Report - UNICON 20 – Shishu Mandir Participation at Unicycling Convention and World Championships

Geraldine Spry, Treasurer, Friends of Shishu Mandir, Inc 8-28-2022

Dates for UNICON: July 26, 2022 - August 6, 2022
Travel Dates: July 24, 2022 - August 9, 2022
Sponsored/funded by: Friends of Shishu Mandir (FOSM), Inc. Nonprofit organization based in US
Travelers 5 total travelers: 2 sponsors, 2 competitors, 1 chaperone

David Foy - FOSM Board Member - Sponsor

Geraldine Spry - FOSM Board Member - Sponsor
Kokila Venkatesh - 16 years - Competitor
Punith Gandappa - 16 years - Competitor
Vishalaksi Mani - 24 years - Chaperone

Overview

The UNICON Unicycling Convention and World Championships is held every two years in different countries. UNICON is sponsored by the International Unicycling Federation (IUF). This event showcases unicyclists from many countries around the world. This year there were 40+ countries represented with over 1400 competitors across 26 events. Also included are workshops and events planned to help build friendships across/among competitors.

Event Review

As this was the first championship event for all of us, it was designed to be both a learning experience as well as a competition. Kokila and Punith competed in five events, listed below. Given the first-time experience and limited facilities/equipment for training, while they did well, they did not place for medals. They did however, each make the top 20 for their age group in the IUF Slalom, which was a great accomplishment for first-time competitors.

Events:
Track: IUF Slalom
Track: Senior 50m one foot Track: Senior 30m wheel walk Track: Slow balance
Track: Slow balance

The opening ceremonies were a wonderful opportunity to be introduced to what was coming as well as meet people from the other countries. A highlight was Punith and Kokila participating the parade carrying the Indian flag as this was the first time India was represented at this competition. Their pride and happiness was evident to everyone!

The group also attended other competitions throughout the 12 days to learn about them and determine whether it was something that Shishu Mandir could train for and compete in at next UNICON in 2024. Kokila and Punith also got one-on-one time with a few expert level unicyclists - coaching and demonstration of skills, which was offered freely. The experts were pleased to see the excitement and eagerness the children displayed to learn more unicycling skills.

While the primary goal of the trip was the Unicycling World Championship, a secondary goal was to give the children a cultural experience, to help them expand their knowledge of another culture. To help achieve this, instead of a hotel (and to help reduce cost), the group did a home stay in Grenoble with a French family. They had the opportunity to try french home cooking, saw wonderful mountaintop sites, and took various forms of transportation - bus, tram, trains. We also took two side trips, one to Paris before their competition events were scheduled, and one to Lyon before we flew back to Bangalore. In Paris we went to the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and the Sacred Heart Cathedral. The entire group enjoyed the very tall Ferris wheel ride that gave us a broad view of Paris. In Lyon, we did a long walk along the river and ate at a local restaurant. We also visited a zoo and botanical gardens. And of course, shopping for souvenirs in both cities. Everyone enjoyed both city visits.

Summary

Overall, the trip was a success. We accomplished our goal – competing in events, providing opportunities for the children to experience a different culture, and learning more about this event for future planning.

As we look to the next UNICON event, we will discuss the opportunity to increase the team size to compete in additional track events, the skills events, and the freestyle events.

Examples of the track events include different length races - 500m, 400m, team relay, and longer races 10k and marathon. The skills events include flatland tricks, obstacle course, high jump, and long jump. For freestyle event (which is like figure skating performance on unicycles), they have singles, pairs, small group, and large group. This event would be an opportunity to blend Indian dance and music into the overall unicycling performance, which would be an amazing way to increase the visibility and appreciation for India’s artistic dance styles.

What Is Next?

UNICON 21 in summer 2024, will be held in Minnesota, United States, David’s home state (and home to other FOSM board members). This gives us an advantage in that that there would be people there to help with the team while the group is in Minnesota.

As we plan for UNICON 21, we will need to decide how large the team will be and what events to compete in. The size of the team will also drive the level of fundraising needed to fund the overall costs. In addition, for the track events, the team will need to train on an official racetrack. The skills events would require additional materials and space to build out and practice on physical structures.

More to come as we get our planning started!

Please reach out if you have any questions or would like us to expand on anything written in this report.

David Foy – President, Friends of Shishu Mandir (FOSM) Geraldine Spry – Treasurer, Friends of Shishu Mandir (FOSM)