2020 Post Covid 19…
Q By Lionel Cox
We find ourselves here in 2020 in an ever changing highly technological world where its management has changed beyond belief. Gone are the days of analogue devices changed on a wing and a prayer, gone are the days of hierarchical management were do as I say is the enforced rhetoric for a meaningful organisation. Trials bikes are evolving and we are seeing programmable ignition maps and fuel injection creeping slowly in, but interestingly the carburettor remains the staunch favourite of most manufacturers as they aim to recoup maximum profit from their existing technology. Or as some might suggest "if it ain't broke don't fix it!" However the age of electric trials bikes that brim with software driven technology is now knocking at the door… However lets look at technology and management of trials… no not the bikes, but the technology that supports the running of a trial. Here we see a slower embracing of technology and management change as "it makes NO money" and the entrenched attitude of "we have done like this for years". One of the jobs it is so hard to fill in any meeting is Secretary of the Meeting (SOM) as it involves so many different jobs needing to be done both before and after the meeting. It is also one of the jobs that has no official training, unlike Clerk of the Course (COC) that holds ACU assigned qualification. However COC is predominately a one day job and can be suggested as being no more responsible or indeed complicated than the SOM tasks. ACU online entry was slow to take off, but is now seen as a standard SOM job. The system is long winded to input, but importantly it is reliable, used by most hence well supported. On the day entry has remained the same for so many years, a paper entry form, show your licence, sign in, leave a cheque (rarely now) or
pay your cash and off you go. Trials survives on "on the day entries" as it is more of a wake up, decide and go activity. Hence is it not time to have an electronic licence that you can input into an app on the day and enters you. Oh that would save so much time and effort! Not only that Covid -19 has showed that we must minimise the handling of paper documents. Then it comes to the results. Pencil marked observers cards are taken and input into a home made spreadsheet from which the results are calculated. Before this task is suggested as simple, 50 riders doing 4 laps of a 10 section trial means inputting and checking 2,000 entries, only after the names, club and class is entered for each rider. Electronic marking systems are about & being tested but need uptake to increase confidence and acceptance. This of course begs another question why are local trials accepting of results well after an event has finished. Trials GP and many local youth trials have results published minutes after the last rider finishes and almost all other motor sports have instantaneous results. A drive to expect more in terms of results will drive the technology that would arguably make the SOM job easier and more accessible to all as the automation increases and the learning curve decreases. Now lets look at the support of trials at the front end, trials clubs who "voluntarily" run the meetings. There appears to be a theoretical top down hierarchical structure of ACU to Centre Management to Club. In reality this is very rarely the case and Clubs "answer to" both Centre & ACU. However "answer to" needs clarification. ACU Rugby and its personnel are set up, in my experience, as a "customer facing service" organisation with an aim of helping in the process of running a Club and meetings. The online system and its associated licensing and accounts personnel backup being an example of an effective "service organisation" in the support
"One of the jobs it is so hard to fill in any meeting is Secretary of the Meeting"
"A drive to expect more in terms of results will drive the technology..."
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