Race Day Registration
How you handle registration on race day will have a major impact on how riders will view your race. If registration goes quickly with short lines and no problems then riders will probably give your race good reviews. If riders are stuck in long lines and have problems with the registration process then your race is likely to get a lot of negative race reviews. Following are some things to keep in mind to help registration go more smoothly for your riders, staff and officials.
One way to speed up registration is to use some kind of computer based Reg./Results system. This is if you have access to computers that can be used at the race site and you have people who are comfortable using those computers. USCF makes rider database information available to promoters who want to use computers in the Reg./Results process. The big advantage to these systems is that instead of having people write out by hand a riders name, license number, club and race number the computer can fill in most of this information. Promoters who are interested in using this information can contact Casey Kerrigan to get a copy of the latest database information for the NCNCA region. Ken has a Reg./Results program that runs as an Excel spreadsheet that he is willing to make available to interested promoters. Casey has a similar type program that is based on Filemaker Pro for Mac computers. Just about any database program can be set up to act as a Reg./Results fairly easily. It mainly comes down to having someone in your club who knows a little bit about a spreadsheet or database program and them setting up something they are comfortable with.
For road races where you have just about everyone registering at the same time it is a good idea to have separate lines for riders who have pre-registered and race day registrations. This should allow the people who have pre-registered to check in quicker and it is a nice little reward for riders who have pre-registered. In a criterium where you tend to only have 1 or 2 different categories registering at a time it isn't as critical to have separate lines ( it is still a nice touch though).
It is important that you have enough copies of the standard release form available at the race to cover all the riders who are registering on race day. If you run out of release forms it can be a real problem trying to find a place close to your race site that is open and you can make more copies at. You also need to make sure you have plenty of safety pins. Most riders will use 6 to 8 pins per number. Many riders end up grabbing more pins than they need. Do not under estimate how many pins you will need on race day. There are a few issues your registration people need to be aware of when it comes to release forms.
A photocopied signature is not acceptable. All release forms must have an original signature on it.
Riders under 18 must have the signature of their parent or legal guardian.
Make sure the release form being used is for the current year. Changes are made to the release form each year and only the release form for the current year is acceptable.
Release forms that have been reduced in size aren't acceptable.
Copies that don't have the full release from are not acceptable.
Riders who register through an online service must fill out a regualr relase from and sign it and turn it on on race day. The USAC insurance carrier doens't accept the online release forms thus people who register online still have to sign and turn in the standard release form.
While it isn't important for your registration people to know this it is probably a good place to mention that as the race promoter you are required to keep all the release forms from your race for seven years after the race date.
In addition to the release forms your Reg. people will probably have to deal with two other important forms. They are the one day license form and the annual license form. The one day license form is a 3 part form. The one day license form also doubles as a release from so riders who are taking out a one day license don't have to fill out an additional release form. The one day license costs $5 in addition to the race entry fee and any late surcharges. Riders may only use a one day license for races that are open to Cat 5 men or Cat 4 women. At the end of the day the Chief Referee will need the white copy of all the one day licenses sold at your race so make sure that all the one day license forms are put in a place where they can easily be identified at the end of the day.
Another important issue with 1 day license forms. A rider who takes out a 1 day license can get a discount on their annual license. They need to keep and turn in their receipt of their 1 day license to get this discount. A rider saves $5 for each 1 day license receipt ( up to a max of $10 ) they turn in with their annual license application. It is important that riders using a 1 day license are given their receipt and informed of this discount when they register.
The annual license form is also a 3 part form. The annual form allows a rider to either renew their USCF license at the race or buy a new license at the race. It is very important that your registration people do the following things.
Make sure they fill out the box in the lower left hand corner of the form. This box asks for the name of the race the license was sold at, the date of the race, the amount collected from the rider for the license and the signature of the person who sold the license. This information is important to verify the temp. license the rider will be using until they get their regular license back from USAC.
Make sure that your Reg. people give the middle ( yellow) copy of the license form to the rider. The Reg. person needs to explain that the yellow copy of the license form acts as their Temp. license and that it will be required to enter any races until they get their regular license back from USAC. It should be explained that it can take 6 to 8 weeks to get their regular license back from USAC.
Make sure the annual license form has been properly filled out and signed by the rider. Make sure the writing is legible. Make sure the forms for any annual licenses sold at the race are put in a safe place where then Chief Ref. can collect them at the end of the day. At the end of the race the Chief Ref. will be collecting the top and bottom copies of the annual license forms along with the top copy of the one day license forms sold at the race.
When signing up a rider for a race your Reg. people need to be careful about the following things.
Make sure the category number on the license matches the race the rider wants to enter. A rider with Cat 4 on their license may not enter a race for Cat 3 riders. Likewise a Cat 3 rider may not enter a race for Cat 4 riders. If there is any question about what category a rider is allowed to be in the rider should be sent to the Chief Ref. to discuss the matter.
Make sure the rider's license hasn't expired. There has been some problems with riders getting into races with an expired license.
Back
Other Race Day Issues
Back to NCNCA main page