Any competition in the United States calling itself "Tricks Party" must be certified by Tricks Party USATM. Scheduling an event costs $20, and the Event Scheduling Form must be submitted at least 4 weeks before the event. An event's results will be certified by Tricks Party USA only if the event is determined to have been run in accordance with the requirements outlined below.
To request that an event be added to the TP-USA calendar, review all of the requirements
and recommendations described on this page, contact us with any questions you have, then
click on the button
at the bottom of the page
to get the form.
By arrangement, Tricks Party USA may itself be available to oversee the competition directly and fulfill all of the requirements outlined below, in which case the event's results will automatically be certified. Such an arrangement is highly recommended where Tricks Party has never been run before. However, if the Tricks Party USA representatives cannot personally be on hand to run the competition, the following guidelines identify what the organizers of the event need to do to fulfill the requirements of Tricks Party USA certification.
- Three judges who are familiar with the Tricks Party rules, recognized tricks and their definitions, and scoring methods.
- One field director who is familiar with the Tricks Party rules and field procedures, is able to recognize all of the formally defined tricks, and can handle multiple tasks simultaneously. Prior field directing experience in traditional sport kite competition is strongly preferred.
- Two line judges who are familiar with the Tricks Party rules and field procedures. Prior field directing experience in traditional sport kite competition, though not essential, is preferred. The ability to multitask is a must.
- One scorekeeper who has basic familiarity with Microsoft Excel.
- One or two announcers who are familiar with trick flying in general and with the Tricks Party format.
- One pit boss, equipped with a wind meter, to monitor wind conditions and to assist the flow of the event by making the flight order available to competitors and maintaining order in the stage-in area.
- A few shadow judges to increase the pool of judges for future competitions. Ideal judge candidates would fall into either of the following two categories, with some preference toward the first: (1) fliers who are trick-savvy but do not necessarily have judging experience or (2) experienced judges who are not necessarily familiar with all of the tricks but who are interested in the Tricks Party format and are willing to learn.
- A scorekeeper's assistant who can help the scorekeeper double-check scores before they are posted. (Regardless of whether such an assistant is available, double-checking all scores before posting is a must!)
- Circular field 80 meters (~260 feet) in diameter with the "red line" marked flush to the ground.
- Field center (5-meter [~16-foot] circle) marked flush to the ground.
- Outer perimeter, approximately 20-30 feet out from the red line, consisting of banners or other upright boundary-marking materials.
- Stage-in area immediately adjacent to the field, marked off by banners or other upright boundary-marking materials.
- Four stopwatches (two for field director, two for line judges).
- Two whistles (for line judges).
- Two flags (for line judges).
- One wind meter (for the pit boss if there is one; otherwise for the field director).
- Official Tricks Party USA scoring program and Microsoft Excel 2000 or later.
- Computer to run the Tricks Party scoring program.
- Judges' scoresheets and field director's sheets generated by the Tricks Party USA scoring program.
- Information provided to assist the announcer(s), including but not limited to the following:
- A copy of the Tricks Party Guidelines (see Documents).
- A copy of the Trick Definitions document (see Documents).
- A list of the eight pre-selected Imposed Tricks, with the four chosen for that day's competition identified.
- A copy of the Imposed Tricks and Ballet flight orders.
- A copy of all the competitors' Ballet programs. These are a particularly useful tool for conveying to the crowd what's happening on the field.
- Information about each competitor. At a minimum, this should be a list of all the competitors that identifies where they're from. Even better would be a collection of bios that the competitors have provided.
- Lots of water for the field director!
-
Both the scores generated by the Tricks Party USA scoring program and the actual
judges' scoresheets and field director's sheets used for the competition must be
sent to Tricks Party USA within one week of the competition.
