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4/24/2009 6:35:57 PM 2009 May 16-17 Victoria Competition - US vs. Canada 3/26/2008 3:02:14 PM Attention - Antigonish junior Throwers! The Antigonish Highland Games, the oldest games in Canada, and host of the 2008 CSAF Championship is pleased to announce the 2nd Annual Canadian Junior Championship. Held on Friday, July 18th at beautiful Columbus Field in Antigonish, this competition will bring Canada's best junior throwers together to kick off a tremendous weekend of heavy events. Any junior throwers (aged 19 and under) interested please submit an application to junior athletic director Marty Gilfoy via email at martyg25@hotmail.com Please include your name, age, hometown, years throwing and personal bests. The Canadian Junior Championship contests 5 events: 15lb Open Stone 28lb Weight for Distance 16lb Hammer Caber 42lb Weight for Height Once your application is received Marty will contact you with more information. 1/18/2008 12:39:48 PM 2008 Canadian Championships to be held at Antigonish! Further information should be coming shortly to the following site: Antigonish Highland Games 8/13/2007 9:54:41 AM Training DVD now available!!! The new training DVD is here - the price is $25 per DVD and comes in a package of 2 DVDs (50$ total). For further information about obtaining your copy - send an email to csafhighlandgames@yahoo.ca 7/23/2007 6:27:56 AM 21st. & 22nd. July 2007'- Highlands of Durham: Uxbridge, Can-Am Invitational Heavy Events 21st. & 22nd. July 2007'- Highlands of Durham: Uxbridge, Can-Am Invitational Heavy Events Results- Posted; The Highlands of Durham have just completed our 12th Annual- Highland Games; I can tell you it was an unqualified success. The weather was spectacular, paid gate appeared to be up substantially, the exhibits of scottish canines, breeds of horse, highland cattle a delight and the childrens' interactive activities wrere all well attended. Athletic Director James Brown and Field Judge/Colour Commentator Bob Whitman put together a dynamic group of heavy events athletes representing professionals, with men's and ladies amateurs from the U.S.A. and Canada. Results have been posted. Highlights; Can-AM Invitational; USA: Mark Valenti: Ohio- 1st:15pts.; Will Barron: New York: 2nd:16pts; Lyle Barron: Nova Scotia- 31.5pts; Marc Morin: Quebec-36pts. At the end of the 1st day of the 2-day challenge Valenti was leading Will Barron by 1 point (10-11pts.)because of the standings in the Caber which was won with 3- 12 o'clock turns by Berle Conrad- Harrietsville, Ontario. A qualifing caber was used and we moved into a Games Caber: 24ft long/ 78lbs; not particularly heavy but excessively long which made for accurate timing to achieve a 12o'clock completed turn. The challenge caber, selected by the athletes on sunday 22July07 was a 'brut' 26' to start, and was cut 3 times, 1',1' and 6"; it still posed a formidable challenge; Lyle Barron was given a 3pm-turn, some might have considered it a phifer, our side Judge Mr. Dan Markovic: Mississauga, Ontario endorsed the attempt; the remaining 4 challengers ended with angles. Prize funds were distributed amicably. Chris Rusher: West Virginia endured a hard two days as he injured himself during the 2nd event of the competition with the 56WFD. He stayed in the competition completing each of the events with the assistance of one of our volunteers Ms. Noreen Blythe who just happened to be a 'massage therapist' from Uxbridge Massage Therapy Clinic. She tended to a couple of our athletes with acupuncture treatment and deep muscle massage following the events. Spectators were very involved when the field record of 15'6" in the 56 WFH- fell; previously held by several persons-Christoph Wand (2006), Doug MacDonald (2004)and Warrent Trask (1996-1997) was broken by Lyle Barron and Berle Conrad as they cleared the bar at 15'7". Women's Division: The Women's Athlete of the Day: Ms Josee Morneau- Winnipeg Manitoba.She placed 1st in all but the 12#sheaf toss which went to Heidi Lowry -Almonte, Ontario as she cleared the bar at 21ft. Josee was in Glasgow, Scotland the day before our events. She arrived back to Canada at 4am 22July07' drove straight to the field and competed to successfully defend her title of Games Champion- Women's Dvision that she won in 2006'. Amateur Men's Division; At the end of the first day the Amateur Games Champion went to Mr. Mark Meyerhoff: Michigan- 12pts; 2nd.-Chris Snider: Michigan- 16pts.; 3rd.- Josh Kenny: London, Ontario- 20pts. Our strong man event: Durham Drag (2- 200lb weight carry)was hotly contested- 1st- Neil Lowry:292'6", 2nd- Ron Baldasaro: Port Perry- 207'1", 3rd: Marc Morin- 133'1" I would like to take this time to thank all those athletes that took time out of their lives to compete; the volunteers that assisted before, during and after the games wrap up for your dedicated service to the Highlands of Durham, especially Field supervisor- Dan Markovic, and stats persons, Ms. Noreen Blythe and Carol Brown for having made this event one of the BEST run games presenting Heavy Events. I would be remiss if we did not thank our many sponsors that made the financial side of the games possible, especially those working with the Heavy Events; Ontario Power Generation and United Rental Aerial Division- Uxbridge. Thank you all, for a GREAT GAMES- see you NEXT year. Posted by: R.G. Whitman- Field Judge/ Colour Commentator. 6/18/2007 1:15:13 PM 2007' Sarnia Highland Games & Celtic Festival Results & Highlights Results are Posted for the 2007’: Sarnia Highland Games & Celtic Festival; Highlights The Sarnia Games are alive and well thanks to the hard work of the Sarnia Highland Games & Celtic Festival Committee members, the many sponsors and Ontario’s Voice of the Highland Games for many years Mr. Jim Foubister. Many of you know the dedication it takes to muster the volunteers and sponsorship funding it takes to present a highland games. It is no small feat and my hat is off to the phenomenal effort it took to rally the community and business support. Congratulations!!! The NEW and improved venue of HIAWATHA PARK AND EVENT CENTRE was well received. The lack of shade trees was more than made up with the abundance of tent facilities, the marvelous picturesque setting in the round of the racetrack and the space afforded to all, accommodating spectators and a safe throwing area for athletes, Pipe Bands, Food Court, Clan Tents, centre stage, highland dance and massed bands. The weekend started 15June07 Friday evening with the World Famous- Haggis Hurl, Keg Toss, and was capped off with a ‘Truck Pull’ sponsored by Lambton Ford, Mr Rob Ravensberg, Vice President/General Manager was won by Warren Trask, Alma Ontario with a 50ft. timed pull of 29 seconds. We are sure to see this strongman event draw more crowds in the coming years. We could not have had a nicer day 16June07 ; 29 degrees celcius; Amateur Competition: started before the birds