WHAT A DAY!
Apx $7000 of yoyo sales between the five vendors,
Over 100 competitors, some from as far as Hawaii and Japan
2 New Champions! Congrats to Patrick Mitchel ( SEVEN TIME CAL STATE CHAMPION!!!!!) and Jensen Kimmit who won the divisions and grand prize. Paul Han also gets a huge nod since he was the top ranking California Resident. That makes him the California State 1a Champion title holder!
Seven TV News stations (Including Telemundo!), 3 newspapers, two new champions, big prizes, and early reports from the mall, TONS of attendees. While I was on the stage doing the MC work, there were so many people on both the top level and plaza. It was a great time, and in my opinion the perfect venue for something like this!
>> KEYC CBS 12
>> Good Day Sacramento
Here are some of the pictures I took. I had two photographers there, so more is coming, I am also sure that other people, who were less occupied than me, will have taken great pictures also. I will add them as I get them.

• LynFuei’s Flickr
• Early Freestyle releases by YoYoGirl131

Thank you to all our sponsors. Everyone was so generous. Starbucks even gave the judges and volunteers free drinks all day. It was great!
My first contest of this size I have ever run, and so much fun.
Thank you everyone!

Chris “Dr. Yo-Yo” Allen

Event Organizer

Great Contest.  I didn’t get to say hi to everyone because I was so busy, but I was told everyone had a good time.  Thank you all!

Open Division :

1. Patrick Mitchell (2a) (Champion and California State Champion Title)
2. Bryan Figueroa (4a)
3. Miguel Correa (5a)
4. Tyler Severance (5a)
5. Joseph Harris (2a)
6. Paul Yath (3a)
7. Augie Fash (5a)
8. Zac Rubino (4a)
9. Juan Renteria (5a)
10. Yusuke Moriki (2a)
11. Anthony Rojas (5a)
12. Joey Vitalari (2a)
13. Tyler Hsiesh (4a)
14. Dylan Benharris (5a)
15. Tom Wu (4a)

1a Division:

1. Jensen Kimmitt (Winner Championship Contest – Winner of Championship Grand Prize)
2. Paul Han (California Resident – California State Division Champion)
3. Augie Fash
4. Gentry Stein
5. Anthony Rojas
6. Joeseph Harris
7. Yusuke Moriki
8. Paul Yath
9. John Chow
10. Evan Nagao
11. Miguel Correa
12. Vincent Dezutti
13. Alex Kim (Eli Cash)
14. Guy Wright
15. Ian Baily

Chris “Dr. Yo-Yo” Allen

Event Organizer

With a 35% of your freestyle being performance based, I thought you all would like to know the standards of the performance scoring.

We have 8 judges this year.  4 of them will score Technical only, and 4 will score Performance only.

Thank you to the National Yo-Yo League who were able to adapt a judging system based on the 35/65 segregated judging system.

Hit the jump if you want to know what is expected in your Freestyle Performance

Read more

I am seeing some traffic from Local Sacramento blogs, so here are some details for attendees not familiar with the yo-yo world.

• Location: Westfield Downtown Plaza in front of Macy’s Womens Store (Alternate in case of weather will be at the mall, but is To Be Determined)
• Event time is 10am – 6pm
• Registration for Ladder Divisions is On Site and will be from 10am-1100 (We will start Ladder at 1030 Offstage)
• Registration for Championship divisions are On Site and will be at 10am – 11:00
• Registration costs $5 per division (Cash only please)
• Three divisions, two Championship Divisions and one Amateur Division.

1. 1a Championship Division (One string trick yo-yo performed to music)
2. Open Championship Division (Combination of Dual Looping, Counterweight, Offstring, and Dual String Trick styles)
3. Sport Ladder Amateur division (Pre defined trick list, last man standing)

• You may participate in one or both Champion Divisions, but if you are competing in the Ladder Division, you can only compete in the Ladder Division.
• Each division has separate start times (See Schedule), Championship Divisions have a 1 Minute preliminary round.
• Vendors to purchase yo-yos from will be on hand, from beginner products to advanced models
• If you are new to the world of yoyoing, ask around!  You are sure to find many freindly and helpful people willing to teach you the basics

Chris “Dr. Yo-Yo” Allen

Competitors for the Championship Divisions should have a CD with a One minute song on it for Prelims, and a separate CD with a Two minute song on it for Finals.  (If your songs are longer than 1 or 2 minutes, we will just fade it out.  No need to break out an editor application)

Please, for the sake of out Music Volunteers, have only one song PER CD, and Label the CD with your Name, Division, and whether it is a  Prelim CD (One Minute) or a Finals CD (2 Minutes).

If you don’t have your music, you will have to use a song from our database of old overused yoyo songs.  Mostly remixes of the Mortal Kombat theme.

Suddenly there is a lot of interest in the California State Yo-Yo Contest!

With $1000 at stake (from Pocket Pros), I have been told that YoYoers will be streaming in from around the World.

I have stated all along that YoYoers from anywhere are allowed to compete for the top prize, and the top California Resident would get the seed to Regionals.  That is not changing.

The changes will, however, affect the format of Championship Divisions. Due to the increased number of contestants, and the limited number of time, we will be implementing a preliminary round in both Championship Divisions. Competitors will need to prepare a one minute technical only preliminary freestyle. The top 14 competitors from the preliminary rounds in each division will qualify to compete in the two minute freestyle division finals.  In addition to the top 14 in each division, the 2008/9 division winners will automatically qualify to compete in the divisional Finals.  15 players per division will compete for that divisions  $1000 first place prize (from Pocket Pros).

