Whoever was at the track in Pruszków, probably noticed one major problem - there are always more players there than the fans. Even if there were 10 players, it would usually be enough to maintain a safe advantage. What is going on?
PZKOL - forest grandparents on stools
This title sounds like that to pay attention. You probably want to hear about the ineptitude of the Polish Cycling Association in this text. It's their fault that they can not publicize events and that nothing changes. Such an entry would be a hit and everyone would be outraged and passed on. It's a simple rule: you mess with Facebook on a Saturday morning, you see that forest grandparents once again gave bodies in the organization, you're lucky, you write but regret, you mention something that is all financed from your taxes and scrolling on. But I will not write this because it is not true.
Let's do a simple exercise: stand in front of a mirror and answer one very important question: on how many cycling events this year you have been and how many of them have you supported? Because I assume that the blog is read mainly by ambitious, amateur cyclists. But do not count the ones on which you supported, because the family started or because they blocked your way and you had to wait at the railing during a trip to the store. Cycling for live viewing is terribly boring, especially on the road.
If you feel unnecessary in your life, think about the commentator at BGŻ Arena.
Every year I used to oily the text about the empty track, but:
November 3-5, at BGŻ Arena we have a world cup
I write it in large letters and in a different color, because this is the most important information in this entry. This is the first track event I remember for which you need to buy tickets. Will it be lime? Probably not - in the worst case, a quick round-up will take place. Let's look at why this is and how it can be improved. Creative, not negatively once again.
Why are not there people?
Because you do not come - it's obvious. There is always one trend in comments to the empty stands. A trend that can be summarized by one meme that is very popular in recent times from the Internet:
Why nobody came, why they did nothing - I hope you see the analogy. The stands are empty because you did not come because you did not take your family for an hour to look. Why did not you come?
Because track cycling is boring. It is an undeniable fact. Even if you know the rules. You can say that it is not that tactics, suffering, effort, technology and other words, but not. If you think so, you may find yourself a cycling perv.
But this is not just a cycling problem. Very many disciplines are boring. Is athletics interesting or ski jumping? I doubt it.
And this is not a problem of ignorance of the rules. In fact, sometimes even the announcer after the race does not know who won. There are many competitors, many rules. In this sport, a bit of chaos is the norm. However, we have 21st century and check the rules of any competition (whose name is displayed on the giant screen) is 2 minutes. Knowledge of the rules does not help in watching this not necessarily interesting sport. So what if you know what's going on, as nobody knows what's going on on the dance floor.
It is also not a problem that people do not know about the event. In fact, many voices say that they have not heard about the event. They probably think that information about her should attack them from anywhere, including the fridge. Somehow, information has reached me many times, it has also been repeatedly given on the website and the PZKOL's Facebook. Of course, if the posters were hanging on the door of bicycle shops, it would probably be a lot better. Or if someone created an event on fb.
What's going on? People do not watch sports discipline. Nobody watches ski jumping only Malysz and colleagues (I'm a bit out of date). The crowd at the match between Poland and Armienia is less interested in football and more representation. It's like the popularity of F1 in Kubica and Kubica. That is why I am not afraid of attendance at the World Championships or at the World Cup. Poles start there and we can cheer them on. If you do not start, you can always cheer on the Germans to lose them ;-)
Okay, but what would you do in the Poland-Poland duels, which is currently the Polish Championship, probably the most important event in the local yard. You need to answer one very important question:
Are you interested in where the World Champion Adrian Tekliński will reach the finish line?
Because I confess without beating - I'm not at all. I apologize to Mr. Adrian, but I do not care. All the more important to me, whether someone from ALKS Stal - Ocetix - Iglotex Grudziadz or UKS Mróz Jedynka Kórnik will win. Maybe if I came to a fan bus with my friends from Grudziadz, things would look different, but let's be realistic - if any family member comes, it's a success.
Well, we have brightness, no one will cheer on.
And if ...
And if you could take a chance and invest in a party. To tell me it is easy, because I do not risk anything - I throw ideas that may turn out to be a success, and they may even further finance the event financially. But I'm a blogger, I do not have to take responsibility for what I say ;-)
If people do not want to come to see the track cycling, maybe it can be deceived somehow. After all, in meetings with known riders in places like Veloart, however, people come. I also see them at the Fair in Kielce. As Majka Włoszczowska gives autographs, the queue is to the horizon. Maybe this is the way.
Attach side events there!
The unused potential is already visible in good morning. Busses stand under the hall. I do not know about you, I am always wondering what is in the middle of a representative bus. We had the opportunity to watch him in Serock and say this: if you are not interested, it should. Aggregates, washing machines, kitchen, bathroom, room for bikes and stuff. If there was a man who shows them - HIT for me.
If the event takes place for 3 days and lasts from morning to evening, the crowds blur. It's difficult to prepare a sensible hourly schedule, but ... On Friday I come to the track after work, it's OK - even a dozen or so fans. I am aiming for an evening session that lasts from 4 pm. I go out somehow before 19, everything is still going on. We live on Saturday, so time is only in the evening again. We aim for sessions after 16 - we are on the spot before 18 and we only see players leaving the hall. On Sunday, we arrive at 10, because then is the most interesting competition. It turns out that the hour-long spread on the fejsbuku, and spreads on the track - we arrived an hour too late.
People come to meetings with famous cyclists, it is a fact. On the track there are people who, if they announced a group ride on a Sunday morning, would build quite a good peloton. More and more people are discovering the power of PR. I would see some celebrities in such a place - meeting with Mr. Huzarski, Szurkowski, maybe with a dietician, masseur, trainer ... There is a place in the hall, why not organize several sessions. That this will distract attention from the race? Maybe, but better than empty stands.
