7-20-06
What’s the new
skills system all about?
The new approach to teaching and ranking unicycling skills has been in the developmental stages for over four years now.
The goal of this new approach is to make unicycling a more solid sport. By setting up a broader, more challenging skills ranking system, we’ll be able to include more unicyclists, offer them a better learning progression, and provide a more accurate way of comparing riders’ skills.
Some background information is provided below. Please contact the Skills Development Committee if you have other questions or suggestions. Email: unicyclecentral@hotmail.com
Why do this? The old skill system is fine!
The first task of the Skills Development Committee in 2002 was to get input on the existing 10-level system. The committee’s goal at that time was simply to fine-tune that system, since there were areas that riders wanted to fix.
When we asked riders about the 10-level system, we got back the same response over and over again: instead of suggestions for how to adjust it, we heard, “I don’t support the 10-level system,” followed by an explanation. The reasons people provided varied, but most often included the fact that it’s limited to one style of riding and therefore doesn’t provide an accurate representation of overall unicycling skill for most riders.
Other reasons included the fact that many riders needed encouragement much sooner in the learning process—that reaching the first level took way too much effort for the frustration involved.
Riders also mentioned that certain levels had the effect of discouraging, rather than encouraging, further skill development. When riders hit a skill in a level that they couldn’t do, or didn’t want to do, they stopped working on the levels altogether. While that will happen in any skill system at some point, the old system doesn’t provide any sanctioned alternatives for riders to turn to when they hit a stopping point.
Why don’t all
riders support the existing 10-level system?
The existing 10-level system has helped many riders, but not everyone supports it. Some of the concerns that riders have about it are listed below.
1. Difficult for many riders to reach Level 1.
2. Focused only on indoor freestyle riding skills.
3. Dead-end skills in several levels that caused good riders to abandon the system.
4. Lack of standardization in testing procedures worldwide.
5. Lack of official list of certified skill testers; lack of official certification process.
6. Ambiguities that led to inconsistencies in testing.
7. Some skills were misplaced—too easy or too hard for the level they were in.
8. Freemount requirements needed revamping to avoid using easy freemounts at difficult levels.
9. Difficult to expand to offer higher challenges.
10. Required skills were sometimes learned only for the test and never used again.
11. Some riders passed levels with more luck than mastery.
12. Lack of testing rules that allowed anyone to test, including self-testing, and self-appointed testers, which sometimes made the results difficult to verify.
After just a few weeks of trying to deal with these issues, it became clear that the committee’s task was much larger than we realized, and that we would need to look for new ways to address these concerns.
The new system is too complicated! Can’t it just be simple?
Because it’s much broader, the new approach seems more complicated, and it is in some ways. But we’ve found that once groups get on board, it’s easy to use, and it’s adjustable to fit any situation.
While it’s easy to get going with the new system, it wasn’t easy to develop it.
Imagine working with the variables here: our riders include all ages; both genders; brand new novices to high level experts. The riding styles include artistic, trials, juggling, UW, giraffe, and more. Riders work individually, in pairs, and in groups. They race, do other track events, play hockey and basketball, and are making up new events all the time.
Unicycling is extremely diverse. That makes it complicated. So developing a system to support it on a broader scale was definitely a challenging task.
Taking all these aspects of the sport and building a sound skill development program wasn’t simple. It had to be comprehensive—to please a wide variety of unicycling interests; challenging—to please the high level riders; easy—to please the newer riders; and clear and consistent so riders from all over could compare their skills accurately with others. Yet it had to be simple enough to use.
Fortunately, the new approach takes this complicated problem and offers a very usable solution, by providing a set of easier learn-to-ride base levels for everyone, and grouping the other skills into ability ranges (intermediate, advanced, expert) and separate divisions (Artistic, Tall, UW, and so on). It’s more comprehensive, which means it’s more complicated than the old level system, which focused on only one riding style.
If you think about it, most popular sports are somewhat complicated. That’s part of the attraction. If they were simple and mastered quickly, they wouldn’t have much appeal. A good comparison is figure skating. It is extremely complicated, especially after one look at their 500-page rulebook. Yet it is certainly a popular and successful sport.
During the field test for the new skills system, we’ve found that it doesn’t take long for riders to understand the options available to them now. They like the idea of earning advancements in several areas of the sport, and they’re ready to begin using it very quickly.
