Quote Originally Posted by Maria View Post
Rarely you get guys who can do 3 shows and go to the IFBB Worlds for their 3rd show and have the experience they need. Like I said there are exceptions and Worlds is a totally different game. It wouldn't hurt to have one other show to qualify for the Natural Ontarios. They could always do a qualifer to the natural Ontarios then the natural Ontarios and take the rest of the year off to grow and be ready for the Natural Canadians and Worlds.

If you want to compete at Worlds you have to compete in the same year you have qualified at the Natural Canadians. So as a natural competitor you have no choice but to do 2 shows if you want to go to Worlds. You can't wait and go the next year. CBBF selects a team, either you go that year or wait and have to requalify the next year again.

Enough said, it's just my opinion, I'm not looking for a debate here or anything. That's just how I feel about it. Just looking at this year's Natural Ontarios photos, I could definitely tell there were a lot of first time competitors. They wouldn't do well at the Canadians. There just seems to be such a big gap from the Natural Ontarios to the Canadians.
I like the debate. Good points, but I still believe that adding another show for the argument of looking ahead at worlds isn't really a strong argument. There is maybe 1 or 2 guys at the WQ each year that likely has the potential to even bother going to worlds. Those guys aren't good because they had another tier to work up. They are good because likely they were winning the first show they ever entered.

Adding another tier is just that, adding another show. In the non-tested stream, its the same thing. When I lived in NS, there was only the 1 show per year. And basically the only guys that went to Nationals were the ones who felt ready. Same thing should apply to the ontario show. There is no harm competing at the same "level" year after year until you are ready to go to the next level. People like climbing steps too much when the steps mean nothing. I'd rather treat the steps as coming 3rd, 2nd, then 1st each progressive year, rather than winning in a diluted contest of 2 competitors called "level 1" than winning a level 2 show, etc...Winning is meaningless, and even more meaningless when the shows are so small that you don't really know what you've actually won.

If the guys at the ontario show this year stand no chance at the WQ, then compete at the ontario show again next year.



Quote Originally Posted by A.C.P. View Post
There are a lot of great points being made here no doubt. I think that for one the good natural guys should be able to hold there own in a non tested event but it also depends on the category that they enter.

Having more shows might not be the best idea but having a qualifier may not be a bad idea either. I think having it at a non drug tested event might be a great idea. It would make the event larger and would draw more of a crowd. This would also allow to have more events. The only thing that I would hate would be to compete against myself. At the Natural Ontarios this year there were only 2 people in my class. That means that at a qualifying event I would be the only one. That is brutal.

Maria may be right though. If there were more natural events this may bring more people back to the OPA from the IDFA FAME etc. It would be nice to have more people though. The other point she made was experience. Your second show be Nationals. I don't think you have to know how on stage to be able to compete with those more experienced then yourself after your 1st ever event.

From bolded above: exactly. Its bad enough as it is at the ontarios to have a small class, this would just be even worse by dividing it into a qualifier to be one of those 2 guys. More experience, but experience against no one is not really good experience...How do you know what to improve when you are the winner every time you compete?

The ONLY reason I see having another natural show in ontario as being a good idea is as above, bringing people away from the other federations. Some people like competing in the fall, others in the spring...So if the 1 OPA show is always in the fall, where are the spring people going to go - elsewhere.

But really, the 1 reason that the natural shows are without strong competitors is because the sport is not very appealing to natural athletes. Bigger and harder is better. As vain as the sport is, and the type of individual it takes to be successful, are likely going to take it to the next level - therefore the guys that truly would do great as a natural, aren't natural long enough.