To be honest, there is NO perfomance-based reason for there to be a set of
ladies classes. However, they serve a purpose.
I personally think the sport would be better served to making a 'club' and
'pro' class intstead of a ladies and open class. How do regulate something
like that to take away the 'ladies' class concept we have?
1. Ladies are allowed to run the 'club' class. Forever.
2. Men are allowed to run the 'club' class under the following conditions:
a. Rookie who has not won 'open' at a pro/divisional/tour
b. Have never driven fast enough to be in top 25% of 'pro' class
at Nationals(weather discrepancy years rely on c below, which always
applies).
c. Have never finished in the top 3 in 'club' class at Nationals.
3. Anyone is allowed to run in the 'pro' class. Men who do not qualify for
the 'club' class must run the 'pro' class.
This would be governed like everything else in this sport--policed by the
competitors. Is a man running the 'club' class who does not qualify?
Protest them and get them booted.
What does this do to the ladies? It protects any lady that drives fast
enough to be in the 25% of the 'pro' class, and chooses to stay in the
'club' class, basically guaranteeing her a trophy.
How do you handle this on a regional/divisional/tour basis? Run the
existing ladies/open structure--there is no good weay to ensure the big
fish/small fish get in the right ponds at the lower levels.
Won't this take participants away from the open(now 'pro') class? Yes, it
will allow those who are not at the top of the game
Why do this? It gives some hope to those men who are just starting out and
to those who are terminally uncompetitive. Let's face it--winning trophies
is fun. It would bolster participation at Nationals, too, as less people
would get that 'I can't trophy, so why bother' disease.
Maybe you call them category 1 and category 2 to steer clear of the stigmata
attached to 'pro' and 'club'.
I know this would probably never fly because there will be so many who don't
like this idea, but I really like it--probably because I have trouble
justifying the ladies classes, but I would not abolish them without putting
a 'club' class category in place.
Thoughts?
I'm on the digest, so please CC me in any replies.
-dave
_________________________________________________________________________
|