North American Championships "The Claw"

The CLAW!!!

Greetings Mighty Throwing Community,

It is my humble privilege, to announce that I will be taking the reigns as Athletics Director for the Seattle Highland Games Assoc. and the Pro and Amateur classes held at the affectionately referred “The Claw”. Ken Shaw will continue as co-AD and lead the Judging crew in July for the 73rd games held in Enumclaw, WA. I’ve also asked Bret “Hoss” Lathrop to lead the committee and conduct all logistics, budgeting, scoring and volunteer communications as we’ve done successfully as a team previously.

As you know games are under increased pressure to find ways to be relevant, to keep the crowds coming in and manage their budgets prudently. The larger orgs and venues are not immune. The SSHGA had begun the process to eliminate the Pro class due to these constraints, luckily we were asked to get involved in time to reverse that and build a plan that keeps “The Claw” prestige and history marching on. We are excited for the opportunity to put our stamp on it while standing on the shoulders of giants like Wally that shepherded it for so many years.

Our focus is a competition that is safe and fun for the throwers, and wildly entertaining for the spectators! An event that honors our traditions while adapting to an ever changing landscape of relevance. An event that brings the best of both national skill and regional talent on display to promote the SSHGA’s mission.

Some changes and benefits:

The Pro class will be a 1 day competition on Saturday.
The Men’s Pro class will include 10 slots, Women’s Pro class 5 slots.
The Men’s Pro class will be made up of an invite to the top 8 NASGA ranked as of June 1, top 4 for women. The final 2 for men and 1 for women will be The AD’s Wild Card picks, chosen by the AD.
Pro package will be standard across all pro’s with set travel allowance and hotel included.
Fewer Pro’s equals better chance of money, and all placement awards have been increased $200 per, but all challenge and individual event awards have been removed to increase placement awards.
Saturday will be Pro’s, Men’s A and Women’s A. The designation of Amateur is being reinstated over “Pre-elite”.
The Men’s class B is back! They will be throwing on Sunday with the Masters Men and Women.
Amateur class applications will be taken from any ranked thrower, the classes will be limited to 12 slots and selection informed first week of June. There is no travel or prize money for amateurs. You are throwing at The CLAW baby, which is a notch in any top Amateur belt!
Selected athletes will have 14 days to accept and register before the next in line are contacted for the open slot. AD’s discretion of course on exceptions.

Other Tweaks: if you have experienced a games we have run, you know how we have an eye for the blend of showing athletes a good time and making sure the crowd gets a show!

Enumclaw can be hot in July; especially in that sand/dirt arena. So new water misters are going to be available to help cool you down!
Music and Announcing will get an uplift to help create a connected crowd experience
Scoreboard for Pro classes.

As we work with the SSHGA we hope to enhance even further in future.

Questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Registration will be online starting in April for amateurs.

Sincerely,
Jay O'Neill
SSHGA Athletics Director