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Post by John Milne on Mar 3, 2013 12:02:02 GMT -5
Alan are the numbers down Nationally in your opinion? Overall I'm speaking.
I think Globally the numbers are up overall.
Here (in Ontario) I'm certain the number of armwrestlers both active and semi active are very high. I just don't see this whole "sport is dying" bullsh1t. There must be an agenda for these people to say this.
Nationally (in Canada) I'd say that we have areas that are struggling but some that are doing fantastic, so it's hard to assess without each province putting forth their numbers.
Overall on a world wide scale it's hard to argue that the sport is growing and the numbers are up.
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Post by Kevin Harris on Mar 3, 2013 12:14:35 GMT -5
People just can't afford to travel like they used to in the old days. I know personally in the past I have competed in over 18 events in one year. But in the past 3 years I think I hit 3 per year. And I train harder now then I ever have. The only differance is now I am going going to major events. ARMWARS is the top of my list then Arnold, UAL and Nationals. But I am very luck to have a very good job and an amazing wife that says I can't retire because she loves to travel. (She is hoping ARMWARS hit the ARNOLD in BRAZIL next) Oh and she wants to hit a event in Canda to so we can hang with John lol . The sport isn't dying we are just picking and choosing our event more is all.
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Post by Alan Berget on Mar 3, 2013 12:17:20 GMT -5
I think there are lots of pullers. Just not lots that travel like they used to. The women competitors numbers are definitely down. Back in the early to mid 90's the women's classes would all have at least 8 in the class.
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Post by John Milne on Mar 3, 2013 12:27:47 GMT -5
I agree about women's numbers. Sometimes it isn't even worth it to put a class on. I'm not sure if anything can or should be done about that.
Don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying women shouldn't armwrestle but I am saying that putting resources into something that won't support itself isn't the best way to spend those resources.
Mark Zalepa would be the guy to talk to about that. As far as I know he is the only one to hold a professional womens round robin. I know he works very hard at trying to promote and keep womens awing going but it would be very frustrating for me.
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Post by David Owens on Mar 3, 2013 12:29:30 GMT -5
I think there are lots of pullers. Just not lots that travel like they used to. The women competitors numbers are definitely down. Back in the early to mid 90's the women's classes would all have at least 8 in the class. The numbers at tournaments are down because aside from the obvious reasons there are too many events targeting the same small group of people, I think it's great we have so many events, but I would like to see some separation between classes like novice, amateur, masters, kids ect not total but more A masters nationals? A kids nationals? An "escaping the novice championship" since let's face it nobody cares for the term novice national champion, more events with only open classes! I'm just speed balling but, if there were less choices I think the numbers for some of our bigger events would be higher.
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Post by John Milne on Mar 3, 2013 12:31:50 GMT -5
People just can't afford to travel like they used to in the old days. I know personally in the past I have competed in over 18 events in one year. But in the past 3 years I think I hit 3 per year. And I train harder now then I ever have. The only differance is now I am going going to major events. ARMWARS is the top of my list then Arnold, UAL and Nationals. But I am very luck to have a very good job and an amazing wife that says I can't retire because she loves to travel. (She is hoping ARMWARS hit the ARNOLD in BRAZIL next) Oh and she wants to hit a event in Canda to so we can hang with John lol . The sport isn't dying we are just picking and choosing our event more is all. I'd love to have the Harris family up to visit. You guys should plan something and we'll make it happen. I also agree that guys are picking their events more selectively. In our team I try to have our newer guys pull in as many events as possible to gain the experience. However as one progresses (depending on their goals) they are encouraged to chose their events that suit their needs.
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Post by John Milne on Mar 3, 2013 12:35:22 GMT -5
Novice National Champion?? Does that qualify you for Novice WAF?
That is so crazy.
