Core Principles of the Tier Structure

Racing by Tier rather than by Division

Competitions will now by Tier (based on water and course difficulty), not by the ranking division. The tiers are Diamond & Black (Expert), Red & Blue (Advancing), Green & Taster (Novice).

Benefits:

• Competitors are given unprecedented freedom of choice. The restriction on only entering your division or “Paddling Up” are entirely removed. A competent Division 3 paddler can now attend a Red Tier event (challenging white water) to test themselves without any prior promotion. Conversely, a Division 2, or even Premier, paddler can race at a Green Tier event (local, social) and still get performance-based points.
• A paddler promoted on Saturday can still compete on Sunday. This flexibility caters equally to the athlete aiming for rapid progression and the club paddler prioritizing the social and family elements of the weekend, ensuring they can race alongside their friends regardless of individual ranking status.

Retention of Divisions

Divisional ranking is retained (Premier, 1, 2, 3, Veterans) but is used exclusively for ranking, not for restricting entry to competitions.

Benefits:

• Our consultation with juniors was very clear that divisions and promotion is a vital goal-setting mechanism that should be retained. Therefore, the familiar structure that guides an athlete’s development, encourages long-term engagement and provides clear competitive benchmarks against similar-ability peers is retained.
• While divisions are retained, they are no longer linked to restricting race or venue attendance.

 A fairer, Performance-Based Points

A new points calculation system is introduced. Points are now calculated based on the athlete’s time gap to the winner and the Tier Factor, eliminating dependence on the number of people in the race. The new method of calculating the maximum points available for the winner of a race takes into account the proficiency of the competitors attending as well as the Tier of the race. This means that lower division paddlers are not penalised by the attendance of someone from a higher division at a lower tier race.

Benefits:

• This creates fairer competition. The current divisional system awards points based on positional placement and competitor count, which means a paddler finishing 0.5 seconds behind a winner in a small field is often harshly penalised compared to someone who finishes further back in a large field. The proposed system is time-relative: a good performance and narrow time gap guarantees a high points score proportional to the Tier’s difficulty, regardless of whether 5 or 50 athletes were present.
• This innovation renders the entire concept of a race being “inquorate” (less than 5 competitors) irrelevant for points calculation. This removes a major source of competitor frustration by ensuring a competitor’s effort and skill are accurately reflected regardless of the number of competitors.
• It reduces also the organising club’s anxiety regarding numbers racing as paddlers will no longer feel the need to delay entry until they see an event is quorate.