The oddities of competition
Though being a board member for USPA has been (thus far) a positive experience, there are some things that, for lack of a better term, inherently suck. The top of the "suck" list is "good people who want to do great things that everyone wants them to do but is outside the rules so they can't do it". It geniunely bites the big member to tell someone who wants to do a good thing that they can't. Unfortunately, I see that happening in the near future to someone that I wish it would'nt happen to.
Competition skydiving is just as much a sport as any Olympic event. In fact, on the international level, it's very similar. In most countries, before you move on to international competition (IPC sanctioned world meets); you have to win a qualifying event in your country of origin. In other words, around these parts, you have to have competed and won at the U.S. National Skydiving Championships to qualify for the U.S. team. There are many avenues of competition, none lesser than the other, but some more competitive than others. For example, you may have 20 teams competing in a category for 1 slot on Team U.S.A., an example would be the 4 way Open FS category. In some disciplines, the quality of skydiving may be fantastic, but the level of competition isn't quite as high, in that you might have 3-5 teams competing for 3 (artistic) team slots on T-USA.
Today's "suck" situation falls on Freestyle and a team called "Dos Gatos". This team did'nt compete at the last US nationals (the qualifying event) for several reasons. There were only 4 teams in the category (3 qualifying for the world level), of which one of qualifying teams decided not to go to the World Meet. Dos Gato's would like to fill the slot.
Missy Nelson (the freestylist in question) is someone I have an immense amount of respect for. She's a top notch skydiver all the way around, there is no doubt she is a world level competitor. She would do well representing the U.S. She had a hard year with her father dying and some cameraman injuries. She's done a lot this past year, dealing with her father's death, but has rebounded well in freefly competition and business wise in pitching proposal's to USPA to host Nationals. She is the type person that is wise beyond her years, has her heart in the right place, and you want to succeed in every aspect.
The skydiver's competition manual (normally ambiguous and up to interpretation) is very clear on the rules of selection, and when rule changes to the selection process can be made. USPA (and it's board members) are bound to these rules. Frankly, every member of USPA could sign the petition (even me) and the end result would be that the issue could'nt even come up for a vote. Would it be fair (or proper) to hold a vote to break the rules we came up with for Missy's sake? Nope. Would it be fair to the rest of the U.S. team members, all of which busted their asses in training and sacrificed to compete at Nationals to qualify? Nope. Do I wish that Missy had simply registered for the event and made some jumps just to meet the rules for eligibility (since she was there already)? Yep. Would I like her to represent the US in Brazil. Yep.
Do I sound like a Donald Rumsfeld press conference?? Yep!! Crap!!
Competition skydiving is just as much a sport as any Olympic event. In fact, on the international level, it's very similar. In most countries, before you move on to international competition (IPC sanctioned world meets); you have to win a qualifying event in your country of origin. In other words, around these parts, you have to have competed and won at the U.S. National Skydiving Championships to qualify for the U.S. team. There are many avenues of competition, none lesser than the other, but some more competitive than others. For example, you may have 20 teams competing in a category for 1 slot on Team U.S.A., an example would be the 4 way Open FS category. In some disciplines, the quality of skydiving may be fantastic, but the level of competition isn't quite as high, in that you might have 3-5 teams competing for 3 (artistic) team slots on T-USA.
Today's "suck" situation falls on Freestyle and a team called "Dos Gatos". This team did'nt compete at the last US nationals (the qualifying event) for several reasons. There were only 4 teams in the category (3 qualifying for the world level), of which one of qualifying teams decided not to go to the World Meet. Dos Gato's would like to fill the slot.
Missy Nelson (the freestylist in question) is someone I have an immense amount of respect for. She's a top notch skydiver all the way around, there is no doubt she is a world level competitor. She would do well representing the U.S. She had a hard year with her father dying and some cameraman injuries. She's done a lot this past year, dealing with her father's death, but has rebounded well in freefly competition and business wise in pitching proposal's to USPA to host Nationals. She is the type person that is wise beyond her years, has her heart in the right place, and you want to succeed in every aspect.
The skydiver's competition manual (normally ambiguous and up to interpretation) is very clear on the rules of selection, and when rule changes to the selection process can be made. USPA (and it's board members) are bound to these rules. Frankly, every member of USPA could sign the petition (even me) and the end result would be that the issue could'nt even come up for a vote. Would it be fair (or proper) to hold a vote to break the rules we came up with for Missy's sake? Nope. Would it be fair to the rest of the U.S. team members, all of which busted their asses in training and sacrificed to compete at Nationals to qualify? Nope. Do I wish that Missy had simply registered for the event and made some jumps just to meet the rules for eligibility (since she was there already)? Yep. Would I like her to represent the US in Brazil. Yep.
Do I sound like a Donald Rumsfeld press conference?? Yep!! Crap!!