Trolley Derby Organisation, Choice of Hill

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Race Organisation The following suggestions are from derbies I have attended.

Making life easy
One entrant per trolley per class makes the running much smoother if there is a large number of entries or time is limited.

Run all heats and semi-finals in class 1 before starting class 2. This eliminates the problem of little sister having the trolley at the bottom of the hill when big brother's heat is called.

This also makes it easier if you intend to move the start line for different classes.

A large, up to date, blackboard at the pits minimises hold-ups and queries.

Variations on Race Order Times
Two to four trolleys at a time
Trolleys get one or two runs each.
Each trolley has a timekeeper with a stopwatch.
The fastest trolleys race in the final.
Advantage: Sorts out finalists with a minimum of races.
Disadvantages: Stopwatches are only as accurate as the timekeepers reflexes.
Not many races for competitors

Match Racing
Method 1
Three series of heats, two trolleys at a time.
Series 1: Random
Series 2: Winners race winners
               Losers race losers
Series 3: Two time winners race each other
               One time winners race each other
               Two time losers race each other
Every eight entrants yield one finalist with three wins
If this does not give enough finalists, you can top up the final with with the fastest two time winners.
Advantage: Losers get three races.

Method 2
Two to four trolleys at a time.
First one or two trolleys go through.
Losers of the first round often race for "Winner of the Losers" or a place in the final.

Starting Starting off the brakes
Disqualification if:
Brakes do not hold and that is a requirement of the specifications.
Attempting unfair advantage. e.g.. turning a wheel by hand, using body inertia.

Restart if someone jumps the gun. Kids get excited and make mistakes. These can be forgiven. You should decide before the start, how many times they can get recalled before disqualification. You do not have to disqualify an entrant, it may be kinder just to deny the entrant a win or a point for that race.

Starting gates and ramps
A local genius may be able to make a simple starting gate, or you may be able to borrow one from a neighbouring trolley derby.
Cambridge had one that was two long pieces of 75 mm * 8 mm steel and three hinges mounted on plates that could be nailed into the road. A catch in the middle released the gate. See Starting ramps

Push start
Uncommon. Can be fun. Good if you don't have a decent hill. Some Australian Billy Cart Derbies are raced on the flat.

Hand start
Volunteers can hold the trolleys on the start line.
People have different reaction times and this is sometimes reflected in the results.
Over enthusiastic Dads sometimes get their kids disqualified by giving them a sneaky push.

Judging Stopwatch
I once overheard a boy asking the starter, "Why is that boy in the final and I'm not, I beat him in my race?" The starter replied, "Because he had a faster time than you!". This is clearly impossible.

A stopwatch does not give the time taken for a trolley to reach the finish line. It gives the time elapsed between the first press of the button and the last press of the button. Humans are not perfect and this must be taken into account if using times. The first priority of the judges should be to pick the order at the finish line. If the times do not agree with the order, they must be adjusted or ignored.

If you have a large number of entries, and feel compelled to use stopwatches, You could use them to find the six or eight fastest trolleys in the first round of heats and then race those trolleys against each other in another set of heats (with no stopwatches) to decide the winners.
Please bear in mind that it is beyond most kids (and some adults) to understand how they didn't make the final when they haven't lost a race all day. This happens all too often with stopwatches.

Match racing
Two trolleys, one judge
Three trolleys, one judge to pick first, one judge to pick second.
Four trolleys, one judge to pick first, one judge to pick second, one judge to pick third.

Video Cameras
The SquareBush 500 at Kihikihi had a video camera in a cherry picker over the finish line. This was referred to many times as the heats hotted up and the competition got closer. Highly recommended.

And now for something completely different
Melbourne's Red Bull Billycart Grand Prix used a points system.
Points for creativity, time, speed and performance were added to give a total score to decide the winner