FCC final entry deadline

[Denise]

"FCC final and BEOC long distance entries must be received by 4th April"

for an event on the 2nd-3rd May

Why so early???

The juniors don't even know if they have made the final by that date.

Usually the closing date is the day after the last FCC race which would be the 20th April this year.

[RS]

True. Suppose it's another way to raise revenue as some will enter on the off-chance. Pleased to be corrected on this but an explanation would be nice.

[jab]

But you don't have to have qualified for the FCC final (or even be eligible to have qualified) to enter the race, it just means that you will get an earlier start time if it turns out that you haven't qualified for the final.

[Mrs H]

That's not the point - the point is that you might not want to go unless you have qualified for the final. But you won't know whether you have until after the closing date. A lot of the eligible age group will be mired in exam preparation and might not want to spend a valuable weekend away at such a time of year. So what are they meant to do - part with the money on the off chance and lose it if they don't qualify and think they could employ the time better.

[HOCOLITE]

If you enter the event and are not an FCC qualifier you end up on a course where there is no competition and thus waste your money if you turn up. That is of course unless the powers that be decide you are entitled to a wild card.

There seems to me to be much less enthusiasm for the FCC now than there used to be. THe forum on Nope was in constant use and the results were being 'beyed' for immediately an event is over. Could it be that the street cred has gone, or the prize of places to JWOC/EYOC etc are not so attractive, or is it that the event is not seen as a chance to get the selection any more?

[Scott]

If you enter the event and are not an FCC qualifier you end up on a course where there is no competition and thus waste your money if you turn up.

A bit harsh - this year it is also the British Champs for M/W18 and M/W20, so even if you don't qualify for the final you will still be involved in a bit of competition. But yes, it does still make sense for the closing date to be after the last FCC round.

Edit: I suppose this does raise the intriguing scenario of potentially having two different podiums for the same race - ie. if an M18 who hasn't qualified for the FCC Final (because he was ill and missed the JK) records the second-fastest time for the M18E course, presumably he'll be on the podium for his BEOC medal but will then have to go away while the FCC Final prizes are handed out. What an eminently sensible sport we are.

[RS]

"There seems to me to be much less enthusiasm for the FCC now than there used to be. THe forum on Nope was in constant use and the results were being 'beyed' for immediately an event is over. Could it be that the street cred has gone, or the prize of places to JWOC/EYOC etc are not so attractive, or is it that the event is not seen as a chance to get the selection any more?"

Would agree with this, particularly with the 20s. Think many of the 20s may have become cynical after 2 years' previous experiences. The entry at this age group, particularly in the girls, is very small so far.

[EddieH]

What I find it hard to get my head round is the scenario where someone doesn't enter for the reasons clearly stated above, but then finds themselves qualified for the final. Do I assume that that person has no chance to take his rightful place in the final?

[Mrs H]

That is certainly the implication. I agree that the FCC is declining in appeal. and, as I think I'm right in saying, the number of automatic selections for JWOC has gone down from the top three to the top two, then I guess that's one of the reasons why.

Giving yourself a good crack at the FCC requires some considerable investment of both time and money during a fairly stressed period of young people's lives - decreasing the incentive seems a very poor way of promoting the competition - yet another disincentive for those about to become M/W21s.

It's a real shame as I totally applaud the open handed principle of the competition - but it looks like BOF are trying to play the selection game in two different directions.

[frog]

I think all orienteering events should make the entry date deadline as late as possible. Most of us have busy lives, we want to encourage as many people to enter events as possible. I would rather have a bit of last minute hassle and as many people entering my event as possible, than everything planned weeks in advance and just a handful of competitors.
Mind you I don't even know what FCC stands for. I do think a deadline of a month in advance of the competition date is OTT for any sporting event that isn't heavily oversubscribed.

[Scott]

The British Elite Orienteering Championships... should be presented in a manner that is attractive to spectators and the media, and that emphasises the elite nature of the event. This should include the following aspects:

• entry closing date not more than 21 days before date of competition

National Events should normally provide the following facilities:
Ÿ

• entry closing date as close as possible to, and certainly no more than 28 days before, the date of competition

Unless my maths is particularly dodgy, 4th April is a whole 29 days before 3rd May. I trust Events Committee will stick to their precedent and punish this breach of a "should" guideline by stripping the event of its National Event and BEOC status .

[madmike]

I would rather have a bit of last minute hassle and as many people entering my event as possible,

Frog,
agree with your sentiments, as I suspect will most organisers and competitors; however, I would qualify that my agreement is for events where the entry team don't have to do seeded start times and the planners don't have to get litho-printed maps from a printer miles away.

These are 2 factors in my recent experience that can put time pressure on the organisation teams.

Other points that knowing how many are coming include basics such as ordering toilets - if you don't know how many are coming you can be over-toileted costing uneccessary money or, worse, under-toileted with massive queues.

Not disagreeing with you (cos I don't) but there are often reasons we don't appreciate behind decisions

[Mrs H]

But Mike - that may be true for many competitions but the FCC has a set number of finalists (15x4) who will qualify in a prescribed order (1-15x4) and start times can be seeded accordingly - you don't actually need to fill in the names until much nearer the time - it's like working out the draw at Wimbledon. so you will have 60 competitors in the FCC final (give or take 1 or 2) order them a toilet, the maps and draw up a seeded start list with the names "competitor W18-1", "W18-2" etc - it's hardly rocket science!

It just seems ridiculous that people are being required to enter before the majority of qualifying races have taken place.

According to the BOF webiste the deadline has just been extended to April 20th - so someone is listening - a victory for common sense
Mind you it's a bit late now with one day off the original deadline - they haven't changed the date line of the announcement - so it makes it look like that was announced last Tuesday - and entrants will have to pay the higher entry fee - which is probably fair enough I guess

[madmike]

I agree completely Mrs H

I was being more generic and strayed off-thread from this specific FCC event. Personally I believe a closing date 2 weeks beforehand should be enough for 99.9999999998% of events and many small events can go right up to the wire unless landowners restrict numbers and the like.

[Denise]

Good to hear that the organisers have seen sense and changed the entry deadline.

It's just a shame for those of us that have already been pushed into entering sooner that we would have liked.

I guess everyone in a similar situation, who doesn't make the final, will be entitled to a refund.??