est. 1948
anonymous: ‘This year many hopefuls awaited the arrival of the decisions of the Joint Committee to see whether they had earned enough respect around the boards to compete in the Silver Medals [SM] at the Argyllshire Gathering and Northern Meeting [aka Oban and Inverness]. ‘For several years the entry criteria
T
for the SM, although sketchy, were based on performance in the previous season(s), and a CPA [Competing PipersAssociation] grading.With these criteria a B grading and solid per- formance around the games appeared to be rewarded with the opportunity of competing at Oban or Inverness. Last year a qualifier was introduced to simplify matters for those not given a place and to allow a chance of entry to the contest proper instead of being simply a reserve (although all automatically qualified for the Oban medal due to numbers involved). ‘This year for an unexplained
reason only those with a B+ grading or above were given direct entry to the SM. The only way to attain a B+ was to have been placed in last year’s SM at Oban or
Inverness.This denies many who had put in some good hours around the games a fair chance at this contest. ‘Reference to Malcolm McRae’s
critique of the Oban SM contest in last year’s PipingTimes is telling. He pointed out how many of the prize
3
HE following open letter has been received by the
PT.The authors have asked to remain
winning tunes had been performed by individuals who had failed to play as well around the games in the season leading up to the competition. So one good tune is enough to secure B+ and entrance to the SM the following year then? Make up your mind CPA as to how you rate a player. ‘The CPA tell us all is good and
fair: the only way to gain entry to the AG and NM is to get out and compete and improve one’s standard. This now seems incongruous in light of the qualifying criteria used for this year’s SM (based on one, or at best two, performances!). ‘This means the only option for
many is to focus on a qualifier event (a single contest for both medals, again favouring one perfomance over track record) being held on a Sunday in August at the College of Piping. If there needs to be a qualifier for the SM it seems fair that all competitors take part and it is considered part of the AG and NM. Logistics is no excuse. The cream will rise and everyone will be happier with the outcome if there is one rule for all. This leaves a number of important questions: 1. Is this a change in policy by the CPA who have previously stated that the way to improve one’s grading (ultimately to play in Oban or Inverness) was to get out and compete, and that isolated good results were not as important as a track record? If so,who made this policy decision and was there
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