Speedcubers will be nationally recognized as athletes in China

[OtaMota]

 

[bldcuber314]

Yiheng is now an 11 year old world class athlete

 

[Cubingmadness123]

Thats crazy

 

[CubeLite]

So this will mean we will have 6 years old athletes :O

 

[kubesolver]

I refuse to believe anyone can reach their peak potential performance before the age of 18.

As hard as it is to imagine, but If cubing becomes serious then in a decade the results yihen gets now will not be world class anymore.

 

[Caleb Valenzuela]

View attachment 41460

ONE STEP CLOSER TO GETTING CUBING RECOGNIZED AS A SPORT!!!!!!

 

[SpeedCubingLord]

YOOOO!!! this is why china is ahead of everyone else. they actuwlly get attention for being good at cubing.

 

[cranberryjuice]

Guess I'm moving to China lol

 

[abunickabhi]

Good step from China,

Happy to see this!

 

[robotmania]

To be fully honest, I don't like this. Cubing is not meant to be a sport; this could turn the community into something more akin to a sports type community, with need for payment of coaching or other similar services to be world class. Part of the appeal and spirit of cubing is the accessibility of competing and becoming part of the community, which becomes much more difficult with the influx of money into cubing. If we decide that one group of cubers are worth paying due to their skill, this creates a divide in the community between those who are paid to compete, and those who are happy just to participate. We don't need more spectators, we need more cubers. We can do this by increasing the accessibility of competitions and cubing resources, not privatizing them for financial gain. Also, cubing being considered a sport will cause much more parental obsession over results, which does not create a healthy environment for young cubers. This is a step in the wrong direction, and it spits in the face of the spirit of our volunteer-run community.

 

[cranberryjuice]

To be fully honest, I don't like this. Cubing is not meant to be a sport; this could turn the community into something more akin to a sports type community, with need for payment of coaching or other similar services to be world class. Part of the appeal and spirit of cubing is the accessibility of competing and becoming part of the community, which becomes much more difficult with the influx of money into cubing. If we decide that one group of cubers are worth paying due to their skill, this creates a divide in the community between those who are paid to compete, and those who are happy just to participate. We don't need more spectators, we need more cubers. We can do this by increasing the accessibility of competitions and cubing resources, not privatizing them for financial gain. Also, cubing being considered a sport will cause much more parental obsession over results, which does not create a healthy environment for young cubers. This is a step in the wrong direction, and it spits in the face of the spirit of our volunteer-run community.

I somewhat agree. I believe the spitting in the face of the volunteers part was a little harshly worded, but I do agree that parents of young kids who play sports often take the sport more seriously than their kid does. One time, during one of my little brother's baseball games, I saw (and heard) a parent from the opposing team SCREAM at their kid because they were left on base.

 

[m.ipg21]

To be fully honest, I don't like this. Cubing is not meant to be a sport; this could turn the community into something more akin to a sports type community, with need for payment of coaching or other similar services to be world class. Part of the appeal and spirit of cubing is the accessibility of competing and becoming part of the community, which becomes much more difficult with the influx of money into cubing. If we decide that one group of cubers are worth paying due to their skill, this creates a divide in the community between those who are paid to compete, and those who are happy just to participate. We don't need more spectators, we need more cubers. We can do this by increasing the accessibility of competitions and cubing resources, not privatizing them for financial gain. Also, cubing being considered a sport will cause much more parental obsession over results, which does not create a healthy environment for young cubers. This is a step in the wrong direction, and it spits in the face of the spirit of our volunteer-run community.

I agree and have questions?
The PSL? Gan’s competitions we’ve seen? The college cubing championship? The comp before north American comp last year?

There is a niche / interest for this… something of a livelihood or degree of professionalism for the elite /deducated speed cubers.

As one who’s tried to really promote and recruit cubing to k-12 students (and who will continue) I agree about access.

I think we can have both… just as there is room for the competitors, the casual solver, the collectors… why not have the elite speed cubers have their options?

If we maintain a robust (which there is) cubing community we can try and maintain the cohesiveness of the community. (Though speed cubing tv a few vid casts ago wondered if speed cubing needed a villain.. )

Club sports for kids? Don’t get me started… what we are doing to our kids… and the way some parents are.. That’s not healthy

But if serious resources are placed to support cubers… great for the youth in China.

