Old racers bracket: age limit 40/45/50?

Boris Miladinovic · Post by **Boris Miladinovic** » Sun Oct 10, 2010 6:55 am

I'd like to compare this with dinghy sailing, another sport where people often remain quite competitive into their 40' and often longer... I sailed on quite high level in 2 classes, Laser and Finn, so I'll use them as an example.
Finn Masters starts at 40.
Laser has Masters starting at 35 and has sub categories of Apprentice Master 35+, Master 45+, Grand Master 55+, Great Grand Master 65+. If the event is big enough there would be meddals for every category. On a smaller event, just over-all Master medals.
Both classes have separate World Championships for Masters. Over and above, organiser of any "open" event can decide to award the medals for Masters (and Juniors for that matter), besides the over-all medals. So, if you're fast and old enough, you can walk away with 2 Golds in the same event. This summer I sailed in a Laser Nationals, in Europe, where this was the case. Nothing wrong with that in my book - guy has beaten all the youngsters, why one would denie him the over-all title, or his Masters title?
Also, being of a Master age, doesn't stop one from competing in an open event.

I think it's an easy solution:
Open, Juniors to 18, Masters from 40, everybody races the same race/course, 3 sets of medals (or prizes). Minimum 3 entries to constitute a category. Gold only in there is 3+ in the category, Gold and Silver if 7+, Gold, Silver and Bronze if 15+.

My 0.02 CAD...

Jesse Atencio · Post by **Jesse Atencio** » Sat Oct 09, 2010 1:43 am

Looks like this subject is long dead but I think the Old category should start at 50 !

They should also be able to compete at younger brackets but if they do, they cannot compete in the over 50 bracket for that race.

Martin Drayton · Post by **Martin Drayton** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 9:43 am

Marty Schaub wrote:I think it would be fun to track the racers that are 45+ worldwide on a seperate page on Slalomrankings.com However this cannot be done at the expense of running in either the Open or Pro catagories. Just track it and see whom is the faster 45er.

Is it that hard to do?

Hard to do fairly as some of the over 45's are racing Am and some are racing Pros, so they have a different level of opposition therefore the results are not comparable.... A 10th in Am is very different from a 10th at Pro level etc.

Robert Gaisek · Post by **Robert Gaisek** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 9:12 pm

Hey........I´m 45 and I have just started! 45 is just my age, inside I´m 14.

Marty Schaub · Post by **Marty Schaub** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 12:02 am

I think it would be fun to track the racers that are 45+ worldwide on a seperate page on Slalomrankings.com However this cannot be done at the expense of running in either the Open or Pro catagories. Just track it and see whom is the faster 45er.

Is it that hard to do?

John Gilmour · Post by **John Gilmour** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:54 pm

We need an old guys division after the young kids beat us....but then I thought...how funny would it be to put the old guys in a separate bracket..have the young guys win the world championships and then realize that nearly every old guy beat them in times.

That's weird.

Claude Regnier · Post by **Claude Regnier** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 5:53 am

I agree with having an option to move into another division when you reach a certain comitment level. It would have been nice to compete in a Masters Division in last years worlds rather then Am. Nothing againts the Division.

I knew the talent level, I had expected Noah to win(possibly dominate). It was nice to see the field come to life like it did. Hands on! The AM racers from the year before, had moved up to the Pro's and did a great job. When you're injured or past the point of the Pro Level competition or whether it would be an age mark (40, 45) it would be great to be able to chose a division that you could enjoy and possibly be competitive.

Even an A,B, & C Division may not be enough. Have you guys noticed the growing numbers of people trying Slalom lately? I will soon be glad to able to compete in a Masters or Old Guys division if there's one available. Bottom line is I'm very happy to get a chance to compete at all again. Great People, Great Racing and Slalom Skateboarding is a Great Sport for ANY AGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS-Wait till you guys see a picture of this little cut-down Sims Racing (Turner) board I put together for little guys. Dan made six cones the first day out. On Monday he learned how to transfer over a 5' spine TWO different ways.

PSSS- IT'S ALL GOOD! Night! EH!

Wesley Tucker · Post by **Wesley Tucker** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 5:57 pm

Martin Drayton wrote:I do agree about recovery time though, injuries take longer to heal as well.

Martin,

I might disagree with you there. Sure, I think it takes longer for a 70-year old man to get over an injury than a 17-year old kid, but I don't know for sure if there's that tremendous of a difference between a 17-year old and a 40 year old.

The reason I say that is because I remember getting hurt as a kid: you fell, you got hurt, you went home and were able to lay around and do nothing for a couple of days til you recovered. You got a note from your mom to get you out of any sports practice, no PE and whadda 'ya know? In just a day or two the ankle, elbow, shoulder, wrist, neck, hip or whatever healed.

At 40 (or even 25) we really can't do that. As amateur athletes we can't just go on the disabled list and rehab ourselves to our own satisfaction. We still have to get up, go to work, do what's required and strain and sprain whatever injury we incurred skateboarding the weekend before. Unlike when we were kids, if we don't work, we don't eat. It's not our age that makes it harder to recover, it's our obligations and inability ot nurse a wound the way we'd like.

