Jenny Rutherford is a 62-year-old Australian skydiving enthusiast with heaps of experience (indoors/outdoors) and an opinion on how her sport should change to advance further. While ISGS does not want to preempt the discussions on any of the topics during the summit, it deems that making Jenny's suggestions public under VIEWS is appropriate.
Jenny competed at the 2019 Australian Indoor Skydiving Championships in Sydney. Together with her daughters! In her "real" life she runs fitness classes for those 50 and over.
Jenny sent us an email with the text below. Reproducing it here does not imply that ISGS or anyone involved in organizing/delivering the summit endorses the views held and/or the suggestions made by Jenny.
Hi Roland,
It’s a real shame about the lack of interest from the IPC and this is exactly the reason behind the points I was going to put forward. I’ll give you my ideas and you can forward them (if you wish).
Indoor skydiving needs to be a separate sport to outdoor skydiving
It needs its own governing body that is ONLY interested in the Indoor skydiving.
All countries must have their own Indoor skydiving association (non profit)that’s affiliated with the International body so all registration are streamlined through one portal for World events(like other sports)
If the above happens athletes can be supported through funding & grants and events can obtain funding for judges to attend. Currently my daughter in Australia have receive not one dollar in assistance to attend the World Cup.
Add 2 way VFS to the categories as in the dynamic the 2 way is well attended and it gives another option for 4 way VFS teams to sharpen up.
Priority into athlete welfare & if they wish to compete in other categories than if it’s better for spectators or for the business i.e less days of competition.
For instance, if you have dynamic/ freestyle first, then the VFS & FS some flyers/teams may choose to compete in the VFS/FS as well. Many countries travel a long way to compete and would be happy to compete again once their main difficult event is over.
In any competition, the judging is pertinent in the outcome of the competition. The association could provide funding for judges and coaches for the purpose of education as well as training.
Finally, change the name. I have spent 2 1/2 yrs talking to beginners and so many won’t try it as the thought of ‘skydiving’ is fearful! It may appeal to the skydiver (which I was) but those new to the sport it straight away creates fear. It puts up a wall already. So why not "indoor flying." This creates intrigue, images of birds, etc.
My purpose of me writing all of this is for you guys to maybe use some of it to help the sport.
Regards
Jenny Rutherford
We thank Jenny for making this contribution and invite others to submit their thoughts on the matter prior to the summit by email to ISGS organizer/moderator Roland Hilfiker. During the summit we will have systems set up for the members of the community not physically present to interact with those in attendance through an app and the chat function on our streaming platform.
RH
rhilfiker@supportair.net