First, let me begin my first article by saying "Thank You" to all of you for having faith in me to do this very important job, and as promised, I will work hard and aggressively to implement those world tournament experiences we all love and enjoy. I had the opportunity to attend the CONNECT, S.P.O.R.T.S. and TEAMS conferences with Tina Hawkins this past fall which aided in the promotion of our World Horseshoe Tournament.

During these conferences, we met, networked and created contacts with many CVB's (Convention Visitor's Bureau's) during these conferences. We have lots of plans in the works going forward, changes in processes and how we obtain Sponsorship/ Membership, how we Promote and Publicize our sport, and the committees and myself will do our very best to get that accomplished for the NHPA and all of its membership.

So, let's get started:

I hope everyone is excited, and aggressive in getting these new ideas, suggestions, and topics under way for the NHPA as I am. We have incorporated several people from all across the U.S., so we should have a wide variety of ideas and input. Please, as always call or e-mail any of these members with suggestions, ideas and/or contacts that you may have in these categories/areas.

As always, we want to make your WT experience a memorable one for the entire family.

Disunity and controversy will not help in our mission to increase membership and promote our sport. I urge our membership to work together in promotion and growth of our sport in a time of crisis.

Every member of the NHPA has the duty of promoting our sport to the best of their abilities. Some have more resources and time but staying positive and talking about horseshoes every chance you get DOES make a difference even though it may not seem like it at the time. Juniors like to experience new things if only we can get their little fingers around a horseshoe.

Many pitchers at the World tournament have seen a certain face behind a camera making sure we show our best sides, Micah Snead from Minnesota. "I started pitching in 1998, I think, and pitched for about 10 years. I have been to 14 world tournaments, pitching in 8 of them, and helping with photography for 5 years. I did win my division in one of my state tournaments as a junior and had a 3rd place finish once as a junior at world in my division. I lived in Sauk Rapids, MN from 1991-2017 and now live in Sartell, MN." When not at a World Tournament, Micah does A LOT of work with children year-round. This last year while working at a summer camp, he introduced horseshoe pitching to his campers." The idea came from having such a great experience as a junior pitching, as well as wanting to share that with the kids from North Crest Kids Activity Center " he stated.

With help from the camp owner, Micah brought around 30 kids to the Minnesota State Horseshoe Tournament. Pitchers setting up for the State Tournament came to talk and demonstrate how to pitch. They included: Jerry Labrosse, Rick Wright, and April Lynch. The campers were able to try their skills out on stakes placed 25-30 feet apart in the grass. Afterward they got to see some of Minnesota's best pitchers and the camp owner every tried to pitch a few. The host horseshoe club even gave each camper a free soda in thanks for coming.

This may seem like something small, but this one event may have sparked an interest in these young campers. Micah stated, " Of course this would be huge to do more often, and in other states, it would build junior numbers. There are kid stops, and other after school programs that go all year, as well as daycare/summer camps like ours. Our camp has over 200 kids registered for it last year that could come on any given day for a field trip, or to learn about it in the back yard. We also have a potential of another 600+ families that are taking dance or gymnastics with us. Not to mention there are hundreds of kids that are home schooled that need physical-education activities as well as field trip opportunities."

Micah and I both hope that other NHPA members can learn from this, and come up with ideas to increase junior membership in their states.

Just wanted to say Hello to everyone and wish all good luck for the 2018 pitching season. We have already had over 120 tournaments so far this season.

I just completed my 1st year as Natstats Director and I have learned a lot about what pitchers know and don't know. If you have a question on something don't hesitate to ask me. If I don't know the answer then I will try to find it for you. "The only dumb question is the one not asked."

Figuring your ringer percentage:

Take the total shoes and total ringers from your 3 highest tournaments over the last 12 months or 10 tournaments, whichever comes first. Divide the total ringers by the total shoes then multiply by 100 (this puts the decimal point in the correct place), you can't just take the 3 highest tournaments and add the percentages and divide by 3.

