Letter from James & Noreen McCutcheon

A chara,

We write to express our sadness that the All Scotland Championships did not run to the same high standard that people have come to expect and to apologise for any genuine grievances that people may have. These problems arose due to a number of reasons that we will briefly outline.

As you know, we moved to a new venue this year. We believed that by housing all of the Championships in the one building, this would better suit competitors, parents and teachers. Also, Motherwell offered much greater availability of family friendly accommodation, something that was sadly lacking in Kilmarnock. We have cruelly learned that a new venue brings its own logistical problems and requires a settling in process to maximise its potential.

We are bitterly disappointed that the published timetable ran late, particularly on the Sunday. Noreen and I had originally discussed a 50% recall in all age groups. This was based on the numbers experienced for the 2005 event and the mix of dancers between grades and championships. It would also give many of those new set dances learned over the summer their first try outs before the many majors coming up. Once the entries had been received, it became apparent that both the mix and the numbers had changed significantly – there were far more championship dancers than last year. We therefore concluded that the timetable should be calculated on a recall of 40%.

Unfortunately, on the Saturday morning a 50% recall was incorrectly announced in the first two championships. A decision was made that we would have to continue with this for at least the rest of the day. On the Sunday morning, we discussed the matter with all adjudicators. They felt that the same proportion of dancers would have to be recalled on the Sunday as well, even although we were all aware of the pressures that this would put on the timetable. Additional recalls resulted in additional time required for awards ceremonies as more prizes were required to be presented. This increased the delays.

The timetable on the Sunday was also delayed due to one set of results having to be completely recalculated. From memory, this was caused by one adjudicator marking a set dance as “0” rather than “80”. This only came to light after the presentation and the teacher of the child concerned raising a query. The child was subsequently awarded the correct prize.

We must particularly apologise to all of the young men in the Under 18 Championships. Due to several of the competitors wanting to leave for planes etc., we received requests from both parents and teachers to complete this Championship before the ladies section. In hindsight this was wrong. Sorry lads, we messed up. An incorrect decision was made under duress at the end of a very tiring weekend.

We have been informed that there have been some complaints also about the standard and quality of food available during the event. The catering was not provided by the organisers but by the venue itself. Perhaps the selection was not to everyone’s liking, but we did request that they cater with children in mind and to keep an eye on the parent’s purse. Maybe again we were wrong. I do know however that there were plenty of healthy alternatives available - perhaps they were just not displayed adequately.

Where do we go from here, should we decide to host the Championships again? We have no class to help us and the memory of having to pick up soiled nappies and half-eaten Chinese meals off the competition floors is something that does not fade quickly! We believe the Motherwell venue is the superior location for the event, but to run adequately we would have to either restrict the competitions offered or start the event on the Friday morning. At the very least only set dance rounds, or Championships with less than 30 competitors, could be held in the Theatre. Do we stop the grades and figure competitions? We would warmly welcome any constructive comments from dancers, parents and teachers alike. These Championships are run with everyone in mind and everyone is entitled to voice their opinion. Please Email us on jamessetanta@hotmail.com with any suggestions.

Once again our sincere and humblest apologies for any disappointment caused.

James & Noreen