awoke, 7a.m.; 7 competitors, Champion of the Day- 10pts., Frank MacKenzie: Michigan USA, 2nd: - 19pts., Ken Crum, a police officer from Michigan U.S.A. and hotly contested 3rd place at -20 pts. won by Josh Kenny, a police officer from London, Ontario. MacKenzie set 3 PB’s; 56WFD, 28WFD, 56WFH, and capped if off with a tie breaker toss on the caber against his friend Mr. Ken Crum. Scott Stephenson suffered an injury in the Caber Toss, twisting a calf muscle putting him out of the top-3 places with a 4th place finish; he lost considerable points in the last two events Caber and Sheaf. I know he will be back; he has the competitive spirit to be a top ranking heavy events athlete as he matures in the games. Professional Competition: Injuries continue to plague athletes at the Professional Level resulting in our field being reduced to 7 very capable athletes representing the Province of Ontario, Province of Quebec, State of Michigan and the State of Ohio. The day was won by Mr. Mark Valenti : 17 pts; 2nd: place Mr. Kurt Pauli 21 pts. and 3rd place shared in aggregate scores 25pts: by Mr. Christoph Wand and Mr. Berle Conrad. Christoph Wand won the Games Caber: 18’4: 114 lbs, with 10AM. and 2- 12o’clock tosses. Warren Trask was not to be outdone as he attacked the Challenge Caber- winning the event with 3-12 o’clock tosses on a very ugly crooked stick 17’-124 lbs. the 56WFH was particularly troublesome for 3 persons at the 15 ht. Wand, Trask and Pauli as they shared the points from 3/4/5th place each scoring 4 pts. The Sheaf toss (20lbs.) was considered too large a bag and created problems as well as 3 persons stalled at the 21ft. height-Wand, Pauli and Morin sharing 3/4/5th placing: 4pts. Our day was made extra special during the awards ceremony. Athletic Director Jim Foubister showing considerable emotion introduced and invited Mrs. Margaret Fisher to present the Overall Games Champion with the first ever Sarnia Highland Games & Celtic Festival Ken Fisher Memorial trophy to Mark Valenti. It was a pleasure for many of us who knew Ken to greet, share conversations and reminisce old times and happy moments with the Fisher Family. The true essence of Highland Games and fellowship will live on as we remember our past and look forward to our future. We remember Ken as a ‘gentlemen,’ compassionate, passionate, a family man and true Highland competitor. He will be missed by his family and his extended family of Highland Athlete associates. Ken’s home games were Sarnia and it was fitting that the committee has chosen to honor Ken. And last but not least- a major ‘Thank You,’ to a wonderful field crew and stats keeper that made the day run so smoothly and efficiently. Here’s hoping your next throws are ‘personal bests!’ See you at the next games. Robert G. Whitman,, Field Judge/ Colour Commentator. 5/18/2007 8:12:39 AM Let the Games Begin! With the exception of a small, spirited contingent that has competed south of the Border this spring, the Canadian Heavy Events season is poised to begin this Victoria Day long weekend. With that comes Canada and the CSAF being the first Heavy Events jurisdiction to implement a difficulty- based Caber ranking system that will truly allow comparisons to be drawn between athletes on thus subjective event. Western Canada will be contesting its Championship at Victoria, British Columbia on Sunday May 20th. It is sure to be a great competition despite its early point in the season. To the athletes; Good luck to all, stay healthy and throw far! To our supporters; come see us at the field and say hello, we’ll be glad to see you again! CW Christoph Wand CSAF President 1/3/2007 6:31:39 AM 2006 Heavy Events Wrap-Up The year 2006 will be remembered as another eventful one on the Canadian Heavy Events scene. This was the first year that the Canadian Championship was a consolidated CSAF - Canadian Championship where invites to the event were determined by rankings and region. The Highlands of Durham Games (Uxbridge) took on the task of hosting the event which saw Greg Hadley named CSAF Open Champion. Meanwhile, three CSAF Championship invitees were off in Scotland contesting the World Masters’ Championship on the same weekend. They plus other Canadians represented well! Other developments for CSAF in 2006 included the naming of Jim Sears to the CSAF Hall of Fame – a feature which is under development – joining our inaugural 2005 inductee, Ken Fisher. On the governance side, CSAF has restructured the representation of the Board and the role of the Advisory Council. These changes will begin to be implemented as of the AGM in 2007, seeing Board members being elected in staggered two-year terms by region so that there is proper succession planning in our governance. 2007 will bring other developments beyond our anticipated AGM. As of this date, the CSAF will be re-opening bids to host the 2007 competition with the recent withdrawal of a strong bid due to a scheduling challenge which would have seen a conflict with the World Championships, and potential top-athlete unavailability. The CSAF continues to search for an appropriate major sponsor that reflects our aims of sharing dialogue and culture through sport. We look forward to making progress on this front. Happy New Year! CW Christoph Wand CSAF President 8/8/2006 10:34:52 PM Uxbridge - CSAF Canadian Invitational Championships Trapped at an airport, living in residence, cabers floating in rivers and gum on Christoph's chair. Welcome to the Canadian championships. I'm going to take a really quick second to tell you that the guys out there that you see on the ranking board are every bit of good guys as they are tremendous throwers. This was, looking at the results, the most depth of field I think the Canadians have every had. Of course, we were missing Dirk and Gord as they were representing Canada at World Masters, but I don't think this lessened the talent we had one bit. 8 events, 2 days and 10 athletes. Away we go! We started with the open stone which was an ugly 20# hunk of rough granite. A couple of the guys had some nice hickeys from that thing by the end of the three rounds. Nova Scotia's Lyle Barron got to be first guy up with that pig of a rock. A little bit about Lyle: Lyle was quick to point out that he was the lightest guy on the field but kind of neglected to mention that he probably had the most meat on his hands. I think it was Greg he poked at when he was trying to get what looked like a ladies small glove onto those mitts before the light weight. In any case, Lyle opened up a little over 38' at 38'4" and we were underway. Lyle would later extend that by a half inch on his third. Greg was up next and I have a nice little 20 second clip of him at the back of the trig adjusting his grip on the stone. Maybe I'll post it. Greg launched it out (finally!) at 44'11" to grab the lead. He'd hang onto that lead for the rest of the rounds, too, culminating in a huge 47'1" on his last attempt. Kevin