ROLLER SKATING
1. KEY STATISTICS
· Delegations: 22
· Athletes: 121
· Coaches: 38
· Paid Staff: 10
· Volunteers: 50
· Total Days: 5 (2 Divisioning and 3 Finals)
2. HIGHLIGHTS
From the 26thuntil the 30th of June Roller Skating took part in the main arena of Peace and Friendship Stadium. The main arena was used for Olympiakos Basketball Team, one of the leading teams of the Greek national league.
Major highlight of the Games was the USE event with the participation of ASF/MVP skaters along with athletes and Mattel volunteers.
A second highlight was the closing ceremony created by the competition management team, which included a unified relay (staff, athletes, volunteers and officials), the commemorative photo and interactive show by a professional MC followed by party music and dance.
Competition wise, there were two changes in order to facilitate the needs of the participants and deliver efficient a high level of services. The staging area (call room) moved just next to the field of play and the athletes lounge moved to the ex-staging area, at the bottom of the ramp in order for all competition functions to be close enough to FOP. That created a very joyful atmosphere to all participants. The main element that attributed to this joyful atmosphere was the side blocking of the area that all athletes and participants could move outside the FOP. This kept them together and along with all functions close enough among them, ensured the flow and created good vibes.
3. FAs MAJOR ISSUES & RECOMMENDATIONS
Although majors issues that could affect the overall flow of the competition were not the case of Roller Skating, we here by appose some of the issues and our recommendations in order for the next GOC and RS competition team to be aware even for minor issues that could face before and during competition.
The only issue that can be described as major and can change in some way the flow of the competition schedule is the proceeding of the athletes to competition staging area. Competition manager should plan the delegations seating area to be very close to staging area, and staging supervisor and his / her volunteers should be prepared and have in mind that if the coaches do not deliver their athletes on time, they should be the one that they have to spot and bring the athletes to the competition staging in order to ensure the competition program flow. After the first day, this becomes a routine, since all staging volunteers get to know the coaches and can spot the very easy.
VENUE
· The design of the RS competition venue with all its facilities very close to the FOP (staging, changing rooms, delegations seating, awards staging and awards area, athletes lounge) proved successful and gave the opportunity to all participants and coaches to stay together during competition as well as minimized the distances that participants had to cover to get from one place to other.
· Also proved very helpful to competition staging process, given the fact that coaches in their majority did not respond to the announcements in order to bring the athletes to the staging area, so that became a major task for staging volunteers.
Recommendations
· The more close to FOP all functions described above are, the more chances the competition have to run efficiently
SPORT EQUIPMENT
· Padded mattresses were provided as FOP perimeter in order to safeguard the athletes flow during competition.
· Also the competition management team, conducted daily maintenance of the wooden floor after competition in order to keep it smooth for the next day.
· Spare pairs of skates and padding equipment were provided from the competition management to participants that might have forgot their own during competition days.
COACHES
· The only issue was that the coaches were not aware of the full details of the relay rules (2X100, 2X200 and 4X100) in detail. Technical Delegation and ITO’s made clear the relay rules in order the athletes to compete according to fair play rules.
· 25% of all coaches are not English speaking, thus making the communication difficult during competition
· Coaches should also be informed that ITS THEIR OWN responsibility to pay attention and have in mind to bring their athletes to competition staging
· Coaches should also be informed and prepared to deliver the shoes and accreditation cards to staging area during finals in order for the athletes to change for the awards ceremonies
Recommendations
· Encourage all coaches that are to participate in world games to develop basic English speaking skills
DIVISIONING
· During the finals some of the heats (through 10% fair play rule) consisted by one athlete or one team. In some of these cases Technical Delicate and Chief Referee decided to combine divisions that the difference in performance was not very important. The combined divisions were awarded separately.
Recommendations
· Conduct divisioning with 20% variance per division and keep the 10% variance for all final heats.
SPORT RULES
· Attention should be given to the relay rules so that they appear the same in all regional programs. Although basic rules of the relays were known and followed by the coaches, details such as hand tags, athletes flow during relays etc appear to apply with small differences in regional programs, and tend confuse the coaches and athletes during competition.
Recommendations
· Unify relays rules for all programs and describe them in detail in the next version of SO RS sport rules 2012.
· The site plan of the field of play should also be changed in the rule book and be redesigned according to unified standards that have to be set by SOI (way of measurement, angles and placement of the cones)
PAPER FLOW
· Depending the distance between GMS facility and FOP, there might be a case for a specific person to verify the results with the chief placement official in order to handed over to GMS supervisor and proceed to reporting
SPORT TECHNOLOGY
· A two way system for timing was used including manual timing from officials and foto finish system. The foto finish system transmitted the results, the start lists and all relevant information to the scoreboard and was used as a back-up timing system. Once the heat score sheet was completed from the FOP protocol secretary, was crossed checked with the foto finish score and was signed from the Chief Placement Official. Then it was sent to GMS supervisor and the reports was conducted and distributed.
Recommendations
· Make GMS compatible with European foto finish systems, in order to communicate and make it easier for sport presentation to deliver high level services to all participants and spectators
AWARDS
· In case no VIPs are in the venue in order to present awards, the best way is use venue volunteers giving them the opportunity to feel important and also recognize their effort.
Recommendations
· The closer to FOP the awards staging area is set up, the more efficient the process flows.
ENTRIES DECLARATION
· About 70% of entries were delivered from regional programs by the 15th of May. Afterwards, competition management team contacted all national programs that had not declared names and scores directly in order to deliver them and have a fair placement in the divisioning phase. This process kept on until the arrival of the delegations at the airport and even the head coaches meeting. As a result , entry list per delegation report and divisioning report were finalized only the previous day of competition commence
Recommendations
· When no scores are declared in the entries, use the average score of all others athletes or teams participating in the specific event and place them accordingly into divisions configured by GMS auto-wizard function.
4. MAJOR ISSUES WITH OTHER FAs
No / Functional Area / Issue Description1 / Food Services / The poor lunch box creating some moaning among the delegations
2 / Languages Services / The lack of a Russian translator created some problems, but was resolved due to the efforts made by the language services supervisor to deliver translators from other venues from the 3rd day and on.
5. SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL
o Organizational Chart
o SORIS
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