Just came out of disc golf hibernation and realized it's time to renew my membership for 2014. I actually paused this year for a moment, because I was a bit blindsided by last year's format changes and it was a bit frustrating as a (then) resident of MA who played a majority of tourneys in NH and VT due to preference and family reasons.
I know said format changes were posted all over the forum, but for those who aren't on here a ton, yet renew their NEFA memberships annually, there's a bit of complacency. The "everything remains the same" assumptions are made if changes aren't mailed with your documentation or shoved directly in your face. I did contemplate not renewing, but then remembered like Titan always preached... you don't pay for the point series and whatnot. You help out the growth of our sport regionally and the point series/finals is an added bonus. So quickly remembering that I renewed and then came on here to see if any changes were made.
Glad to see this thread (somewhat) develop. Bill's comments were spot on. I think Jeff and others not only acknowledge them, but have already addressed them. Two points I'd like to make before I crawl back into my hole.
1) The region thing was a disappointment last year. I only played one MA event (as a MA resident), but I think I had more than enough to qualify for NH/VT. It's a moot point now as I just moved to NH and will still play a majority in NH/VT. However, the issue remains that if for some reason you choose to be a part of a certain disc golf region, yet your mattress lies a few miles over a border in a region where you don't compete, you should be allowed to be ranked in the region where you play the most. If you are willing to declare your intention beforehand to qualify in that region only, it should absolutely be allowed... perhaps with State Rep approval.
2) HOLY [bleep] - we only have ~200 active members?!?!? That's "Never Nude" numbers! (sorry for the obscure TV reference but it's totally the correct analogy - "There are literally dozens of us... DOZENS!!!"
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I know we will probably get more renewals as the season gets going, but I was shocked at that number as currently displayed. There could be more bag tag buyers at Devens league than NEFA members this time next year... and Devens is in the heart of NEFA.
NEFA Points/Finals/Championships may be losing some prestige. Maybe one step forward in logistics was viewed as two steps back in members' minds in tradition/familiarity. I don't know, but I will point out some quick flaws I feel present...
a) Divisions - As Arty put earlier, if there was only 1 spot out of 17 competitors, I can see why no one cared in that division. I honestly think we have too many divisions. I don't want to be "that guy", but in a sport where tourneys can only hold a minimum of 72 players, offering 10+ divisions doesn't work... especially when Pro, AM1, and AM2 are so heavy compared to the others. So when the turnout in the other divisions is low, yet we keep subdividing them (AM, PM, AGM, PGM, FA2, FA1, FPO) and then try to give them the equal traction in Finals/Championships, it gets a bit ridiculous. 1 spot was probably mathematically the proportional number of entries allowed. But that's not fun for anyone. He/She plays uncontested, and another potential competitor from a larger division got shut out for the "1 person division". Either we need to break apart some divisions to different courses/days, or consider consolidation come Finals/Championships. If we keep adding divisions, before we know it we could have 72 divisions! It's hyperbole, but makes the point. We all have differences, but there needs to be a way to make sure we're not breaking out into too many separate groups... especially when overall scores between two different groups end up being comparable. (Side note: I'm not picking on any division here. I wish all divisions were equally justifiable, all with the same number of participants. It's just unfortunately not the case and it shouldn't be ignored in talks about Championships)
b) Accessibility - If I'm correct, there were fewer state "qualifier" events in 2013 than overall NEFA Points events in 2012 in a given state. The "qualifier" events certainly hold an extra amount of weight, but if there aren't enough "qualifier" events for some to compete, interest is quickly lost. Either all NEFA events need to be held as "qualifiers" or the overall number of "qualifiers" needs to go way up. Again, I'm doing this from memory, so my recollections may be a bit off, and apologize in advance if the case.
c) Feasibility - We are trying to satisfy all of New England which means either all states get a chance to hold championships, or there's always a central location. The former can alienate those who get a resulting mega-drive by living as far away as possible. If everyone "splits the difference" and chooses central location, there is a massive advantage to the central players... and it happens to be where the most players are... so outside players (already less in numbers compared to MA) may feel at as substantial disadvantage to drive to MA play an overwhelming amount of MA players at an MA course.
The only thing I can recommend is to look at the structure as all divisions aren't equal in numbers, and each region's population plays into applicable discrepancies even more. Pyramids are very good for structure (the course ain't that bad either). Organizational structure, management... heck, even things like the NCAA March Madness brackets follows that same philosophy. A lot at the base, and above that is less, and above that is less, and above that there is fewer. They're steady, they follow a pattern, each tier increase comes with a drop off in people but added in skill. Basically the best ones avoid bottlenecks at any point, and anyone at the base can see the same path to the top as anyone else at the base.
If someone in NEFA sees a bottleneck or obstacle (not enough qualifiers, not enough interest, no competition...etc) that person may not contribute and the whole format suffers. NEFA needs to figure out how to avoid bottlenecks/obstacles with multiple divisions across multiple states with varying populations. When they do that, they'll have a strong case to be the must-play series around.
4/20/11, Ace #2, Devens - Hole 18. You just read that.
