Handling different den sizes
Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 8:52 pm
So last year was my first year as PWD chair. Thanks in large part to help I got here (thanks, guys!) I convinced the Pack Committee to give me free rein. I used 2-round PPN charts on a 4-lane track, scoring points (our timer records place only, not times). Racing was done by rank, with trophies awarded down to 3rd place. There was then a pack final made of the top 3 of each rank, and we awarded a top 3 there.
Our numbers were:
Tigers - 9
Wolves - 12
Bears - 9
Webelos - 6 (with only one Web 2, we combined all the webelos)
I posted running standings, so people were aware of scoring and I think the transparency helped. They also liked that everyone raced to the end (there was no "trophy round" in any of the divisions). All-in-all, everyone was very happy with the results.
So this year, I'm looking at doing it again, but our pack has grown significantly. Our group numbers are now:
Tigers - 24
Wolves - 14
Bears - 12
Webelos I - 10
Webelos II - 7
I'm a little concerned about the 24 Tigers. I tried using Stan's webpage to generate my brackets, but it wouldn't let me do a 2-round chart for 24. But I don't think a 1-round chart will give me enough competition to accurately determine place. The obvious answer is to take the Tigers down to 7, and then do a trophy round, but I'm worried about having a trophy round for one group, but not for the others.
I was very interested in the Tier Racing System, but I notice that the topic hasn't been touched in a long time and I haven't seen any follow-up discussions. Has it fallen into disfavor for some reason? I like the idea (lots of racing, easy to implement, very transparent, kids race to the end).
Any thoughts?
Our numbers were:
Tigers - 9
Wolves - 12
Bears - 9
Webelos - 6 (with only one Web 2, we combined all the webelos)
I posted running standings, so people were aware of scoring and I think the transparency helped. They also liked that everyone raced to the end (there was no "trophy round" in any of the divisions). All-in-all, everyone was very happy with the results.
So this year, I'm looking at doing it again, but our pack has grown significantly. Our group numbers are now:
Tigers - 24
Wolves - 14
Bears - 12
Webelos I - 10
Webelos II - 7
I'm a little concerned about the 24 Tigers. I tried using Stan's webpage to generate my brackets, but it wouldn't let me do a 2-round chart for 24. But I don't think a 1-round chart will give me enough competition to accurately determine place. The obvious answer is to take the Tigers down to 7, and then do a trophy round, but I'm worried about having a trophy round for one group, but not for the others.
I was very interested in the Tier Racing System, but I notice that the topic hasn't been touched in a long time and I haven't seen any follow-up discussions. Has it fallen into disfavor for some reason? I like the idea (lots of racing, easy to implement, very transparent, kids race to the end).
Any thoughts?