What are we waiting for here in the USA? (And dont talk to me about that despicable bill in congress right now either - the priorities are so wrong)

 

[SpeedCubingLord]

I agree and have questions?
The PSL? Gan’s competitions we’ve seen? The college cubing championship? The comp before north American comp last year?

There is a niche / interest for this… something of a livelihood or degree of professionalism for the elite /deducated speed cubers.

As one who’s tried to really promote and recruit cubing to k-12 students (and who will continue) I agree about access.

I think we can have both… just as there is room for the competitors, the casual solver, the collectors… why not have the elite speed cubers have their options?

If we maintain a robust (which there is) cubing community we can try and maintain the cohesiveness of the community. (Though speed cubing tv a few vid casts ago wondered if speed cubing needed a villain.. )

Club sports for kids? Don’t get me started… what we are doing to our kids… and the way some parents are.. That’s not healthy

But if serious resources are placed to support cubers… great for the youth in China.

What are we waiting for here in the USA? (And dont talk to me about that despicable bill in congress right now either - the priorities are so wrong)

Its like the difference between street ball and thr nba. You have casual players and elite professionals

 

[David Zemdegs]

Max Park is an athlete - didnt he throw a pitch in a baseball game?

 

[Caleb Valenzuela]

I agree and have questions?
The PSL? Gan’s competitions we’ve seen? The college cubing championship? The comp before north American comp last year?

There is a niche / interest for this… something of a livelihood or degree of professionalism for the elite /deducated speed cubers.

As one who’s tried to really promote and recruit cubing to k-12 students (and who will continue) I agree about access.

I think we can have both… just as there is room for the competitors, the casual solver, the collectors… why not have the elite speed cubers have their options?

If we maintain a robust (which there is) cubing community we can try and maintain the cohesiveness of the community. (Though speed cubing tv a few vid casts ago wondered if speed cubing needed a villain.. )

Club sports for kids? Don’t get me started… what we are doing to our kids… and the way some parents are.. That’s not healthy

But if serious resources are placed to support cubers… great for the youth in China.

What are we waiting for here in the USA? (And dont talk to me about that despicable bill in congress right now either - the priorities are so wrong)

I agree that we can have both.

Take a look at chess (my main comparison usually). There are casual players and professional elite players. I am not really concerned about cubing becoming less accessible.

 

[Billabob]

To be fully honest, I don't like this. Cubing is not meant to be a sport; this could turn the community into something more akin to a sports type community, with need for payment of coaching or other similar services to be world class. Part of the appeal and spirit of cubing is the accessibility of competing and becoming part of the community, which becomes much more difficult with the influx of money into cubing. If we decide that one group of cubers are worth paying due to their skill, this creates a divide in the community between those who are paid to compete, and those who are happy just to participate. We don't need more spectators, we need more cubers. We can do this by increasing the accessibility of competitions and cubing resources, not privatizing them for financial gain. Also, cubing being considered a sport will cause much more parental obsession over results, which does not create a healthy environment for young cubers. This is a step in the wrong direction, and it spits in the face of the spirit of our volunteer-run community.

I feel like this ship sailed long ago in the realm of speedcubing. Everything has been gradually getting hyper competitive with forum wars and angry posts full of petty drama about people they've never met. The paid barrier of entry has also been established long ago with all the "premium" speedcubes and lubes etc. The more academically oriented side of twisty puzzles has been sidelined on this forum to make way for that type of discussion but it's still alive in other places and it's still as accessible and mature there thankfully.

 

[robotmania]

I'm extremely hesitant to condone it being recognized as a sport, as it will lead to undue pressure on kids to perform, as others have mentioned. I personally have been doing club swimming for 10 years (about two-thirds of my life to this point), and the pressure that I have both experienced firsthand and seen placed on my teammates is something I don't wish for anyone to experience. Cubing was my refuge from expectations by others; it was just me and the cube, and nothing else would get in the way. If we bring in all this money and support for cubers as athletes, parents will inevitably start to force their kids to cube, causing it to become more and more of a community with a barrier to entry. I feel that this is an inevitable consequence of recognition as a sports organization, even if there are still opportunities for casual cubers. The cubing community was built on a belief in equity for everyone, and we don't need to change that.