Senior bracket racing sounds like a good idea until you realize it's just an excuse to see Henry Hester and John Hutson in the finals every weekend. That's no fun. Our current system of "A", "B" and maybe "C" bracket racing works well. The fastest race the fastest and I race Slappy and PADan. Everybody gets to have fun regardless of an arbitrary age specification.

The A-B-C bracket is also great motivator that is much better than anything we can do about age. The 14-year old kickflipper who gets turned on to slalom will find in his first couple of races he's up against Kevin Gamble and Shaggy. Well, he's not going to stand for that. The Kid wants to race the guys who get free trucks and boards. So he practices, does a little strength training and VOILA'! He moves up to the "A" bracket and gets his clocked cleaned by Noah. Probably not what he had intended, but at least he's made the move to improve his qualifying time and start moving up the ladder to something really good.

So, for now with our sport I'd have to say "nyet" to senior racing. The injury thing is just as likely whether your racing another AARP member or racing a kid who doesn't like our "big" wheels. Bracket racing that allows comparable skills to race is what is more likely to get everyone more excited about racing and making the sacrifices to travel.

Martin Drayton · Post by **Martin Drayton** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 4:01 pm

I looked at some old slalom footage from 1987 and I'm actually faster now... I do agree about recovery time though, injuries take longer to heal as well.

Jani Soderhall · Post by **Jani Soderhall** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 11:06 pm

The reason for creating a new class is when you no longer want (or enjoy as much) racing with the other guys in the same class. I still do. I think it is so cool that all of us old guys can still race the young ones on an equal level. That's what makes this revival thing so cool!

If the times of the old boys are fairly similar to those of the best younger racers nobody will understand why we're in a different category.

The best thing is that we still have some pretty cool racing to look forward to when we've been surpassed by many, many of the new generation. Then we'll race in our old-boys class and not bother about being the fastest of the fastest. If we make the courses different nobody will ever know if we're faster or slower!

Sorry guys, we're not ready for old-boys racing just yet.

/Jani

Keith Hollien · Post by **Keith Hollien** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 7:34 pm

I thnk a senior division is a good idea and 45 is a good age to have it start at. The only problem with starting at 45 is the number of racers. I am 45 and I am almost always the oldest or one of the oldest at a race. 40 might be a better starting age until there are more racers over 45.

I know age does make a difference. Last year after going to 10 cities in 8 states in 6 months I was totally wiped out for months. The total race count was 25 races in that 6 months. This year I am traveling even more, so far 5 cities in 3 contries and 3 states in 3 months. I still have at least 6 cites in 5 states in the next 3 months. The body just does not work or recover the way it use to. So far this year I have been in 13 races in the first 5 cities. I am half way though the season and I am already getting tired. Do not get me wrong, I am having a great time and love racing whoever and whenever. Just my 2 cents.

Later Keith, Team Radikal.

Chris Eggers · Post by **Chris Eggers** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 8:19 am

haha, expected that. Nono let´s just wait and see, they will blow us away in a few years anyway, I am sure.
If this is going on at the same pace in Switzerland...........watched Yoyos video from Grueningen last evening and watched the one from 2 years ago afterwards..................holy moly!

Kevin M. Gamble · Post by **Kevin M. Gamble** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 11:13 pm

Yeah, but I'm feeling much better now....................and always faster than you, ya young whipper-snapper. Oops, maybe I should have posted that in the dark side thread. Why don't you just drive up to Gaithersburg on the 24th and we'll see who's slower.

Wesley Tucker · Post by **Wesley Tucker** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 10:13 pm

Yeah, but Kevin, you were slow 25 years ago.

Kevin M. Gamble · Post by **Kevin M. Gamble** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 10:08 pm

Age limits are just another form of copping out. I don't want special compensation just because I'm going to be 49 this year.

Jani Soderhall · Post by **Jani Soderhall** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 8:40 pm

Chris, After re-considering I think we should set the old boys limit to 40. Maybe we should do it BEFORE it is too late?

/Jani

Chris Eggers · Post by **Chris Eggers** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 2:09 pm

Jani, you haven´t been to Grüningen this year. It was swarming kids between our legs, and they are getting fast, faster than you can say "oh my oh my, look at this kid!!"

Let´s talk about this again in a few years...........

Chris (soon to be 39)

Jani Soderhall · Post by **Jani Soderhall** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 1:55 pm

I think it makes sense to create an old boys class when we can no longer beat the younger up and coming guys. Let's not give it to them that easy!

Corky has made a proposal of a cut off age at 45 yrs I think. Don't remember how and why, probably in relation to the ranking. I also remember the Carrasco's reporting results in various old boys categories such as 45 & 50 yrs. (see viewtopic.php?t=1013)

/Jani

Chris Eggers · Post by **Chris Eggers** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 11:39 am

What do you guys think? when is it time for an old farts bracket?
Like all over 40?
Would it make sense?

Join the ISSA 25-cone series. 5 international sessions per year.
Create your own local race. Discover slalom skateboarding now!

| World Ranking | 25-cone Series | Calendar

Old racers bracket: age limit 40/45/50?

Old GEEZER racing category

Re: Track it.

Track it.

Masters Division

Age limits

Old racers bracket: age limit 40/45/50?