Contest Participant Numbers?

How have the numbers been so far for any of you out there competing in or organizing contests?

Our first two contests were down compared to previous years. We have wakeboard provincials this weekend and we're still expecting a large turn out for it.

I think there done everywhere Jeff, look at the pro tour numbers, keep going down every year. I went to a grassroots contest a couple weeks ago and 11 riders showed up, same contest 3 years ago had 45 riders.

Like Randy said they seem to be down everywhere. Local boardshop here throws an awesome competition every year, 5th year and perfect conditions and didn't have as many riders as the past. A lot of the INT leagues have been merging states together or just ceasing altogether due to low numbers.

I know the number of wakeboarders is still high. I was working in the mountains before our long weekend and tons of boats from wake boats to runabouts with towers were flocking to our houseboating areas.

It's been a hard year. We're talking about some changes to possibly incorporate demo's and other free ride events prior to or in conjunction with the contests but I'm somewhat at a loss. We were down about 50% across the board. That said there were still some new faces that showed up and had a great time!

I think many people are intimidated by the word and idea of a contest. It doesn't matter that we promote them as all ages all abilities they just don't like the idea, too many people think they're not good enough when our grassroots events are specifically designed to give them a taste for the sport and to introduce them to new people. Our sponsor support has been phenomenal and we have some great hosts. We have some extra challenges with our shorter season and drawing people but we did only run three events (a fourth was cancelled).

Any of you have idea's on what we can do to attract people to events any and everywhere?

I had my first comp a few weeks ago at the Gravel Tour, and turnout was pretty low, especially for such a high-profile grassroots event. I didn't really mind. It made it less stressful and faster, and the riders/supporters who did show up were great people. That said, I understand that higher attendance is needed to secure the future of contests like this.