With some concerns, the ISSA did issue a sanction for this event. The concerns we had were:
Things I think are in favor:
Brazillian slalom is taking off and we should not discourage them.
Excellent location/surface/road. (see slalomskateboarder.com with pictures -- Brazil forum)
Prize money
Start Ramps
Things I'm concerned about or are not in favor:
Invitation only, to 30 racers -- unknown method of choosing the 30.
Only 1 event (hybrid)
Unknown organizers.
"3 runs each, 10 racer heats" -- unclear if this is head-to-head racing, single-lane, or how the winner is determined.
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You have to understand that the sanctioning process is new this year and we (ISSA) were unprepared with contest coordinators (contest marshalls) who are familiar with the Brazil slalom situation.
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Within the ISSA, we have discussed the upcoming problems that can occur with "restricted entry" (invitational) events. It was the general consensus that these could be sanctioned, but the method of choosing the invited racers needed to be objective and based on geography, age, pro/am status, or ranking.
Discussion here:
http://www.slalomskateboarder.com/phpBB ... php?t=4736
The contest sanction says
This is a F1 race track with smooth and perfect asphalt(pictures on the forum in the brasil area),the
course will be done by all the competitors on the day prior to the event accordingly with the adaptation of
all participants (remembering this is an invitational event-30 invitees with 10 alternates and is the final of
the 07 brazilian circuit)Theres going to be a gate/take of ramp of 1,70m height with a 50 degree angle on
the top of the stretch;you’ll be entering a left downhill turn connecting to a 300m long stretch with an uphill
escape area.we don’t know the pitch ‘cause everyone will only be allowded on the track the day before
the event.we believe this is going to be a 60+ cones.
Therefore, my understanding was that the "restricted entry" was for the top 30 racers in the "Brazillian Circuit" -- whatever that is.
So my expectation would be that the top 30 racers of the "Brazillian Circuit" would be invited -- regardless of other things.
Contest directors need to be prepared to take the "good" contestants with the "bad". Not every racer will be a joy to have at the race -- not every contest director will get along perfectly with every racer. This is part of the downside to running an event. Hopefully, the satisfaction of pleasing 29 of the 30 racers will outweigh the one racer who causes some distress.
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The ISSA does not have a policy for "banning" or otherwise prohibiting a racer from entering a race based on past behavior, and I hope we never need to.
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Here's what I would like to happen: (Not official ISSA policy -- just my opinion)
1) Allow the racers who qualified for the race to enter the race based on the objective criteria (top 30 in the Brazillian circuit), as worded in the sanction document.
TWO POSSIBLE OUTCOMES: A) The racer decides to enter. B) The racer decides not to enter.
2) Communicate with the affected racer and have your disagreements and arguments before race day, out of sight of the spectators and other participants. Arm-wrestle, have a boxing match, drink a beer together -- whatever it takes to resolve your differences before race day.
TWO ACCEPTABLE OUTCOMES: A)You resolve differences and agree to behave. B) You don't resolve differences and still agree to behave.
ONE UNACCEPTABLE OUTCOME: C) You don't resolve differences and you don't agree to behave.
3) We (the ISSA) take our learning from the 2007 sanction process and come up with a more enforceable policy and process for ensuring compliance for future sanctions. (e.g. deny sanctions for unusual "invitational" contests, demand more documentation for unusual race formats, gain assurances that prizes will be paid as advertised, deny or revoke sanction if course does not meet standards, etc).
4) For the 2007 Sanctions: We (the ISSA) have been reluctant to enforce adherance to rules that are unwritten. We have not demanded courses meet specifications, we have not demanded a certain threshold for prize money, we have not demanded very much at all. The sanctioning process is (this year) a learning experience for us. We have not yet cancelled a sanction, once it has been granted -- and I don't think we want to start now.
In other words: Contest organizers who do not perform up to what was expected from the sanction process should not expect (in 2007) that the sanction will be denied after the race. Instead, future sanctions to that contest organizer (e.g. 2008) could be denied or downgrade based on past performance of the contest organizer.
5) For 2008 the ISSA will need contest marshalls familiar with the Brazillian contest scene to evaluate sanction applications, gather information, and work with the contest organizers to ensure compliance with ISSA rules. It would be advisable to those with interest in Brazillian slalom to work this out among themselves and make suggestions to the ISSA as to who might be best suited for this task.