The New Schedule is as follows:

Event Schedule:

Registration 10-11

10:30 | Ladder Division Competition (May occur off stage)

11:00 – 12:00 | 1a Prelims

12:00 – 1:00 | Lunch

1:00 – 2:00 | 1a Division Prelims cont.

2:00 – 4:00 | Open Division Prelims

5:00- 6:00 | 1a Division Finals / Open Division Finals

6:00 | Awards and Closing

Prize Drawings will occur all day.  Must be present to win

Drawing ticket costs are $1 per ticket

Also, it is Forcast to RAIN in Saturday. The Westfield Downtown Plaza is an OPEN AIR mall which means that we may get rained on. Part of the contest floor will have some cover, but not all of it. Please bring weather protection. It has not rained on March 6th in Sacramento for the last few years according to the Farmers Almanac, but thanks to El Niño that might change this year. Still a change it may just be overcast though.

NOTE: Because it was asked:

1 minute premises will be Technical only

Also, looks like we have an alternative location in mall in case  it rains.

Today I was contacted by a new yo-yo brand called Pocket Pros. They are made by Razor USA, a company known for the original Razor kick scooter.

They have a new line of yo-yos coming out soon, and they were interested in sponsoring the California State Yo-Yo Championship as a Featured Sponsor. What they are offering is big, HUGE news and…. Let me put it this way, things just got real!

As a Featured Sponsor, Pocket Pros will be awarding $1,000 to BOTH the 1a and Open Division First Place winners!

The California State Yo-Yo Championship is HAPPY to announce Pocket Pros as a Featured Sponsor, where on March 6th 2010, they will award $1000 to first place of the 1a division and $1000 to first place of the Open Division.

Press Release after the jump >>
Read more

I just want to briefly cover what to expect at the Cal State Yo-Yo Championship.

#1: Vendors.  As of right now, it looks like General-Yo, Crucial, and YoYoFactory will have a table at Cal States.  This should cover yo-yo availability from the simple plastic to the uber premium metal.

#2: Prizes.  LOTS of prizes.  All day we will be selling Raffle Tickets.  $1 per ticket, and you could win one of our great prizes donated by some of our sponsors.  The Tickets will be sold by the Armijo High School Cheer Squad (From Fairfield) and 20% of all the raffle sales will be donated to them for their squad.

#3: Admission.  It is free to attend, but to compete is $5 to compete in one of the three divisions.  1a, Open, and Sport Ladder.  You can register for both 1a and Open ($5 Each) but if you compete in the Sports Ladder, that is the only competition you may participate it.  Sports Ladder will have THREE first place prizes divided by Age Group.

#4: Music.  If you are competing in 1a or Open, Have your music ready and burnt onto a CD.  DO NOT bring a store CD or a CD with multiple songs and ask us to jump to a specific track.

#5: Food.  Besides a FULL food court, there is a Starbucks right next to the contest area and a Johnny Rockets right upstairs overlooking the contest area.  Also right next to the Contest Area is the Riverside Brewery. Further into the mall is a Carl’s Jr.

#6: FUN.  If you don’t know how to yo-yo, there will be a very large amount of Pro’s there that will be willing to teach you.

#7: Performance.  This year, the showmanship and performance part of your overall score is ramped up from 10% to 35%.  We have also brought on an independent group of judges specifically for showmanship.  Staring at your hands will not cut it.  You need to move around, use the stage, and engage audience.

#8: Big Prize Bags.  With 30 Sponsors, California State Yo-Yo Championship is bound to have some monster prize bags.  So far we have received over $2000 dollars worth of yo-yo goods, and we haven’t even gotten everything yet!

#9: Big Names in the Yo-Yo World.  We have Two Grand Masters on the Judging team, and a great amount of National Level Pro’s coming.  If you want to meet some big names, this may be your chance.

#10: OUT THIS WORLD Yo-Yoing.  If you yo-yo, then you already know how great contests are to see new tricks and new innovations, but if you are NEW to yo-yoing, this contest will KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF with incredible freestyles, tricks, and personalities.  Safe for the whole family, and excellent for any skill level.

Come out and join us at the California State Yo-Yo Championship!

Just a little over two weeks are left for until the California State YoYo Championship.  Time to start what I consider the best type of advertising, Crowdsourcing.  Are you Attending Cal States?  Want to say you had a hand in making it as big as possible?  This is your chance.  The Cal States Tear and Share Campaign.  Print out this picture (links to a bigger 8×11) and put it up on your College Bulletin Board, Coffee shop handout, Comic book store, ect.

Getting the word out is the hardest part, and I can’t canvas California all by my self, I need YOUR help!

This year, the California State YoYo Championship judging system is going to be a slight modification from the judging system used in the National Yo-Yo Contest and World Yo-Yo Contest. While most yo-yo contests carry the performance of a freestyle at about 15-20% of your total points, we are going to bump that up to 35% of your total score.   We are going to have judges divided into two categories, Performance and Technical.  The goal is to relieve some pressure off of the judges by allowing each judge to target specifically on which aspect they are assigned.  Tracking freestyles can burn you out very quickly, and this should relieve some pressure and offer more diverse scores.

The California State Yo-Yo Championship is proud to announce that the Judges team this year will be lead by National Yo-Yo Master Thad Winzenz and National Yo-Yo Grand Master Bill de Boisblanc.

Also on the judging team is Stu Branoff, Brian “Glasseye” Cabildo, Paul Escolar, Yoshi Mikamoto, JD, and David Capurro.  We appreciate all our volunteers.