Organizing a BBQ contest is highly demanding. It's a real challenge to maintain the support of sponsors, volunteers and the community year after year, which is why most contests don't last more than a few years.
The thing the you have to remember is that at its core, a sanctioned BBQ contest is nothing more than a private party for cooks and judges. Organizers wrap a festival around this party in order to engage the public, but make no mistake, we need organizers much more than they need us.
If you are concerned about contests folding, ask yourself: What have I done to directly support these events? I'm not talking about simply putting in an app to attend the party as a CBJ or cook, but taking responsibility to be one of the folks who put on the party. If every cook would make the effort to help out by volunteering to setup, cleanup, solicit sponsors or even take the point as organizer for only one event each year the rate of contest cancellation would drop substantially.
Yes, I view myself first as a cook, but I also organize. Not because it is as much fun as cooking (it's not) or because it is less work (it's more), but because I feel like it is my obligation to give back to the community. Everybody loves to come to the party, but if everyone is a guest there is no one left to be the host.
