In article <p05001900b5f6d18b97ff@[208.141.201.170]>,
Lloyd Loring <lloydl@skyenet.net> wrote:
>Consider this. You have a competitor whose wife comes and drives (in
>the Ladies Class.) This competitor and his wife are likely to remain
>in the sport for some time if either or both of them do well and have
>fun.
>
>Eliminate the Ladies classes and the wife, having been required to
>run in the open class against her husband and all other comers
>quickly becomes frustrated with the sport, gives up and stays home
>(the driver probably married her for traits other than pure
>competitiveness.) Pretty soon she is asking her husband why he has to
>spend so many weekends in distant parking lots when there are other
>really nice things they can do together on a sunny Sunday.
But, what if the couple is both male or both female? This is where the
suggestion to name the classes "Club" and "Pro" may be more
appropriate, although I would not have any rules about when/if anybody
had to "move up", especially any rules based on the sex of the driver!
There is also a consideration that the Ladies calss could actually be
hurting participation! I know of one woman who refused to attend an
SCCA autocross *because* of the existance of ladies classes. She felt
that this indicated that the SCCA gave women a second-class status and
she wouldn't in any way associate with such an orginization. BTW, she
has run in several Skip Barber formula ford races, so she is seriously
into autosports.
marcus hall
|