Robinson opened with 37'7" and that would stick as his best. Neil Lowry added nearly a foot from his first to his second at 35'2.5" and Christoph's first would be his best at 40'5". Mostly because when you step over the trig, they don't count the throw. As Christoph discovered. Twice. Younger brother Markus had a bit more success on his second one, snapping out a 43'4.5" bullet that would stand as his best because he watched Christoph too closely and stepped out on his third. Marc Morin opened with a foul and then improved that by 37'5" and added another foot and some change on #3 with 38'10.5". It's gonna be odd when Marc moves back to Quebec and isn't touring the West as much as we're used to. All the best there, Marc! Young Matthew was next in rotation and he started off with a standing throw of 43'6.5" just to get a mark in. His next one at 45'9" would get him second spot but he really went for it on the last and couldn't hold it from going over the trig. I don't think he was too crazy about his distance, but its a nice way to start off the competition. It took yours truly 3 attempts to end up an inch behind Christoph at 40'4", but as it was a 20# stone, I'll take it. The last guy in the east to west rotation was big Joel Thiessen. Joel opened up with 43'10.5" and that stood as his best and enough for 3rd although the foul on the third looked like it had more on it. A quick note of thanks to Kevin and Joel for being patient and hanging around in a van while we used the Internet for something besides porn and managed to get me a ride back from the airport. I mean Joel even put his FOOD on hold for that. Not that he let me forget it, but he did do it. What a sweetie. Straight into the HW, Greg started the show with 39'7.5" and that right there would have been enough for the win. Now about 15 minutes before that, we'd fixed the handle to the weight and made sure the implement was under 18 inches and Greg proclaimed "Well, noone's throwing PRs with that one." So I (of course) piped back "A REAL Canadian champion wouldn't say that." Greg went on to prove why he is Canadian champ on his third one by bombing out 43'3.5" for a new PR and a field record. Told ya, punk! The rest of us were kind of all over the board and I know Joel wasn't too happy with his 38'10.5" even if it did get him second. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Matt was thrilled with 38'3.5" as he his a monster PR and got the Alberta record to boot. It almost made up for him stripping most of the skin off of one finger. A little surgery put that to mostly right though. Back to the throwing, Markus and I tied for 4th with 36'6". His was ugly and mine was a total worm-burner. Just goes to show, doesn't it? Kevin was next up at 35'3". And that got him 6th. 35 feet with the HW and he got 6th. Nice, huh? All told, everyone was at least ~32'. Like I said, welcome to Canadians. The heavy hammer flipped a couple of things around after we'd had a chance for a nice long cooldown for opening ceremonies. Did I mention that the humidity was killing me? Everyone else seemed fine but the poor guy born and bred in Alberta felt like he was breathing underwater. I dunno. Maybe I'm just naturally sweaty. In any case, I knew trouble was afoot when Kevin "Alicia" Robinson opened up with 89'6" and Neil followed it with 86'2", later adding an inch to it. Christoph was busy accusing other people of stealing about 7' off his hammers and managed 87'7" anyway. Markus slapped out 91'6" and then extended it to 92' even. Marc's best would sit at 88'1" and that damn boy touched the implements again and threw 3 PRs, cumulating in a huge 95'2" on his third shot for 3rd. This one would be my one and only PR at 91'8.5" and that got me 6th. Sheesh. Lyle has some great winds on the hammer but he actually releases the thing shorter than he is and that's saying something for a heavy events guy. His 93'2.5" at least had something of an arc on it and it got him 4th. Now Greg had opened with 104'4" and that had him sitting pretty until Joel's second one went out to 106'2". Greg added a couple of inches to his opener on the third one but it wasn't enough to take Joel, who also decided to take a couple extra pulls and nailed one out over 111', setting the new field record if I remember correctly. Huge throw. Here in Alberta, we have this tendancy toward shorter, thicker sticks. It doesn't help us, boys. I'm here to tell you that right now. The one we had to play with was 22'10" long and weighed about 100# with a lot of the weight near the top. This one went fast but worse than that it was made of rubber. Seriously. You started dropping down to pick it and it would just start whipping. Now Neil had already given another stick a pull and crushed it and then went to the AD and told him it was too easy and to get this one, so he actually threw the caber 4 times. He'd end up in 5th in the end with a 12:15. A lot of good caber tossers were there and it came down to countbacks for placings. I didn't even know Christoph could run that fast when I saw his first turn. He was moving! And we didn't even need to get the oxygen out after or anything. When the dust settled, Greg, Lyle and Christoph made up the top 3 with Markus sliding in just after. Matt showed a lot of power and control in setting down the stick, but he's still at the point where he's getting comfortable with the pick. Once that's settled, all that explosive power is gonna be scary useful. Joel's improved his caber a lot but it's still his nemesis and it hurt him, but his money event was coming up anyway. Weight for height. Ugh. This event is a constant source of frustration to me this year. And, unfortunately, it really came to a head for me here. Everyone either was over or passed at 11&12 and then onto 13. My own struggles began early by missing twice and clearing it on the third. Leaving it out front sucks. Doing it 3x at 14 sucks worse. Going into 14'6", Lyle, Greg, Christoph, Joel and Matty were still on track. 