1. Can / do amateurs enter Comps?
Wellllll, considering that VERY few people make their living from BBQ competition, we're all amateurs in a sense! :becky: But in the sense of inexperience, yes, people often just jump in and get their feet wet. That's the way we started. BBQ people are readily willing to help new teams with a ton of advice and answers, so it's not as if you're dropped into a war zone. If you make all your turn-ins on time, learned something and had fun, it goes in the "W" column.
2. Do you have to be a member of KCBS?
You don't *have* to, except for the Sam's Club series, but I've always believed that if I was benefiting from an organization's structure and rules, that I should support it through membership. Whether competing in roses or BBQ, I've been a member of local and national organizations.
3. Are there Backyard comps as part of the main event?
Depends on the event and the organizer. Some backyard events are stand-alone, others are part of a regular sanctioned show. I've particularly enjoyed those combination shows where the backyard categories' results are announced before the "main" awards, so that the newer teams get their moment of recognition for their efforts by those teams that once stood in those same shoes.
4. What is the best way to get started?
There are lots of ways! As I said above, we just went in cold.
OR you could visit a contest, walk around on Friday night, look at all the different setups and cookers, and talk to teams when they're less busy. Coming back on Saturday morning will show you a lot more of the frenzied activity leading up to turn-ins, but teams will be less inclined to talk during crunch time.
OR you could take a KCBS judging class, and judge a few contests. It will give you a much better breakdown of how entries are judged, and what qualities are desired in each category. How you get that into the box, though, is something you'll have to practice on your own.
OR you could find a team willing to mentor you, or let you tag along to contests to work alongside them and observe their process.
You'll notice I don't list "take a class" among the first alternatives, and there's a reason for that. Until you've done a complete practice run at home, and gone through the whirlwind of activity at a contest or two, you are going to miss anywhere from some to a lot of what you're taught at class -- it goes right over your head. It's a lot of information all at once! That's what happened to us -- we took QN4U's introductory class, and had NO idea how green we were, even after having cooked a contest. We ended up taking the class multiple times, and you know we came away with something new each time that we just hadn't understood before.
All in all, if you go in with a good, relaxed attitude, are always ready to learn something (we still do at every contest), are ready to miss a little sleep and work harder than you ever thought you would at something "fun", and stick to the timeline that you've developed in practice, you'll more than likely have a blast.
