Number 4

Competition Hierarchy: Should Regional/National Place winners compete in local shows? 

This issue came up shortly before our Northwest Ohio Spring Invitational (NOSI) that was held last weekend.  Several people asked me whether models that had won Place awards at the Regional show could be entered in the Invitational model contest.  The inquiries were made because the Regional had been held only two weeks prior to our event.

The question was brought before a joint meeting of the KitBashers and Toledo Plastic Modelers, at which it was  decided that we would "follow the rules" and not allow Regional or National Place winning models to be entered in the show.  This was stated in the Contest Rules, albeit with a syntactical error that was later corrected.  As it turns out there are no "rules" on the IPMS/USA web site that anybody could find with regard to a hierarchy of competition.

The NOSI host chapters look at the different levels of model competition this way: one may enter a model in as many local IPMS contests as he or she likes, without regard to any First, Second, Third Place (as opposed to the Open or GSB system, which would still follow the hierarchy of this discussion) or Best of/Special awards it may win at any of these shows.  The same model can't be entered at the same show subsequently, except as an "Ace of Aces" entry.  This model could also be entered in the local shows of other Regions.

If this model wins a Place award at a Regional, then it can only compete further at the Regional or National level.  Our chapters' position is that the Regionals are supposed to be special events; in Region 4 they are expected to last two days.  Regional shows attract a wider range of modelers than a local event and for that reason the competition will be more intense.  If the model has received a Regional trophy, it has done so against greater competition than it did at a local show.

This is why we feel that a Regional Place award winning model should no longer compete in local contests.  If a Regional event is to be regarded as something special, the awards presented there should regarded as something special as well.  If not, then why hold Regionals at all?  Having reached the Regional level, a Place winning model may be entered in other Regional contests or go on to the Nationals. 

The above applies to the National model contest; a model that places in this show has done so against the stiffest competition in the country.  It might compete in the National IPMS competitions of other countries, but we believe that it should be retired from IPMS competition here.  Of course, an IPMS National award-winning model could be entered in non-IPMS events like AMPS or WonderFest.  And some chapters offer the “Ace of Aces” trophy that I mentioned above, which allow Regional and National award-winning models to compete against one another. 

One of the arguments for allowing higher-level award-winning models to compete in local shows was that the modeler only builds during certain times of the year.  My answer to that is that nobody can reasonably expect the organizers of contests at any level to accommodate the building schedules of individual modelers.  In the case of our NOSI show we announced it last autumn, well after the date of the Region 4 show had been set.  We assumed that our fellow modelers would have built and competed in accordance with the hierarchy we thought - wrongly as it turned out - was universally recognized. 

Another policy forwarded to us was the notion that a modeler should be allowed to enter the same model in all the contests the builder wishes for a year.  I am not clear on whether this was to be a calendar year or a year from the date of the model’s first competition.  This would require that A: the modeler is conscientious about not competing with the same model after the year was up, and/or B: that the host clubs throughout the Region maintain some sort of record of how long the model had been in competition.  That would be too great an expectation. 

Perhaps we weren’t looking in the right place, but no one hereabouts was able to find a set policy on how a model that wins Place awards at any level may compete at other levels.  I believe that if such a policy was clearly defined - whatever it may be - it will save a lot of headaches and hurt feelings.  In the meantime, the date for next year's Region 4 convention has been set for March.  Most likely, the 2011 Northwest Ohio Spring Invitational will take place after that.  So anyone who wants to enter our show has ten months to decide with what models they want to compete.

Mark McGovern

Chapter Contact/Web Master,

IPMS/Fremont KitBashers