Rally Marshall - How to raise the status?

[Sulland]

The issue came up in another thread.
It is hard to arrange a rally, without some well trained marshalls.

Compared to racing, where most handle a flag or a fire extinguisher.

In a rally you need people trained in timing, in some local rallies they also need to calculate ss times, before reporting them to Hq.
Some need to be trained in mobile radioes, put up base stations, making a functioning network. planning where to block traffic, have people standing along many places along a Stage, making sure cars do not get into the competition road.
Often people that have said yes to one task, are being "promoted" into a job they now little about, since some people did not show up.

Very little official training could be available via the NSA, so it is a bit improvise, adapt and overcome.

And what do they get in return for a long day in the forrest? Very little in many cases, maybe some coffe and food if lucky.

What do you do to attract them, train them and keep them for the next event?

Are there training courses for different categories, with an exam to prove their knowledge?
Is there a ladder, ending up as top dog?
Are marshalls payed, given food and drink, gift cards or in any other way appreciated?
Does your country have a pool of marshalls online, where rally organisers can pick, and check availability?
The UK have a system

https://www.motorsportuk.org/Resource-Centre/Marshals/

Some places rallies have to cancel due to lack of trained marshalls!
How can we raise the status of marshalls, so they want to come back next year, so you can get a team from year to year?

[the sniper]

For me it ties into the wider challenge for the sport/rally organisers in terms of public and commercial interest in the 'product' of rallying. You have to have something that people want to be a part of, it has to be attractive enough for people to view the sport and individual rallies as worth giving up their time for. Rallies that struggle the most for marshals are often small ones that frankly mean very little. For various reasons, I personally advocate, particularly in the UK, there being less rallies, with more focus being put on a smaller number of events that resources and attention can be focused on.

[AndyRAC]

No marshals, no rallying!! It really is that simple. And I don't think it's fair to expect volunteers to spend from early morning to possibly late evening (if there are accidents, delays, etc) at a marshals post - and then give them a goodie bag with a pen, a sticker, a lollipop and a big thank you.

Here in the UK, a lot of rallies nowadays will tweet asking for more marshals as they can't get enough; and, it has to be said, when spectating, there aren't an awful lot of youngsters. In some ways, a whole generation have been lost - there are far more other activities for them to do.
To be honest, I'm not really sure what the answer is - maybe if the sport was better known, and more visible/popular it might help, but I'm not totally sure.

I think, going forward, as said above, we'll see less rallies - maybe clubs will join forces to run a bigger event. Say for example, on the Saturday you have the 'Cambrian' then on the Sunday the 'Rally North Wales' - for an old style Vauxhall Rally of Wales.....

[Barreis]

going from rally to rally as a marshal and with time there will come more

[denkimi]

Pay them a fair amount, like 100€ per day or so, and there will be no problem finding people.

[HKSjbg]

I think, going forward, as said above, we'll see less rallies - maybe clubs will join forces to run a bigger event. Say for example, on the Saturday you have the 'Cambrian' then on the Sunday the 'Rally North Wales' - for an old style Vauxhall Rally of Wales.....

I’ve often thought that would be possible to facilitate some longer rallies - like combining the Malcolm Wilson with Pirelli (now Kielder Forest Rally) or with the Border Counties. But would there actually be an overlap of marshals for each event? I.e. RallyA + RallyB doesn’t necessarily mean you will end up with A+B marshals, more like A and a half?

[AnttiL]

Pay them a fair amount, like 100€ per day or so, and there will be no problem finding people.

and where does the money come from?

[denkimi]

and where does the money come from?
Where does all the rest of the money come from?

Without Marshalls no rally, and without decent compensation no Marshalls.

[Sulland]

The difference fram racing to rally is distance. It it easy to give racing marshalls free food and drink, that is harder for rally.

I have heard that in Norway some rallies have used sponsors to make a goodybag, they drive out with the security check team before the rally starts. Contain food, drink, some nuts and chocolate, and some ok giveaways from sponsors. Some have also added a giftcard. That is one way of doing it.

Does any country have an online list where people can register, for rally organizers to go in and check availability, well in advance?

[Steve Boyd]

Does any country have an online list where people can register, for rally organizers to go in and check availability, well in advance?
In the UK we have Rally Stage Team (https://www.rallystageteam.co.uk/) where marshals can sign-up to show their availability & interest in assisting on an event. The RST guys then work with the event organisers to allocate the marshals to the jobs that need covering.

