Scottish championships

[paddygman]

Hey,
Was asked if this has been scheduled for this year yet??
Any ideas? I know its ages off but some of us plan holidays for it.
Cheers
Paddy

[meg]

yeah, I was wondering that too. Weekends getting filled up quickly.

Stuart? Ali? any news?

[Alistair]

Trying to finalise a date. Will post it ASAP.

Alistair

[Stuart White]

Dates agreed with Falkirk Wheel - 22 & 23 September - let Ali know if you are playing !!!!!!!!!!!!

[Stuart White]

I put wrong dates down - ALI was right in his post- 15 16th Sept
SORRY:o

[alison_b016]

Just wondering which teams have entered the Scottish Champs.

I know that there are 2 ladies teams
and 2 teams from Stirling

I take it Selkirk and West Lothian will be putting teams in.

Hope Ali has ordered sunshine this year - rather than the sunday downpour of last years tournament! :)

[George]

There was only 1 ladies team entered and no stirling teams! Before the deadline.

[Chris Redmond]

I had emailed Ali the entry forms for Stirling's 2 teams before the deadline!

[George]

Chris, can you send me a copy of this e-mail?

[Chris Redmond]

pm me your email address or will i just send it to SCA address?

[George]

georgespittal at hotmail.com

[bigriverboater]

Glasgow's entry was sent on the 30th August I take it the closing date was the 1st Sept? cheers

[Alistair]

Hi All,

Regertablly, We have had to Cancel the Scottish Canoe Polo Championships 2007 due to a lack of entries.

The closing date for entries was set at Sat 1st Sept and by Monday 3rd I had only received 2 confirmed entries.

A date has been arranged for next years tournament 7th/8th June 2008. Entries will be available early January.

Alistair

[bigriverboater]

This doesnt sound right. I know for a fact that Glasgows entry was in, the Zeds were planning an entry and from the sound of this thread 2 teams from stirling and two ladies teams entered. So no one enterd from Woodmill, Linlithgow, Kirkcaldy or FCAG. If this is the case then its a very poor show and a definite indication of how poor Scottish polo has become. Even if any of the said teams havent entered surely a lower key tournament could have taken place with the teams that have entered. Would give somebody else outside Woodmill or Linlithgow the oppurtunity of becoming Scottish Champs. I hope i am not the only person a little annoyed at this.....Gary Pelc

[meg]

Gary - even to date Glasgow's entry has not arrived, nor has Stirling's.

A decision was made 3 days after the closing date by which there were only 2 entries recieved. Woodmill was the 3rd (but late entry) and yes, WL Zed's indicated they would enter. However that still made only 4 and was not enough to pay for the venue.

I also regret that this has happened but understand why. (Mine was one of the 2 entries on time so this is even more annoying )

[bigriverboater]

Hi Meg

I was sitting beside Catherine when she sent the e-mail to the SCA.Polo@CanoeScotland e-mail address. Chris Redmond had also e-mailed Ali i guess to the same address. Obviously there is a problem with the inbox if 3 entries have failed to come through. Or is the problem because the entries werent posted with cheques. If this is the case Ali told Cath at training that it was ok to send the form by e-mail if the cheque was to follow in the post. This was in the process of being done when we heard of the cancellation.

[George]

Hey Gary

I take your point about having a lower key (your words not mine) event. I personally am in favour of this, but, it still doesn't detract from the fact, entries were not recieved in time my own included (stop laughing) also West Lothians. The fact that none of the teams you named entered wouldn't stop the competition running.
It would be good to see some 'new kids on the block' to win, but, the plain and simple fact is - venues + prizes cost money, we get no money from the SCA, so, if we can't cover the costs where does the extra come from? People already think that polo costs too much.

I'm sorry you feel polo is in a sad state. If you look at the figures from the past two years you will find that polo has grown thanks to a lot of hard working volunteers and all going well, is set to grow again this winter.

I am personally taking the e-mail issues to the SCA website moderator to look into this and will let everyone know the outcome.

Anyway, whats a bigriverboater doing on a polo site?

[paddygman]

Polo boats are good for rivers too, just need to be careful!!
Oh and be good at patching or just rebuilding whilst on the river!
Dont know if anyone bummed about the scottish champs falling through might be interested but the irish open is on the following weekend and should be a good laugh, might cost a bit for a weekend but if one or two or three wanted to go i'm sure teams would take them! Camping is in the area i think so otherwise its a resonably cheap event bar the bar!
Neway just hop on the Irish part of the forums and u'll find the details.
Laters
Paddy

[Polo Boy]

Well, whats happend has happend, cant change that, no point in point the blame everywhere.

What we need to do know is make sure that this doesnt stunt the recent growth spirt of polo.

If Glasgow wants to hold any tourneys then im sure they would be thanked... but it is the problem of funds and playing space...:twocents:

[bigriverboater]

Thanks for your comments George and for taking up the issue with the SCA moderator.
Money has always been an issue in our sport and i guess if we cant recieve any funding from our governing body then growth is always going to be a problem.
I do appreciate the work that volunteers do for the sport and look forward to abigger and more competitive div 1 this season.

ps There is no water hence a bigriverboater must lower ones self to a polo forum :)

poloboy wrote;
If Glasgow wants to hold any tourneys then im sure they would be thanked... but it is the problem of funds and playing space...:twocents:

Glasgow hosts the Scottish University Polo championships each year (SUSF)

paddygman wrote;
Polo boats are good for rivers too, just need to be careful!!


I used a an old aquabat for many a river trip when i was younger (before the new design of boats started appearing) and was immense fun. All be it it was plastic, would be intersting to take my old mega down some of the Scottish rock fest rapids, give me a call if u fancy it :-)

[meg]

Glasgow hosts the Scottish University Polo championships each year (SUSF)

At the risk of starting a fight here, and having played at SUSF a few times and attended as a non player a few times I think this has to improved for university polo to grow.

It is great to see the high level of participation at this event but for it to be a serious competition (rather than a beginner/come and try tournament - which for most teams it is) it needs to be better organized with longer halfs in each game.
I have played at a few and ref-ed at a few and due to time constraints halfs have fallen to 4 mins then 3 mins.
If this means that less teams can enter - fine. Have a separate novice event (or a qualifier) Or run it at a different venue.
Whilst SUSF is a good and enjoyable social event is not a “proper polo tournament” for anyone who has played polo more than a handful of times. It is also not a good place for teams to get any experience to progress to the British Uni polo champs (BUSA) which is a large, well organized outdoor tournament.

[paddygman]

plus for us non students, it means we cant play. :(