Introduction
These writings were started
at the request of the organisers of a trolley derby. It was a huge
derby with about 120 entries. It had all the ingredients for a real
fun day.
It was marred by abysmal
communications.
Entrants who never lost
a race did not make the final.
Entrants who never won a
race did make the final.
Adults were called up for
the junior heats.
Competitors could not find
out when they would be racing next and were then told to hurry up as they
were holding up the racing.
The grumpy dude who drove
the tractor and trailer to ferry the trolleys to the top of the hill had
no patience with children and was outright abusive.
Two trolleys were damaged
when the driver did not look where he was going and ignored warning yells
from the passengers.
The tractor and trailer
pulled out onto the course while a race was in progress.
The stopping area was too
short and was downhill.
There was a First Aid caravan
parked where an errant trolley could hit it.
When rain wet the road the
scrutineer (the tractor driver) decided to ban all trolleys that did not
have brakes on both rear wheels.
In the "Free For All" to
decide the Champion Trolley, slow trolleys started at the front.
The wet road and the locking up of the rear wheel brakes (insisted upon
by the scrutineer) caused two separate crashes in this race. One
backwards into a metre deep ditch at over 50 kph, the other, a young boy,
jammed his trolley under the First Aid caravan, where he stopped the trolley
with his face. While we were having the prize-giving, he was at hospital
getting seven stitches in his nose.
Trolley derbies must be fun
for the competitors or there is no point in having them.
If the kids have fun, then
the organisers will have fun and will want to do it again.
These pages are to help organisers
to generate ideas on how to run successful derbies. I have never
run one and I have no wish to, but I gladly offer my help to any that do.
I will be grateful for any
additions to, and criticisms of, these pages.