14'6" saw everyone in and then they went up to 15'6". Only Matt, Christoph and Joel made that mess and Christoph took 2 shots to everyone else's 3, so he was in the lead. 16 proved to be the stopping point for everyone, despite partial nudity when Matt stripped off the shirt to take his last shot. This led Dan Markovic to the conclusion that we could probably sell or rent the boy out and make some coin. Seemed like a solid plan to me. Thus ended day the first. A few of the guys pitched a caber into the river to let it suck up some weight for the challenge caber the next day and while waiting for our ride back to the U, we sat in the Guiness Zone and suddenly heard a sound like something driving over a flat full of empty beer cans. Coincidentally, that is apparently the EXACT same noise it makes when someone drives a cart over a pair of drums from a pipe band. Yeesh. We also had a charming little CSAF meeting and decided the entire fate of heavy events in Canada. We were like kilted Illuminati. It was awesome. Apparently the more savvy among us also figured out how to steal food and stuff from the VIP tent. Matt, Joel and I ended up at Shoeless Joes for some good food and poor service. And we even made Joel walk and stuff. The horror. Onto day 2. We started with the light hammer and it wasn't the most spectacular event of the whole weekend. I think Lyle alone might have had what would have been called a decent throw for him at 117'7" and even that was 6 feet back of his best. Joel and Greg were around the 120' mark apiece and most of the guys kind of putzed around between 105 and 110. A few of us will not speak of our lacklustre hammer attempts. Ugh. Moving on. In an almost exact opposite situation, there was the 28. Wow. I mean just wow. Almost everyone (read as: not me) decided to throw PBs or at least season's bests for this one. Marc opened conservatively at 61 and then nailed out a SB to 64'1.5" on his second. The boy also opened up a little light for him at 62'4.5" but on his last one, he got his first turn issues settled and snapped out a 70'2" for a PR and a new provincial record, not to mention being the first guy from Alberta out over 70'. I only managed a 67'5" and what did that get me? 8th. Again, welcome to Canadians. Lyle and Kevin also stepped up to the plate by going 68'11.5" (just couldn't give him 69 apparently) and 68'2" respectively. Going into his third attempt, Christoph was ahead of little brother by an inch and a half and was already gloating about it. Usually, this kind of story would end with "until Markus' last attempt", but that isn't the way it played out. Christoph hit his second turn perfectly and had a LOOOOOOOONG pull and great height. We knew it and so did he when he said "That's it!" just at release. The verdict? Seventy-five freakin feet! About a 3.5' PR, if I remember correctly. Massive! Not to be terribly outdone, Markus dug down and nailed 71' on his last for 4th spot. Competition PR if not a training PR. Young Greg had already popped out a 76'8.5" shot earlier in the round, so he had second spot sealed up. I say second because Joel launched a cannon on his third to nail 81'1.5" for I believe a season's best. Very close to the field record. So 8 guys over 67', 5 over 70 and 1 over 80'. Nice. Going into the sheaf, it was pretty much decided who the champ was. The math don't lie. Still, some other positions needed to be fixed and the rain was coming so we got at her. I suck at this event, got the opening height and that was about the end of my weekend. Hardly spectacular, but a great experience. Kevin and Joel joined me after that and the other guys all cleared 23 and went to 26. It's amazing how effortless these guys make the sheaf look, because I sure make it look like hard work. Maybe I should practice or something. Neil is a snappy little bastard at this event and I tried to get him to teach me but apparently I can't be coached, considering my performance. Markus was the only one to get the slightly damp sheaf over at 26 and that really made a difference. To be precise, it made the 5.5 point difference that he needed to sneak past Matt into third spot overall. By one half point. It was that tight. We had a challenge caber and farmer's walk in there too (Markus won. Shocker), but for scoring events that was all she wrote. So the fat lady had sung, the dust had settled, the smoke had cleared and whatever other cliches you like were done. Your 2006 Champ was none other than defending champ Greg Hadley. Joel was in second spot with Markus third, Matt fourth (go Matty!) and evil Christoph Wand in 5th. Lyle, myself, Kevin, Marc and Neil rounded out the rest of the field. After that, the pictures and accolades were handed out and we got a great shot of Greg with his younger brother. Hopefully we can post that bit of video evidence soon. On a personal note, I wasn't nuts about my overall performance but I was extremely glad of the experience. I met a group of fantastic gentlemen (and saw Christoph again), got to laugh a lot, throw some things, see some great throws and even voice my opinion once or twice. Those of you from Alberta know how rare THAT is. Huge thanks to Bob Whitman for taking on the logistical nightmare that is being an AD and announcer and a big thanks to the Highlands of Durham Games for putting us up and putting up with us. If you get the chance, head east and compete but be ready for ring handles and evil humidity. Hopefully we can ship a few of those boys west some time. I'm out for now. See you punks in Stettler. - Sean 7/6/2006 9:13:58 AM CSAF AGM Update Dear Heavies and CSAF Supporters; The AGM will be held at 6:00 to 7:30 pm on site at the Highlands of Durham Games (Uxbridge) on Saturday, July 22. Proxy registration will be at 5:45 (see below) • Amendments to our governance structure WILL be proposed. That will include two elements (more details will be posted next week); 1. To open voting privileges at this AGM to more than active athletes. This would provide a common forum for ADs, retired Athletes and so on. 2. Restructure the board to allow non-athlete stakeholders to be on it, and for the board to elect its own officers The proposal is that the AGM chooses the board, and the board its officers. • The Board has agreed to a proxy system. Any CSAF stakeholder that wishes to vote must provide an AGM attendee (see the attendee thread) with a letter, fax, or email (hard copy) which states that the attendee may vote on their behalf. Each AGM participant will be provided with an extra voting card per proxy given at registration. Athlete and non-athlete proxies and votes will be differentiated UNTIL the governance motions are passed. CW Christoph Wand CSAF President 5/18/2006 12:15:19 PM The season is upon us... For Canada, the May long weekend usually signifies the opening of many highland game competitions. It's a good time to wish you all well in your throwing and hoping that we are breaking into some new record territory this year. CSAF website updates - To say I was busy this winter was an understatement, however, I've got some plans for additions to the website coming very shortly. Stresses are gone and I've got the programming bug. 1. I'll be trying to get MapQuest tied into our website for directions / maps to the various highland games competitions. As well I'll be moving the CSAF website to a new server in order to host a larger array of items such as videos and perhaps fiddle with some sales items such as shirts (I know nothing about online sales yet so bear with me). 2. Making changes to the way we record sheaf marks. I have two systems built. - 16lb sheaf and 20lb sheaf to be scored separately. (pretty much like light and heavy hammer) - score the sheaf like the Stone throws where the weights are all together and scaled on one ranking system. 