I 11 |*T»Ti the National Horseshoe Pitchers
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I 11 |*T»Ti the national horseshoe pitchers NOVEMBER, 1988 Official Publication of THE NATIONAL HORSESHOE PITCHER'S ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Look for the nevv white shoes! Advanced Design TOURNAMENT PITCHING HORSESHOES Both backyard pitchers and pros catch and hold the stake better with DIAMOND'S new advanced design "Tournament" Shoe. It features a grip positioner, hardened tips, an increased radius, a dead soft center, and a wider, deeper calk. Same drop- forged solid steel construction as DIAMOND'S popular Double Ringer and Super Ringer Regulation Shoes. All American made. Contact your nearest NHPA club or sporting goods store for DIAMOND pitching horseshoes. For the latest pitching horseshoe catalog write: DIAMOND PITCHING SHOES {yihe Triangle Tool Group, Inc. Subsidiary of The Triangle Corporation Cameron Road, Orangeburg, SC 29115 DISTRIBUTOR ORDER PLACEMENT Call toll-free: 800-346-0740 For all inquiries call: 803-534-7010 "DIAMOND Pitching Horseshoes are Recognized as Official in Tournaments Sanctioned by the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association" H The Horseshoe Pitcher News Digest/November, 1988 THE HORSESHOE PITCHER'S NEWS DIGEST is published on the 5th of each month at Aurora, Illinois, U.S.A. by the National Horseshoe Pitcher's Association of America. Editorial office, P.O. Box 1606, Aurora, Illinois 60507. Phone: 312-898- 3974. Subscription rates—1st Class $12.00 per year in advance. NHPA membership cards are available through each state secretary for $7.00 plus any state association dues. Forms close on the 10th day of each month preceding date of issue. Advertising rates on request. F. Ellis Cobb, Editor. NATIONAL OFFICERS Dave Loucks, 13656 Thoroughbred Loop, Grass Valley, CA 95949 (916) 477-7060 President Earl Winston, Rte. 2, Lamonte, MO 65337 (816) 563-3536 1st Vice-President Barry Chapelle, 2716 S.E. 61st Ave., Portland, OR 97206 (503) 775-7876 2nd Vice-President Vincent Yannetti, 322 Longwood Ave., Bound Brook, NJ 08805 (201) 356-3862 3rd Vice-President Bonnie Seibold, 1043 Grayson Ave., Huntington, IN 46750 (219) 356-3489 4th Vice-President Mary VanSant, P.O. Box 270, Sun City, CA 92381 (714) 679-2578 5th Vice-President Donnie Roberts, Box 278, Munroe Falls, OH 44262 (216) 688-6522 Sec./Treas. Volume 32 November, 1988 No. 11 FROM YOUR PRESIDENT.. DAVE LOUCKS Last month in this column, I wrote about some significant changes to our Constitution and By-Laws. One of them, the need to have played in three NHPA sanctioned tournaments in the prior year to enter the World Tournament, brought a few hostile letters. Seems as though a few pitchers think this is an unfair require- ment. The letters, less than a half dozen, all came from pitchers in extreme Northern States where the pitching season is short and prior support of NHPA sanctioned tournaments has been almost non existent. Some of the complaints were in behalf of pitchers who aren't NHPA members and don't want to sanction even their State Championship. But, since the 1989 World Tournament is going to be close by, they now want the right to pitch in it without prior qualifications. I discussed the subject with the Spearfish directors and NHPA members in Minnesota where short seasons and limited sanctioned tournaments prevail. Both strongly supported the requirement of 3 prior sanctioned events and said that special tournaments would be scheduled to give pitchers the opportunity to meet the minimum requirements. Other States could take the same action as well. while the proposed 3 tournament requirement was first published in the May Digest, several states saw the likelihood of the passing and took steps to have more NHPA sanctioned tournaments in 1988. For those who may still find this a difficult requirement to meet, the NHPA Executive Council has agreed to allow a slightly modified version. We will allow for 1989 at least, an average obtained in NHPA Sanctioned League play to count as one of the three tournaments. DAVE'S COURT REPORT It's not too soon to begin making your arrangements for the 1989 World Tournament in Spearfish. I recently had the opportunity to visit and view the facilities and spent some time talking with the local s business leaders. The community appears excited about the event and several motels have already taken bookings, a year in advance. The 50 RV sites adjoining the courts in the city campground are all reserved. There are other campgrounds available in the immediate area. These and a map of Spearfish showing the location of motels are reproduced elsewhere in this Digest. There is also a list of the motels with addresses and phone numbers. An updated list of motel rates are being gathered by the Chamber of Commerce and will be published soon. The host is recommending the Holiday