Temp players in Ontario well within rules
can be attractive. Many North American bands take on temporary players, and the Peel Regional Police are only the latest to do so.
The addition of the Closkelt pipers comes at a time of heightened awareness due to a rule being passed by the RSPBA earlier in the year. The RSPBA’s new rule requires RSPBA members to secure an official release from their existing band a minimum of seven weeks before they compete with a lower-grade band. The rule appeared to be in response to situations in which at least one lower-grade RSPBA band benefitted from several players competing with them at the 2016 World Pipe Band Championships.
+ RSPBA cracks down on ringers
While the RSPBA has guest player rules that govern only the association’s own competitions, few, if any other world associations address the matter directly in policies or rules.
But Pipe Bands Australia in May 2017 announced that “Australian bands registering players from an overseas jurisdiction will now be required to provide proof of clearance before the player is registered with that band and eligible to compete,” and that a minimum of 14 days must pass between each band’s contest appearances.
Many Australian and New Zealand bands have welcomed guest players from the northern hemisphere, since they are in their competition off-season. In New Zealand, the practice is common and almost a part of that country’s pipe band culture.
“International guest players are a long-established part of the pipe band scene in New Zealand in all grades,” said Stewart McKenzie, pipe-major of the Grade 1 Manawatu Scottish based in Palmerston North, New Zealand.
McKenzie cited positive aspects to the practice, including “improved playing standard and exposure to different ideas and approaches.”
“There are unaddressed issues,” McKenzie added. “Through a convenient quirk in the international calendar, the New Zealand Championships in March are inundated with international guest players, something I don’t have too much of an issue with it at Grade 1 level, however it can really screw the scrum in the lower grades. It’s unfair if what has been a competitive grade during the season suddenly becomes a lopsided affair at the pinnacle event. I feel there’s no easy answer to resolve this and any strict, rule-based approach to regulating guest players is bound to have unintended consequences and lead to ill-feeling.”
The pressure to field larger numbers of players in competition has been connected with an apparent rise in more assertive recruiting of pipers and drummers in the lower grades.
+ p|d Survey: Almost two-thirds of Grade 1 P-Ms favour size limits
“Similar to the poaching issue, I feel the simplest and most effective way to partially address this issue is through a cap on numbers appropriate for each grade,” Stewart McKenzie continued. “I can’t see any downside to it. There is no end of rules that govern pipe band contest structure, format, introductory requirements, timing and even minimum numbers, so why not maximum numbers as well? It would be a timely change to the rule book in response to a major issue that the majority of Grade 1 bands agree on based on the pipes|drums survey results a year or two back. Presumably this sentiment is shared by lower-grade bands.”
The Peel Police placed third out of three bands at both the Kincardine and Cambridge competitions.
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