3. I had this available last year as a resource to help coordinators select the top 10 athletes withing a given time range - I'll be moving that to be a normal link (it's hidden right now). So that about sums up what I want to get done in the next short while - I'm off myself to Commox/Victoria to throw (and get beaten) by the worlds best Ryan Vierra... It should be amazing. Good luck all - and throw hard. Cheers! Dave Laidlaw. 1/4/2006 1:58:19 PM 2005 in Review In the past calendar year, we have seen some changes in the Canadian Heavy Events scene. A sad and notable one was the passing of Mr. Ken Fisher in December. I am so glad that Ken was nominated and accepted as the first inductee into the CSAF Hall of Fame, only days before his home county accepted him into their Hall of Fame and very distinguished company across all sports. We will be working in the coming months to increase the prominence of the HOF file. On the field, Canadian Heavy Events were full of noteworthy accomplishments as our Masters showed at the World’s. Dan Markovic made a surprise return to competition in Cobourg, ON as a Master to the delight of many. New records were set in most (if not all) classes (with that information being updated on this site as I write this). At the request of the Fergus Games, CSAF was instrumental in successfully implementing anti-doping measures at the 2005 Open Worlds at Fergus, a competition which was well contested with no fallout. We are committed to further pursue the principles of good health and fair play. In the Spring CSAF was incorporated as a legal entity, which will allow us to be involved in applying for promotional and cultural monies. We have a few people working behind the scenes on honing our sponsorship pitches. Keep your fingers crossed and contacts coming…. Looking forward, a few things of note; the 2006 CSAF Championship (Open class) will be hosted by the Highlands of Durham Games in Uxbridge, Ontario in a two day format on July 22nd and 23rd. CSAF is committed to keeping this competition moving to as many venues as possible across Canada in coming years. Similarly we need to identify for the other classes what games have already spoken for various regional and national championships so that we can honour those that are in existence, and meet needs where required. All the best to you and your families in 2006 - CW 10/3/2005 8:12:52 AM Canadian Masters in Spotlight of Recent Several big events have happened in recent days with regards to the Masters scene in Canada. Ken Fisher as our first inductee into the CSAF Hall of Fame, and three (Yes, 3!) Canadians winning their respective categories at the World Masters! Ken Fisher a native of Lambton County, Ontario (Sarnia area) was inducted in to the Sarnia-Lambton Sports Hall of Fame on October 1. His children Mike and Krista co-received on his behalf as Ken was unable to attend. On this occasion, his induction into the CSAF Hall of Fame was also shared with his family. Heavies from across Ontario joined his family and friends in this very significant event. Another inductee at this year’s ceremony was Dale Hunter, NHL player and coach of the OHL’s London Knights; it was truly distinguished company. Ken’s legacy in both our sport and his community are evident. A fuller description of his Heavy Events exploits will appear in the CSAF’s Hall of Fame shortly. As for master Masters; Dirk Bishop (NB), Harvey Barkauskus (ON) and Rod McLeod Sr. (ON) each won the World Masters’ Championship in their respective age category, with Harvey repeating his 2003 win. Congratulations all! ........ CW 9/20/2005 9:06:14 AM President’s Address - Christoph Wand, CSAF President Dearest Heavies, ADs and fans across Canada; it is my pleasure to update you in brief on the newest CSAF developments. At the AGM in Calgary on Sept. 2, a number of motions were debated and new officers elected in addition to McCain’s being announced as our sponsor. Here are the highlights in point form; • RULES throws made under internationally accepted rules (NASGA, SGA, SAAA, etc) will be allowed as legitimate ‘Canadian’ throws. The spin in the weight for height will not be recognized in Canada, nor will throws made in this fashion be acceptable in the CSAF database or records. • SHEAF (both 16 and 20#) will be recognized as on official Canadian event, although it will not be used in the overall ranking. David Laidlaw will investigate a few ways to rank both 16 and 20# either together or separately. • OPEN STONE will be calibrated off Dan Markovic’s 20# stone of 47’1” • SAFETY STANDARDS – the CSAF executive will further develop recommendations for ADs to use • ANTI-DOPING POLICY – the exec will examine World Anti-Doping Agency standing for CSAF. Failing this, CSAF will draft detailed anti-doping policy to replace the temporary policy that was in place to support Fergus’ efforts. • RECORDS – a standardized protocol was agreed to for what is expected in the case of Canadian records with regards to weighing and measuring the implement, and reporting of results. This will be posted. • OFFICERS: President - Christoph Wand, VP West - Joel Thiessen, VP East - Wade Goldthorpe, Secretary - Dave Roe, Treasurer - Gordon Walsh, IHGF Rep – Jeff Ingram, Advisory Rep - Douglas MacDonald. • PROVINCIAL REPS: NS - Greg Hadley, PEI /NFLD – open, NB - Dirk Bishop, QC - Marc Morin, ON - Warren Trask, MB - Josee Morneau (tbc), SK - Doug Campbell, AB - Jim Garrick, BC - Joel Thiessen • WORKING COMMITTEES – several committees have been struck to investigate Hall of Fame nominees, Caber scoring, grant applications, and reviewing the database system. Full details will be posted once the minutes are 'tightened-up' for that purpose. Sincerely, CW 8/27/2005 4:08:57 PM World's results finalized - everyone is clean! On Friday August 26th, confirmation was recieved from the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) accredited lab at Montreal that all of the samples from competitors at the World's (Fergus) were free of any banned substances. This year's World's set a new standard in which the competition's organizing committee, the Fergus games and the CSAF joined forces to implement world-class anti-doping measures. These messures were equivalent to any in WADA recognized sports federations such as the IOC. (No Heavy Events federations are WADA recognized at this time.) Six athletes were tested; top three plus three random of the field of eleven. As the coordinator of these measures, I am pleased that our sport and these gentlemen have proven themselves the 'real deal' under a very vigourous protocol. I will be documenting our collective experience (Fergus/World's/CSAF) for the benefit of others who wish to embark on this daunting task in the future. C. Wand 8/12/2005 10:10:43 PM Calgary 2005! CANADA’S TOP ATHLETES CONFIRMED FOR CALGARY 2005 SCOTTISH HEAVY EVENTS OPEN CLASS Calgary United Scottish Games Association (CUSGA), the Alberta Scottish Athletic Association (ASAA) & the Canadian Scottish Athletic Federation (CSAF) would like to present the CSAF Open Class Invitational Heavy Events Competition to be held at Shouldice Field in Calgary Alberta on September 3rd, 2005. ATHLETES, Weight LBS 1. Joel Thiessen,290 British Columbia ( B.C. Champion, International Thrower) 2. Greg Hadley,270 Nova Scotia (Canadian Champion 2005) 3. Dirk Bishop,270 New Brunswick (2 Time New Brunswick Champion) 4. Marcus Wand,242 Ontario (2005 CSAF Top Ten Ranked Thrower) 5. Warren Trask,265 Ontario ( 2004/05 CSAF Top Ten Ranked Thrower) 6. Christoph Wand,270 Ontario (2004/05 CSAF Top Ten Ranked Thrower) 7. Sean Langford,245 Alberta (Alberta Champion 2005) 8. Dave Roe,245 Alberta 9. Gordon Walsh,240 Alberta (4 Time Alberta Champion) 10. Mike Staal,240 Alberta (2 Time Alberta Champion) 11. Dave Laidlaw,320 Alberta 12. Jim Garrick,265 Alberta 13. Matt Doherty,235 Alberta (Runner up- Alberta Championship 2005) 14. Marc Morin,270 Manitoba (National Competitor) Throwing will commence at 8:30 am Sat, Sept 3rd/2005. Events 1. Open Stone Throw 2. 