Ok, i went up to the *city maintained* soccer complex/public park after work. I was the only one out there. Set up the phantom, winds were freakin golden! (first time in weeks!!) I set up, launch, and start screaming accross the fields. Just a blast!

A few cars roll in, and set up some soccer matches at one end of the field, im still flying, they're playin soccer, all is good!

Another group shows up. Well they set up dead center of the field, but on the north end, out of the way... a little too close for comfort, considering so much of the field is still open and unused... but they are out of the way, and all is still pretty much good. I go back and forth accross the open part of the field a few times, and all is still, good...

Now, the kids playin soccer are 8-10 y/o girls... completely wow'd by this crazy kite they have never seen... they are not paying attention, and just looking up slacked jawed... a few wonder away from the coach to watch. Well, i jump off of the board and wait till they go back to the game, and make a few more runs.

I make a run to the far end of the field, and their coach sends the kids running back and forth accross my fresh tracks right in the middle of the field!! So i hop off of the board again, and walk back to my launch/land spot and pack it in.... The last thing i want is to hit a bystander, kid or not... my only option was to walk away..

I'm all for sharing this public space, but man! There was another 3-4 acres of space, complete with goal posts and everything else needed for a game of soccer (not favorable for kiting however)...not to mention a whole fenced off section (approx another 2 acres) designed and used soley for soccer, no one else is allowed to use this area (kept under lock and key)... and this coach sends his kids running right in the path of a guy screaming accross this field on a kite and an atb!?!

I'm not so much mad about the fact that i had to pack up in super gravy conditions... dont get me wrong, it sucks... but i'm more mad about the fact that this coach is willing to put these kids safety at risk, just to push me out of the area...

I am really considering filing a complaint with the American Youth Soccer Organization... to make those kids run back and forth, in front of such an obstacle is completely wreckless... he might as well have had those kids run laps accross the highway!!

man, i was really fired up!! I'm trying to give kiting a good name in this town, i stay away from the soccer games, i'm very courteous to the parents and the kids, heck even the coaches... and this dude is just such a d**k!!! It took all of my restraint not to go over there and chew his a$$!! It just seemed really wreckless, really dangerous, and above all ese, extremely stupid!

AGH!!!!!!! Man, i need a breather!!! People around here are just selfish idiots... drives me NUTS!!!!


Should i contact the AYSO? Or should i just chill? Part of me is screaming take this tool out! And part is saying mellow out bro.... i hate getting bullied, and when kids' safety is being jeopardized, man, it feels like some very serious lines are being crossed.... and for all the wrong reasons...

Maybe a sign staked out in your area about "avoiding wires attached to kite" would do it. Call 'em wires, no strings - gets the point across.

try writing a letter with the number one priority of maintaining good long-term relationships, if it comes out sounding trollish, don't send it.

i had a similar thing happen to me here, had to pack up while the wind was sweet as well, yeah that bites big!

i tried writing the letter, but i couldn't make it sound nice and also couldn't avoid being slightly defensive about jumping a kite 50m away from kids (I'm the one downwind, mind you) so I didn't send it.

I know the director of the company involved (slightly -- we're in the same business in the same area) and I tried speaking with her about it -- but as soon as she started looking pissed and 100% loyal to her employees (good for her btw) i had to shut up.

don't act out of anger, doesn't work any better with people than it does with kites....

as soon as you fly your next bit of gravy wind, this incident will fade very rapidly... trust me.

