thanks for all the help.
So your saying, when everyone who enters checks in, they get a t-shirt, then I need a good, unbiased juge, a good sponsor, no alcohol, try and ascociate it with someone else who has good liability plans and invested alot of money into making a good program, don’t hold it on a state beach or protected beach because they cut no slack in terms of liability, we don’t have lifeguards at our texas beaches so I don’t think theres going to be any to call cops on us, but there will still be other people; give away prizes and lots of tshirts for juges and stuff, a PA, some sort of heat sheet making method, tickets and entry forms, somewhere to put cash and change, donate money made from the contest to a local charity, make sure I really clean up, and make sure it stays under control.
Sounds like a lot of work, I think you got me to reconsider. Another one of your points was, “someone wins and is happy for a week or so, but the rest have a lifelong grudge…” how could I avoid this? The goal of it was just to have a fun thing that me and my freinds could go compete for something, and then maybe a few other people, but it sounds like you are convincing me that thats not gunna happen. Besides just inviting a bunch of people to the beach for fun and go have fun for a day, I think that you’re trying to tell me that it’s just going to be a big mass of liability, grudges, a big mess, alot of money, and alot of work to set up. Did I miss anything?
Thanks for all your help, your comments were greatly appreciated, but I think that comming from some people with experince doing these for longer than I’ve been alive I think I could try and think more about it and spend a longer time planning and organizing, and most likley if I ever do one it’s probally not going to be in the near future.
…a country outside of america , by the sound of it.
Somewhere where FUN is still allowed …
well…there might be a way. For instance, first thing ya do is lose the idea of ‘contest’. Instead, call it an ‘expression session’ or something. No judges, nobody wins or loses, everybody gets at least a t-shirt and anything bigger you raffle off. Get sponsors, shake them down for money and prizes. Anybody who buys a ticket gets entered in the raffle. Sell lots of tickets that way.
If it’s not a competition, then maybe the sponsors could take a bigger hand and cover some of your liability, which will be less in any event. See who runs surf contests down your way, Gulf Surfing Association still active? Lots of stuff you can do…but it is a lot of work and there is quite a bit of money involved. Believe me on this one, even for the dinky thing I am involved in it’s two guys working at least half-time for two weeks and a bunch more for a couple of days- and that’s after 30+ years and we have it down. First time is most definitely a hassle.
Sorry to stick ya with bad news, but hey, better that than you suddenly discovering it the hard way…
doc…
How about…
no contest at all…
’ Plan b’ …
get your mates together, [and I guess, anyone else interested], video them , go back to your place and watch the video and have food and drinks…
IF they REALLY still want to judge, let them award points for manouevres, [or style, or length of ride, or originality, or fancy dress , or tandem, or their pets skimboarding…whatever !!] , based on the footage…you can see it in slow motion that way…
… sound good, or not ?
just my aussie 5 cents …
ben
I really like that idea doc, I think thats whats going to happen then. Everyone signs up, gets a tshirt, have fun for a while, and then raffle off some prizes. I’ll let everyone know how it goes!
we want pictures , man. Go for it!
I could get a movie up on my site then link to it when it happens… Hows that for pictures?
Ohhh yeah, that would DEFINITELY do it. Hee, if a pic is worth a thousand words, a video may get into six figures.
Hey Deathfrog,
Take a look at this site: Wild Bill’s Wakeboard Contest
A close friend of mine has this event every year and he started just as you’re talking about. It’s hosted in Avalon NJ, which is a really uptight town. If it can be done there, you can probably get it done where you are.
You will be surprised at how shops, local stores, and even bands are willing to support (party at) such events (money, prizes, etc). He even has boat manufactures supplying all the boats, fuel, drivers, etc.
Go for it.
Herb
There is a paddle board contest that is “underground” and by invite only. No insurance, or sponsors or BS. The cool thing is that the winner gets bragging rights. That’s it. Because they do it every year, everyone looks forward to it and really goes after it. You could do the same thing with this. Whoever wins has bragging rights over all his buddies for the whole year, and everyone can talk all the sh*t they want but the winner gets to remind everyone that they were dominated.
hey, it is possible. I had small contests just for friends for 4 years in a row and they loved them. Still talk about them years later. We just kept them super low key. I think we put 5 bucks each into a pot. Used the money to cook breakfast on the beach for everyone and to buy a couple prizes at the bro deal discount at some local shops. We had a shop let us borrow jerseys and a couple other guys were head judges while we filled in the third seat with one of us. We did video them. Had special prize for the groms and lots of free stickers and stuff. Only bad thing ever to come of it was that we eventually did get shut down because turns out we were on state property. But i highly recomend it as a low key super fun deal. Will always remember the “Oat Cake Challenge”
One of the surf clubs where I live has a “scrimmage” every year. They pick an early summer day so it will be a little foggy & not too crowded. First thing is an hour of beach clean-up. Then they actually divide everyone into heats of 6, pass out jerseys, and blow an air horn for times, just like a contest. One volunteer judge per “contestant”. You surf your 20 minutes, then come in & hand the jersey to the next guy. Then you have 10 minutes to talk to your personal judge before he has to start watching the next heat. 2 heats/hour. The thing is, your scores are never compared to anyone else’s. There’s no advancing, no winner’s bracket. Its great because anyone who wants to get the feel of a contest, having to get your waves in 20 minutes, having to stay in the curl for scoring…can do it without the pressure of an actual contest. Its also useful for people who might want to try judging.
After everyone’s had a heat who wants one, all the jerseys & air horns and timers get packed away…and then the beer & barbecues come out. The day ends with another clean up. Its a good day. The day all the ‘regulars’ come out with our families instead of crashing the lot at dawn and then hurrying off to an under-10 soccer game or a birthday party or something.
I’d never do a contest because surfing isn’t about competing, to me. But its interesting to get some personal feedback on your surfing and its really interesting to try to be a constructive judge to someone who surfs better than you do.