Quote Originally Posted by pll View Post
Just in case, I am not saying the women's 4 field should not be combined with juniors, rather than it should not be a free option for the parents of those juniors. Have them pay to secure a spot. I just put some of the numbers from the Chi Cross Cup women's 4 field for your reference (the combined field with juniors is 100):
So your races are getting 60+ juniors racing in a field? That is awesome! The real question is how many of those would still show up if there were a fee (we charge juniors at the big series races, but a reduced amount - smaller races often offer a free entry to the cub juniors)? I'm guessing that a reduced fee wouldn't change this ratio.

As I have said, the juniors are the future of this sport, and I think we should encourage them to race in any way possible. Here, our 10-14 fields typically have a cap of 30-40 at the big races, and have been selling out (terrific!). In fact, at Gloucester the cubs sold out so fast that the series leader got shut out of the race. So, I offered her my spot. Why? Because a junior with high potential in the sport should be racing before some 45+ year old (the promoter accommodated both of us).

The most important thing to remember is that we do this to HAVE FUN! None of us are getting rich racing our CX bikes every weekend (though some of those juniors may some day). Think about the sport as a whole and how we can improve the experience for everyone, not just ourselves.

Happy racing!
SheFly