The results from each week's tournaments are posted to Natstats all during the week as I received them from the Tournament Directors or whomever their Charter designates as the person to submit them to me. On Wed evenings I run the Natstasts updates that creates all the web pages that you see posted on NHPA website under Statistics(this takes several hours). If your stats don't get in the weekly update then I didn't get the results in time.

There are a few things that I want to bring up about what is happening in the future.

There is going to be a re-write of HSMaster and the Natstats program (this is what I use to post all the tournament results) this will take almost a year I've been told. They are both going to use a more current database application which will allow us more lead way in what data we can and want to keep plus the way that it is updated and used.    

With the new membership cards not having a preprinted number anymore, please don't re-assign cards. You just take your highest number and bump it by 1. We are not archiving numbers any longer to try to build a history to be used when the new Natstats program is ready. Right now the database will contain current year 2018 plus years (2015, 2016, and 2017). Download your state's list and sort it from highest to lowest to find your current highest number, bump it by one for the next new member. Since only the last 12 months data or last 10 tournament show on the web pages I can run a complete list of numbers for your state that is on the current Natstats database. This is for TDs and State Secretaries only.

This applies basically to NEW MEMBERS. When an old member rejoins, and if their number is still on the current database it will add the stats to their old number. If their number is not on the current database (years 2015 - 2018) it will treat them as a new member and add them. When we figure out how to get previous years (before 2015) stats loaded to the new Natstats database (when complete) then we will have a history of each pitcher for as far back as we have backups (when Rob started as Natstats Director). If you have any questions please let me know.

 

Tournament Directors:

All TDs should download the new results from NHPA website ( www.horseshoepitching.com ) for their state to HSMaster before each tournament so that their database will show the same as Natstats and then their results file will be correct when sent to me to post. These are updated each week. Even if the tournament run on paper, they can check for correctness in their results file before sending the file to me.  

 

TDs need to report results as they are shown on your state's Natstats page on NHPA website or they are flagged and cost me extra time. The results need to be reported as soon as you can so that everyone's percentage is correct for the next weeks tournaments. Check for spelling of Names and how they are listed, check for periods after initials and after SR or JR, check for correct NHPA number and correct category.

 

TDs, it is your responsibility to see that your tournament results are reported correctly and in a timely manner.

 

Please put the sanction number and tournament name in the subject line of the email as it helps me when I have to research something. 

 

Thank you for all that you do!

Excellent method of play being used successfully to recruit and retain 

NHPA Members in New England !

WHT2016 Featured "Horseshoe Mania" thanks to Mike Brown, a good time was had by all.

PRC 1 

The RGS Book 

revised January 1, 2016

Rule 12

II Requirements

Requirement 2

Section F - League Credit     Page 23

Reads as follows
All seasonal, sanctioned Club/League play must be four hundred (400) or more pitched shoes to qualify as an official event for NatStats purposes.

Proposed change

All seasonal, sanctioned Club/League play must be two hundred (200) or more pitched shoes to qualify as an official event for NatStats purposes.

 

Reason

Some leagues pitch 120 shoes a night and have substitutes. There are times when a person may play or sub in 3 league nights. and only pitch 360 shoes. By the rules that are currently in place, this person may not get credit for that league.

In comparison, tournament competition, Rule E, page 23 a contestant may pitch 100 shoes and get credit for NatStats.

Notes

PRC 2

Requirement 2, Section E, Numbers 1, 2 and 3.

Reads as follows

1. For singles and doubles events, a contestant must have pitched a minimum of 100 shoes to receive Natstats credit.

Exception: If all games of the round-robin schedule have been pitched in less than 100 shoes, these statistics may be submitted for Natstats credit.

2. In team tournament competitions, any team member who has pitched a minimum of one hundred (100) shoes during that event may receive Natstats credit.

3. For elimination tournaments, a contestant must pitch one hundred (100) or more shoes to receive Natstats credit for that event.

Proposed change

1. For singles, doubles, team, and elimination events, a contestant must have pitched a minimum of one hundred (100) shoes against another contestant to receive Natstats credit.

