Tailfish

Let the revolution commence

Posted on 21. Jul, 2010 by Kat Miller in All, Competition, Snowboarding

How many times have you been in a restaurant having a meal and been moaning about it to your fellow diners yet when asked by the waiter if everything is OK said yes? And how many times have you been to a snowboarding competition and had an issue with the setup, the judging, the cost or amount of riding you’ve done and actually approached the organisers?

Well guess what, if you don’t speak up or provide feedback things never improve, if the organisers don’t know that there’s a problem then how can they fix it?

Which brings me on to the point of this post. After my last blog post and some comments I’d littered around on Facebook the team at Soul Sports approached me to hear my side of the story, subsequently I have put myself forward as a self-appointed unofficial rider rep/agony aunt/bitching post and if at all possible, positive feedback provider on behalf of the snowboarders and free-skiers that compete in the UK.

I know from experience and conversations that I have had with a lot of the riders/parents/overseas outcasts that are involved in the UK scene that not everyone is happy, that many of us have issues and a range of things we think could be done better or differently, but do accept that we are not aware of all the considerations that affect the organisers decision-making. I also know that a lot of you don’t want to say anything to the event organisers/powers-that-be because you are concerned that it might affect your competition placings or the potential for you to gain sponsorship.

So what I want to do is give you the opportunity to vent your respective spleens and contact me with your feedback. I can then act as the middle-man and pass this feedback on to Spencer Claridge in a way that if you wish to remain anonymous you can, but also giving them the opportunity to get some constructive feedback from you. They will then respond by way of an FAQ so that they can a) clarify the reasons behind the decisions made, b) inform us about the issues organisers and staff face, and the work put in, c) share with us ideas that they have for the future, and d) ultimately, improve the events for all concerned.

This is your opportunity to speak your mind and hopefully get something done about it. I have warned them that I won’t be censoring the emails but please do try to be constructive and not abusive. I’m not doing this on behalf of Soul Sports I’m doing this because I think it’s about time we quit bitching and actually set about informing those in charge of the things that annoy us. I’d like to add that this is not solely about the British Snow Tour but the wider UK snowboarding & free-skiing scene, so if you have things you want to say about other competitions, events etc. then I’m more than happy to pass that on as well. If you would rather go direct to Spencer then I know he’d be more than happy to hear from you.

Please use the form below as a starting point, I’ve included fields for contact info in case you want me to contact you for a more detailed chat/email conversation but I won’t pass on any name or contact info unless you expressly give me permission

Tags: Competition, featured, Snowboarding