Unofficial UK Slalom BBS

Hi Nick, I absolutely agree that it would be a nightmare to produce a ranking for div 4 as it is currently run, thus totally understand why you don't do it. I'm just wondering whether bringing div 4 into the ranking system would provide more motivation for paddlers in it, given that most of them wi...

Anne, You're doing it again! The problem is that you do not enter into discussion on this site. Anything that seems to be deemed critiscism of the slalom committee (whether it is or not) then seems to be answered sarcastically/rudely, as I would consider your answer to the first set of posts on thi...

Anne, why are you always so defensive when answering any criticism on this site? I would have thought Paul's email implied exactly what needs to be done to make the junior/veteran's champs more appealing, but if you're having trouble making the connections, then I'll spell them out for you: 1) Hold...

Fair point on the lack of motivational promotions, but don't you think that the current situation at entry level (div 4) is quite demotivating as well? At best, only around 40% of div 4's will get promoted in any one season, for the rest you end the season with no points and no ranking. I wonder ho...

Dave's idea is broadly the same as the one I put forward on the structure of the sport thread, and it's good that finally we are getting some reasoned discussion around other possibilities than the divisional system. I would agree with those against the idea of penalising pointwise those that don't...

I think that a number of recent posts are trying to address a perceived problem that is not really there - that of people getting promoted too early before they are ready to handle the water/courses of the higher division. Is there any empirical evidence of this? I don't think there is. Most in-sea...

Hi Flipper, I'm not for a moment suggesting that the ranking system is abandoned, just that there is one national league, thus everyone gets points and a ranking from 1 to however many people have paddled ranking slaloms in the course of that season. That would include division 4 paddlers. There wo...

I agree with some of the comments that the grade of water paddled in respective divisions, at least up to div 2 has got easier over the past decade until recently. I started slalom in 1997 and remember racing at the likes of HPP and the Tryweryn Graveyard in div 3. The problem dates back to the rem...

Hi Dave, You have my support. When there is decent water at Shepperton, as there often is in March, then it can be one of the most demanding courses in the calendar. I'm only div 2 but as Dave says, the venue would almost certainly be lost to both divisions if div 1 no longer raced there. As a Lond...

I'm with those against winter slaloms on this one. Apart from the problems with the amount of daylight available, on a really cold day you could end up with serious hypothermia issues. While the weather has not been exactly balmy at a number of slaloms so far this year, it is still a lot better tha...

I have to say that I totally disagree with Harvey's statement that the object of a sport is to produce Elite performers. This is the sort of elitist claptrap that puts many off getting involved in competitive sport. The object of all sports should be to get the widest participation possible and for...

I totally agree with Munchkin, and if this proves to be true then I can only assume that the BCU heirarchy have taken leave of their collective senses. As someone who has been paddling now for over 15 years I've seen the BCU having to be dragged kicking and screaming to a more robust position on ac...