[tommeke_B]

Are there training courses for different categories, with an exam to prove their knowledge?
Is there a ladder, ending up as top dog?
Are marshalls payed, given food and drink, gift cards or in any other way appreciated?
Does your country have a pool of marshalls online, where rally organisers can pick, and check availability?

I'll try to answer with what I know of how it happens in Belgium

- There are courses for marshals, in both Flanders and Wallonia, to teach them what to do, how to handle a fire extinguisher etc. At the end there are a few tests. But from what I've heard they're very easy, as they need to be, they can not be picky with who they choose as a marshal, everyone who helps is more than welcome.
- There's no "ladder" as you say it. However only those who followed a course and the exam can be a marshal on the stages. Many other helping hands are there for service parks, regroup, entry tickets, setting up stages etc.
- The marshals are paid, but not much. From what I know they are getting 25 euros/day (on which no tax is to be paid, obviously) and a food package. I know some sponsor (chain of petrol stations) once gave some voucher for fuel to the marshals. Also some sponsors gave away caps, proper vests to wear etc.
- I don't think there's any pool of marshals online here, but it's a small world, people from clubs know each other and help each other out with organizing events.

Some years ago we had huge problems in Belgium finding marshals, it seems a bit better now, but still, it's very important to take care of these people, as they are the ones keeping our sport alive. It's becoming harder to find people willing to give up their weekend for another one's pleasure.

I think the main thing is to really show marshals you appreciate them, also spectators should be aware of how important they are. If you treat them well, most will be happy to come back. Try to be creative as an organizer, think what could be interesting to them. When making up the budget for an event, you could think about them as well. If you ask an extra 20 euros entry fee for drivers, but mention that it is to take care of the marshals, they'll gladly pay it and you'll have just as many cars at the start of the event. Depending on the amount of entries and volunteers, you can do something with that. Also approaching sponsors for this could turn out well, for example for some clothing/cap/umbrella, or vouchers in case they are selling petrol/consumer goods. Maybe a stupid idea but for a winter rally giving them a bag of wood to make a little fire could be an inexpensive but nice surprise...

[Gregor-y]

For any volunteers that need to travel for a day to get to an event a discount (or even reservation) on lodging would be nice. I've been doing timekeeping, marshal layout and instruction for both roles for years but there's no event that's within a five hour drive of my city. Normally only the organizers get rooms, but the amount of work they put in to get road permissions, coordinate volunteers, line up sponsors and placate residents and local politicians during the year more than offset that perk.

The US has a privately owned national database that's available to any organizer that wants to use it, but each rally also has a volunteer coordinator that reaches out to regular volunteers personally as well.

The Canadian events I've attended usually have a lodging discount which is nice. Over the years I've developed my own connections for lodging at rallies I frequent but when I go farther afield I'm paying the same as any tourist. Perhaps a wealthy organizer like Dritfish will have better perks but that will be for their own events on the west coast that need a nice sheen to get WRC attention.

On the plus side between rallies and my local blood bank I haven't needed to buy t-shirts for years. Volunteers usually get a shirt and some local favors from sponsors.

[Sulland]

In the UK we have Rally Stage Team (https://www.rallystageteam.co.uk/) where marshals can sign-up to show their availability & interest in assisting on an event. The RST guys then work with the event organisers to allocate the marshals to the jobs that need covering.

What about this one:
https://brmc.org.uk/
https://brmc.org.uk/grading

Is this one active?

[Steve Boyd]

What about this one:
https://brmc.org.uk/
https://brmc.org.uk/grading

Is this one active?
Yes, as far as I know. Think of it as social club or motor club for marshals.

The grading system they show is the MSA system which is open to everyone. You start by registering on-line and completing a set of fairly straightforward questions on how to handle some basic situations. Passing those questions gets you your basic grade and allows you to marshal on stages without supervision. You also get your MSA marshal pack with orange tabard, ID badge & whistle. There are training courses around the country throughout the year where you are shown basic masrhalling and fire fighting and can choose timekeeping, stage set-up or radio operation in addition. Passing these extra courses lets you upgrade your skills and that will be shown on your ID badge when it's replaced each year. The training levels go all the way up to International Clerk if you want to go that far. There are similar grading and training structures for scrutineers & stewards if that what you're interested in.

Rally Stage Team is a bit like an on-line dating system for marshals and event organisers.

[barnesdacb]

the trouble i find is that some stage commanders tend to discriminate against some volunteer marshals, and they tend to let other stage commanders know who to it to, it has happened 3 times all on WRGB
also
https://www.motorsportuk.org/Resource-Centre/Marshals/ - this link does not work