To the fullest extent possible, we want to provide all of our Challenge athletes the opportunity to be connected- to know what’s going on, and where we’re going. The Blog does have a feature that allows readers to post their comments. In response to my last editorial, I received three such notes. The forum is more free-ranging and affords a very relaxed environment to share opinions. We try to monitor the content, and provide responses when possible. I’m always available by email or telephone. I have never knowingly ignored either.
To further clarify my last posted remarks: We have elected to follow the Olympic model in our attempt to make the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge a truly international event. The analogy to the Olympics is universally understood and pre-dates our 20-year protocol with a century of experience.
As the number of foreign teams rise, so will the attendant interest from the general media increase. This creates much more sponsorship opportunities, since a team trumps the focus on a single individual.
I can not say with certainty when we will reach critical mass and allow only one US Team to participate in a truly World Championship, but I do believe that the day is coming. In all likelihood, the event will be held in Berlin, where each of the EU members will be sending a team.
The interests expressed in increasing the numbers of open class, non-team affiliated competitors would be one of the logical extensions of an expanded US National Championship. Of course, at that time, we’ll be in the same boat as the USOC in trying to sort out who’s on the representative team; will it be comprised of the best, or the team that won? Stay tuned.
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