World Paddle Association Announces 2012 Race updates
The World Paddle Association is proud to announce the following updates for 2012 to provide the best participation and best growth for the sport of stand up paddling. The WPA has seen tremendous growth in participation and race series in the United States and international. The support from the WPA regional race directors and races help provide consistent guidelines and rules for a better experience. Insure that the WPA logo is part of your race schedule.
Member/Participant Benefits
- Quality schedule of races
- Race series for all ability levels to participate
- Consistent divisions and guidelines for fun and fair races
- Points and rankings for all participants
- Qualifying for Regional and World Championship races
- Special offers and discounts with WPA partners and retailers
Rankings for all levels of participants
The WPA will offer points for rankings to all levels of paddlers to allow for more growth and giving the paddler a source of information with their standings against the competition based on the level of their ability by region and nationally. Points will also be given to every participant as long as the competitor finishes their respective course in the Open race (short course) or the Elite race (long course). The point value will differ based on the length of race.
World Paddle Association adds age divisions for rankings.
The WPA will be adopting additional age divisions for rankings in all regions with 17 under and 40-49 for both genders. The ranking age divisions for both the Open and Elite races will now include four age divisions:
- 17 & under
- 18-39
- 40-49
- 50+
The minimum participants to receive points will also be revised to three competitors for 17 under (boys and girls) and 40-49, 50+ for Women. The minimum of five competitors will remain the same for all Men’s divisions in 2012.
World Paddle Association increases races in each regional race series
WPA regions will include additional points races for rankings in 2012. Please check the WPA website, www.worldpaddleassociation.com for updated races and schedules by region. All races will be posted as information is received so keep checking the website for race updates.
World Paddle Association adds Regional Championship races
Every WPA region will finish the season with a Regional Championship. All participants who qualify for the regional championships will automatically qualify for the World Championships. Each participant will qualify based on their ability level and points through the season in their region. 50% of all participants in each board class division and from Open race (short course) and Elite (long course) will qualify for the regional championships. Additional races may be included and sanctioned as non-points race in every region.
World Paddle Association adds race regions
The WPA is proud to announce the addition of the following regions for 2012:
- Region 8- New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
- Region 9/North East- Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
- Region 12- Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.
Additional regions may be added during 2012. You may contact your regional race director listed on the WPA website to have your race sanctioned and or more race information in each region.
World Paddle Association National race series
One race in every region will be named a WPA National race and to be included in the National race series for rankings and giving qualifying spots to the top 20% finishers in each board class and age divisions.
World Paddle Association International Governing Bodies
The World Paddle Association is proud to announce the following international governing bodies that will conduct sanctioned race series in 2012:
- Australia
- Canada
- Mexico
- Puerto Rico
For more information and updates with WPA sanctioned races and events go to www.worldpaddleassociation.com to find your local region with races and to contact your regional race director.