Scottish Fiddling Competition Timeline Guidelines for Competition Organizers and Stewards.
These guidelines are for both competition organizers and
stewards. Where there are two people filling these jobs, the duties
may be divided: the organizer assuming more responsibility for the
early planning of the competition, and the steward assuming the
responsibility for the details which relate directly to the actual
competition.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact the Competitions
person listed on the Officers page.
To Top of Page 1. Well in Advance of the Competition (3-6 months)
Determine time and place of competition
in cooperation with the organizers of the games. Decide with the
games organizers about entry fees (amount, if any), whether or not
competitors will get free tickets and/or parking passes to the games,
budget for the competition, etc.
Obtain judge. Make sure terms of payment
and expenses are clear. Also arrange for workshops, if any, with
the judge and arrange space and time details with game organizers.
Arrange for transportation (i.e., airline tickets) for judge, if
needed. If you plan to allow accompaniment as fiddlers play, get
prior approval from the judge and be sure rules governing accompaniment
are clear in the information you send potential competitors.
Prizes: Determine prizes (cash, medals,
and trophies are usual, but you can be creative and give Scottish
fiddling books, memberships in FIRE, scholarships to fiddling schools,
etc.) Games organizers often take care of ordering trophies and
supply cash awards, but you might also like to see if you can get
merchants or individuals to donate prizes which would then carry
their names. Be sure prizes are ordered and will be available on
the day of the competition.
Publicity: See that games officials include
fiddling in pre-games publicity. Write newspaper articles giving information
about the competition. You might submit these articles for use in the program, any
pre-games publicity, and the Scottish FIRE Newsletter. You may also request to have
your Scottish game/competition listed on this web site. To
Top of Page 2. One To Two Months Before the Competition (or more)
Send information to potential competitors.
Include rules, judge's name, time and place of the competition,
accommodations information, deadline for entries, workshop information,
concert or ceilidh information - anything relevant.
Judge's needs: Be sure the judge has a
place to stay and that arrangements are made for local transportation
(to and from accommodations, airport, etc.).
Accompaniment: If accompaniment is to
be allowed, arrange for suitable musicians who can provide accompaniment
for fiddlers who want it but did not provide their own.
Applications: STEWARD: As applications
are received, keep a record of the order in which they were received
(competitors play in reverse order of registration). Also keep records
of the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of competitors and
entry fees received (if any entry fees are required).
Necessary forms: STEWARD: Be sure you
have the judging forms, report forms, and membership information
from Scottish FIRE to bring to the games. Samples of these materials
are included in the information packet, or are obtainable from the
Scottish FIRE Competitions chairman on request. Stewards should
plan to give copies of the completed judging sheets to the competitors
after the competition and should plan to bring appropriate material:
carbon paper or NCR forms are appropriate if the competition organizers
want to keep copies of the judging sheets, or stewards may want
to arrange to xerox the forms and mail them to competitors. Originals
of the completed judging sheets may be given to competitors if the
organizers choose to do so.
The Steward's responsibilities will vary
depending on how individual games are organized, but the following
are critical responsibilities of the steward. The responsibilities
may be delegated to other people, but the steward has the overall
responsibility to see that these things are done. Essentially, the
steward is a troubleshooter whose major job is to see that the competition
runs smoothly.
- The steward should make sure that
each competitor is entered in the appropriate class, to the extent
possible. (The judge has the final decision about which class a
competitor should be entered in, and may make that decision before
or after a competitor plays.)
- Check that all competitors are present
before the competition begins and that they are informed about any
changes in plans or locations, the order of play, the time they
need to be ready to play, etc.
- Have each competitor fill out a
judging form indicating the names of tunes to be played, competition
class, and order of play. (where there is more than one judge, more
forms should be filled out by each competitor, one for each judge.)
- During the competition, the steward
assists the judge as required. Depending on the competition set-up,
the steward could be responsible for any/all of the following:
o Check
sound system, adjust mikes for competitors.
o Announce
competitors' names and the tunes they are playing. Explain fiddle
competition procedure to the audience.
o Check
judging sheets when judge finishes writing the: Add points if the
judge is recording points (a great help to many judges!), check
that the judging sheet is fully filled out, be sure that the judge
signs all judging sheets.
o Record
final ranking, trophies, special prizes, etc., on a competition
report form. Have judge write comments on the form and sign it.
o Help
judge give awards, and be sure each competitor get a copy of the
judging sheet or that arrangements are made for mailing it.
The steward must mail a report to the
FIRE Competitions Chairman as soon as possible after the competition.
ncluded in this report are the names and addresses of all competitors and also
of any other people at the competition who expresses an interest in FIRE.
(These people will receive a sample newsletter and an invitation to join FIRE.)
The judge must mail the official results
to the FIRE Competitions Chair on the complete competition report
form. The steward should provide the judge with a stamped, addressed
envelope for this purpose, as well as a copy of the competition
results on the completed report form. If the report form is completed
and signed by the judge at the competition, the steward or competition
organizer may mail the results to the FIRE Competitions Chair.
Competition reports should also be sent
to the newsletter editor and to the organizer of the U.S. National
Scottish Fiddling Championships. The winners of local competitions
(first place) will be invited to compete in the National Scottish
Fiddling Championship. Be sure to always include the addresses and
telephone numbers of the first place winners of the Open and Junior
classes (and date of birth for the Junior winner) so invitations
to the Nationals can be issued. Please send the results immediately
after the competition, particularly for competitions which occur
in the spring.