If the schedule (and, of course, the event on Facebook with him) included the above points, and the meetings were arranged so much that the finals would take place between them - maybe someone would come.
Then all you have to do is invite the companies to put up with their stands. We already have clothing manufacturers in Poland, bicycle shops too, just as the supli manufacturers. The Polish Championship under the roof would be an ideal place where an ordinary person can talk to them. Not like in Kielce, where if you are not a B2B customer, you are not interested in anyone.
What if a small gala with paid admission should be made after the event? There would be some food, some Polish Champions, some famous people and ordinary people ...
Or some competition - contests are always good. For the longest stand-up, passing the straight line - whatever. Freebies and challenges attract people. We live in a city that largely consists of #onion and I'm not able to do it?!
It is, of course, the fantasies and wishes of the beheaded head. If you do not start coming there, nothing will change for sure. Dedication it has to come out from both sides and constant yojczenie w social mediathat cycling does not interest anyone, will not change anything. Where there are people, there are also media. Where there are media, companies and money appear.
# Ass ... and stones heap
I have quite a few ideas at the back of my head. Probably some are better, others worse. I wanted to make such a comprehensive entry with them, but Sunday came. On Sunday morning there were maybe a few people in the stands (at least from those unrelated to the riders). There were also decorations, and that was a shameful thing to me. Not on the part of the Polish Cycling Association and not on the part of the fans, but on the part of the starters.
Oh, the guest unfairly guided the picture of the poviat. Look at this. The only man in front of the poem without the camera came with me:
I know that there are a lot of decorations, because there are a lot of disciplines. But if a girl comes out in the middle of the hall in the middle of the hall, who puts on a Polish Champion's cycling shirt and a gold medal, and does not want to come to the podium for any moment, let alone any applause, then something is wrong. The players are further engaged in conversations on the seats, riding in circles and slapping phones. So if even they can not give a meaningful example and make a nice crowd in the picture, I WILL KEEP YOU IN EYES. Torment yourself in the empty hall and ride for yourself.
Because if nobody cares about these championships, I will not want to sit for 5 hours next time in the car and a few in the empty hall.
That's right, the decorations were classy in themselves :(
So the sad conclusion is that it's not only us as fans who don't want to do it, but even the players don't want to do it...
so why should we want to want?
On Saturday afternoon, i.e. in the weekly prime time, the competition ended at 17:45!!! I watched with my son... 10 minutes including the decorations, during which the lady was sweeping under the medal table, and next to the medal presenter was a "photojournalist" with... a phone.
Since it's hard to find out about the event, there's no way to plan your arrival because there's no timetable, because it's Saturday at 9:00 (only that's how I knew it was 9:00 because when I arrived on Saturday "for mushrooms" the announcer announced it, I couldn't pull myself to open the door (fortunately later it was wide open). No events on fcb... The organization sucks! Only the announcer deserves words of appreciation!
So as a fan I say that the organizers deserve a thumping!
And I can't agree that track cycling isn't interesting. This particular form of cycling with a capable announcer and a sensibly functioning board could be exciting, although the operator displaying it wasn't very keen either...
I was at the Polish Championships for 3 days. I assume that because the event was in the calendar, it had to take place. Someone responsible for marketing didn't care about promoting the event. Admission was free, so there was no money to be made from fans. If it had been paid, almost no one would have come anyway. Why was I there? To meet people from the community, talk to friends, gain some knowledge from the inside because my 13-year-old son races and will be training and racing on the track this year. And he could also do some training. I think that there is no one who cares about promoting cycling. It's a shame because we have traditions, the right stars who can drive the discipline and huge potential among children and young people. Recently we did training with the president of our cycling club in one of Warsaw's schools. Pro publico bono. It was nice to see how much fun the kids had and how little it takes to have a good time and compete. All that was needed was a hill for sledding and a few plastic markers to set up a relay slalom. Track events are niche. The track is where it is and we can't change that. It's in a very bad place. If we wanted to encourage people to show up, we would need sponsors to give away some freebies. Poles are jumping at the bit and probably a few would show up to get free reflectors or some crappy bike lights. Some stands at the top of the track could definitely be made. The lack of trophies and the reluctance of competitors and coaches to show up near the podium was simply embarrassing and shocking to me. This is partly due to the lack of a host with some authority. To organize a cool track event, you would have to spend some time promoting it, find a few sponsors, give them the opportunity to exhibit for free. Bring in some sensible MC who will prepare the program. Create the most interesting competitions, i.e. scratch and points and tempo races (Australian) in the evening. Limit the number of participants in the points race because you can't handle 30 participants. I got completely lost in the men's race. In the women's points race there were about 10 of them, so everything was clear. Speaking of Veloart. A friend was there to support Il Lombardia. He said there were 6 people. There were more on the track. But you would have to organize transport to the track from Warsaw. Google shows me the travel time by public transport from Bemowo from 1:43 to 1:55. Who will travel that long? It is 23 km by car, it took me 20-25 minutes to get there. Last year, the Kielce Trade Fair organized a coach trip from Warsaw and back and sent me an invitation. I think it cost 40 PLN, but it is probably 170 km one way. So it is possible, but you have to want to and have a competent team for it. You can also organize an MTB marathon or a similar race under the track and attract everyone from the race. I was recently in Kwidzyn at a two-day event organized by Langteam. The first day was the Polish MTB Championships of Cycling Schools. On the second day, during the Langa Marathon, 250 children started in the race for the Minister of Sport and Tourism Cup. There were medals, diplomas, cups, sponsors, stands, media and cool prizes. By the way, my little one won both events :)