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| Posted By: Sally Ernsberger Posted On: May 1, 2016 Views: 941 | Keep the female category in formation skydiving I was one of those on the “head of the spear” in 2000-2001. Here are the objections that I encountered - The most vocal opposition at the time came from female skydivers. “We don't want medals with ‘asterisks’ - some lower level medal! We can do anything the boys can do!" My question to them was, How many Open Class medals do you have without “asterisks”? You will never earn them watching Open Class from the ground, which is what you’re doing now. Some of these women competed in Advanced Class, 10-way…these have asterisks, too! Get your team together and get in the game! You can debate the theory, but you are still watching from the sidelines. Get in the game! - “Female category is easier! They get medals they don’t have to earn like the men do!" Although this was never said to me directly, I have overheard this line of thinking in several sports that I have competed in, as well as in my professional career. There are lots of high hurdles for everyone in skydiving, especially in competition, and just like other sports. We all must overcome hurdles. The women are beating themselves up on long jump days and nights at the tunnel, living in relative poverty, and sacrificing other ares of their lives just like the men. A female category allows women to compete against women. I don’t think anyone can say with a straight face that women and men “are the same” or (sillier) that women have some sort of special competitive advantage. I can’t think of too many other legitimate physical contests that pit women against men. The female category brings in more participants, which makes formation skydiving competition a stronger, more financially viable event. It widens the pool so that there are more qualified candidates for teams of any gender. It does not devalue an Open Class medal in any way to have another category competing alongside. I saw with my own eyes that having females competing in a primarily male arena gets a lot more attention and engagement, both inside the competition skydiving world, and outside in the general public. Having women in the competition adds a story. Now it’s not just Danish-T/Murphy, it’s human struggle to overcome odds, bravery in the face of opposition, overcoming social stereotypes. The media and viewers eat this up, which = $$$$ for skydivers. More money from new participants pays for airplanes, pilots and facilities. More cameras come out to cover the action, attracting more advertisers wanting to buy time and sponsors looking to PAY athletes to represent them to the viewers. So, what’s not to like here? If we (USA Synchronicity) had not had the chance to compete in the World Cup in 2000 and World Air Games in 2001, it’s pretty darn unlikely that Eliana Rodriguez would have gone on to inspire the world for years with her exceptional performance on Airspeed, the most visible force in formation skydiving. We had to argue with her for hours just to get her to agree to jump with us instead of finishing school! I’m sure we seemed crazy to her at the time! The only rational argument that can be made is about the cost of maintaining a relatively small category. What about style and accuracy? Artistic events? How much higher must the entry fee be to continue to operate the Female Category? Can anyone seriously say the cost is so high that other teams will be forced out of the meet due to the cost? I doubt it. Keep the Female Category. Get your team together - of any gender! - and go compete. |
| Posted By: Travis Wood Posted On: Apr 24, 2016 Views: 990 | Question Wording I think the wording of the question here is quite important. The question asks do we "need" a separate category? I don't think we need one, since it is clear the men and women can compete equally in FS skydiving. However if you ask "Is it beneficial to the sport to have a female category?" I think that's a very different question. Skydiving is a high-risk sport and men are generally bigger risk takers. When you ask top FS competitors why the started skydiving I doubt many would say to compete in formation skydiving. Generally people are drawn to the sport for the thrill of leaving a plane and then learn they can compete. Women that start are generally single, start with their partners or are already seeing a skydiver whereas with men there is not as clear distinction with many male skydivers having a non skydiving partner. The women's category creates a great media opportunity to demonstrate to the world that this is a sport that is inclusive of women, where they can be successful. It goes against the image of testosterone filled men swapping rigs in the plane and yelling "you pull...no you pull" in freefall. It's great that we have many mixed teams, but the media does love women's teams as it breaks the typical stereotype. So I don't think we need the category, but I think it's good for our sport to have it as it provides role models and an avenue for entry to women into skydiving and FS competitions. |
| Posted By: Anom Posted On: Apr 4, 2016 Views: 1277 | female catagory so an interesting topic for discussion and to understand this properly there are a few things I would be interested to know. 1. wind tunnel versus skydiving - are there advantages/disadvantages to being male or female. In the wind tunnel rigs do not come into the equation however in skydiving if a women has the same weight of rig as a man does this mean she could be moving a heavier weight around and therefore be at a disadvantage I.e is this the same as a male running with 5% of their body weight on their back and a women having having to run with 8% of their body weight, would be interested to hear from the physicists out there . Is the gap between male and female teams in the tunnel less than in the sky and if so would this explain this explain this is this was the case. 2. physically moving a bigger mass than you in the sky /tunnel would be harder than the same mass ? I.e a small female moving a heavier male piece partner. true you could choose your team and be made up of all female or small/lighter males but there is a lot smaller field of people to choose a team from and therefore would you would be at a disadvantage finding a team. 3. when the category was brought in there was several countries that did not even allow women to compete in their own countries nationals. since this introduction of the female category this changed the rights of women in these countries .In the U.S. And UK there does not appear to have been a discrimination against female skydivers but If the category was to be taken out would there be many countries that would revert back especially those where women's rights or opportunities are not equal . Therefore by removing this category would we be taking away a platform for women in these countries to participate at all in this amazing sport. 4. funding - from what I've experienced the negative views from women and men in open teams have often been influenced by funding given to female teams. There are many that feel disgruntled that they didn't receive as much funding even tho they are of a higher standard to the female teams just because the female team had more chance of medalling at a category one event. my opinion on this is that this is a fault not of the female teams but of the governing bodies and something that needs to be looked at in each country as does the funding of grass roots teams. 5. If the category was removed would there be the option for 2 teams to go to the world championships . If not then all that is happening is reducing the motivation of teams to get a slot and reducing the competition experience. The World Cup is a fantastic opportunity for multiple teams to enter from each country it gives motivation for lower teams to aim for a spot. By having the women's catagory it opens up even more slots for teams to compete which I think is only beneficial. |