Our club is too big/too small to deal with all the different divisions in the new system. What should we do?
Every group can adjust the new approach to fit their situation.
For example, if your riders focus on Artistic skills, use the base levels and the Artistic division and ignore the rest. Then, if you have riders who would like to test for Juggling, for example, try offering it at a special event, such as a regional competition.
Or, set up a special practice session where you bring in a rider who’s great on the UW. Then offer testing in that division a few weeks later if anyone is interested.
Remember that no one is obligated to offer testing for each division at all times. It’s there if groups want it. Otherwise, just use what makes sense for your group and ignore the rest.
We don’t have time for all the testing. What should we do?
The new approach is great because it’s a lot more flexible. The bases allow new riders to test much sooner, so they’re more likely to stick with it. And that will probably mean more skill testing for most groups.
There are many ways to set up testing for the new levels. For example, offer testing for just 30 minutes at a practice session. If riders want to test, they’ll be there.
Train more skill testers. The new system provides much more support for people who would like to be skill testers. The rules are much clearer and more comprehensive, so testing will be standard among groups. Testers can be as young as 14, and getting the younger people involved in testing is a great way to use their skills, especially for the base levels.
The new system also has built-in features to make sure testing doesn’t become too time-consuming.
1. Failing a test means waiting seven days before re-testing. That will help riders understand that it’s better to put off testing until they’ve mastered the skills. This is especially helpful for clubs that meet more than once a week.
2. Testers can refuse to administer a test, especially if they feel the rider isn’t ready. Testers can also set up practice tests with more than one rider at a time. They can create small groups that practice the skills in a certain level together, rather than working with each rider individually, until it’s time to do the actual test.
3. Fast Test: in Tier 1, riders can skip any or all of the first five bases, making it easy to test riders who have a certain amount of skill and who don’t need the smaller steps offered in the base levels.
4. AP Test: the new Artistic Intermediate division has an alternate proficiency test built in. If riders want to skip all five Intermediate classes, they can take the more difficult AP test instead.
5. Having just one extra chance per set of skills (instead of three) will also make testing go faster. Now, testing ends sooner if riders aren’t well prepared.
6. Specialized testers. With the new divisions, it makes sense to have testers who specialize in a certain area. That may mean a rider who is good at juggling would do all the testing for the Juggling division, and nothing else. That will help clubs draw more people in as testers and spread out the responsibility of testing.
The new system also places more of the responsibility of training testers at the national level, rather than at the club level, which is better for everyone using the system.
In reality, some testing will actually be faster and easier than it was in the old system, since riders can now skip or “test out” of a level.
My club members don’t want to join the USA in order to participate in the skills program. What should I do?
Unfortunately, it has been difficult in recent years to convince riders to join our organization. We have suffered from a lack of communication and support for new groups, but our leadership is currently working on providing more incentives to join.
The new skills system is one new incentive. It allows riders to effectively and officially compare their unicycling skills with other riders from all over the country. With the field test version, they can even have their rank posted on a web site, which we expect will be true for the final version as well.
Most other organizations that people join are far more expensive than joining the USA. And most people feel good about joining a group of like-minded sports enthusiasts—just belonging to the organization is enough for some people.
Because the cost of annual dues is so low, it’s rarely a hardship to join. If it is, clubs or groups can do some focused fund-raising to help their members earn the money to join. An annual parade, show, demo, raffle, or picnic may be enough to cover the cost for several riders.
Finally, remember that people often feel that something they don’t have to pay for isn’t worth anything. Unicycling is worth something, and it’s important for our riders, new and old, to support that concept so we can grow and become a more serious sport.
How can the new skills system work for our group?
In many ways! It can bring riders in, it can help them learn more, and it can keep them coming.
Often riders come to practices for a few weeks and then disappear. Clubs experience major ups and downs in attendance. To help avoid this, they can offer new events at practices, such as learn-to-juggle-and-ride night, using the new Juggling levels.
The Tall division can be especially helpful for clubs. Often kids want to ride giraffes before it’s completely safe for them to try one. With the new system, club leaders can follow the requirements for the Tall division without having to set their own rules. That also encourages riders to master the basics sooner, since they know that they’ll be allowed to ride a giraffe sooner if they do.