 

Exception: If all games of the round-robin schedule have been pitched in less than one hundred (100) shoes, these statistics may be submitted for Natstats credit. This exception applies to point games only.

 

Reason

Numbers 2 and 3 are redundant and need to be removed. Number 1 now includes all necessary wording.

PRC 3

Rule 2E

 

Reads as follows

Section E - Court Rotation
At the end of each game, contestants shall go promptly to their next assigned court. If the court is vacant, they may practice here at this time. After the games on adjacent courts are completed , both pits shall be prepared for play (see Section B above). When the scorekeeper is ready, the contestants have the option of pitching no more than four (4) additional warm-up shoes each, and then the next game must begin immediately.

Proposed Change

Section E - Court Rotation
At the end of each game contestants can practice on current court until their next assigned court is available. After the games on adjacent courts are completed, both pits shall be prepared for play (see Section B above). When the scorekeeper is ready, the contestants have the option of pitching no more than four (4) additional warm-up shoes each, and then the next game must begin immediately.

Reason

To prevent contestants from debating with Judges with the potential to avoid unsportsmanlike behavior and allow everyone the same privilege to practice eliminating the unwritten rule in the Championship level. At the World this year were several instances where contestants disagreed with the Judges and acted in unsportsmanlike conditions. I believe this may help solve a few issues.

PRC 4

RULE 11 - TOURNAMENT/LEAGUE PLAY

Reads as follows 

See proposed addition in red/italic type

Section B - Determining Class Winners, Breaking of Ties

The Tournament Officials shall decide how Class winners are to be determined and how ties are to be broken and shall announce these procedures before tournament play begins.

1.  Class Winners - At the end of round-robin play, win/loss records or ringer percentage shall determine Class winners. In addition, total points may be used if the scoring was done using the count-all method.

2.  Class Ties - If ties occur, they shall be broken by playoff games, overall ringer percentage, who-beat-whom in the regular round-robin, or highest above/closest to their entering ringer average. Total points may be used if the scoring was done using the count-all method.

In World, National, Regional and State Championships, all ties for first place in the Championship Class of a designated Division must be broken by a playoff game(s).

 

Current Wording

See proposed addition in red/italic type

Section F - Handicapping

Handicapping may be used in open tournaments and in league play. The Tournament/League Officials shall determine the amount of the handicap. Class winners will be determined by win/loss record or ,  for  count-all formats, by total points scored. An alternate-pitch format shall be used. For the breaking of Class ties, the options in Section B (above) may also apply, except that ringer percentage shall not be used. Game handicapping shall not be used in any World, National, or Regional Tournament or in the Championship Class of a designated Division of any State Championship Tournament.

 

Reasons

Some background information: Several RGS revisions ago, the use of total points as an option for the breaking of Class Ties was eliminated (see Section B-2 above) as it was determined that using this option as a tie-breaker in cancellation play penalized the higher percentage pitchers.in that Class. This was verified by the analysis of past tournament results, was agreed-to by members of the IT Committee, and was also approved by the Chairman of the Rules Committee and the NHPA Council. This also resulted in the same changes that were made to the HS Master Program, now widely used in Charter Tournaments. At least two articles were published in Newsline Magazine, which included reasons for the Rule change and examples of how the use of total points for the breaking of Class ties was unfair to the higher percentage pitchers.

The current wording of this Rule has lead to some mis-interpretations of the Rule by some Tournament Directors, especially as it applies to the breaking of ties in handicapped Classes. The proposed addition of the sentence in B-2 (a repeat of the information in B-1), and also the addition of the phrase 'for count-all formats' in Section F, does not change the original intent of the Rule and helps to distinguish between the use of total points as it may apply to cancellation formats and count-all formats in tournament play.

PRC 5

Definition of Sanctioned Tournament

Reads as follows

None

 

Proposed change

To be added under Requirement 2 as Section D-Tournament Size

Section D: Tournament Size: The minimum number of contestants in a sanctioned tournament shall be four (4) contestants.

Current Section D becomes E, Section E becomes F, etc.

