ASRA - Australian Skateboard Racing Association

i have been fed a lot of bullshit in my life over my choice to pursue gravity racing, but till this day have never felt betrayed, check the thread before it's deleted and have your say, speak up! it was originally our event, now a pathetic excuse for a race and to wean dollars from anything that comes near it. no wonder the wild life is never around and kangaroos have such large pockets.

https://www.facebook.com/newtonsnation/posts/381677738523211?notif_...

PEACE!

           Daz

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hey guys

as i mentioned before, i did happen to get blocked hehe, so the money man behind Newtons Nation said hi on a photo i posted and tagged him in on facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150736721839252&set=a...

PEACE!

Hey Daz

Stick it up them

ASRA have done a great job, but the Festavil listened to all criticism from the camp last year, said yeh we will fix that up next year, then just said fuck it, lets keep it the same but screew them out of $25 for the privilage.

They did make competators feel like second class last year and i cant see this year being any differant.

Are we going to be treated like the VIP bands, and other Demo sports. I think not

as someone said else where, you can camp on the mountain for the V8's and are limitede to 3 cases per person.

we cant have even 1 light beer at the camp after racing.

Unfortunately Bathurst is a tough place to do business in. Most festivals don't run their own bars, they use contractors. They get away with it for the motor racing as there are so many people that the bar operators have long ques and sell all their beer regardless of the fact punters bring enough beer to kill a horse. Unlike dropping a bar at a city festival you have to convince these contractors to make the trip to Bathurst with truck loads of equipment, bring staff and house these people and sell enough beer to make it worthwhile.

Its a tough game for a promoter to bring something non motor racing to Bathurst. Given each year the promoter has lost over 200k of their own money I would not exactly say they are gouging. I can tell you that behind the scenes the promoter had a deal that was reneged on by a big beer company that was to provide free beer for 5 days to all riders. The PR department of 'said' beer company finally knocked it on the head as they considered the public/government perceived skateboarding was a bit to close to kids for a beer company and they might come into regulatory problems if they did it. The poor promoter spent months trying to get that deal over the line.

At this stage the promoter is trying to arrange a bar in the VIP area that would sell beer at half the price of the rest of the festival area. As far as paying for camping goes, thats kinda out of ASRA's hands, as we do not control the festival area, we only control the track. I can tell you though the cost of setting up the VIP camping area exceeds the $25 he is charging for the privilege by a long way. He lost over 200k of his own money last year so I don't begrudge him too much for trying to cover some of his costs  I know the accommodation that ASRA has paid for at mt Keira for the riders cost us over 8 grand, and that doesn't include the costs we are paying to provide breakfast for 200 people each day and cheap and subsidised dinners in that area.

Running IGSA World Cup events is a big loss making venture for almost every person or group that attempts to do it. Thats just the way it is, they are immensely expensive to put on but its fricking awesome to have 2 in Australia so you just keep doing it. I have never raced in a world cup event but I can tell you I have personally put in thousands of dollars of my own cash to get them happening each year. I can guarantee you nobody be that ASRA or any promoter has ever made a dime out of any of these events. We make miniscule profits out of lots and lots of tiny events but only ever lose money on the big ones.

Some people (not necessarily direct here) don't fully grasp why its cots so much to do this when compared to a lower level event but just to put some light on it I'll throw a few big figures at you to put it in perspective.

IGSA fees and costs per event 6K

Multiple ambulance teams for 3 days 5k

Rider Accommodation 8K

water and food for riders and volunteers 5k

Security 4k

Road closure and traffic control 7k

Council Application fees 2k

Radios 3.5k

Side sheds and marquees 5k

Hay bales 5k

Trophies 2.5k

Entertainment costs 4k

There are many more big numbers but thats just an example of a few. Throws some light on why not many people attempt to put on a world cup. If we drop the idea of having world cups and just run smaller events we could drop completely the IGSA fees and restricted formats, the rider accommodation, food and water, entertainment, prize money, security. With the lower rider numbers and less categories that come with smaller events, we could reduce spending on site sheds and marquees, ambulance teams, traffic control. Staff costs, trophies, radios and communication and so on.

Its $25 for 5 days camping on top of the mountain at bathurst. You get a fenced off and secured area away from the rabble, free entertainment (whether that appeals to you or not), and hopefully if the promoter gets his way half price beer (at least half of the high cost the rest of the punters have to pay)  While we have done it completely on our own before, the World Cup is attached to a festival and the council won't have it any other way. Thats just how it is this year so just move on and get psyched for the racing

We all know it cost a shitload to put on I appreciate the efforts from all involved.

