How could Triathlon in Ireland be improved?

Brick Session

Having been on the committee of a local cycling club for a number of years and also from the sports my own kids are involved in, I got a great picture first hand of what would be involved in running anything that involves minors and the complexities around adults and minors etc.

But I have a 10 year old lad at home mad to take part in Triathlons but there is no outlet for him really until he is 16. I would be definitely be interested in helping out with underage if it meant getting him into Tri. I am sure there must be others who have kids and would be the same.

pgibbo

There are 4 triathlon clubs in Galway. Personally I don't think Galway is big enough for 4 but that's a whole different discussion. Out of the 4 only one actively promotes juniors and does an excellent job of it too. The other 3 clubs don't seem to have any interest. I guess the hard part is getting people to help out as most that are involved want to train and compete themselves. So unless you personally have kids around that age then most people probably won't give up their time to help out as they'd rather be training themselves.

AFAIK, Loughrea Triathlon was a NS race but is no longer. I don't know why but I seem to recall that it was NS.

GTC are hosting the National Champs Aquathon this year. AFAIK Ballina Sprint is a qualifer for London next year. So Connacht do have a couple of high profile races, not NS I know but better than nothing.

Triathlon Ireland

Just a quick note to say thanks for the feedback and suggestions so far and please keep them coming. We regularly keep an eye on boards.ie and take on board the comments and suggestions put forward. Thanks for all the constructive discussion.

couerdelion

pgibbo wrote: »

There are 4 triathlon clubs in Galway. Personally I don't think Galway is big enough for 4 but that's a whole different discussion. Out of the 4 only one actively promotes juniors and does an excellent job of it too. The other 3 clubs don't seem to have any interest. I guess the hard part is getting people to help out as most that are involved want to train and compete themselves. So unless you personally have kids around that age then most people probably won't give up their time to help out as they'd rather be training themselves.

There were four people at the meeting in our club to discuss the set up of a junior section and none of them have kids. Some people just want to put something back into Triathlon.

I know what you are saying about there being too many triathlon clubs in a small area but sometimes people just want to do what suits them the best. I was lucky a new one set up on my doorstep. If I had to travel further chances are I wouldn't have got as involved.

Could the clubs work better together to promote Triathlon/involve juniors? From your galway example would the other clubs send juniors across to the other club? Would they be willing to train them knowing they may leave and join their parents once they reach a certain age?

From a junior perspective if you aren't good enough to be part of the development squad there's not much of an opportunity.

sherdo2010

Anyone not discuss the price of the actual race itself. especially for N.S race's, athy was €60 without a t-shirt if you left it late to enter and €70 with a tshirt.:eek: CK was €55 and an extra €10 for a tshirt for the morning it opened. Its a good idea if you want the tshirt etc but mabye for T.I sanctioned races, there should be a set price for all the races including N.S wheather it is €40 for a sprint, €50 for an oly and €60 for an half IM... Even if this include or doesnt include the tshirt there should be a set price across the board.. and this should include that €1.50 god damn booking fee, :mad:....

gotta hate those booking fee's....

some bouys!!!!

pgibbo

couerdelion wrote: »

There were four people at the meeting in our club to discuss the set up of a junior section and none of them have kids. Some people just want to put something back into Triathlon.

I know what you are saying about there being too many triathlon clubs in a small area but sometimes people just want to do what suits them the best. I was lucky a new one set up on my doorstep. If I had to travel further chances are I wouldn't have got as involved.

Could the clubs work better together to promote Triathlon/involve juniors? From your galway example would the other clubs send juniors across to the other club? Would they be willing to train them knowing they may leave and join their parents once they reach a certain age?

From a junior perspective if you aren't good enough to be part of the development squad there's not much of an opportunity.

You guys are lucky so.

I'm not sure that the other 3 clubs in Galway (one of which I'm a member) have much of an interest in promoting juniors. At least that's how it seems to me.

Getting people/committees from all the clubs to agree would be a major effort. Not saying it wouldn't be worthwhile but it would be very difficult. I don't think the interest is there. For example, our club hosted some duathlons last year and when they were due to happen again this year a few people said it would be fine to have them but would prefer not to have the hassle of the kids event before hand. Nuff said! :rolleyes:

It can be difficult getting people to volunteer for club events like TTs, duathlons, etc and it;s the usual suspects doing all the work. Hence, the development of children and beginners* IMO falls down the pecking order.