Reasons: The number of two person tournaments being submitted to NatStats has been increasing. Some of these tournaments are not publicized as required by Section II, Requirement 1-A, of the RGS book. Having such tournaments that do not follow the current RGS guidelines adversely affects the integrity of NatStats. Some feel that many of these tournaments are staged at the last minute for the express purpose of getting qualifying events for entry into the World Tournament. Allowing such tournaments could adversely affect participation in regularly scheduled tournaments. Others feel that an average obtained after pitching two fifty (50) shoe games against a familiar opponent does not equate to the rigors of pitching in a competitive tournament.

PRC 6

Pitching Devisions

Reads as follows 

Section A - Juniors 

(See REQUIREMENTS 6 for exceptions and additional information)

1. Junior Cadets (any pitcher twelve (12) years old or younger for the entire calendar year)

Junior cadets may pitch from any place on the extended or full-distance platforms and shall observe the twenty-foot (20') foul line. Note: Junior cadets may choose to move into Junior Boys or Junior Girls prior to the age guidelines, but cannot return to the Junior Cadets once this declaration has been made.

2. Junior Boys (any male pitcher eighteen (18) years old or younger for the entire calendar year)

Full Member - Dues for Full adult members are the National dues of twenty five dollars ($25.00) plus the amount set for State dues within their Charter. Three dollars ($3.00) of every adult membership will be set aside for the World Tournament prize fund, for the

next year. Only Full Members may enter State and World Tournaments.

 

Provisional Member - Dues for Provisional adult members are the National Provisional dues of ten dollars ($10.00). Provisional Members are allowed entry to regular tournaments/leagues (upon paying their full entry fee) for the period beginning at their first entry to the end of the current calendar year. At which time they must become Full members in order to continue participating in NHPA tournaments/leagues. During their provisional time, a member can upgrade to Full member at any time by paying the remainder of their National Dues ($15) and their state charter dues. Provisional Member tournament/league statistics are reported to the NHPA and the member is provided an NHPA membership card number with a "P" at the beginning of their charter-assigned membership number (e.g., P095001) for tracking purposes. Provisional members cannot vote and do not count toward the awarding of charter delegates, but are reported on charter membership reports to the NHPA.

Reason

 

Although desirable that all tournaments be played on high quality courts that would meet the full NHPA sanction for courts, this rule has created a significant divide between the NHPA and the American horseshoe pitching public (over110 Million). In essence the NHPA has said to that

public "if you don't play horseshoes on our courts, you are not playing horseshoes, as we (NHPA) are the nationally recognized organizing body of the sport and we do not recognize your courts." No wonder NHPA has a hard time attracting non-NHPA horseshoe pitching enthusiasts and community groups. Furthermore, the NHPA has lost some of its membership over the years as the sanction court rules have become more and more strict, due to old complexes falling out of compliance. This membership loss may be further exacerbated in 2019 with the imposition of short distance platform requirements.

 

Because non-sanctioned courts have the potential to be significantly out of any given specification, a secondary NHPA Sanction number should be applied to tournaments/leagues pitched on any such courts to allow the NHPA and participants to identify these events

separately from those on sanctioned courts. A simple option is including the letter "N" in the first

digit of the tournament/league number for a charter for a given year (e.g., 09-18-N01 = Utah-

2018-Tournament #1 played on non-sanctioned courts).

 

Allowing non-sanctioned courts to be used for NHPA play is a key step in opening the door to attracting new membership to the NHPA from among, foremost, non-sanctioned organized horseshoe pitching groups, but also to small community/neighborhood groups. The NHPA should be making it easier for horseshoe enthusiasts of all walks of life to affiliate with the NHPA, not harder. This rule removes a significant barrier to joining the NHPA and participating NHPA horseshoes. As the NHPA starts bringing in new members those new members will become exposed to the NHPA world. They will learn about top caliber horseshoes. Top quality facilities. Challenging state and world championships. Pro style equipment. NHPA

marketing/promotion/communication. etc, etc... In time, as many such groups are incorporated,

they will strive to develop fully sanctioned facilities and will help fortify the NHPA with growth and vitality.