The Tall division can also help clubs prepare their riders for parades. Clubs can set requirements, such as “pass Tall 7-3 in order to ride a club giraffe in the July 4th parade.” One of the primary developers of the Tall division was Jamey Mossengren, an expert giraffe rider from the Twin Cities Unicycle Club in Minnesota. The Tall levels that Jamey helped devise are an adaptation of the giraffe test that the club has used successfully for many years.
The new Pairs division can be great for groups, old and new. It provides some basic training for pairs to work on before they compete. In the short time that we’ve been field-testing the Pairs division, we’ve found that riders really have fun working with it. It can also be an incentive to master the basic skills, since riders can’t officially pass a Pairs level until they complete the bases.
To mix it up. Often riders hit a wall (figuratively) when they’re trying to learn new skills. With the new system, they can take a break, try to pass levels in a different division, and come back to their original goals later. That may keep them coming, rather than cause them to give up altogether.
For the new riders, the new approach is much less intimidating. They feel that they “belong” as soon as they’re able to ride a short distance. Acquiring the skill of riding is something most people feel very good about, and the new system acknowledges that. We’ve found that new riders are delighted when their efforts are rewarded with a certificate that says they’ve passed the first milestone in becoming a unicyclist. The easier early levels help keep people focused, because they see them as attainable, rather than beyond anything they could ever hope to do.
The new approach is especially important for the high level riders. It extends way beyond the previous ending point, which is exciting for the sport. For years, there’s been talk of creating higher levels now that riders have conquered the toughest skills, and the new skill system does that. It also puts it into a new format that does several things—defines the freemount requirements more specifically, strings skills together to make the tests more realistic and more challenging, and includes new skills that have never been tested before. It will also allow some choices, so riders are not forced to learn exactly the same skills in order to be placed in the expert category.
Finally, the new system will feature pins. Lapel pins are a quick and easy way for riders to show their level of skill. The new pins will also allow the USA to build their merchandise market. Instead of earning an average of three or four skill patches that have to be sewn on, now most riders can easily earn about ten skill pins that they can put on a USA jacket, hat, or visor right away. And, the most accomplished and versatile riders will really stand out by the number of advancement pins they have to display.
Unicycling should be just unicycling; it shouldn’t include all this other stuff. Why even allow testing for skills that aren’t “true” unicycling skills?
That question was answered many years ago. The new skills system simply reflects the actual situation.
Our national competition has welcomed all forms of riding for many years, including skills done on giraffes, with UWs, and with juggling. Those performances are judged and ranked, even though we haven’t had official skill-building programs to help riders develop those skills in the past. Yet it’s clear that all these skills have been sanctioned at the national and international level for a long time.
In addition, many clubs use riders who juggle as one of their best crowd-pleasers in parades and shows, so juggling has long been recognized as a valuable complementary skill in unicycling.
The diversity of unicycling helps to make it so appealing. When people see the variety of skills possible, they’re amazed and drawn to the sport.
The new system recognizes how important it is to promote that variety, so it helps riders develop their unicycling abilities in many different ways. While it’s sometimes hard to see the rationale for encouraging juggling and riding, for example, there are many good reasons to do that, including building skills for riders who may help your group earn money by entertaining.
In the early stages of the field test, we’ve already found that riders are very interested in the Juggling division. Not only are they eager to see where they fit in and how well they can do the skills listed, they’re also willing to keep practicing their riding and juggling to pass more levels. That’s a good sign that the new Juggling division may be very helpful for them.
To put it another way, what would we gain by trying to force unicycling to become less diverse? Would eliminating some of these related skill areas (such as juggling) make the sport more appealing? Of course not. Trying to set a strict definition of what constitutes “real” unicycling would be a step backwards, and it goes against our long-standing policy of including a wide range of skills at national conventions. We’ve always been interested in branching out and gaining expertise in new ways, and we want to continue to encourage riders to develop as many skills as possible.
How does the new approach help the USA, Inc.?
Dramatically. The fact is, the USA needs support. We need lots of new riders to join us, and we need to keep the old ones, to stay solvent.
With the very important new trend toward trials, muni, and other forms of riding, it’s time for the USA to broaden its scope.
As a sport, unicycling is too small to become segmented at this point. We need everyone to support a strong national organization—an organization that has the funds and the volunteers to offer national competitions each year.
The new skills system is just one way to help keep riders together, by offering testing and ranking for more than just one style of riding.
So far, it’s working. With the earliest version of the field test of the new system, some clubs have been able to recruit several new families for the USA. That means it is possible that we can increase our membership, as more groups use the new system so they too can get an official skill ranking.
