The Dow Red Stick Rumble - A Report

[jee7s]

Off-seasons are a funny thing because they are interpreted so differently by so many teams. And, oddly enough, paying a modest sum of money seems to be at the core of the differences.

Some teams approach it as "well, it's a little money so we can get a field to play on and have some fun." While, for others, it's a "dang it, we paid for this and it should be better" attitude.

As the TRR Competition Coordinator (i.e. the guy who oversees all the rules changes, enforcement, etc), I've found myself tackling the same issues Daniel had to this past weekend. So many teams will register, but not all will show up. Some will register late, some will register early. It's just such a game of chance, and it's one where those of us who run these events need to deal with hard questions about the health of our events.

Take for example this year's TRR. We were planning on 4 team alliances for eliminations. But, we had so many no-shows that we ended up with only 27 teams. The decision is "easy" (quotes very much intended): just go to 3 team alliances. But, that means that three teams need to sit out. That can be hard to explain to people who paid good money to attend the event.

Or, go back to 2013 TRR, when our volunteers (particularly our referees) were downright worn down by teams wanting to win. We went 5 matches straight with the question mark box full for questions during eliminations. Our head ref that year, who is an excellent person, just couldn't handle the onslaught of teams pressing their questions out of their drive to win. We had to remind mentors around the field to not yell at the referees who are just human beings trying to do a good job. I don't blame those teams for wanting to win. But, when you get a volunteer crew that normally works one event, and decides to help you out through the goodness of their heart, and then has to deal with championship level stress after the AC fails in August in Texas, well, it's tough to retain all of them.

For the past three years running, we've had a World Champion team in the field at TRR. Oddly enough, for all of the arguments relating to "competitive" teams, we've found these teams and pretty much all the others at TRR to be nothing less than professional.

The thing about growing an event it just that: you need to grow it. It takes years, it takes effort, it takes both consistency and situations that are stable enough to make that consistency apparent. When things go wrong, you and your volunteers will take it on the chin. When things go right, some people will thank you, but it's not like a chorus of cheers. Registration will go up, registration will go down, you'll falter and you'll succeed. It takes time to establish the character of your event. But, sticking with it means a better community for you, your team, your state, and your region.

So, Daniel and the rest of the Red Stick organizers, keep up the good work. Don't let this year's perfect mis-alignment of the stars stop you from trying again next year.

[AdamHeard]

It takes a lot of volunteer effort, know how and institutional inertia to get a good (closer to season competition) offseason event going.

California is in a pretty good spot now for offseasons, but for a long time most of the events were similar to the Red Stick Rumble.

In many ways, that's GOOD for the kids if you mentally frame it right. It being so low key and low pressure allows students that might not have felt ready to drive, be pit crew, etc.. for a "competitive" team to have a chance to experience such roles without fear of letting themselves or anyone else down.

It's nice if you're able to do both lower key and higher level off season events, but if the lower key ones are your only option embrace it and go.

Certainly, don't expect a low key offseason to run like IRI and then hold the people running the event personally accountable for the mismatch in expectations in you framed in your mind.