Die Paddle League meldet sich mit den Regionalen SUP Rennen
Aus dem Englischen zusammengefasst (Original Text unten)
Wie schon angekündigt, geht des Paddle League darum den SUP Rennsport auf deine solide Plattform zu stellen, dem Sport etwas zurück zu geben und so dem Sport eine sicherer Zukunft zu geben.
Wir hatten die erst die „Majors“ (hier die Liste der grossen Rennen) mit dem Carolina Cup oder der Gorge Paddle Challenge. Den Gründern geht es aber nicht nur darum die grossen Rennen zu pushen sondern eben auch die kleineren regionalen Rennen. Diese Rennen werden mit 1 – 4 Sternen bewertet und Profi- sowie Amateure werden mit 10 – 40 Punken belohnt. Dieses Punktesystem hängt mit den Paddle League World Rankings zusammen. Die Welt Tour Rankings werden natürlich über den Weltmeistertitel entscheiden, an diesen Rennen gibt es jeweils 60 – 100 Punkte.
Die Sterne werden auf Grund der Konkurrenz und Teilnehmerzahlen vergeben. Die Paddle League betont hier auch immer wieder, dass man mit den Regionalen Rennen zeigen will das SUP für jedermann ist. Alle sind gleich, egal ob du Connor Baxter bist oder eben zum ersten Mal auf ein SUP gestiegen bist. Die Regionalen Rennen sollen das Herzstück sein des SUP Sportes.
Noch haben wir keine genaue Liste der Punkte und welche Rennen überhaupt auf die Liste kommen. Das soll in wenigen Wochen bekannt werden. Sicher ist aber, dass es noch diesen Monat mit dem Santa Cruz PaddleFest, den Hoe Toa NZ Paddle Championships und dem Villefranche Paddle Race los gehen soll.
Hoffen wir mal, dass auch das Eine oder Andere Deutsche und Schweizer Rennen auf die Liste kommt.
–PR Original Text –
The Paddle League, the group of SUP veterans aiming to help unify the sport and create a more stable platform for the future, is announcing “stage two” of its plan to give back to the community and help drive stand up paddling forward in a more sustainable way.
After announcing The Paddle League World Tour in January [link to your original news story or http://www.paddleleague.com/welcome], which combines nine of the biggest standalone races – including the Carolina Cup and the Gorge Paddle Challenge – the founding team has turned its focus to supporting and helping elevate the amazing grassroots and mass-participation races that give our sport its backbone.
The “Regionals,” as these events will be known, will contribute to the unified Paddle League World Rankings via an interlinked leaderboard — the new name and new home of the original SUP Racer World Rankings.
“Telling an engaging story about this great sport” is the primary goal of The Paddle League according to co-founder and Tour Commissioner Kelly Margetts. “There are so many amazing regional races that come and go each year without getting the attention they deserve, so we aim to make them part of this bigger story and help elevate their standing.”
These regional races will be awarded 1-4 stars, with both professional and amateur athletes chasing 10-40 points on the interlinked Paddle League World Rankings, which launches after the first world tour stop in Tahiti on April 7; the World Tour events will still largely decide the world title race though, with the major stops offering 60 to 100 points each.
Regional-level star ratings are being awarded to events based on expected level of competition and, just as importantly, the participation numbers of amateur, junior and first-time paddlers.
Brian Meyer, the reigning Pacific Paddle Games open race champion and freshly-minted CEO of The Paddle League, says it’s all about reconnecting the sport with its roots:
“We want to help strengthen that connection between the elite and grassroots to make stand up paddling as inclusive as possible. The great thing about SUP is that everyone’s equal no matter whether you’re Connor Baxter or a total beginner, so these regional events are set to become the beating heart of The Paddle League.”
The Paddle League will announce the full “Regionals” schedule in the coming weeks.
The massive GlaGla Race in January and Sydney SUP Festival in February have been two of the early pre-season events, and from here the schedule kicks into overdrive with dozens of great races covering all corners of the map.
This 12 Towers race on the Gold Coast (March 3rd) is the next pre-season hit out, before a triple-header weekend covering three continents where athletes will chase points in France, New Zealand and the U.S. on March 24/25.
“March Madness” will feature the Santa Cruz PaddleFest in California, the Hoe Toa NZ Paddle Championships in Auckland and the new Villefranche Paddle Race on the French Riviera, which is being spearheaded by some of France’s top athletes.
But before then, The Paddle League pre-season heats up this weekend with the 7th Annual 12 Towers ocean race, which is set to feature nearly 200 amateurs and over a dozen of the world’s best.
Top-ranked athletes competing include Titouan Puyo, Michael Booth, Lincoln Dews, James Casey, Kenny Kaneko, Matt Nottage, Paul Jackson, Angie Jackson and Terrene Black, along with international young guns Bernd Roediger, Itzel Delgado, Noic Garioud, Clement Colmas, and Yuka Sato.
The 12 Towers will be streamed LIVE on The Paddle League Facebook page from around 10:30am Saturday Queensland time (exact start time depends on wind conditions), which is 4:30pm Friday March 2nd in California and 7:30pm in Florida (and really late in Europe).
Check back on Monday to see who was firing on the Gold Coast, and follow the @paddleleague on Instagram/Facebook for more.
You can also visit PaddleLeague.com/welcome to find out *why* this group of SUP community veterans is building a platform that aims to benefit everyone in the sport.