How does the new
skills system affect the national competition?
It will help a lot.
Now, our national competition features a huge range of events, but we have had almost no training programs to prepare competitors in advance. In the past, riders have often come in and entered a competition with only a few minutes of practice beforehand! While that’s great in one way since it allows even the newest riders to compete, it isn’t a normal approach to a national competition. Imagine a figure skater who has to learn the rules and compete at a national event after thirty minutes of preparation! That’s crazy. In fact, it’s very unusual for a national competitor to be at a low level of ability and still be able to compete. As we grow and continue to use the new skills system, our national competitors will come to NAUCC trained and ready. That guarantees that the overall quality of performances at the national event will improve.
Also, we hope that it will be easier for groups to prepare riders for national competitions by sponsoring regional competitions. The new skills system provides more structure that will help groups set these up.
Another plus is that it will be much easier in future years to set requirements for who may compete at a national or world competition, such as setting a rank of Artistic 7-3 in order to compete. Or, a rank of Technical 7-5 in order to enter the advanced trials event.
What other
benefits do we expect to get from using the new skill system?
Besides being much more comprehensive, offering lots more challenges, and making it easier for riders to reach their first few goals, it will be great in several other ways as well.
For the first time, riders will be able to rank their trials skills. With the new Technical levels, groups can set up a standard testing area, do the required skills, and get a skill rank, as they do for Artistic.
The Tech levels are different from actual trials competitions, where the obstacles are ranked, with each trials course being different. In skill testing, everything is standard, which is the only way to get an accurate ranking of skill. The actual trials competitions will still be the more important element, because they offer both challenge and variety. But the competitions aren’t necessarily accurate as a ranking system, since all riders cannot attend each competition to try out the course, and because courses change each time they are set up.
Another very important feature of the new skills system will be its potential for bringing more top-level riders into the program in the future. Because the higher skill levels will be more diverse and include more variety and choice, more riders will be able to use them. When that happens, the highly skilled riders will continue to raise the bar, giving the sport more validity.
The Unicycling Handbook is another terrific benefit of the new system. It lists and explains all testing rules and offers learning tips and much more—a resource the sport has needed for a long time.
Won’t this new system be an administrative nightmare?
Yes and no. It is definitely more work. We definitely need more volunteers willing to do the work.
But, if unicycling is going to be a serious sport, administrative work is simply part of the equation. It proves that we’re making progress as a sport that’s aimed at growing.
And, as the new system is developed, we’re finding more ways to keep it manageable. For example, all the new reward pins will be standard rather than level-specific, to make it easier and less expensive to administer the program.
So, while it’s definitely more work, it will be well worth it, especially as we find ways to make it fit each situation.
Plus, the added administrative work will pay off by keeping more people interested. For example, maintaining a database of riders’ skill rank will definitely be something that riders will want to check frequently.
The USA hasn’t grown much over the last several years, so this change may seem overwhelming. We haven’t expanded our merchandise or offered new services for a long time. With the new skills system, we’ll be making up for lost time, in some ways, which makes it seem more extensive. Yet, it’s simply an effort to get on a more normal track. Other sports are constantly changing and growing, and we can too.
I still have some concerns about the new skill system. What can I do?
Let us know. Please feel free to contact the committee chair, listed below. Just about everyone who’s taken the time to get on board with the new approach so far has offered a valuable comment, criticism, or suggestion that’s helped make the new program better.
And keep in mind that by now, quite a few unpaid volunteers have put a tremendous amount of time and effort into this project. Nobody receives any kind of compensation or even much recognition for his or her input. Help out by providing comments or criticisms that will improve the system.
If you still believe, after careful evaluation and a great deal of research, that the new approach is not in the best interest of the USA and/or the sport, offer another plan for how to create a skills development and ranking system that the unicycling community will appreciate. As long as that’s what we achieve in the end, we aren’t concerned with where the ideas originate. Maybe your input will improve it significantly!
How can I make sure that the new skills development and ranking system will be a positive change for the sport?
Join us. We’ve had input from many riders so far, but we need more. Let us know how you’d like to help. We will appreciate your efforts in making this project successful. Unicycling is a terrific sport, and we hope this project will help make it even more appealing for riders of all abilities and interests.
Contact: USA, Inc. Skills Development Committee Chair
Carol McLean, MN
651-481-1508