Bellingham Highland Games steps up the competition
Scottish American Athletic Association brings new caliber of athletic events by Gloria Dawn Irwin for the Ferndale Record New this year to the Bellingham Highland Games is the Scottish American Athletic Association (SAAA) who will be at the helm of the athletics and offering spectators and athlete’s new elements that have not been offered at these games before. These games have become the regions Canadian-American Championship, attracting many Canadian athletes to participate. According to Bret Lathrop, SAAA Washington Chief, this year there will be the same mixture of Canadian and US throwers competing for class championships. Many classes of competitors fill the roster including men’s class A, B, C-novice, masters and women’s class A, B and possibly masters. New this year is the light weight men’s class for men who weigh 200 pounds or less and who have never competed in a class at these games. This event will be the qualifying competition for those men to continue on to the championships later in the year. The Bellingham Highland Games include some first-time competitive events and include a total of nine events. The events include light and heavy weight for distance, Brae mar stone, weight over bar, the sheaf, light and heavy hammer and the caber. The caber is the signature event which entails accuracy of the competitor flipping a large pole. Lathrop said the Sheaf competition is very popular also. This event involves a 16 or 20 pound burlap bag that is flung over a bar with a pitch fork and can go an average of 30 feet high. “The Class A men, and even some of the masters, will be launching a 16-pound hammer nearly 100 feet,” Lathrop said. Competitors are both men and women from their twenties through their fifties and include all sized frames from small to large former power lifters. Athletes come from all walks of life including fire fighters, ex-military, physician’s assistants, doctors, educators, sports and fitness professionals, trades people, IT professionals and others who
Annual Bellingham/Whatcom Highland Games 2012
share a love for the competition and their personal record. Each athlete at the Bellingham games is looking to throw further, higher and more accurately than they have before, said Lathrop. “Bellingham, because it’s the first PNW US game each year, is where many of us, including myself tried their hand at this crazy sport for the first time,” Lathrop said. “So it has extra meaning and a place in our heart.” Lathrop said the SAAA takes pride in assuring the games are officiated using consistent rules that are safe for the spectators as well as the athletes. This year, SAAA chief judge Chad Wilker is leading the judges. To qualify to be a judge a person must first pass a skills test on the rules of the sport as well as have a good foundation of personal experience in the games. This year’s judges include some who have judged all over the world and have been throwing since the 1970s and others who were throwers and are now giving back to the sport to help others. The role of judges is to confirm distances and heights and keep the rules enforced, but Lathrop said it goes beyond those basic responsibilities. “They spend critical development time with novice and newer throwers in giving them feedback and safety tips as they compete,” he said. The SAAA was founded between 10 and 20 years ago with the steadfast goal of assisting the Highland Games heavy events. In the world of Highland Games athletics it is referred to as heavy events because throughout Scotland and US festivals there can also be more traditional track and field running events including soccer, hurling and shinty. Lathrop said there is a projected number of between 75 and 90 athletes who will be competing at the Bellingham Highland Games this year.
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