So this season's race, I'm pushing for letting the kids stage their own cars. I think this could be really good, but it also introduces another potential chaos factor, as boys are, well, boys, and we don't want things to go wrong. I also want to keep things as efficient as possible, so as not to exceed our Derby's time budget.
So, here are the steps I plan to take for the race. Please let me know what you think of these.
- GPRM "Master" Scheduling: Boys get antsy when they go too long without something to do. I am hoping that the Master Scheduling option with GPRM will help keep them more engaged and focused (and less prone to mischief).
- Staging platform: One of the Pack dads built us a beautiful staging platform that can double as an award ceremony stand.
- Car labels : Each car will have a small, but visible, label, visible on top, that will show its number clearly
- Name/Number badges: After getting all of the racers and cars checked into GPRM, I plan to make name badges that have the car numbers on them, so that it will be easy to tell at-a-glance who owns which car.
- Designated roles: I plan to recruit and instruct some staging specific race officials:
-- Tablemaster: The tablemaster is responsible for removing cars from the impound area and giving them to their owners for staging. He or she is also responsible for replacing the cars after they've run.
-- Wranglers: The Wrangler is responsible for assembling the groups of scouts for the racing groups. When the next 'on deck' group is announced, the Wrangler will call out the named Scouts and bring them to a specific 'on deck' area to stand and await staging for the next round. We'll need two of these.
-- Staging Supervisor: Responsible for assisting Scouts in staging cars, double checking staging and staging for anybody unable to self-stage.
Here's how I envision things going:
We set GPRM to display the "on deck" group for each race. The emcee will call out this information as part of the heat announcement. Wrangler #1 will go over to the seating area for the boys and grab the on-deck group and bring them over to the designated on-deck area. Once the track is ready for staging, Wrangler #1 takes them to the impound table where they (one by one) show their badges to the Tablemaster, who gives them their cars. Wrangler #1 escorts the group to the track, where they, one-by-one, in sequential order, ascend the platform and, under the guidance of the Staging Supervisor, place their cars on the track. Wrangler #1 escorts the Scouts to a space at the end of the track, and the heat is run. The scouts retrieve their cars and bring them back to the Tablemaster, who replaces them.
While Wrangler #1 is taking the kids to the impound table to retrieve their cars, Wrangler #2 should be assembling the second group and bringing them to the on-deck area. As soon as the heat is
run, Wrangler #2 begins the process of having the next set of racers collect their cars and move to the staging area.
Thoughts? What am I overlooking? Help me think through the worst-case scenarios here.
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