2008 = 2007 * 2 (number of competitions)

[Stefan]

With the announcement of Carnegie Mellon Fall 2008, we have now doubled the number of WCA competitions in 2008 compared to 2007.

1982 - 1
2003 - 2
2004 - 12
2005 - 24
2006 - 33
2007 - 53
2008 - 106
2009 - 6

 

[masterofthebass]

wow... that's astonishing. Eventually there will be at least 1 competition in each area of europe / US every week.

 

[cmhardw]

I wonder how long it will be before big competitions like Worlds, Continental, or National competitions will be by invitation only?

Chris

 

[Lotsofsloths]

I wonder how long it will be before big competitions like Worlds, Continental, or National competitions will be by invitation only?

Chris

That is a good idea.

 

[Dene]

WC better not be invitation only... Nationals, maybe, but not WC.

 

[Bryan]

WC better not be invitation only... Nationals, maybe, but not WC.

I would expect WC to be invitation only before Nationals. But really, invitation would be a misnomer. More likely it would be pre-qualification. As long as the pre-qualification can occur at any WCA event, it seems like it would be an eventual step made.

 

[pjk]

I am not too surprised, but that is quite a jump from just a year ago. This really shows how much the sport is growing. Yes, I do call it a sport.

WC better not be invitation only... Nationals, maybe, but not WC.

I would expect WC to be invitation only before Nationals. But really, invitation would be a misnomer. More likely it would be pre-qualification. As long as the pre-qualification can occur at any WCA event, it seems like it would be an eventual step made.

I agree. Qualification sounds more reasonable.

 

[brunson]

I am not too surprised, but that is quite a jump from just a year ago. This really shows how much the sport is growing. Yes, I do call it a sport.

I think I've settled on this qualification: If people compete at it, it's a sport.

 

[Dene]

I don't think qualification is a good idea for WC either. People will come to it because it is the WC, why can't they compete too? I think everyone should get a bit of a go, at least, for the biggest event we have.

 

[blade740]

I figure you would have WC as a large multi-day event. You'd have the "World Speedcubing Open" as a 2 day open event, then the "World Championships" as the prequalified event. Cubers could come to compete in the Open the same way they would go to WC now, and if they like, they can stay and watch the "main event" as the top competitors in each event battle it out on stage.

 

[masterofthebass]

umm.... how would it be feasible to have 2000 people come to world championships. No other WC is an open competition. At some point, we will have to regulate the level of competitors at higher level competitions.

 

[Escher]

i would expect an invitation to compete only system if it gets much bigger. top 5% of cubers maybe?

 

[SparkZer00]

I dunno, invitation only, not in the sense of a misnomer, seems unfair to cubers. I think that one of the main purposes of competitions is so that the interaction of fast and slow cubers together, being a community sport, is important, and an idea that our sport was built on and thrives on today. Invitation only, in my opinion, would start to crumble that from beneath us.

 

[Escher]

perhaps. i would expect some kind of seperation, simply for practicality, at a WC.
i could envisage a two tiered WC, with essentially a massive qualifying round.
a big weekend event would definitely be a good idea too.
you could also argue that attending a competition in this style would be an excellent way of spurring on new cubers.
...but i can see your point.

 

[SparkZer00]

perhaps. i would expect some kind of seperation, simply for practicality, at a WC.
i could envisage a two tiered WC, with essentially a massive qualifying round.
a big weekend event would definitely be a good idea too.
you could also argue that attending a competition in this style would be an excellent way of spurring on new cubers.
...but i can see your point.

I agree. I have known several people who have quit cubing because they went to a competition and lost immediately, or gave up because they saw faster cubers dominate and just own everyone, inciting in those people a mindset that there's no way for them to get faster.

 

[Dene]

umm.... how would it be feasible to have 2000 people come to world championships. No other WC is an open competition. At some point, we will have to regulate the level of competitors at higher level competitions.

TBH, I think we're a while away from that, unless the WC were in California. Even then, everyone should be allowed in the first round. The majority of people will be just doing 3x3x3, so there could just be a huge preparation for the first 3x3x3 round, then the rest would be the regular cubers anyway.

 

[Bryan]

I dunno, invitation only, not in the sense of a misnomer, seems unfair to cubers. I think that one of the main purposes of competitions is so that the interaction of fast and slow cubers together, being a community sport, is important, and an idea that our sport was built on and thrives on today. Invitation only, in my opinion, would start to crumble that from beneath us.

Invitation for all competitions, yes. Invitation for just a select few, no. When there are 100's of competitions, not being able to go to one (or two) of them just because you're not the fastest isn't the end of the world. For someone who says, "Well, I only want to go to one competition, and I want that to be World's." Well, sorry, that's just kind of selfish.

If there was pre-qualification for competitions, perhaps that would spur more people to organize more regional competitions.

 

[CharlieCooper]

i'm not sure it would necessarily be right to only have the creme de la creme of cubers at worlds etc. there are people who go to a lot of competitions and are very dedicated to speedcubing who aren't necessarily the fastest.

i understand that there will be a time when there are just too many people, but i guess the sport will need to adapt. we can't start shutting people out as soon as the hobby gets popular!

 

[Bryan]

For those in the US interested in the distribution of the competitions for 2008

http://www.cubingusa.com/comps2008.html

It has a few bugs where competitions held in the same spot, you can't see both.

 

[shafiqdms1]

I am not too surprised, but that is quite a jump from just a year ago. This really shows how much the sport is growing. Yes, I do call it a sport.

yeah, I consider it a sport too. Sorry if this is kind of off topic but, do any of you guys think that cubing will ever be an event in the Olympics?

-Shafiq