Occassional thoughts about orienteering
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| okansas.blogspot.com Occassional thoughts about orienteering |
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Wednesday, June 09, 2004 Something to think aboutWith the European and World Champs coming up, lots of nations are picking their teams. Selecting a team must be difficult. But, it is also interesting.To entertain myself while running, I've been thinking about how I'd pick a team from the U.S. for the WOC if: 1. It was entirely up to me. 2. I financed the team. 3. I had enough money to pay entry fees and expenses in Sweden (and maybe a bit left over to help one or two team members with some travel expenses). But, I didn't have enough money to fully pay for the trip or compensate team members for time away from their jobs. This is similar to the selection problem faced by USOF. The big difference is that in my thought experiment it is my money and it is my responsibility. In some ways the problem is a bit more like a professional sport (say a cycling team preparing for the TDF)...with very little money. I haven't exactly come up with how I'd pick my team. But, I've thought of some questions I'd want to ask and answer: What are my goals? Do the goals make a difference in how you pick the team? Where would I have a selection race? (It is even worth asking, would I have a selection race?) When would I select the team? What are the trade-offs between picking a team early (several months before the WOC) and late? The first question -- and to me the one that will drive the selection process -- is "what are my goals?" Well, since I'm financing the team, I guess the goals are up to me. For the purposes of my experiment, I'll say my goals are: 1. To participate in the WOC. 2. To have as strong a relay team as possible. 3. To be competitive with peer nations. Those goals are, I think, quite close to the implicit goals of the US team (I say implicit goals because I don't think the team has yet come up with goals). I think the goals make a difference in how I select a team and use my money. If my goals were different -- say to qualify runners for finals -- I'd probably pick fewer people and wouldn't both spending money if I thought runners didn't have a chance to qualify. That's all for today. Maybe I'll give these questions more thought tomorrow. posted by Michael | 7:26 PM 
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