JOs Venue

[Capt. Slo-mo]

Now, far be it for me to complain about anything

but did anyone else find the venue situation at the 2003 Junior Olympics to be a bit...strange? For those that weren't there:

The JOs were held on the grounds of the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, CO. The strips were laid out in not one, not two, but 3 different buildings. Two buildings were in close proximity to each other, the third (with but five strips) was out the back of the second venue, across the block to the main Broadmoor hotel...in through the door, up the escalator past all the bemused hotel patrons, out the back door of the hotel (a mammoth structure by itself) across a lake, over a bridge, and into the third building, all the way at the back. A strenuous hike, especially for fencers not used to being at a mile high elevation. In at least one case we noticed, a fencer was scratched for not making the first DE, then re-instituted 15+ minutes later when she finally found the venue.

While it seemed there was mostly sabre in the way-back venue, it varied from day to day...and pity the poor coach who had an epee fencer in the first building, a foilist in the second, and a sabrist a half mile away in the third, all fencing simultaneously.

I know we've had the conversation before about the USFA needing to find venues with cheap costs to keep the overhead down...but really...shouldn't a venue be required to have enough room for the required number of strips under one roof to qualify for holding the competition?

And dont get me started about the lights going out...

[edew]

I don't know how much they paid the Broadmoor, but I don't think they're a cheap hotel in any sense of the word.

They may have saved some money in not having to fly out a bunch of administrative people from Colorado Springs, but that's hardly savings if the rooms went for several thousand dollars.

I think they may have gotten a break because of the discontiguousness of the rooms.

I certainly hope that USFA follows its requirements when deciding which possible venue to choose. They have B&M (*****ed and moaned) about the inadequacies of some potential sites, and then to hold the JOs in such a place would be indications that there's some kickback/political maneuverings involved in the decision process. Just like in any other organization, I guess.