28lbs Weight for Distance 3. 22lbs Hammer 4. 56lbs Weight for Height 5. 56lbs Weight for Distance 6. 16lbs Hammer 7. CABER TOSS AMATEUR B Men’s and Women’s COMPETITION The ASAA will be running an Amateur B competition on September 3rd, 2005 at the same time as the Open Class event is happening at Shouldice Field. Bobby Brown of Beaumont Alberta is currently the Amateur B Champion and is looking forward to heavy competition on September 3rd from local athletes and invited guests. Throwing will commence at 8am, Sat, Sept 3rd/2005 NO WALK-ON’S WILL BE ACCEPTED AT THIS EVENT 8/10/2005 11:50:10 PM New record set in spinning weight over bar - 20ft! I have just returned from the St. Andrews Highland Games in Livonia 156th Annual - the longest running highland games in the USA. AD- Mr. Kurt Pauli, As Chief Judge I had the privilege of judging a ‘spectacular field of athletes’ six of the TOP 10 heavy athletes of the USA were at these games along with Mr. Greg Hadley, Antigonish Nova Scotia. Notables - Ryan Vierra, Will Barron, Harrison Bailey, David Barron, Kerry Oberfelt, Craig Smith all in the lineup. The most memorable part of the day was the last event: 56WFH: at the 18ft height 4-spinners were still in the games. This weight IS CALIBRATED ACCURATELY THROUGH ‘CANADA POST’ 56LBS-4OZ OVERALL TOTAL WEIGHT; the high throw stands are measured accurately, and the height is measured using a ‘metal tape’ so there is no stretching of the material; the event was on level flat grassed surface. Equipment is calibrated and maintained by Sarnia Ontario Canada AD:Mr. Jim Foubister. Both: Kerry Oberfelt, and Craig Smith set PERSONAL BESTS FOR THEMSELVES clearing 17ft. Harrison Bailey and Ryan Vierra cleared the ABS-bar at 18ft.- raised to 19ft.; cleared only by Harrison Bailey. As the WORLD RECORD AND NORTH AMERICAN RECORD WAS BROKEN IN JULY AT SALINE, MICHIGAN with a throw of 19’9” BY Harrison Bailey; he asked for the bar to be raised to 20ft. Missed on first attempt- re-measured the bar, and the weight although striking the bar went over the bar. It has become an accepted practice that should the weight go over the bar it is counted as a good throw; however- should the bar have been a stand alone free bar similar to that used in a high jump standard I believe it would have knocked the bar off. It was a exciting throw, and the spectators went wild; Harrison needless to say was elated, the athletes and I felt the excitement to be part of watching ‘history be made.’ Robert G. Whitman 7/6/2005 8:49:50 PM Penticton results are in... The Penticton results have been added. Penticton is a great learning experience for the athletes among us who are just getting started in the Open Class. It teaches you may great things like humility and how to take a butt kicking in event after event... As Dave Roe and I can testify - it was a good field of athletes! Needless to say, Joel carried the field winning 1st in every event. This is not to say he was unchallenged as Big Greg Bell from the states had come out to play! The morning was a rude awakening with the Braemar - I've got a fairly big head and I still find it hard to find the sweet spot. I managed to pull out a last ditch effort to place 4th in front of Mark with Dave Roe cursing the stone all the way. Greg, Delore and Joel all powered it out well past 31 ft to take the lead and set the pace for the day. The LWFD and HWFD were all contested at pretty much where you would expect – I got a PB in the HWFD which was good for last place… doh! Dave Roe however was showing some scary form while he opened his chest up and fouled out the front of the trig with a 64+ ft monster… just a bit more timing with that and he’s going to hit 66ft+ !. So aside from the Dave’s we know – Delore plopped out a nice 32’7 for 4th with Mark being edged out by ½ inch from Greg bell at 33’8 ½ inches. Joel put us in our place with a 40’9 ¾ throw… ouch! The other highlight was the cabers – The ‘stick’ was a 19ft(?) beast weighing in about 130lbs with absolutely no taper to it at all. Dave and Mark were fighting it out and were nearing the magic 90 degree mark but to no avail – after a second round it was decided a foot should be cut off and Mark succeeded with a solid turn… I think Dave Roe was a little beat at this point – but you gotta give the guy credit… he’s used to competing in cold damp weather ? To keep the rest of the story short – Dave Roe and I battled it out for a tie. (I know he’s still itching to beat me from Ellerslie!). Mark, Delore, and Greg placed 4th, 3rd, and 2nd respectively with Joel teaching us how it’s done. Dave Laidlaw 6/28/2005 2:48:47 PM World Championships (Fergus) Update For the most up-to-date information on which international calibre athletes have been invited and have confirmed their attendance at the Worlds, please see The Fergus Heavy Events site at: www.fergusscottishfestival.com. The World's Planning Committee membership including Mr. David Webster OBE, Warren Trask, Lynn Boland-Richardson and Steve Clark are making every effort to keep this section VERY current. With the retirement of the Canadian Champion, Douglas MacDonald, and the desire for the best international field, space for Canadians was limited at the outset of planning. As a result, the announcement of the final set of Canadian(s) will be not be made before July 18, pending 2005 results for Canada's top Scottish throwers (as was communicated to those affected in April of 2005). Stay tuned for more!! 6/27/2005 11:25:26 PM Another weekend of rain and bliss... The Red Deer and Ellerslie games were had this weekend with Red Deer seeing a new Alberta champion crowned - Sean Langford! I love this weekend. I really do. But that doesn't mean I'm not glad when it's over. The majority of the results are up already and I'll have the masters stuff up a bit later today. But let's see what happened for Provincials, shall we? Before anything else, I once again have to thank the Red Deer Highland Games Association