Revise 3C.1.3 Starter
This discussion has an associated proposal. View Proposal Details here.Comments about this discussion:
Started
Currently, the rules for the starter specify the following task:
The starter [...], explains race rules, [...].
However, I think that it should not be a general task of the starter to explain the rules to the competitors. On the one hand because I think that it should be the responsibility of the competitor to inform himself about the rules before the race and on the other hand because it would be very annoying for the competition and hold off the procedure if the rules are explained only at the start.
I would therefore be in favor of deleting this task (and if you think we need it, maybe add it somewhere else, maybe to a new "Judge").
I would therefore suggest changing the existing rule as follows:
3C.1.3 Starter
1. The Starter starts races and calls riders back in the event of false starts. The Responsibilities follow from the text in 3B.X, Starting and 3B.X, False Starts.
2. The Starter checks riders for correct unicycles and safety equipment and will remove from the starting line-up any riders not properly equipped to race, including riders with dangerously loose shoelaces.
Furthermore, I would add the following sentence:
3. The starter has to take a position for the start from which he has an unobstructed view of the riders and the start command and signal can be easily perceived by the riders.
Unfortunately, I have seen it at track competitions where this was not the case. This can lead to unequal treatment of the riders, which should be avoided in any case.
Comment
In practice, the starter reminds of safety rules rather than the race rules before the start of the race. But the instructions are not always very clear. I would prefer the starter to tell me that all intersections are safe and that we can race on a single lane or on both lanes rather than "please respect the highway code" (which for me implies stopping at stop signs and red lights, which should not happen in a race). The safety rules are rarely or never described in the race rules.
Comment
Obviously, it is in the competitor interest to know the rules, however many competitors don't know the rules and are not interest to read them. Also, many people can be confused with regulations, especially if there are every day different races at Unicon. Due to safety concerns and interactions with other competitors, some of the rules should be spoken before the race. There are also rules that are set individually for each competition, for example: the way of dealing with Falstarts, cut off time, or procedures for lapping. As Simon mentioned, important instructions should also be given.
Comment
I wonder if we might be best served by producing a supplemental document with instructions for the starter. Just something that lists racing rules in brief, safety rules, and other details like a designated emergency contact number for if a rider is injured on course. This would help standardize the instructions
I don’t know if this fits well into the current rulebook structure, but it might be nice if most disciplines had something like that and they were collected in an appendix for ease of printing. If that sounds like a good idea we could do it for road racing and next rulebook committee could look at the result and possibly make it happen across other disciplines.
Comment
> The safety rules are rarely or never described in the race rules.
This is perhaps also due to the fact that these can vary greatly depending on the event, isn't it? It may therefore be difficult to include these rules in the rulebook. Nevertheless, these rules should be communicated to the participants in advance of the competition. I don't think it makes sense for participants to only be informed about them shortly before the start. They should at least have the opportunity to inform themselves in advance.
> There are also rules that are set individually for each competition, for example: the way of dealing with Falstarts, cut off time, or procedures for lapping. As Simon mentioned, important instructions should also be given.
I am not at all against these rules being mentioned again before the start. The only question I have is whether it is necessary for this to be an official task of the starter. Wouldn't it perhaps make more sense for these rules to be explained by volunteers at the line-up, for example?
> I wonder if we might be best served by producing a supplemental document with instructions for the starter. Just something that lists racing rules in brief, safety rules, and other details like a designated emergency contact number for if a rider is injured on course. This would help standardize the instructions
I would like every organizer to have such information available - and I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to give the organizers examples and assistance here. But I don't think such a document would fit in well with the actual Rulebook. In my opinion, this would be more of an additional document that the IUF can publish to provide assistance to organizers.
Comment
After reading through the comments of this discussion, I feel that there is a mix of "Race" rules and "Course" rules. At any given event/race, the rules of the race should be identical. However, during the layout of the course for each race at each event, there are specifics that crucial to the race. This could be "at the intersection of 15th Street and 45th Avenue, police officers will be present and you do not need to stop".
Being that not all races will cross 15th and 45th, they will always be variable. A posting of these course rules should be part of the event as well as shared at sign-in. I like the idea of having an example of what to put in this course brief as part of an appendix of our section.
