I thought about it, and maybe bring my good hoops because I know they are using crappy ones. But organizers tend to feel insulted if you interfere with things around here. Might just stay away but a hoop contest in my tiny town is hard to resist! But yeah it would be sorta unfair. Maybe I can just go for giggles.

p.s. If grandmas are in poodle skirts they have absolutely no knowledge of either the 60's or the 70's.

If you are worried about competing, the judge thing is a good idea. and maybe they'll let you put on a hoop demo and show them all how it's done!

The idea of "judging" would suck the fun right out of it for me. You mean I don't get to hoop AND I have to judge people? One of the things I don't like about competition is the whole "judging" thing. (Not to mention that it creates a lot more losers than winners. In my hoop experience, everyone is a winner.) I recently fascilitated an event and they wanted me to create some hoop competitions and I flat out refused and told them why. I mean, why does everything have to be a competition? I showed them pretty clearly that there are lots of ways to have fun without introducing the aspect of competition, especially in hooping, which is a largely solitary endeavor anyway. (And one that individuals find enough of their own ways to introduce aspects of competition into.)

If it helps, we had a similar event here. I went and I took my hoop and a few others. Sure enough they had a bunch of those cheap toy store hoops and none for grownups. I had many more people hooping than would have otherwise, especially grown ups, which makes both grownups and kids happy. The people loved it, the organizers loved it and I had fun too. In the end, their goal is to make people happy. If you help them meet that goal while expanding the horizons of everyone there, what's not to love? (Especially if your participation is free too!) Hooping has changed in the last four decades. You're just helping bring people into the new era. Plus, they wanted to get people to come out and play. You came out to play.

Finally, you said it is a dance competition. If these folks don't know that hoopdance exists, you are not only expanding their worldview but acting as an ambassador for our art. If you don't want to participate in the competition dealeo (which, again, competition -- bleah) offer to do a hoopdance demonstration.

No matter how you choose to do it, this is an opportunity to share something you love. That's what the world needs. I hope you will.

I would not enter if it were up to me i don't think it would be fair.and if i was to i would make sure i had the same little hoops as everyone else.

Most of the hula hoop competitions i have seen have been about keeping the hoop up for the longest rather than hoop dance and that kind of thing and are more in the spirit of some silly fun than a serious competition.

I do like the idea of taking hoops and letting people use them after the competition to show the other side of hula hooping.

I'm not sure "hustler" is exactly the right word. Wouldn't a hula hoop sharp be called a "ringer"?

Arr arr arr arr arr