:bigok:

Quote:

Originally posted by lad Maybe a sign staked out in your area about "avoiding wires attached to kite" would do it. Call 'em wires, no strings - gets the point across.

then "they" would call the sport hazardous to the public's safety and boot you off?
i run into the same issue here and always steer waaaaay clear of everyone.
waaaaay too many people around here follow the "were not happy unless you're not happy" policy. i'm sure it'd only take one insignificant incident to get us punted. "they" just can't stand to see people having fun.
i think it's time i got an ATB so when i get pushed off to a corner I can just do some land board work in prep for kite-snowboarding in prep for kite-waterboarding. would that work?
also,
i was told (by city's head of "park and recreation something or other") that i/we could probably form an 'official' user group. A user group can book the field(s). iirc to qualify as a user group requires x amount of people or x amount of kites. you might want to look into the same for your area?
Paul

i'm truly angry about the kids... this dude is trying to win a pi$$ing match, by putting his kids in danger... that is what bothers me... i will get over the busted session... but if i had kids, and this douche was tooling them around to prove he has a bigger... ummm yeah... i'd freak out... more so than i am now!!

It just irks me on a deep level to see poeple use people, let alone kids, to further their own personal adgenda... and when im the butt of the whole thing, it really irks me... and i just have a crazy urge to wreck this dude... not physically fight him, but get him away from these kids, and off of this field

Idk why, but this whole situation just struck a nerve with me... too many things that just dont sit right

yeah putting others at risk is the thing that will shut a site down and get ban by-laws passed by local government.

I have my moments, I've been known to "clear" my area by faking a slight lack of ability with my kite, the lifeguards there know me tho.

and if a dog wants to pee on my kite while I'm taking a breather I'll hot-launch right at the poor pooch.

but the more I fly the more I respect bystanders and also live for those times when the wind is gravy and the only other folks around are all kiters...

It's all a huge pain in the ass that has fueled many a joke, don't think we don't appreciate the humor!

but yeah care for the public and managing the risks that they perceive, not just the ones you see, is priority when flying.

and yes very very annoying when bossy members of the public explot that!!!:flaming:

thats just it furb... i'm mad because its like this guy is trying to cause an incident. like hes hoping i nail a little kid so i get banned... "so long as the kiters are gone, who cares about the little girl with the busted leg"....its just so aggrevating, why does he have an issue with me?

that's exactly when we have to bite down hard, when someone exploits your concern for public safety by putting underage people in his charge at risk to get rid of you as an annoying distraction.

you have a case, absolutely, from a kiter's point of view, for criticising his behaviour. but in order to do so sucessfully, you'd have to re-educate the public, including all those kids moms, imho.

Also I've lead a few groups in the outdoors, once lately doing some environmental education on a local kite beach -- shui hau wan on lantau island. Some kitesurfers going their thing going there in 10-12 knots of wind, and my group stopped and stared for a few minutes, i asked them if they knew what they were looking at and they said no, what is that? and so i told them, and five minutes later we were all back to studying the impact of various kinds of pollution on the mangrove community there. A less experienced guy was working a group at the other end of the beach, and he totally lost it at the distraction, it was almost more entertaining for my group than the kitesurfers were, LOL, he was doing the military DI thing and lining the kids up for a lecture on paying attention.

But if a guy in charge of a group and feeling insecure about commanding their attention, and then you show up with the entrancing distraction of kite ATB, they feel challenged and might get really pissed.

forget revenge tho. hope his dog tries to pee on your kite someday while you're setting up for a nice hard hot launch, that's the best you've got unless you're really creative...:evil:

I would definately NOT contact the AYSO. My kids are both in soccer programs and the program is very well organized in my town and the league we play in. The fall season started here last week and there is a BIG brew-ha-ha about the fields in my town as Pop Warner football is infringing on the soccer fields. Bottom line is the coaches and the programs are VERY territorial and possibly with good reason.

In my town, the fields are reserved (even the spaces within the fields) by specific coaches or teams or leagues. The programs obtain permits to use specific fields or specific sections of the fields. The coach you had an issue with may have reserved or been instructed to use the portion of the field you were riding on and if I were him I wouldn't have moved either. I would have talked to you and asked you to move instead of endangering kids but I wouldn't have moved.

Unfortunately, we as kiters need to yield to city / town organized programs or we risk being permanently banned from the fields.