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Post by Gary Roberts on Mar 3, 2013 12:36:05 GMT -5
my specific meaning of sport dying reference was a more direct stab at this message board. I feel it definitely isn't the same although yes in past year I haven't been around as much to know for sure. what I do recall is sometimes days will go by without anything good to talk about. could it be the sport is booming but the board is not? I don't know just throwing a question out. what are the board stats. this reasoning is in no way a tie to the initial thread. the video is about supporting a driveable event but picked a general title because it could apply to any driveable event. which finally hits home my overall Olin on is the sport will be just fine if local pullers support local events especially the larger ones. hey I asked for a conversation. I didn't say you had to suck its nuts. I love the event . we were specifically talking about people driveable ...not sure if john is or not. and regarding the sport dying phrase...it is ofcourse an expression when I see not one comment to an otherwise worthy topic of discussion and ofcourse...I am prone to exaggeration...but when I am saying sport dying...I am referring to good conversation or the lack there of sometimes unless it is to spew vitriol. It would be too far for me to drive. If it was a more attractive event for me I'd consider driving that far but it would probably be easier to just fly (I think it's around 10-11 hrs) The sport dying is a worthy topic? Well it's not dying so what angle are you approaching this at? Are you looking at this sport from nostalgia or numbers? Sure the old guard (who we look to as superstars) aren't around as much but everyone ages. We have a lot of new talent coming up as well guys who've been around for years. I think this sport is very strong right now. Maybe it's different where you are. Or maybe you're just talking to the wrong people. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using proboards
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Post by David Owens on Mar 3, 2013 12:43:44 GMT -5
Novice National Champion?? Does that qualify you for Novice WAF? That is so crazy. I don't know but you can get one at two of the three nationals we have !
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Post by John Milne on Mar 3, 2013 12:52:08 GMT -5
Ok Gary. I'll chalk it up as a misunderstanding between us.
However if you want to talk to me about a duck, don't mention a crocodile and hope I get your hidden agenda.
This board is different now, I agree. There is more sh1t talk, more challenges, more chest banging, more disrespect but if you look at how society is changing doesn't it reflect that? I'm not saying it's right but it does mirror it I think.
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Post by John Milne on Mar 3, 2013 12:53:07 GMT -5
Novice National Champion?? Does that qualify you for Novice WAF? That is so crazy. I don't know but you can get one at two of the three nationals we have ! Are you serious?? So what happens if someone places? Do they have to move up? Are they qualified for World's?
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Post by David Owens on Mar 3, 2013 13:13:38 GMT -5
I don't know but you can get one at two of the three nationals we have ! Are you serious?? So what happens if someone places? Do they have to move up? Are they qualified for World's? No, no, and in some cases they try and succeed at sneaking into the novice nationals next year or pull both and get two in one year.
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Post by John Milne on Mar 3, 2013 13:14:38 GMT -5
I'm not going to say anything more.
uggh
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Post by Robert Wimbley on Mar 3, 2013 17:11:04 GMT -5
David, John, and Kevin have all brought up some great points. I think as a whole we do what we do for the love of the sport not the money....with that being said I feel the economy has a direct effect on the attendance and participation numbers at events. I would like to see more support for our grassroots events from our elite armwrestlers ( not saying they dont ) I know some do and some don't...... there is a big push for big events like Arm Wars, The Arnold, and Supermatches, but to keep the sport growing there are a lot of guys that would love to pull against, and learn from The Elite, World & National Champs, JMO.
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Post by Brendan Downes on Mar 4, 2013 1:08:25 GMT -5
Armwrestling is also thriving here, but I do think garys comment wasnt a stab at the sport as a whole...just the lack of replies to his free clip. Back to my first comment, several years ago there were no comps here now we have had 2 nationals, our second fitX invitational comp coming up this week and state comps coming thick and fast. Several weeks ago we had 2 comps going on the same day in different states..unheard of in this country! The amount of chat going on behind the scenes between international armwrestlers (on facebook for example) is massive...communication is at an all time high internationally imo!
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