We are extremely sorry for the competitors that are not in the programme and apologise for the disappointment that this will casue these competitors.

The full listings of competitors in these events are;

Event 8

Event 9

The following judges have been selected:

Kathleen O’Donnell               Scotland

Cecilia Orr                                Scotland

Leigh-Ann Plenderleith      Scotland

Susan Robertson                   Scotland

Victor Wesley                       Scotland

Jeannette Shearer              Scotland

Marion Clow                         Scotland

Mary Munro                        Canada

Michele Young                   Canada

Sharon Farrar                     USA

Cheryl Kirby                        USA

Fiona Borcherds                Australia

The Board of Directors at Cowal would like to thank the UKA, BATD, SDTA, ScotDance Canada, FUSTA, ABHD, OBHD(SA), and SDNZ for their input to the selection process.

We would further like to confirm that the draw has now taken place for the championships to be help at Cowal this year. We would like to thank The Chairman of the SOBHD, Miss Christine Lacey, who was in attendance when the draw was made.

Cowal Gathering openly welcomes feedback on all aspects of the Highland Dancing Competition. A recent example, raised by judges and competitors a few years ago, was to investigate what could be done to split the large Junior and Senior heats into smaller sizes.

In 2007 we split the heats into 2 sections, A and B. The dancers that made up each heat were randomly selected. Unfortunately, this randomness can result in one heat being of a slightly higher standard than the other one, meaning that it may be more difficult to qualify for some dancers depending on their heat selection.

Following feedback and in an effort to ensure fairness we have changed the heat selection process as follows:
All dancers in Junior and Senior qualifying events have been sorted according their competitive championship record in the last 12 months. Heats A and B have been created based on this scoring ensuring that both heats contain an equal quality and quantity of dancers. The dancer order within the heats was then randomised.

To ensure the process is fair and not subjective this exercise has been completed based purely on the result data held at the SOBHD without individual preference.

We would like to thank the SOBHD for their input into the process.

Competitor numbers for the highland dancers will be sent out in late July along with their passes.

Draw lists and competitor passes will also be sent to all solo piping competitors at the end of July.

Thank you for entering and good luck in your chosen events.

Entries close tonight and absolutely no late entries will be accepted for any reason.

Visit www.cowalgathering.com to enter now!

Regards

The last date for entries is the 1st July 2010 and absolutely no entries will be accepted after this date. Please make sure you enter is plenty of time and do not risk forgetting and missing the deadline by leaving it to the last minute.

For those of you who have already entered you should have received an email confirming your entry has been processed. If you have not had a confirmation e-mail please contact the office.

Thanks

Malcolm

Visit www.cowalgathering.com to enter.

Entry forms for the solo piping competitions will live later this month. I will confirm the exact date shortly.

Kind regards

Malcolm

As publicised at the beginning of the year the dancing order was decided by a random computerised draw. This draw was independently witnessed by Christine Lacey, Chair of the SOBHD, and Helen Ford, Administration Manager of the SOBHD.  I would like to thank Christine and Helen for coming to Dunoon to observe the draw taking place.

The competitor packs are currently being put together and should be posted out in the next few days.  So you can all look forward to your dancing numbers landing on your front mat very shortly.

Regards

Malcolm Barclay