It sucks to have to move or end a great session but you need to pick your battles. Surrender this one to win the war or risk losing the ability to use any town / city parks.

And, FWIW, I really don't think most understand the danger or realize what would happen with an accidental encounter with your powered up fly lines. I can't tell you how many times people walk across my lines when the kite is staked out or walk directly below the kite when I'm flying or riding and make no attempt to alter their course although I am making every attempt to avoid them. The casual onlookers are clueless and that is not their fault. We need to take the higher road.

Why can't people share? It doesn't hurt or cost you anything ...

I am with BRoc on this one, Drew. Ask one of the coaches or park officials what the policy is before you get egg in your face. I have same situation with T-Ball practice. At certain times in the afternoon, the public park where I ride is over run with kids with gloves and bats. I know the park supervisor and he gives me info on who has booked useage of the park and facilities. A fee is charged for a certain time window for useage which might be the case with the soccer folk where you are at. We are the minority and must set example. Just my 2 cents worth.

I'm with broc and lynx, obviously. It's sad but true the stuff we do is dangerous and too much public attention / shouting for our rights risks too close a look at what we do.

I tell you I'm always really happy to fly an empty area... very nice.

But we need to wait our turn.

one option would be to fly in higher winds w a smaller kite--people tend to not come out when the winds are really blowing,then you've got the field all to yourself..........

"But if a guy in charge of a group and feeling insecure about commanding their attention, and then you show up with the entrancing distraction of kite ATB, they feel challenged and might get really pissed."
exactly....why didn't i figure it out for myself? we simply are a distraction and need to be swatted away like the insects we are!!!. nothing personal at all.

funny,
when i do get sidelined i often sit and watch these practices/games for a while. it's never the beauty of the sport that attracts my attention. it's the 'coaches/assistants' non-stop hollering/belittling/berating of the 8-12 year old kids that catches my attention. i can't frigg'n believe these jerk-off's attitudes. if i was blind and only listening i'd surely have to think these 'coaches' must be dealing with a group of high $takes professional athletes.
absolutely ridiculous. always seems that about 3/4 of the kid's parents are around so it's not my place to "interfere" with the loudmouth jerk-offs.
I'm no fan of "we don't keep score because nobody loses that way" but these idiots are freacS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-n unreal way over the top.
So... the jerk-offs are doing their "job" in training the 'athletes' for the high stake activity in which they are involved and we are dividing the 'athletes' attention. of course the loudmouth jerk-offs are not going to have that.
loud mouth jerk-offs who get their jollies pushing around kids. you can imagine the level of satisfaction jerk-offs get when they see us move away. you can imagine the level of satisfaction they'd have if we were completely punted.
form/join a local kite club (user group) and book some space.
Paul

I think maybe the more subtle thang going on is the conformist-coach-team spirit stuff butting up against the whole freeform-individual-fun stuff....and guess what seems more fun?

yes, flying a kite hard is about as individual a sport as it gets, one of the reasons i love it. i worked eight years at an outward bound school with heavy corporate sponsors and i've seen teambuilding beyond belief up the wazoo with the CEO nodding and smiling behind a cigar all the while....

...anyways when i run courses of that ilk these days i mix it up with team extremes and individual extremes and a few stops in between. solo kayaking is one of my best activities that way, cliff jumping with a lot of different levels is also really excellent, but kite flying on those courses is over the top... some folks can't handle it, there's nowhere to hide LOL... TBH I don't teach kiting anymore unless folks really have the bug, and never now in an institutional setting.

anyways not to go all trollish or anything but i've always gone for the individualist sports like climbing or kayaking and this kite stuff does just as good a job of putting a fella on point and making it fun!