* a lot of clubs think they are developing beginners by putting on club aquathons, TT races, duathlons, etc but in reality they don't help someone develop or teach them how to plan their training, etc so they can reach whatever their goals are, whether that's finishing their first sprint or winning a NS race. My 2c and I'm sure a lot will disagree it

couerdelion

sherdo2010 wrote: »

Anyone not discuss the price of the actual race itself. especially for N.S race's, athy was €60 without a t-shirt if you left it late to enter and €70 with a tshirt.:eek: CK was €55 and an extra €10 for a tshirt for the morning it opened. Its a good idea if you want the tshirt etc but mabye for T.I sanctioned races, there should be a set price for all the races including N.S wheather it is €40 for a sprint, €50 for an oly and €60 for an half IM... Even if this include or doesnt include the tshirt there should be a set price across the board.. and this should include that €1.50 god damn booking fee, :mad:....

gotta hate those booking fee's....

some bouys!!!!

Like you say Athy was only that expensive if you left it late to register but was within your guidelines for all but the two weeks prior (and even cheaper if yuo registered really early). Set prices are difficult because races incur different costs dependent on location/facilities used so by standardising a cost your in danger of everyone moving to the cheapest options. If road closures cost so much that there nothing left in the kitty would you be prepared to settle for 3 blokes with stop watches recording times instead of chip timing?

I'd rather see the TI help clubs to run races (I'm not sure what they do or don't do at the moment) so that if profit is made it goes back into the sport/charity and helping these events move up to NS status in favour of privately organised ones.

tunney

couerdelion wrote: »

I'd rather see the TI help clubs to run races (I'm not sure what they do or don't do at the moment) so that if profit is made it goes back into the sport/charity and helping these events move up to NS status in favour of privately organised ones.

Be under no illusion. Alot of races run over the banner of a club are completely for profit ventures run by commercial entities that piggy back on TI clubs for reputation and cheap insurance

tunney

Here is the thing - TI is a democracy.

You want standardised race entry fees for the NS, propose a motion.
You want a different points system, propose a motion.


Again TI is not some random faceless org. The Elite side of things right there is feck all chance of a random punter being able to do anything (and rightly so). However got a suggestion for an AG related improvement - knock yourself out.

couerdelion

pgibbo wrote: »

You guys are lucky so.

I'm not sure that the other 3 clubs in Galway (one of which I'm a member) have much of an interest in promoting juniors. At least that's how it seems to me.

Getting people/committees from all the clubs to agree would be a major effort. Not saying it wouldn't be worthwhile but it would be very difficult. I don't think the interest is there. For example, our club hosted some duathlons last year and when they were due to happen again this year a few people said it would be fine to have them but would prefer not to have the hassle of the kids event before hand. Nuff said! :rolleyes:

It can be difficult getting people to volunteer for club events like TTs, duathlons, etc and it;s the usual suspects doing all the work. Hence, the development of children and beginners* IMO falls down the pecking order.

* a lot of clubs think they are developing beginners by putting on club aquathons, TT races, duathlons, etc but in reality they don't help someone develop or teach them how to plan their training, etc so they can reach whatever their goals are, whether that's finishing their first sprint or winning a NS race. My 2c and I'm sure a lot will disagree it

Read my response back and it looked a little bit self righteous, but we are lucky that there's the interest in promoting the sport there from a few people.

Agree with the comments on development too.

couerdelion

tunney wrote: »

Be under no illusion. Alot of races run over the banner of a club are completely for profit ventures run by commercial entities that piggy back on TI clubs for reputation and cheap insurance

I know that. But why are the clubs feeling that they need the outside help to run the race? There must be the expertise around within the sport to organise races and help other clubs to build their own events without relying on commercial enterprise?

tunney wrote: »

Here is the thing - TI is a democracy.

You want standardised race entry fees for the NS, propose a motion.
You want a different points system, propose a motion.


Again TI is not some random faceless org. The Elite side of things right there is feck all chance of a random punter being able to do anything (and rightly so). However got a suggestion for an AG related improvement - knock yourself out.

To be fair there is no one on here having a go at the TI and saying they are doing a $hit job which in itself proves they must be doing something right. Almost any other sport would have had abuse by now regarding the governing body (still time for that too).

People always think that things can be improved. It's human nature.

longshank

Triathlon Ireland wrote: »

Just a quick note to say thanks for the feedback and suggestions so far and please keep them coming. We regularly keep an eye on boards.ie and take on board the comments and suggestions put forward. Thanks for all the constructive discussion.

Above seems a bit at odds with your view of this discussion, not much point in proposing a motion that will not be passed, hence it is normal to discuss such things first.

tunney wrote: »

Here is the thing - TI is a democracy.

You want standardised race entry fees for the NS, propose a motion.
You want a different points system, propose a motion.


Again TI is not some random faceless org. The Elite side of things right there is feck all chance of a random punter being able to do anything (and rightly so). However got a suggestion for an AG related improvement - knock yourself out.

onimpulse

Maybe your club should run a race & show us how it's done?