How Tough Is It To Be Tournament Director?

 

    A couple of years ago, the club decided to modify the timing of electing our Tournament Director to take place in July instead of November along with the other elections.  The logic behind this decision was to allow a new, incoming Tournament Director to work closely with the current year's director and "learn the ropes" before actually taking sole possession of the office/title in November.  The concept certainly has merit but there are some logistical complications to this concept.  For one, there are no rules surrounding nominations for the position in June, nor is there any nomination committee to ensure that we have a candidate. We basically just wing in and ask who wants the job.  Next, the July meeting, when we would conduct the election, is traditionally one of the lowest meeting turnouts due to vacations, etc.  Without a majority of the members present, we cannot conduct official business, including the election of an officer, and besides, shouldn't we look for a high turnout when selection a person for an office as important as this one.  Lastly, the tournament season is just getting into gear in June and it's tough to ask the present director if he wishes to continue with the job when he's only getting started, let alone ask who wants it next year!  I firmly believe that the club needs to re-evaluate this format and return to electing the tournament director at the normal November timeframe in line with other elections.  To ensure a transition, the Past President is considered to be part of the Board of officers and I believe that the Past Tournament Director should be required to serve on the Tournament Committee as co-chairman for at least the one year following his vacating the position.   

    I realized the above situation last month at the June meeting when I had to ask Jason his thoughts about re-upping for next year.  The look on his face was basically..umm...I don't know...I guess so.  With all of two tournaments under his belt at this point, he had to decide his stance for the next 18 months!  Then, after some of our difficulties at Mahopac, I think Jason got a good taste of the tough side of being the Tournament Director.  First, let me say that Jay and his committee have done an excellent job thus far and at Mahopac, he was forced to demonstrate tremendous leadership and commitment to the responsibilities of his position above all else.  After two very smooth events at Candlewood and Zoar, Jay tried to prepare for what we knew would be tough ramp and parking conditions at Mahopac.  With a single ramp and limited parking, Jay tried to arrive at the ramp early to help organize the parking and launch, only to find others also had the idea of getting there early, which complicated matters.  Jay took it in stride and while most boats were in the water 45 minutes before the scheduled start time, the parking was handled well.  Unfortunately, the CVS had a fit that we did not get prior permission to park there (although it would have been OK if we had), and instead threatened to tow the trailers parked there.  Fortunately, the guys at McDonalds Marine unhitched and moved the trailers by hand to satisfy the CVS manager.  Of course, we realized this when returning at the end of the day and it was just another thing to be handled at an already chaotic launch ramp.  

    I think we were concerned so much about the launch, that we didn't think much about the weigh-in.  It was believed that some boats would pull out while other would just tie-up to an open boat slip.  Unfortunately, there were basically no open boat slips, the sunny day had the marina hopping with all kinds of jet skiers and pleasure boaters, the ramp was tied up, some trailer were unhitched (see above), and there wasn't anywhere to park once pulling the boats out.  Amidst this chaos, everyone looked to Jason and the committee for an answer.....thinking on the fly, Jason managed the difficult situation and got the weigh-in off the ground with only a slight delay.  As luck would have it, his trailer was one that had been unhitched and he had his own personal matters to work out as well as the weigh-in.  

    To add to the difficulty of the situation, 15 minutes after returning to the ramp, Bill Vella received a call from Terry who was stuck out on the lake with a dead battery.  Upon hearing this, Doug Giachino headed out to offer a jump start, tow, or whatever was needed to get Terry back in and a few minutes later, both boats returned back in. Of course, at this point, Jason had his hands full with trying to get the weigh in tub and scales set up and find out where his trailer was parked!  Jason had been notified of Terry's situation shortly thereafter and he realized that he would be faced with another difficult matter to handle.  With his return more than 10 minutes late, and per our Tournament Rules, Terry's catch would have to be disqualified along with his partner's.  Jason opted to allow Terry to weigh in and after consulting with his committee, Jason indicated to Terry the ruling.  Of course, these guys are friends and it was certainly a difficult spot for Jason to be in but as Tournament Director, it was his job to ensure the rules are followed and enforced where needed.  Overall, it was a frustrating and disappointing happening for both Jason, Terry, and Wayne, Terry's partner but as an outsider looking at the situation, it was handled well, especially in light of everything else going on.

    We still have four more events in 2008 as well as the Classic and fortunately for the club, Jason has accepted the Tournament Director's position for 2009 as well.  We all should be confident and thankful for his stepping up into this sometimes difficult position.  It's often a thankless job but at this time, publicly, here on this website, I'd like to personally thank Jason for doing a great job so far and showing the commitment and dedication to volunteering to carry on for 2009 as well.            

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