Safety at Snow Shoe
 

I have a comment about the safety issue at Snow Shoe. It was our first year at the World Championship and I was very disappointed to find that they would send children in the cub class out on the course without any adult supervision. My son and I had similar shoot times on Friday and had my wife not been along, the group my son was shooting with wouldn' t have had an adult present during the shoot. They handed the kids the score cards but noone confirmed that they had an adult present to walk the course. We did learn that they allow spectators, but of course there is a fee. So, I guess that it' s too dangerous for the kids to shoot if it' s foggy or there is possible lightning in the area, but it' s ok to send kids ages 9-13 out into a remote area unsupervised. By the way does anyone really know was it the fog or the lightning that was the ultimate cause for the shoot to be cancelled??? We' ve heard conflicting stories.........If it was lightning, than why weren' t the fireworks cancelled as well? We sat in front of the Shaver Center and watched fireworks on our right and lightening on our left.

RE: Safety at Snow Shoe
 

buckhntr, i really agree with you on that one. cant beleive they would send that age group out unsupervised. what were they thinking.
thought i was the only one to see the lightning and fireworks. what a double standard.

if they were really concerned about our safety, they would want us to stay home. since we are much more likely to be killed on the highway going to or from the shoot, then hit by lightning.

RE: Safety at Snow Shoe
 

I have this concern as well since I have two cub aged boys. You can go with them, but have to pay the fee. My kids will not shoot in the worlds due to this.

I understand the reasoning behind the fee, but for cubs, some aged 9 years old, to be out there unsupervised is just asking for trouble. I think an exception should be made for parents who want to attend, then you just have to make sure the parent who goes with the group doesn' t " help" the kid with distances etc. No coaching, just walk along quietly.

--Bob

RE: Safety at Snow Shoe
 

I have heard there were several groups of cubs send out with no supervision. One check in " official" said that one parent can go along at no charge if the child is 12 and under and any additional people with that child would be charged. However, another parent that I talked to said they had to pay to go out with their 9 yr old. So, it seems the rules are different depending on which person you ask. My wife didn' t have to pay, but then again noone confirmed she was even going along. They just handed the score cards to the kids and said " go up the hill and turn right and follow the arrows" Fortunately, we didn' t hear of any children being hurt. However, what would have happened if one had fallen and broken a bone(or worse) and they were out there with a group of 9 yr olds and no adults? If they want the sport to continue in future generations they need to take steps to insure the safety of the children. I' m sure they could have gotten volunteers or could have spent some of the thousands they collected in entry fees to have an adult present with each group.

RE: Safety at Snow Shoe
 

I attended the shoot at Erie this year and when I registered I asked about paying the fee so my dad could go with my son. They said he didn' t need to pay the fee since my boy was in one of the youth classes. But when he arrived at the sign in tent at the top he was told that he needed a pass to go along with him. This after checking at the bottom and being told that he didn' t need one. Communication problem again??????

RE: Safety at Snow Shoe
 

They didn' t charge for parents to walk with their child if they were 12 and under! I walked with my 9 year old at all the Nationals and the World and never spent a dime.I suppose if you didn' t tell them you were walking with a cub they would charge you a walking fee.

RE: Safety at Snow Shoe
 

Fourrunner,
You are correct!
Judy

RE: Safety at Snow Shoe
 

That might be the case, but then people need to know. A friend of ours was told last year she had to pay $10/day to walk with her son (age 9) group. She paid the $20 cause she didn' t feel right letting her son go out with a bunch of strangers. I told her to ask either Ken or the IBO desk about it, she did, got half her money back.

It should be free for 1 parent to walk with a kid and it should be made known to all starting points.

--Bob

RE: Safety at Snow Shoe
 

Fourunner is correct. There should not be a charge to walk with a group of cubs. I would hope we that will always encourage parents to participate (as a spectator) with their kids.
If you were charged it was an error and if you contact us we will make sure that you get the fee back.
ken12