Comment
>Jan Vocke: The only question I have is whether it is necessary for this to be an official task of the starter. Wouldn't it perhaps make more sense for these rules to be explained by volunteers at the line-up, for example?
How I understand the rules is that those volunteers are called "starter", and the rules do not limit it to a single person. Maybe we can add "s" to make it plural.
Comment
The Starter specifically gives the count-in and decides if a false start occurred. I'm not sure it would actually be a good idea to have multiple individuals doing that. Having different starters who give different count-ins between heats might not necessarily be something that must be disallowed, but certainly shouldn't be encouraged. There are other volunteers around at the start line but there is probably only one person who is acting as Starter.
I think the intent here is that the person acting as starter is supposed to reject a rider who is not wearing a helmet or something. Thinking specifically in that context, I'm not sure that the starter would be the right person for a formalized list like we were talking about, as that would be more appropriate at a rider briefing. The starter probably shouldn't be expected to do much more than check for gloves, helmet, and shoelaces, maybe announce one final time if the course has uncontrolled traffic interaction, and make sure riders are ready for heats to start on schedule. So I'd support removing the mention of explaining race rules, it seems outside of the actual event flow.
Comment
> How I understand the rules is that those volunteers are called "starter", and the rules do not limit it to a single person. Maybe we can add "s" to make it plural.
But this is definitely not the case, the starter is a dedicated official and a highly crucial position for a competition.
> The Starter specifically gives the count-in and decides if a false start occurred.
Tim is absolutely right, the starter is the one who gives the start signal and thus also starts the official race and triggers the timekeeping. He is also the one who has the right to impose disqualifications for false starts or corresponding time penalties (see 3B.5.2 and 3B.5.3). He may use other judges to monitor false starts, but they will then report to him.
The starter is therefore the highest official in a race alongside the referee and it should not be the case that this position is constantly changing or that just anyone takes over this position. It should generally be someone who has a certain amount of experience and who is aware of the responsibility that they bear.
Comment
Regarding counting, I have just seen that there is also a rule for the starter in the Road Racing chapter in section 3D, I would suggest moving this to section 3C.1.3 Starter and adding a corresponding paragraph (so that the paragraph would correspond to the one from the track races):
3. If a verbal (spoken) count is used, the time between (the start of) each of these elements must be the same, and should be approximately 1 second. Starters should practice this before the races begin. Timing of the count is very important for an accurate start. This count are to be given in English at Unicon or international competitions. At other competitions, English is optional.
Note that in the track races the time interval has been changed from 3/4 seconds between the elements to 1 second between the start of the elements, as this was considered by the committee to be much more practicable and thus a more predictable start can be realized.
Comment
Sounds good to me.
Indeed, it will be clearer if we delete section 3D.11. Section 3C.1.3 seems sufficient.
Comment
Your comment reminded me that although I have integrated the content of 3D.11 into rule 3C.1.3, the proposal does not contain any statement on the removal of the current rule 3D.11. I will add this.
Comment
Since there were no further comments here, I would put the proposals to a vote soon and hope that all members of the committee will also take part in the vote.
Once voting has started, comments will no longer be possible here, so if there are any comments, please let me know as soon as possible.
Comment
Looks good to me. I agree with Jan and Simon to delete Section 3D.11 and combining it with 3C.1.3
I think either the starter or event director has to be responsible for 'race briefing' rather than 'race rules'. The race briefing may include reminding competitors of certain race rules, as well as race specific considerations (eg potential dangers on the course)
Comment
I agree with you that a “race briefing” is very useful in principle and should be done - but I would actually see the event director as being responsible for ensuring that this happens - although in my opinion the event director does not necessarily have to do this briefing himself, but can also instruct someone else to do it. It is only his responsibility to ensure that this instruction takes place.
In this matter, I would suggest that the responsibility of the Event Director should be adjusted so that he is responsible for ensuring that a corresponding briefing is carried out. But that would be a separate discussion.
Comment
@Ken: Would the procedure described be okay for you? Then we could vote on this proposal as it is now.