A second major problem with the timing of the Fall Fly and the second major reason given for not participating, is the seasonal molt; the inability of competitive flyers to showcase their best birds because they have too few flight or tail feathers, or a severe body molt…I am often asked, “Why would a national organization dedicated to stimulating interest and maintaining competitions in the flying of rollers choose the season when these birds are in the poorest physical condition of any other time of the year, for its most prestigious competition?” Large numbers of quality birds are, thus, omitted from the competitions each year, as a result of the timing of the fly.

Typically, the regionals of Fall Fly are scheduled from September 15 to November 14, and the finals from October 15th to November 30th. The condensed scheduling of the competitive fly is positive in that it focuses the attention of the NBRC members on the event and the interest and excitement build as the judging progresses from region to region until the winner is announced. However, the compressed schedule creates a number of inherent problems. The extended six-week period of judging the finals eliminates many quality judges from participation, and practically limits the pool of judges to men who have retired from active employment. The prolonged absence from family and work is simply too much for the average working man in the roller hobby to absorb. As a result, it is increasingly more difficult for the National Fly Director to find a judge for the finals. Interestingly, it is also becoming increasingly more difficult for regions to locate judges who are available to score the kits in their regions during the preliminaries.

In a closely related issue, the scheduling of the fly events in this compact schedule also requires that men fly on weekdays. How many times have we heard, after inviting someone to judge, “I’d love to judge for you, but I can’t afford to take the time off work.” Spectators, prospective new hobbyists, and fanciers who would like to travel to the lofts of colleagues in the hobby to support them and see their birds, are all-too-often eliminated from participation when they can’t get off work during weekdays. At a time when we hear concerns expressed by veteran NBRC members, that fewer young men appear to be taking an interest in the hobby, we have practically barred the younger working roller man from participation, by structuring the most valuable marketing tool in our sport, the Fall Fly, in such a way that one has to be retired in order to participate; as a judge, through the entering of a kit of rollers, or even as a spectator. In reality, we have plenty of younger men in the roller hobby. They just happen to be more limited in their ability to participate because of the way we have structured our keynote event of the year! So, naturally, we see less of them than we do of the retired men who have more flexibility with their time. It’s not easy for most men with jobs and families to take time off during the week to participate in fly events.

Though it may not always be apparent to the average flyer, the successive back-to-back judging of regions in the finals is a scheduling nightmare for the judges, the National Fly Director, Regional Directors and flyers alike. In an era where the friendly skies are not so friendly and flights are overbooked and cancelled on a regular basis, the odds are good that flyers and RDs will be stranded at airports with no judge arriving, that men will have their kits ready for a scheduled day, only to be forced to endure the frustration of being advised that they will have to fly on a different day due to unavoidable problems with the airlines. The resulting domino effect on the successive flights and regions scheduled to fly can be expensive as well as an exercise in frustration in attempting to keep things on schedule and minimize the angst. In most years, regional flys and final flys are being conducted at the same time in the month of October. Trying to get accurate fly reports filed and posted on the NBRC website for the general membership, from a judge who is scoring kits every day and traveling hundreds of miles a day can be an exercise in frustration and a source of chaos and confusion for the Regional Directors, as well as the member who is trying to keep track and determine who is flying, who has scored, and in which fly!

The expenses involved with the Fall Fly, especially at the regional level, are also becoming a major deterrent to participation in the event in some cases. Most regions are subsidized, to some extent, by the personal resources of the Regional Directors. This, in turn, acts as a deterrent to others becoming an RD to begin with. The high price of gasoline and the competition for the few judges that are available, sometimes involving airline tickets, has raised the cost of the entry fees as high as $85 in some regions. Entry fees at this level are high enough to prevent many men from entering the competition. As a result, this year one large multi-state region in particular, with these high entry fees, was not even able to muster 10 kits and was in danger of not competing and not having a qualifier in the finals. Only quick action to reduce fees and recruit judges and competitors salvaged the event for the region.

On a final note regarding the problems with the Fall Fly that threaten individual participation, we have the frustration experienced by flyers who, often, receive short notice before their regionals, and before the finals. It has become standard fare in the competition to see well-prepped kits come out smoking in the regionals, only to see them come up flat a couple weeks later in the finals. Two weeks, the average span of time between the regionals and the finals, is simply not enough time to feed a kit of rollers back up to full strength and then put them on edge to perform with a good work rate, with excellent quality, and speed, in the finals. Add to this the changing weather patterns and the significant increase in winds in most regions during this time of year, and the result of a fall competition is a level of frustration among members that causes them to begin to question whether participation is really worth it.

After carefully considering all of these issues, one quickly realizes that it is time for us to begin to think out of the box for ways to deal with these problems to continue the evolution of the Fall Fly. We must consider a new concept; a major restructuring of the event. Somehow we need to structure the event in such a way that members and flyers are not forced into the polarizing dilemma that results in them being torn between their love for their birds and their commitment to competition and to the NBRC. In a country as geographically and climatologically diverse as the US, how can we possibly establish a national championship event during any single season, that will be fair to all concerned, with regard to weather, hawk migration and the sensitivity of the birds to the molt? Well, we can’t! Pick a time of the year that works for Minnesota, and I promise you that Arizona and Texas birds will be sweltering in 100 degree temps. Conversely, pick a time when the heat and humidity are low enough so the Texas birds can finally get up in the air and New England is still likely to be under snow pack. Pick a time when the hawks have moved through Portland and I can assure you that LA will be locked down. There simply is no singular time for the scheduling of a national event that will work for all the regions. Ask anyone who flies rollers when the best time to fly is. “Anytime but fall!” is likely to be the response you will get. Or, “We can’t fly in the spring because of the World Cup.” I would like to put an end to this disillusionment right here and now. These are two separate and distinct organizations. If the NBRC determines that it is best for its members to fly in the spring, then fly in the spring it shall. The two events can easily be piggybacked and flyers can use one to prep for the others. The kits are being conditioned during that period of time anyway. But we digress. Let’s get back to the subject at hand.