Competition ideas

I have surveyed many people recently on how they rate our Judo/Sombo/MMA competitions. Listed below are some of the replies and how they can be fixed

1)   Weigh in takes to long
 Answer: This can easily be rectified by insisting that organisers abide strictly by the closing dates

The weigh in times are staggered

The weight the competitor is booked in cannot be changed. If they are not sure they enter to 2 weights at an extra charge. All this will allow the organiser to arrange competition sheets well in advance and start the tournament a lot quicker

2)   Medal winners not always present at Medal Ceremony

Answer: This I have always felt is the height of bad manners when competitors collect their medals early. The way to stop this is to say medals will not be collected before ceremony and those who do not turn up for ceremony do not get medals and are disqualified from the tournament. When you enter a tournament you are there for the duration no excuse.

Yet having all the medal presentation at the end of an event can be boring and time consuming. The answers are to have medal presentations throughout the day in a separate part of the hall or in a separate room.

3)   Competitors should have more matches

Answer: There is no simple answer to this as if there is a large competition the quickest way is to have a straight knockout, the next would be the IBF Knockout with repercharge the latter could increase the length of time by at least 20%

The fairest way is a round robin this where everyone fights each other. Example 8 Competitors in categories would have 28 matches at 5 minutes per match that would be approx. 2.5 hours

A system used at the BJA British Open used to be a pool of 3 the best 2 going forward to a Knockout with repercharge

Whatever system you decide on it should be consisted throughout the competition. If there is just 3 in a group the a Round Robin should be appropriate

IBF Knockout with Repercharge is a system which at any time during the competition you suffer your first loss you have a chance of a Bronze Medal. Most Repercharge systems only allow you to fight for Bronze if you lose to the Finalists

4)   There should only be 3 medal places

Answer: There is some merit in this I have always maintained you should not get a medal if you do not win a fight i.e. only 2 competitors in a group 1 Gold medal,3 competitors in a group Gold and Silver, 4 in a Group Gold Silver and Bronze.

There is something to be said about giving to 2 bronzes in say groups with over 8 fighters.

The other way is to amalgamate any group with less then 3 fighters or less

5)   Standard of dress

Answer; In Judo there is no real problem Judogi are available in all sizes but in Sombo there is. With SportDirect soon be selling a complete range of Sombo equipment problem will soon be eleviated. Yet I do not see why all Sombo Competitors do not wear correct shorts i.e. Blue or Red they are not expensive, seeing Sombo Players in those ridiculous MMA Shorts and Bermuda Shorts makes the whole event look ridiculous

If you have any comments to make on this article let me know