Team Trials format:
This is a NON-ATTAINABLE Feature.

Team Trials Competition will be as follows:

Prelims: 4 x 45 sec rides – Best 2 rides added
¼ finals: 3 x 45 sec rides – Best 2 rides added
Semi-Finals: 2 x 45 sec rides – Best counts
FINALS: 3 x 45 sec rides – Best counts

NO WARM UP RIDES DURING COMPETITION.

If 10 competitors or less, Pre-lims will cut to half for finals.
If > 40, ¼ finals will be half rounded up to 5.
If < 40, straight to Semi Finals of 10.
Finals will be Top 5 (plus ghost).

Current World Champion’s will be ghosted to finals.

Schedule:
Prelims and ¼ finals
Saturday, May 30th, 9:00 am SHARP
Semi’s and Finals
Sunday, May 31st, 9:00 am SHARP

Estimate 20 minutes/heat – DO NOT BE LATE

Heat Order:
Cadet
Jr Women
Jr Men
OC-1 (finals only)
C-1 (finals only)
Sr Women
Sr Men

If you have been using the Whitewater Park (WWP), you know parking is at a premium. A few requests:

· Please, please, please don’t use the Harley Davidson parking or bathrooms, etc. If you see boaters using that lot, please ask them to move. Harley has been very good about putting up with us, and we’d like to keep it that way. They are evidently renting some spaces during the weekend, so no need to approach those folks on Saturday or Sunday.
· Note that there is not a cross-walk for getting across Midland Avenue at the south end of the bridge. The city will not allow that to happen because of visibility issues. They may start ticketing for jay-walking if you do cross there. During the weekend, the street will have safety fencing to prevent crossing there. To lessen the need for this crossing, I talked to Steven Wright about putting a rope downstream from the bridge to the beach along the willows. This would allow you to pull up along the willows and into the eddy under the bridge, avoiding the need to walk up and cross the street.
· Please keep in mind the option of dropping your gear at the WWP and parking elsewhere. Parking is available up the hill at the RFTA Park and Ride (up Midland, take a right across from the kayak shop). Parking may be available also at the middle school which is south of the river, I-70 and the frontage road, near 7-11. We’ll let you know when that is confirmed.
· There will be competitor parking nearby on the days of the event. We’ll have more information and permits for this at the Competitors’ meeting on Friday evening.
· Remember spectators will be parking near Two Rivers Park and riding a shuttle to the WWP on the weekend.
· If you see Glenwood City employees or City Councilors (and I suppose city tax-payers!), give them a huge thanks for providing the WWP, even though we’re over-loving it!

USA Freestyle Kayaking is proud to announce that we will be hosting one of two ICF judging seminars for 2009. The seminar will be held March 28-29th in Rock Island, TN.

Freestyle Judging Seminars

USAFK Makes Learning Fun for Beginners and World Champions

Multimedia Moves Library Conceived to Train Judge Skills Brings All Moves to All Paddlers

(Takoma Park, MD) - USA Freestyle Kayaking has announced their commitment to promoting a broader understanding and appreciation for freestyle kayaking by creating a Multimedia Moves Definition Library, a resource for paddlers created by the community.

“What started as a competition judge training concept has evolved into being a versatile library of moves people are performing these days,” says USFKA Rules Subcommittee Chair and multiple-time US Team member Clay Wright. “We encourage paddlers to upload videos of themselves and their friends doing freestyle kayak moves and will match them to the moves recognized by the International Canoe Federation. The videos that do the best job illustrating moves will receive comments posted by members of a multi-national group of experts (including Peter Csonka (SL) Ingrid Schlott (DE) and Mathieu Demolin (FR) so that both the video producers and other viewers can gain a better understanding of how competitors are scored."

“This is a training resource that, while it will not replace live training will be a good tool for many events around the world to help us grow the sport,” notes Simon Hirter, organizer of the 2009 Freestyle Kayaking World Championship in Thun Switzerland.

“The Library should help us move away from relying on athletes to judge themselves because they are the only ones sufficiently familiar with the moves,” adds Jimmy Blakeney, former US Team athlete and USAFK Steering Committee member. “Best of all, kayakers will have a new way to learn and understand the moves and the rules regardless of their plans to compete.”

For more information about this project, contact Risa Shimoda 00+1+301-502-6548 risa@theshimodagroup.com.

It has been one year since we organized and we are truly establishing a framework for growth. This year we developed a handbook for freestyle judges; conducted a National Championships; supported a team that competed at the Freestyle Kayaking World Cup in Europe; and awarded the 2009 Team Trials to the City of Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

For more information on what we've done in the past year, and what we're planning for next year, download the 2008 Year End Report (PDF)

USA Freestyle kayaking is accepting bids for hosting the 2009 National Championships.

Requirements:
1: Due to timing of the World Championships, Nationals should be held no earlier than September 12.
2: The site must be accessible for Judges/competitors/spectators
4: The site must have reliable/predictable waterlevels
5: The event must use current USAFK judging and scoring guidelines and meet USAFK sanctioning guidelines
6: Results from the event must be posted online within 24 hours of the event and a follow up summary to provide feedback to USAFK what can be learned and utilized for the next Nationals event.

Bids should include a description of the site and feature (photos and/or video are helpful), water level information, proposed schedule, and any other information that may aid the committee in site selection. Bids must evidence sufficient past experience related to planning and executing a whitewater freestyle event.

Organizers should indicated an interest in and be capable of incorporating the following two components into the 2009 Nationals event program:

1) USAFK 2009 Community Outreach, whereby registered competitors (as part of their registration) participate in an event that integrates them into the community on days prior to the event.
2) A USAFreestyle Kayaking fundraising component (commitment level tbd: e.g., proceeds from dinner with community residents prior to event)

USAFK will work with the 2009 Nationals host to plan these such that they benefit both the event and our Team!

Bids, questions, and comments should be submitted by Feb 14, 2009 via email to Jeremy Laucks (Jeremy@ChasingRain.com).