Hello All (again),
First off I think it is good that we revisit the issue of developing smaller teams and we should all be appreciative of leaders like Dan Winters, John Griffin, and Joe Sullivan whose continued focus and devotion to developing small teams has improved MAISA. That said, as a former member of team that has been and remains fully student run I would like to point out several alternative ways of looking at the situation of club and small teams in the district. At Cornell, our goal like other small teams is simply to make it to the War and America's trophies each fall and spring. Additionally, winning events, regardless of who is or isn't in attendance is an additional moral booster. If we converted our spring schedule as Dan has proposed we may be taking a step forward in terms of number of regattas won, but I'd argue we would actually be taking a step back in terms of developing the actual sailing skills of small teams. When US Olympic sailors want to improve after selection, where did they go to train? They went to Europe, because they knew they could find better competition that would more rapidly increase their chances of being competitive at the Olympic games. Along the same lines, when a smaller team is sailing against better teams the experiences that they have will speed up the process of improving. It has been the case that at the Regional 1 and 2 events, top teams have done a good job of not sending ringers to the events. As a result there is a steady continuum of experience levels and all in attendance have an opportunity to improve. Larger fleets, that are more representative of the conditions of the War and America's Trophies help teams not just to improve in a general sense, but to improve their ability to perform at these events if they were to qualify. For a mid level team to have to send their best sailors to 8 - 10 boat events while the top teams are sending sailors to 18 boat intersectionals will only exasperate the differences of sailing ability present at the championships, not minimize them. I agree with Dan that a perminate rotation for the Luce/Grant should be determined, however, the proposed schedule again will present problems for smaller teams. How many teams from the south are likely to travel all the way to HWS for the Luce, when they know it will have already snowed at least once there and when it is an 11 hour drive? For these two events having them centraly located would encourge much better participation, espcially by teams on tight budgets. Perhaps OCC could be enticed to host such an event or a way to combine the club champs and luce could happen. Lastly I do not think that smaller or club teams should worry about speaking out about their concerns. However, I do think it is important to not try and overly label teams within the confrence. The movement of teams through the rankings while not always visable in the short run is very fluid. UPenn for example did not even qualify for the War Memorial Fall of 2004, but made it to nationals this year. Development of teams flows naturally from finding ways to improve the events which feed into our chamionships. In my 4 years of college sailing I didn't take home a single trophy for my performance on the water, but I am in no way phased about the sport, because I know that I improved. We need to be careful in ensuring that our schedule encourages development over recognition. Cheers, Scott On Wed, Sep 3, 2008 at 1:45 PM, John D. Griffin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > All, > > > > I would just like to throw my support behind Dan Winter's proposal for > changes in the scheduling. > > > > While these changes will have very little effect on the big varsity teams, > other than eliminating one qualifying regatta and expecting them to host > one > extra event every few years, they will have a tremendous effect on those of > us who are small varsity or club level teams. Most of us operate on the > edge > as far as funds and leadership, with many small teams depending on students > to do much of the administrative tasks. Therefore, the return has to be > worth the effort. > > > > While W&M has yet to qualify for the America, like many other small > teams.....it is ALWAYS our goal. One we will achieve. To be in a final > qualifier in the spring, in which we know we need to finish in the top > three > (not ninth or 10th), is a big mental boost. Also, for our development and > moral, it would be good to have a chance of winning an event with such > importance!!!! > > > > While we always want to have a shot at qualifying, a good example of how > these restricted events can help the goal of MASIA (to encourage, to > advance, and to improve sailboat racing and the sport of sailing in all its > phase...) was the Leroy Grant last spring. With no "qualified" teams > present, we all felt we were on the same level and each of us felt we had a > chance to win the regatta. In the end, the point spread was tight and the > sailing even tighter. Everyone had a great time!!! > > > > I do not think it is too much to ask. > > > > One last thing, why do you not hear the small varsity / club teams > complaining? First, we are teams that are growing and want to compete. It > is > my understanding that many of the current large varsity teams have come > from > such humble roots. So, we do not want to be separated or put in some second > class. However, if it is not truly fun to compete, we will lose many of our > gifted sailors who have other aspirations in life. Eventually, MAISA will > lose teams (and national berths). Giving a little, will earn MAISA a lot of > respect and improve the level of competition overall. Plus, we will all > have > fun doing it!!!!! > > > > > > John (Doc) Griffin > > > > Coach, William and Mary Sailing > > Director, Program in Neuroscience > > Associate Professor of Biology > > College of William and Mary > > Williamsburg, VA 23187 > > 757-221-2257 > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > _________________________________________________ > maisa mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.collegesailing.org/mailman/?listname=maisa > -- Scott Ryan Grandt [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mobile: 562-754-1555 _________________________________________________ maisa mailing list [email protected] http://www.collegesailing.org/mailman/?listname=maisa
