In a word: UGH!
Safety Steward was created as means to protect and save our sport.
This proposal only ensures a homogeneity that would presumably be pleasing
to some.
Sorry, but there are so many good ways to design a course -- and so much
variety of sites into which courses must be fit, that to say "this is THE
WAY it must be done" is just unrealistic.
Also, it would unnecessarily restrict the course designer pool to a select
elite few. Consider how many safety stewards your region has. We have enough
they only have to chief about three events a year. Now if my cadre of
"certified" course designers was that small, well we'd end up doing only
about half the events we do.
No, I want to encourage newbies to design courses and chair events. I don't
want to overwork them, I just want to let them have the experience maybe
once a year. That's enough for most people. They do not work in a vacuum.
Other people -- usually with more experience -- help them set up a course
(you want a 45-foot slalom here? Uhhhh, let's make it a 50-footer, maybe
55). They need to make mistakes. The need to be able to design something
that, for whatever reason, just does not work. If it is gross, we'll catch
it on the walk-thru. If it is subtle, they'll learn by experience. And of
course, the Safety Steward ensures it will be a basically safe course to
drive so that should not be an issue.
I certainly have design elements I've done in the past that I'll never
repeat. Don't you (rhetorical "you)? Meanwhile we still do things like
espouse good design philosophies, refer people to Roger's booklet, encourage
attending events such as Tours and Nationals where they can see some of the
best design examples -- at least we hope they are the best. I have seen
Nationals courses that had people bitchin', and other people praising the
same course. Only proving once again that there is no One Right Way.
I LIKE it when I encounter a course out of the ordinary. They challenge me.
Drove one yesterday that was simply a series of horseshoe bends back and
forth, making a 75-second course on a rather tiny lot. Walking it, it looked
like it might even be boring. Driving it -- no two of the horseshoes were
alike -- it was tremendously challenging and difficult to do well. I doubt
Roger Johnson would ever have drawn such a course. I also doubt it ever
would have been taught. This does not make it a bad course. It makes it a
course that someone ELSE conceived, and that's all. Fresh idea -- imagine
that!
Actually, I like the idea of SCCA getting behind formalized course design
training ... just not certification. Education is good, establishing an
elitist group is not. Especially in an area where opinion does (and should)
vary widely.
Any requirement for "certified" course designers would only make my job as
regional solo chair much more difficult, with no truly beneficial
counterbalance.
--Rocky Entriken
----- Original Message -----
From: <JDMurphy47@aol.com>
To: <seb@scca.com>
Cc: <autox@autox.team.net>; <lollipop487@attbi.com>
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2003 5:08 PM
Subject: SEB: Proposal for Certified Course Designer Program
> SEB,
> Given that for the past several years and especially recently, I have
noticed
> that course designers at many different events display a very wide range
of
> expertise in their course design. And given that I fully realize that a
> good, safe course design is second only to the overall safety of the whole
> event. I propose that we establish a certified course designer program
> similar to, but different than, our safety steward program. It would have
> some of the same components: national committee, training, certification
> test, a training manual (Roger Johnson's treatise would be the centerpiece
> and electronically downloadable) and an absolute requirement that only a
> certified course designer would be allowed to design the course for each
> event and that this be recorded like it is for the safety steward. There
> would be two levels at each region - certified designer and trainee.
There
> would be one course designer steward per division and each would be a
member
> of the national committee. From this committee, a chairperson and
secretary
> would selected periodically. The committee would oversee this program
always
> looking for ways to improve it. Updates/issues would be sent
electronically
> to all designers. Since this is a brand new program, I envision that it
> would take about a year for the entire club to have all the regions
certify
> several course designers.
>
> This is just the beginning so I fully expect this proposal to be revised
and
> filled in as others provide their valuable input. I sincerely hope that
the
> SEB does implement this program asap. Send your comments to them.
>
> Sincerely,
> Jim Murphy
> Atlanta Region
>
> PS - On another note, maybe an Event Planning and Operation Manual can be
> assembled as a electronically downloadable document from SCCA HQ. Some
more
> food for thought.
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