When I went to the CRO course about '93 I was an active competitor and never dreamed of being one of those old guys running matches. I also got assigned to pick up the instructors (2 classes that weekend, RO and CRO) at the airport and hang around as their escort for the weekend (saved the cost of a rental car). Perry Wilson who just recently passed did the L1 course and John Hurt did our L2 CRO course. Both were so nice and such good guys to be around.
I had anticipated getting the Ultra Ninja-level, double-naught secret skills for running shooters and stages, you know, the ones that hadn't been taught in the L1 class probably due to time constraints (!).
It turned out to be a course in stage design, arbitrations, and running a stage well.
That turned out to be a very valuable investment for me later on.
Those classes aren't offered everywhere. If you get a chance to go. . .go.