This has got to be amongst the dumbest idea I have heard since the concepts behind inception of the SIA.
I totally agree with van. This is just going to wreck and already ruined image of our profession. (Yes I did mean profession as with training, examination and licensing that is what we are supposed to be.)
The idea that to be a
door supervisor you have to be "hard" is nonsense. Yes, it does help when things get physical but it invariably just makes things worse. The great wall of muscle and bone blocking a door can be a challenge for many drunken idiots.
I have worked with quite a few of the new breed of
door supervisors who aren't n-th Dan a martial art, boxers or thugs. The use their brains, body language, and voices to excellent effect where force and aggression would end in the police cells, hospital or worse.
I just hope that the press do not get hold of this as they will have a field day with it. I can already see how this will be presented. Words such as thugs, mindless violence, rioting, serious injuries, and arrests will be used to paint a picture that whether or not accurate will do more damage than the event is worth and will start the knee of the government jerking.
I have been around long enough and worked in enough areas to have nothing but foreboding about this. As an ex-broadcast journalist, medic, security professional, and defence instructor it just leaves me cold that this is happening and that the only people that will benefit from this will be the promoters.
I cannot see that the "winner" will get anything other than a dubious honor and some cash. Who ever it is had better make the £10k last as involvement will almost certainly ruin their prospects of employment. Not only will the spectators be watching but so will the SIA, poliice,and press.