On May 30. at 2:00PM ET (3 PM Buenos Aires time), the first Zoom UC Meeting for North America and the Caribbean was held with the participation of 61 members representing the following countries: Anguilla, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Martin and the USA.
Master Benzaquen, Chairman of the UC, made a short introduction highlighting the presence of GM Marano, Chairman of the Technical Committee, and introduced each of the IUC members, offering a special thank you to the event organizer, GM Suarez.
Following the introductions, a discussion emerged regarding the rhythm of the patterns. GM Marano offered an interesting story explaining the history of the patterns and made it clear that the rhythm is supposed to express the person for whom the pattern is named. The rhythm of each competitor is dependent on that person’s sex, weight, and stature. He also suggested that competition of patterns in the future should require competitors to perform individually, allowing for a better evaluation.
GM Marano mentioned that the level of umpires today compared to 10 -15 years ago has changed significantly and commended the Committee for raising umpires’ awareness through the IUCs. He said that it is increasingly difficult to evaluate patterns because the competitors have such a high knowledge of the patterns and the referees must raise their level of professionalism.
Next, numerous questions, which had been received by the committee in advance, were answered by the majority of Committee members. Concise explanations were offered in a safe environment where participants could freely discuss and clarify the answers.
Once these questions were covered, the Committee proceeded to answer live questions that participants asked via Zoom chat.
It was made clear that a transcript of the questions and answers will be sent to all the participants, as well as to UC members. This project is still being worked on.
It was stated that the revised Rules & Regulations will be published after the 2021 World Championship in Finland upon approval of the ITF Board of Directors.
Mr. Petros Mikaelian then made a short review of the e-tournament that took place in Russia with the participation of 3,500 online competitors.
Finally, the next meeting was announced (which will take place on June 13 for South America and Central America) and all participants offered the respective courtesy and bows to GM Marano.
Talking among friends