for putting up with us again and making sure we were well taken care of and had enough room to play with. Without the support of the games, we're just a bunch of fat guys in skirts. The weather report changed about 10 minutes or so, but the morning started off well enough and right on time as well. Bobby was heavily favoured for this competition and he did not disappoint, starting off the open stone with a respectable 35'10" mark he would later extend out to 37'9" for an easy first. Kelly Strachan was all fired up and looked good as well, nailing a 34'1" push with the 16# rock to take second and a big PR. Ryan Rickson rounded out the top 3 about a foot and some change behind Kelly at 32'9". Tim McLean was in and fighting at 31' and Aaron's best push of 29'4" came from a standing throw. I know he can actually glide in practice, but apparently not in competition. The HWFD was all Bob Brown again, way ahead of the pack at 27'1", with Kelly and Ryan just inches from each other at 22'9" and 23'2" respectively. Tim was again right in the mix with a huge PR effort of 22'8" to fall just shy of Kelly. Aaron rounded out the top 5 as the only other guy to go over 20' at 20'10". Our Junior and Master competitor were tossing the 42#WFD and both managed to get pretty good distances with Graham going out over 30' at 30'11" and Terry Hunt keeping the boy down at 32'1". The LWFD continued the BB Show with the Man going out 55'4". This isn't to say that there weren't other performances out there. Noone looked more surprised than Ryan himself when he opened the event with 51'11" and a 4' PR and Kelly was just outside his best ever at 47'3". Tim McLean also threw out a monster 6' PR! at 47'1". Nice work, Tim. He actually fouled out during a 48' shot, too. Graham opened his 28 with a 4' PR at 44'1" which would stay as his best and Terry continued to thwart the boy by going 45'3". I will just mention that Bob was hot on the weights and even decided to take one extra throw for a PR. And where did that one go? 58'! Nice work, Bob. The Open class is knocking, Bob. You can't ignore the door forever. The Light Hammer saw Aaron hop out to an early lead with a sweet 86'5" opener only to have it eclipsed by Bob Brown at 89'6". But it was Kelly who really blew everyone away with a big snap and sweet release that went out a monster 93'4". I don't think anyone was more surprised than Kelly, but it was an awesome throw. Terry kept steady with an 87' throw and Graham kept his arms a bit too tight and managed a 69'7" on his last toss. With the rain still holding off and the guys being terribly efficient, we tossed in the 25# Braemar stone for kicks. Bobby's first blast at 27'6" would have won it for him, but he added a bit more to top out at 28'3". Ryan had a really solid push on his third to hit 25'11" and Aaron rounded out the top three at 24'9". He really needs to work his open stone because Braemar is not his issue. That brought us to the caber. Which had lovingly been fished out of Dave Roe's back yard after sucking up a pile of water. It wasn't an easy stick before that and it weighed a ton now. The qualifier only weeded out a couple of guys and Paul Kuefler showed more than a bit of competency and turned the qualifying stick quite handily. The man is developing a serious love for the big stick. In any case, when the big one came out only two guys turned it: Aaron Andronyk at 11:30 and Bob Brown at high noon. Ryan stood the big pole up, but it wasn't to be today. Which left only the weight for height remaining. Bob's been working hard on this one and it's showing. His WFH has much more snap than it ever has had before. And it very easily got him over 11'6". But he was once again denied the watershed 12' mark, despite sitting the weight on the bar. Ryan had no such problem, hitting 12' on his first shot and taking 3 very tight shots at 12'6". He'll have it sooner than later. Both of them will. Kelly again snapped over 11' easily enough, but couldn't put enough leg in it to go 11'6". Aaron cleared 10 in his first pull and left it there. Paul proved that GP was no fluke and nailed 10' on his second shot. In the Masters/Juniors duel (42#), Graham hit 13' without any real issues, but couldn't make the 13'6" his. Terry showed the boy up again by clearing the 13'6" after one miss and then going 14' with a bit of crowd cheering going on. Nice work, old man. Always a pleasure to have you out. The outcome was never really in doubt, despite some big performances from basically everyone and by the time the WFH was done, Bob Brown was the new 2005 Amateur B Alberta Provincial Champion. He's hanging onto that status by a thread. More to come later! - Sean Langford. 6/21/2005 12:59:57 AM Gallery now added! I added the ability to enter in items into the gallery (Data Entry->Gallery). The items can then be viewed (View->Gallery). So far I'm limiting the gallery to jpeg's only (to keep it simple for the first bit) as well I'm only allowing entries from games (this will change in the future but I need to figure out some stuff first). So have fun entering in some pics - I'll be nice to get some of those great shots that I'm sure you all have! have fun! 6/16/2005 1:56:29 PM Athlete Bios Just to let you know, I've been trying to get a good list of pictures for the athlete bios. You can update you athlete bio information at anytime (until I lock down the data entry section for admins only). Please keep the profanity out :). Perhaps later I will make the Athlete bio page to include items such as Favorite events, kilt, etc, but for now it's just type what you want. Look at Drik Bishops bio to get an idea. 6/13/2005 5:55:40 PM Grande Prarie - In like a lamb... Well, it was another fun day in Grande Prairie yesterday, but let's first cover some of our usual basics: I have discovered the difference between travelling with "the boyz" and travelling with family. Travelling with family takes about 4 hours longer to get home. I could use some sleep. Speaking of sleep, Mikey G. got to keep up his usual GP pattern of no sleep after being driven out of his room by his roommate Paul "Snores like a chainsaw going through rock" Keufler and then spent a comfy evening curled up in his girlfriend's Hyundai. That's our boy. The pre-game ritual of a hot tub, some beers and a lot of BS was also had and it set the stage nicely for the lacksidasical way we all kind of threw yesterday, too. So let's get onto that. First off, we've GOT to stop starting this competition at 9am. For one thing, most of us are hungover. For another, there's never more than 8 or 9 guys anyway and we burn through events. I think we were done at 1 on Sunday. Nothing shocking yesterday, as it was the usual suspects at the field. The weather stayed reasonable enough all day, if a little cool and I still managed to get sunburnt, even through the thick cloud cover. I rule. The Braemar we used this year is a real one. 25#, kind of pancake-ish. Everyone's