Most in think dont even care about the $25 or just over $30 if you buy online through their agency (not that you can anyway without purchasing a ticket first)

What most want is to be able to go back to their tent and suck on a stubby after racing, Not having to enter the hectic pace of the entertainment section where your ment to be getting reved up not unwinding.

They did respond to a lot of criticism on their facebook site after last year but nothing seems to have changed for this year on the camping front.

 

I get the issues, its just for whatever reason a little more complicated than it should be. Believe me ASRA are entirely supportive of BYO alcohol at our events.The problem is that I guess unlike at some other events the camping is inside a licensed festival site. If you enter with a case of beer under your car seat ASRA does not care, nor does the promoter but the guy who runs the liquor license and has the contract for the bars in the festival site does. Obviously the alternative is to not camp there, stay at the Goldfields and drink as many quite stubbies as you want and hopefully get a more enjoyable experience.

the point is being missed, it's not about the $25 . it's about what the $25 represents to riders, it's just another problem in a list of problems. last year for the increased fees, riders were told that they would get a jumbo TV for punters and riders to watch them go down the track, this never happened. riders that slept on the hill were locked out of the track and couldn't get track time in in the morning to practice for their heats later that day. riders had their beer taken off them halfway through the second day when the promoters were scrambling to wean whatever cash they could out of the people that were there. it's not up to a rider or competitor to support THEIR (Newton's) festival. we never asked for this festival and would race with or without it. the pricing is all wrong and the respect for the riders has disappeared. punters pay $136 for 3 days of entertainment and $27.50 for 4 days of camping. this should be our cost not a punter's. we're the entertainment; we put our health and lives on the line for something we love and pay double after ASRA's compulsory membership and camping fees. how much do you think they charge the bands for playing there and camping? oh yeah wait! that's right, they get paid and get to drink what they choose to drink. this is called a "rider", a list of items (drinks, food, donkeys, etc) that a band requests as part of their performance agreement. i say if they can't market an event well enough to make money from it, stiff shit, that's just poor marketing and very poor planning. it's not right to prey on the only people that do everything they can to get there, just to be hit with more costs. to be honest, the beer there last year tasted like cat's piss and was still overpriced at half the cost. i like to drink what i choose to drink not what another tells me i have to pay for and drink. the promoters are forgetting that without riders they have just another music festival with average bands. all i am asking is that riders have smaller fees and be able to drink what they want away from the public, around a BBQ with mates, and also be able to have access to the track when they need and that's it.

i know they need to make money. i'm not telling anyone not to make money, just make it from the punters and sponsorship not the entertainment. it's insane to make racers pay so much. if this is how it is this year i do not advise anyone to enter next year, it's only through this action that the organizers will understand how to show respect.

it's not about camping somewhere else. it's about maintaining our rights that we've had since the beginning to stay where we are. as it is, since 2010 we've lost more and more of these rights, which makes it less and less appealing to participate.

PEACE!

 "thats kinda out of ASRA's hands, as we do not control the festival area, we only control the track." 

So do we take it that ASRA decided to throw Hanks Place Australia to the promoters to be charged just under $2000 to have a non profit clinic on the track instead of hiring an extra tent and charging us for it? or is that part of the track festival area now?

Don't mind being pushed out business is business but hope you guys have thought about this (hah ha ha ha I know I know you're busy it takes lots of hours etc etc etc) but have you bothered replacing us so the riders have some sort of therapy? or is that festival area too?

just caring, are you?

sneaking booze into festivals is part of the fun!

it is what it is, can't blame the promoter from trying to make a buck and no-one is forcing anyone to participate, everyone bangs on about the sport becoming more 'legitimate', well, this is what a legit sport looks like! 

the difference between us and a band is that people are totally willing to dish out to see a band they like, there's no way you're going to attract enough punters to cover the costs involved in running the race. 

daz, you're being a sook and it's not gonna change anything. we are privileged to have a handful of people who are dedicated enough and put up with all the shit they do to make this event happen, it's not our right. you are not the center of the universe.

PEACE!

you should just not go mate. otherwise quite ur bitching and enjoy it! if u cant stop bitching no one wants someone like that there ruining their fun time...

I've paid a shitload for flights, van hire and other costs to come over east from perth to skate this shit. Another $25 doesn't really phase me all that much. Be thankful such a rad race is going to happen anyway.

I'm sort of lost, is it $25 per night or $25 for the lot?

It's for the lot.

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