Kids Q Events. **Lets Discuss **

Thanks Phil.. This was my first thought as I got the turn in boxes.

I don't think there would be favoritism or unfair judging at all toward the little ones. I think trying to divide the judges tables by age group might help.

Writing the age group on the top of the box would be a great idea. My expectation would be that a 15 yr old should be able to put out a better product than a 7 yr old.

I don't care what the rules say about judging each box on it's own merits. People are prone to make comparisions to other boxes. Not all judges but some, even if done subliminally. The quality of the boxes and recipe developed is often a reflection of the age of the child

That of course is also a result of the kid actually doing the boxes and not the parent. (That's a whole other topic... . Some parents seemed way to involved in their childs entries (not fire management). There was little supervision by a contest rep to notice this as there were over 30 teams.

Sled's son did everything on his own, even attended the cooks meeting by himself. He ended up 10th out of 15 in his age group. There were others who had way too much parental involvement even with the kids all being put in the same open area. Little Steven was dissappointed by the results and even he thought it was a bit unfair.

I would prefer not to put ages on boxes. I would prefer the kids turn is at different times. Or have a table of judges for the younger group and one for the older group. I know what you're getting at with that and I know KCBS rules say to judge each entry on it's own merit and not compare it to other entries on your judging plate but I know it still happens.

I also think they should accumulate Kids Q points and have a Kids Q "Kid of the Year" award at the banquet. That's how important I think Kids Q's are to the future of BBQ competitions.

It should be renamed parents q

I was very disappointed in my son for embarrassing the family by coming 10th and not 13th on chicken.

Substitute a couple of words and you have many of the same problems I faced in 15 years of running Cub Scout Pinewood Derbys.

Many adults just don't get it. If they would only remember that it's all about the kids.

I agree with Jeff.

Also I'd like to add that I really don't have time at a contest to let go of my lttle one to go and cook at another location other than my area. My child depends on me for advice and from time to time an extra hand (limited to small duties) so I don't get accused of actually doing the cooking. It has been an inconvenience in the past and has caused us to not be able to participate in a couple kids q's.

River City Smokehouse said:

I agree with Jeff.

Also I'd like to add that I really don't have time at a contest to let go of my lttle one to go and cook at another location other than my area. My child depends on me for advice and from time to time an extra hand (limited to small duties) so I don't get accused of actually doing the cooking. It has been an inconvenience in the past and has caused us to not be able to participate in a couple kids q's.

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I have to disagree with you here. I dont see how you can say that you dont have the time. With all of the conests i have ever cooked watching my son cook yesterday on his own was the best one i have ever been to. Do you you cook and prep every minute of every hour while at a contest? I think there is more more bull chitting and socialiing at a contest than there is cooking. Prep your meats at home the night before. I have never considered anything that involves my kid and "inconvenience"

I think one solution wold be to put judges at tables by age group. a table of 6 judging 6-9 year olds, same for other age groups. that way theya re always apples to apples. Also a top score is a top score, thus the age groups acan participate against eachother. a 7 in 6-9 is equal to a 7 in 13-15. So potentially a 7 year could win the whole shebang. just a thought. Also what aobut one kids judge, age appropriate per table. Scott

BBQchef33 said:

Another thing to think about(based on Sledneck response of "parents Q".)

should the parents be allowed to cook? My vote is NO.

IMHO, The Kids q should be off from the main camp(they should have a kids setup in a coordend off area). Even if its just a table an box of ingriedents and a kettle.

A parent should be allowed at the kids camp, Sit down, and STAY DOWN. Work as a consultant, not chef. Same for doing the boxes. This would be easier to take if the judging is adjusted to age groups specific

Also, IMO, The parents shouldnt be manning the grill. Sit down, watch them, make sure they are safe, but do not do the work. It is possible as shown in this thread. !


ok.. chitstorm begin.. but thats my 2 cents.

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they did this at the herman contest last year the parents could only slice things with the knife and sit but the down fall was it was at 10:30
sat morning it was the time that i needed to be back at camp getting all my ducks in a row

then jeff thought about points for the kids q for the end of the year all great ideas

if they do kids q after the team events are done in there own camp with the contest reps looking over them to make shure the parents are not doing anything expet cutting things and in the age groops
(this is my 2 cents)

york

also what about a "pro-am" format. Couple a kid with a seasoned non parent bbq'r. would expand experiences, allow for better monitoring and give kids a chance to see different things. Scott

what are the items for turn in? Maybe a subtyle change to more familiar foods, dogs and burgs, a veggie tray...also a category specifically geared at preentation. Maybe a premade product given specifically to focus on presnetation, ie moonpies, the focus being on presentation of the box vs the other categories. Scott

presentation focused on KCBS garnish

Brent from the Slabs is 15 and in his last year of Kids Q. I have seen him offer to mentor a child in Kids Q. I think this is an OUTSTANDING idea he had and wish it could be on a large scale basis.

In regards to "parent Q", we have been to a couple of contests where a volunteer shows up on site at each kids' family camp to supervise the cooking and see that it is not done by parents. That makes it easier on the parents.

And guys, Jim cooks by himself at many contests I've seen. Some contests around here are notorious for scheduling a Kids Q at times that are not convenient for teams. Blue springs, for example, has Kids Q turn-in at 11:30 am on Saturday, 30 minutes before KCBS Chicken turn-in. If I was cooking by myself, my kid would not get to do Kids Q. As it is, I don't get to see some of them myself but rely on seeing photos afterwards. Dillon, Colorado... I saw none of it. I had to stay at camp to vend. It isn't fair at all to suggest that Jim COULD make time to spend with Kids Q.

around mo the kids q is the first thing to be turned in on sat morning
it is an big time issue for us but caleb my 7 year old love it mixing everything up and the whole turn in box ready on his own :wink:

york

jeff i like that the contest sends out an rep to watch that would be an key part in keeping the field clean

york

Jeff_in_KC said:

Brent from the Slabs is 15 and in his last year of Kids Q. I have seen him offer to mentor a child in Kids Q. I think this is an OUTSTANDING idea he had and wish it could be on a large scale basis.

In regards to "parent Q", we have been to a couple of contests where a volunteer shows up on site at each kids' family camp to supervise the cooking and see that it is not done by parents. That makes it easier on the parents.

And guys, Jim cooks by himself at many contests I've seen. Some contests around here are notorious for scheduling a Kids Q at times that are not convenient for teams. Blue springs, for example, has Kids Q turn-in at 11:30 am on Saturday, 30 minutes before KCBS Chicken turn-in. If I was cooking by myself, my kid would not get to do Kids Q. As it is, I don't get to see some of them myself but rely on seeing photos afterwards. Dillon, Colorado... I saw none of it. I had to stay at camp to vend. It isn't fair at all to suggest that Jim COULD make time to spend with Kids Q.

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I cook by myself so i would say it is fair