opening bid was a little lower (except Bobby, the Lord of Consistency) than they'd finish with and Jimmy opened up with a strong 28'10" to take an early lead that he would later up to 29'2" which ended up getting him only 4th by a few inches. Mike Staal added 2' from his first to second attempt and would stick that as his best at 29'9" with Dave Laidlaw shoving out a 29'7" for third. Dave's last throw was coming out strong, but wobbled off his hand or he might have had a bit more on that. I ended up going 30'9" on my second to take the event. Aaron, Mike and Paul ended up with some solid pushes to round out the rest of the field. By now it was like 9:20 or something and we got into the second event: HWFD. Everyone was making this look hard on their first attempts except for Bobby B who went 25'4" and took some pressure off himself and Aaron who opened at 22' and would later hit a 23'4" for a big PR. Second attempts saw some much better footing for the guys. Paul went 18'6" and looked a lot more stable than he has in the past. Not too bad for the guy's 4th games ever. Mikey G. had some great speed coming out, but was firing flat and it still carried for 23'11". Dave had a bit of a fouling problem and only hit 27'5" on his one attempt that counted and I know he wasn't thrilled with that. Neither was Mike S. with his 28' shot that netted him third. Jimmy, however, got some great last second snap to go 29'9" on a pretty flat third attempt and I managed to get my crap together enough to go 34'2" on my last one to tie the field record. The 22# hammer was no great shakes either as only Mike and I went over 80' and neither one of us were thrilled with how far (or how little) over 80' we were. Junk. Bobby's back was still tweaked a bit from throwing the heavy one in practice, but he popped one out over 70, just edging Dave and just behind grip'n'rip Jimmy. Mike and Aaron were both just over 65' and Paul was still trying to get his feet under him at a little under 50'. The 22 is a harsh mistress. The caber. What an embarassing gong show. Noone turned it and we weren't doing degrees. Worst part is that Mike and I have both turned that same stick on different occassions. Everyone (including Paul!) had good control, but no pop for the turn. Bobby later proved himself Caber King for the day when he turned it solidly for the crowd after we'd done everything else. Told you I'd actually give you credit, Bob. After a little break, we got into the Open stone, which just looked like a mini version of our braemar stone and probably weighs a little over 18" and was NOT flying yesterday. I mean I won it with a 34'10" and 2nd and third were like 2 and 3" behind me. Bob had a good shove to go 33'1" and Aaron and Mike didn't look too bad, either, but our "Open" class guys looked like bums. I don't know what our problem was yesterday. The LWFD wasn't bad, for the most part, but it wasn't sailing either. All three of Bobby's were within 2" of each other, so there's something to be said for consistency, especially when they're over 52'. Paul had a great release on his second attempt for a big PR at 37'1". Mikey G was starting to get kind of loopy around here and just wasn't getting his legs under him and only managed a 45'. Sleeping in a car the night before will do that to you, I guess. Aaron kept fouling out the side which is just bizarre for him and Dave and Mike S. looked like they were throwing far, but the weights just weren't travelling. Jimmy got a bit of power under him and fired out a 57'11" bomb on his third attempt, but again, he was aiming a little flat. I had to finally give my head a shake just to get out a 64'9" shot. Something's missing here, but I'm not sure quite what. The light hammer was a repeat of the heavy hammer, with the exception of Jimmy, who decided to tank the hell out of it. This would later come back to hammer him into 4th overall. Chump. Aaron kind of got his legs under him to hit 86'3" only to be edged by Bobby by 3". The little dwarf should just slap on the boots and go 100' and be done with it. Let's move on. Ah, the weight over bar. Probably the only shining point in my day. Before that, let me just talk about Bobby Brown, though. He's been putting in some time doing dumbell snatches and the like and it's paying off. I've never seen him throw the WOB this well. 11' wasn't just a clear, he bombed it over by more than a foot. And his attempts at 12' were just slight tweaks away from going over. One peaked behind, one hit the bar, etc. He'll have this height this year and more. Big Paul cleared 10' for a big PR and I think he was actually starting to really get the motion at the end. We just have to get him to stop standing like he's riding a fat horse. Same with Mike Staal. The attempt at 14' with his feet narrower was the closest one of the day. He'll be back again. Jim looked a lot better than he has for a while and he'll go 13' again this year. Same with Dave L. Mikey was about ready to sleep here, but he still went 11' without a lot of trouble, except for trashing the uprights on his first attempt at 10'. Lots of height, no arc. I actually got my legs under me for this event, clearing 14' without any trouble and greasing over a 14'6" as well. Then it was up to 15' and I had 2 REALLY close attempts at it. One was way under, but the other two were almost over. Soon. It'll happen. When the dust settled, I ended up in top spot with Mike S behind me and Dave L. rounding out the top 3. The light hammer once again cost Jimmy some points as he wasn't having a bad day up until then. I don't think everyone was exactly throwing everything they wanted to, but it's early in the year and there's a lot of season to go. - Sean 6/4/2005 8:10:00 PM Regina Results in Regina results are finally up! It was a great way to start the year out - the first time in may years that the weather was cooperating... and she didnt dissapoint! It was basically a runaway with Sean Langford and Mark Morin taking tops spots for the day. 6/2/2005 1:05:00 PM FORUM CURRENTLY DOWN Apparently the Ezboard forums have all been hacked and deleted - restoration will apparently take the better part of a week... I might be considering setting up another forum so we dont have to deal with ezbaords luggage. For now the Temp forum can be used for discussion. Update - the forum is now usable - forum updates should commence during the next week. 5/31/2005 12:59:00 AM Website updates I've changed some of the webpages to allow for sorting by years... hopefully no nasty errors pop up. I'll be starting a new wave of updates in the next bit - including the Gallery sections with vids / pics from the Regina competition... keep posted. 5/14/2005 7:00:08 AM Season start Well the season is upon us. New records are waiting to be set and the field is waiting to get ripped up. I've added a few things to the website - logo and soforth. I will be adding the ability to add news items and the gallery items shortly.