Certifications for Competitions

[Tuckerrrr]

I'm down. We should certify a certain number of competitions per region. If a competition isn't certified, it won't have the credentials of certified competitions and will not be considered as legit.

What if a certified competition messes up...they lose certification?

 

[Waleed]

Friday, June 27th - casa de Waleed

Anyone else in the DC metro area, interested in joining, please let us know. We could possibly have 2-3 people on the phone (conference call), anyone besides Faizan interested? Meistro? Let us know.

 

[Arjun Barua]

casa de Waleed? I'm there!

 

[Meistro]

Very interested. However my private jet will not be able to fly out to DC that day let me know what i can do to help.

 

[faizan]

waleed i'll holler at u mid week to let u know if i am available, u guys gonna do this night time, or day time?

 

[Jeeti]

Waleed brother...I'm busy right now, but will be in your area for one my unusually long weekends in a few weeks, we can discuss perhaps over some grape ;D

 

[Waleed]

Nice Jeeti. Only if you feed me the grapes.

I will send a facebook message to everyone who is interested in meeting up for this. If anyone is interested in meeting up or teleconferencing, please contact me (personal message). Otherwise, lets bring this thread back to the original topic.

 

[zagreus]

I'm down with this.

 

[Jeeti]

Yes...back to the topic...the organization is going to need some sort of funding I'd imagine...so why don't we have every team willing to participate in this union have to pay some sort of a due...either that or take it out of the application fee for competitions...might as well start somewhere?

 

[TheBraveOne]

wut if there will be competition not under ur league, however has all the credentials to be under ur league but its just that the bhangra uncles dont wanna be aprt of ur league.. for example groundshaker and bhangra masti also bhangra nation?
however these comps i feel are legit cuz they always hav live and modern categories and there judging is always fair

 

[Waleed]

The purpose of this meeting is to brainstorm ideas and present them to the bhangra community (hopefully through BTF and other channels). None of this could actually be implemented unless it had solid backing from everyone involved.

Please don't confuse this with a group of guys dictating 'how things should be done' - everyone's input is valuable. As performers we have to recognize that every competition offers its own distinct experience and we have to work hand in hand with the organizers if we want concrete results.

 

[Boston Bhangra]

We have actually tried doing this before with the Bhangra Council. We tried to work with different organizations, teams and judges to come together to create some unity, but it was simply too demanding on time, and very hard to organize. Boston Bhangra would 100% support the idea of what you're trying to do, but we would have to get support of both the competitions, teams, and judges to really create a trully value-added organization.
One thing to understand about judging scoresheets is that having different score sheets across competitions is not a problem, assuming that the judges actually abide to them. That is the bigger problem, and a problem that is very hard to eliminate. We have participated in competitions where the scoresheet was clearly disclosed and understood by our team, but the judges went out and did something very different.
As far as competitions go, I think once you get buy in, people will follow the standard, and again, different competitions can be ranked differently within the organization. Some, that don't follow standards, or principles of the Bhangra Council, wouldn't be rated as high because of a clearly defined rule set that we could come up with. This rule set would include providing different things for teams, getting high caliber teams, etc. Again, something that is very discrete, and not something that is subjective. Again, the more things that we base on fact, the more likely people will actually take the Bhangra Council seriously.
We could also split the North America up into divisions if need be, and teams could sign up as they pleased. Based on the competitions that the teams win, based on the classification and difficulty of the competition, the teams get ranked. This is similar to Tennis. Bigger competitions, more points, smaller, less. However, teams are still recognized for winning.
Again, there are many things to think about when it comes to this. Members of Boston Bhangra could add value as we have been involved in the Bhangra circuit for more than 9 years.
Keep us posted if you need our help.
Thanks.

 

[NSC]

I really don't think that a ranking system would work in bhangra. There are just too many variables in play to have a ranking system in place that would be effective and please everyone. For example, there have been some great teams (traditional and modern) in the past several years that have a hard time placing. Everyone knows they are sick but for whatever reason they don't place that often. How do these teams fall within the ranking system? Also, consider the case of a team like Rooh Punjab Di....one of the best teams around, period....everyone who knows bhangra recognizes this....but they don't compete that often. Where do they fall? Furthermore, how do you compare them to a team like DRP.....very modern, competes all over, and places all over.....would you rank DRP higher than RPD? I personally would not. Just some things to think about......

 

[Boston Bhangra]

Well, there are different ways to judge both competitions and teams. Again, the competition can be set against a criteria list that measures how good it is. The teams would be ranked up against what they've accomplished. It's not easy for any team to travel, no matter who they are, but the ones that do travel and make the effort to travel should be given that credit. The scoring basically is based on how well you've done at competitions. Thus, DRP for example, has done very well the past year, so they might stack up well against Rooh, because they haven't performed as many times. Thus, maybe we wouldn't rank teams, but maybe measure how many times they have placed, similar to what is on Punjab Online. Have a fair scoring system for winning small/medium/large competitions, and for placing 1, 2, or 3rd. I think that is fair. That way every team gets recognized that places, and if you don't travel, if you do well at the ones you go to, you'll still do well. Again, I do credit POL for having a smart setup as to how they were organized. Ranking teams by placing, but that is no longer being managed. This might be a good forum to measure that going forward, even going back multiple years to record that information. We shouldn't lose how teams have done over the years, as that is a good way to measure how things have progressed over the years.

 

[KaraN]

ayo faiz remember when we were talkin bout this stuff at practice like a year ago...u know im down for this...if anyone in the tri-state area wantz to do something like the dc area let me know im totally willing to put some time into this...

Karan

 

[yraparla]

Boston, any documentation on your efforts in the past would be a great resource.

What you tried, what you wish you tried, who you contacted, what you achieved, pitfalls, etc.

Ultimately this is going to need
a) the backing of renowned competitions
b) a strong incentive
c) a graduated approach that takes small measures

a and b are obvious, but it's going to be that graduated approach that makes or breaks the effort. For the upcoming season, my personal belief is that a loose construct of some sort (think Articles of Conf....I love history don't judge) is the best bet as comps decide the level they want to participate at. Once you get some loose binding then you throw in the strong incentives to strengthen the council or national organization.

If we really want it done right, the reality is that many of us may be out of competitive bhangra by the time it really comes about. The key is lay the groundwork and the vision so that the steps can be laid out easily in the next 2-3 seasons

 

[Waleed]

c) a graduated approach that takes small measures

If we really want it done right, the reality is that many of us may be out of competitive bhangra by the time it really comes about. The key is lay the groundwork and the vision so that the steps can be laid out easily in the next 2-3 seasons.

-Swi

Well said. This is a huge endeavor that will take shape over time. You're right, I think our generation should focus more on laying the foundations as there in no way we could establish a council (that everyone abides by) in a few months. We need to have an approach that welcomes all different points of view and doesn't 'shock' everyone in to accepting what we stand for.