How Important is Your Pit Crew?

I've rode many a ride and distance without any pit crew at all. However as life and the sport gets more competitive I find myself wondering exactly how important is your pit crew.

Take the recent debacle in NZ, where riders were not permitted to bring their chosen grooms to WEG 2010. Should National Associations be the ones making the decisions regarding pit crew members/grooms for endurance riders at international events?

For myself, I think it is more imperative that as a rider, I should be comfortable knowing that my pit crew knows the horse well , has a certain level of experience managing that horse during race conditions, and most importantly of all - knows when my horse is potentially about to have an issue.

In a stressful and exacting atmosphere - such as an international level competition, I think riders would really need the assurance that their pit crew members are competent and trustworthy - I'm unable to see how a National Association could make that choice from a central location several thousand miles away in some instances.

I might be way off base here, but I doubt it.
Thoughts?