How To Run a Grassroots Competition

06 Apr 2022

Online resources for helping you run your own grassroots competition.

Ranked Events

We love competing! Our ranked events follow International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) requirements... To run a competition the IWWF way we can do no better than refer you to their comprehensive competition rules located at IWWF 2019 Boat Wakeboard Rules and IWWF 2021 Official Wakesurf Rules .

Grassroots Competitions

If you’re a club looking to run a grassroots competition and find those requirements daunting it is possible to pare this down to the essentials, and here you’ll find the things you need to think about when you organise a competition.

We’ve put all the essentials in one checklist and also have a more detailed checklist you can refer to if you want to go further than that.

If you want more detailed examples or explanations in most cases they’re in the full IWWF rules.

If you don't have access to suitable judges, or don’t want to run a subjectively scored comp have you thought about running instead a competition on a points-based scoring system? The multi-discipline Cutting Edge competition run by Simon Waring of Wake and Ski Boats has such, and at Wakeboard UK we helped with an update to their boat wakeboard scoring last year.

Essential Grassroots Competition Checklist

Item	Description	Notes	Check
Lake	Dedicated water for event duration
Date	Single Day
Boat and Fuel	Competition boat with enough fuel for the day
Insurance	Cover for a competition in your insurance
Driver(s)	1 - 2 SBDA qualified drivers
Spotter/Rope Master	1 (can be a judge if necessary)
Judge	1 to 3
Competitors	Typically a minimum 3 per division
Rules	Points based or subjective rules
Jetty Marshall	Min 1
Shared Rope	For riders without their own
Life Jackets	For all competitors
First Aid Plan	In case of minor injury

Detailed Checklist

Item	Description	Notes	Check
Planning
Purpose	Set out your aims from running the competition - you’re more likely to achieve them if you’re clear on them and share them with your team
Seek sponsors
Organise medals
Organise prizes
Plan for team (see below)
Design poster/webpage and draft wording if applicable
Printing [as appropriate]
Rider bibs [as appropriate]
Registration (sheet/online)	Sheet / online
Set event day schedule	Allowing for appropriate breaks given planned team, indicating who on duty when
Plan for accommodation for staff / team
Plan for access to site
Plan for access to lake for the boat
Plan for spectators	Numbers, entry, parking, food, drinks, toilets etc
Plan for team refreshments
Plan for internet access on the day/Wi-Fi
Plan for inside / undercover location for officials/ photographer/videographer
Decide entry fee
Decide on location and time of prize presentations	Source podium if appropriate
Create budget
Plan for promotion, media, social media - before during and after event
Write brief for photographer/videographer
Insurance	Check cover for a competition in your insurance

Lake
Permissions/buy-in	From lake owner, members, neighbours and other interested parties
Course buoys	Buoys are needed to mark the start and end of the run.. And cut-off buoys (also called 3/4 buoys) are required to indicate the point after which the rider won’t get a pick up

Competitors
Disciplines	Decide what disciplines you are running. Wakeboarding/wakesurfing/wakeskating
Criteria for attendance	Club members only / BWSW members only
Categories	Decide whether to set a limit on number per category

Team / Officials
Event manager	Probably you!
Judge(s)	Allocate a Chief Judge
Calculator(s)	A calculator is the team member on land responsible for running order and preparing the results. Allocate a Chief Calculator
First aid (as appropriate)
Driver(s).	Allocate a Chief Driver
Safety boat driver	(as appropriate)
Rope marshall (on boat)
Jetty marshall
[Commentator]
[Photographer]
[Videographer]
[Food provider]
[Social media]
[Writer for press article/website update]
	If you are short of officials contact Wakeboard UK who may be able to source qualified or non-qualified officials for your event. And we can point you in the direction of MC’s, photographers and videographers too

Safety
Undertake risk assessment for comp	Link to Follow
Plan to deal with emergencies
Plan to deal with injuries
Concussion plan	Link to Follow
Location of nearest hospital
Location of first aid kit
Location of first aider
Location of nearest defibrillator
Location of oxygen supply
Covid-19 risk mitigation plan	Numbers on site Guidelines for riders, spectators, officials and helpers Procedure to deal with infringements Hand sanitisation available on site

Competition rules
Agreement for riders to use of their data
Set rule prohibiting the taking of drink and drugs and the riding under the influence of drink or drugs
Unsportmanlike behaviour
Safety
Categories	IWWF rules set categories you can use [LINK] but you may want to flex these
Minimum number of riders for category	3 per IWWF

Course
Start and end buoys	5 to 10m apart per IWWF
Cut off buoys	Set where it indicates the point after which the tow boat will not be able to get up to speed for a rider to continue his run in the second pass. Set wider than start and end buoys
Course length	370-400m per IWWF
Start of run	A rider's routine will start when he/she performs his/her first trick after the line of the start buoys. A rider's first trick will be scored if he/she leaves the crest of the wake after passing the line of the end buoys (Defined by the front foot leaving the wake)
End of run	A rider’s routine will end: when he/she falls for a second time or when he/she passes the end buoys. A rider's last trick will be scored if he/she leaves the crest of the wake before passing the line of the end buoys (Defined by the front foot leaving the wake)
Swimming	Any rider who swims down the course or does underwater movements to gain advantage over a fellow competitor will not be picked up. The rider is not disqualified

Boat
Availability of sufficient fuel
Back up plan to deal with boat failure	Stand in boat, or on-site fix, or postpone event to a later date
Ballast	The Chief Judge and the Chief Driver will determine the total additional weight in the boat. The amount of weight decided for each division should remain the same throughout the all event.
Speed	Each rider shall receive his choice of a constant speed through the course. The boat speed, assuming it is held constant before entering the course, is the rider's responsibility. The rider is allowed to adjust the speed of the boat during the routine.

Equipment
Life vests	All riders must wear a life vest
Rope	Riders to provide own rope / use of club rope allowed
Board	Rider responsible for own board/equipment and substitute in the event of damage
Bib	Rider to wear bib (if provided)

Competition format
Two passes
End of run on completion of course or second* fall for wakeboarding.	*Second is per IWWF rules. For your comp you could choose to vary this for all or some categories e.g allowing three falls for Groms. Agree the falls number with your the Chief Judge
Heats	Decide whether you are going to run a heat system or go straight to Finals. If running heats decide how selected for final. If there are heats, decide whether you are running a Last Chance Qualifier round
Running order	Decide on how to set running order

Scoring
Scoring system	Either: a) Subjective scoring system as per the IWWF rules [LINK] or b) Points based scoring system such as the UK Cutting Edge [ LINK]
Video review	Video footage should not be used to revolve disputes

Practice (if applicable)
How do riders sign up?
Price
Time allocation	And restrict to one slot per rider
Boat	Have boat set up same as comp with same weight

Marketing / promotion
Put together your own marketing plan
Contact WakeboardUK and we’ll also promote your event
Ask riders and spectators to tag us in @ukwake on Instagram and @WakeboardUK on Facebook and Twitter and we’ll repost suitable content where we can

Other	Refer IWWF rules if necessary
Preparedness
Disqualification
Falls
Re-rides
Protests