Inn of the Northern Black Hills which will be the site of the Banquet and Convention. They are holding a limited number of interior poolside rooms for pitchers at a reduced rate of $58.00 per night for 1-4 people. Reservations must be made by 5/31/89. Don't forget the 6th annual Las Vegas Hacienda Hotel Tournament. Registrations will be taken through Monday, November 28th. Play will start on Tuesday morning the 29th and run through Friday December 2. The Hacienda has purchased a new artificial pitching surface which holds the shoe much better than the old. Prize money will be $2360 in each 36 percon class with $500 for first place. Remember, this is a handicap event where everybody should come with the expectation of having fun. 4 The Horseshoe Pitcher's News Digest/November, 1988 REPORT OF 1988 STATE OFFICERS MEETING By VICKI WINSTON, CHR. The 1988 meeting of State Officers was called to order at 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, August 6 at the World Tournament site in Pleasanton, California. There were persons present representing 14 states. President Loucks joined us midway during the meeting. The chair explained why it had been necessary to replace Jim Acock, of Missouri, who had been chairman of these annual meetings for many years. As is suggested each year, there is a desire to set up a uniform system for determining pitching averages. However, no system meets with unanimous approval. At such time as the NHPA is prepared to receive all sanctioned tournament results and enter them on a computer, the World Tournament director would then have the statistics at his or her fingertips and would be able to place all contestants by a predetermined method. Until such time, it appears the chaos of unsubstantiated averages will continue to be a major conversation piece at each World Tournament. The chair pointed out that she had personally made inquiries concerning the requirement of reporting one's "last 3 events" on the World Tournament entry blank. She was told that this was done at the request of a majority of state officers. This was deemed the method that would please the most people. By the discussion that followed, it was very apparent that various states continue to "do their own thing" and the wording on a World Tournament entry blank is largely ignored. Perhaps this is one reason we continue to have complaints about incorrect entering averages each year. It was asked if perhaps there could be less time made available for entering the World Tournament. Some entries come in during January and February, while a large part come in during May. If limited to a couple of months, it might help clear up the problem with averages. Then again, it might not. A question was asked about the "courtesy card" program. It was clear that much misunderstanding exists. Mary Van Sant distributed copies of a paragraph of explanation, but this did not answer all questions. A suggestions was made that Glenn Portt, as author of the program, pool ideas with Dave Loucks and Donnie Roberts and that the three come up with a printed page of exact guidelines concerning the program. One secretary reported asking the same question of all three men listed above and receiving three different answers. Some feel 14 guests a year per club are way too many. Some would rather not use the program at all. Others are using it, but maybe in ways other than intended by the originator. The insurance aspect of the guest card was cleared up by President Loucks when he stated that guests at sanctioned events would be covered. Someone asked, "What is a sanctioned tournament?" The chair replied that it is a tournament where the participants are required to have NHPA cards and are required to use NHPA approved equipment. The person asked if Classes A and B could be sanctioned and not the lower classes. They wre told that this was not supposed to happen. It was the feeling of this individual that there were sanctioned tournaments being conducted in this fashion, including the Ohio State Tournament. It was felt that the NHPA should investigate such claims and if these situations wre found to exist, the sanctions for such tournaments should be withdrawn. A person from a state having problems signing full NHPA members asked how other states got people to buy a full combined state and national card. He was told that a separate state membership should have bee abolished years ago. New state or charter secretaries feel that ther should be printed information outlining duties, explaining report forms, explaining the procedure for handling an out of state pitcher who shows up at a sanctioned tournament without a card, explaining the courtesy card program, etc. Regional directors have guidelines in printed form but charter secretaries do not. Information not obtained from a previous secretary becomes something the new secretary must stumble onto accidentally.