like i stated before..."they are not happy until we are not happy"
BTW i'm all for structured team sporting activities. I played soccer, basketball, football, but mostly baseball, growing up. My kid(s) will be enrolled in them as well (until they are banned because I "interfered" with some loud mouth coach)
Wining a game is great. Being part of a team is great. Losing sucked.
I have absolutely no memories of any coaches in my day acting like the buffoons I see now. Of course I did see frustration and stress from my coaches on occasion but when it was deserving/expected. If we got blown out because we couldn't get our #@%$#! together that day or if we were wasting(lazy) our time at practice, sure. These guys I'm detailing are loud-mouthing non-stop. old school boot-camp style.
*i've never been to "boot-camp". just going by what i've seen in the movies and read about.
Paul

Quote:

BTW i'm all for structured team sporting activities. I played soccer, basketball, football, but mostly baseball, growing up. My kid(s) will be enrolled in them as well Wining a game is great. Being part of a team is great. Losing sucked. Paul

yeah, absolutely... I guess I was stating my personal preference for activities oriented more towards individual achievement... But yes the team thing is needed, and playing sports as a team is a great way to do it...

any kite team sports out there???:puzzled:

Drew
Good on you for taking the high road and backing away from the battle, as unfortunate as the outcome is for a given day. Before you complain to the AYSO I would find out what the official policies of the local facilities are. B-Roc makes good points. You may not like what you find and it may be better to stay off the radar by using it when you can and backing off when there could be issues. On the other hand if the facility is operated by the City or some layer of the Parks Dept, and AYSO is but one client of many, there might be a way of working out something for shared--use.

When I lived IN NY City and did a lot of volunteer work in Central PArk, I was friendly with the CO of the NYPD Central Park Precinct, he always said that one of the things that made his job easier was all the rules he could cite. If someone walked across a sidewalk just the slightest way wrong he could probably find a rule to cite then on and investigate. Now, he was a cool guy and did not bust peoples chops, but he knew he had the tools if something looked out of place or pushed the boundaries of a shared-use environment. But this taught us to find a way to be allies of local Govt.

we have a guy on the local council that does not like kites and keeps a ban on the beach in our area even when the legal dept of the council says that thay do not see a problem with using the beach for kiting.

Quote:

Quote: yeah, absolutely... I guess I was stating my personal preference for activities oriented more towards individual achievement... But yes the team thing is needed, and playing sports as a team is a great way to do it... any kite team sports out there???:puzzled:

team iQuad. kite ballet they call it?
i may have sounded harsh but i meant to say the same as you. i do like team stuff and individual stuff too.
Paul

eh.. just a crappy coach.... he did treat the kids like they were in boot camp tho... good call.

It is tough to express this whole situation to someone that wasnt there... And to express it in a way that doesnt make me sound like im mad cause i got skunked...

Im mad (more so the other day... not so much now) because this dude intentially put these kids in harms way... plain and simple. Kite or bike, or skateboard, or car, these things are all in motion, and if they hit a kid, it would be bad... i just dont see why this dude went out of his way to be a jerk?

Honestly i prolly wont say anything to anyone.... but if he makes a habbit of this kind of behavior, i may let an ayso staff member know... just in case he sends a kid my way and i dont miss them, then at least its on record that this coach is an a$$-hat, and he is the one endangering kids, not the kiters

Sucks, sorry it happend. Similar thing happened to me. 10 soccer fields in plain view, but they take over the one I'm in. More over, these spoiled kids litter water bottles all over the place. Then they leave their soccer goals up all winter, creating hazards for snow kiting.

I took a few deep breaths, and spoke with the coach of the team. He didn't realize what had happened at all, more over felt like his group had priority to use the field. I reminded him that it's a public field, and the only field in a 25km radius suitable for my sport, yet he's unwilling to walk 100m to the next soccer pitch. He seemed to understand, I think.

Ultimately, don't get mad, or angry. Talk as calmly as possible. You may not win, the battle or the war.

The good news is that in a couple more weeks, it'll be too cold for those little litterbugs, and the field will be mine again
:singing: