Novice Championships 2012

It's a tough one this. Even if it was a First Timers National Championship there would will be endless controversy as some athletes who may never have competed in a strongman competition before should still not be eligible to compete in a First Timers comp based on their ability i.e. a high standard of lifting in event training prior to the comp. Two good Welsh examples of this would be this year when Emil, (Project Goliath), had entered a First Timers comp that I had organised - rightly so in the sense that it was his first time competing but he was more than capable of competing in an Open comp the very first time he trained events with me. Also, twice Wales' Strongest Man Jamie Redwood's first ever comp was Wales' Strongest Man 2007 and he won it!!!!

In summary, the boundaries around Novice and First Timers comps to a certain extent are far too ambiguous to hold a championship. In my opinion.

If you do 5 novice comps and come last every time your not an open are you.your still a novice.I think unless you win or place 2-3 3 times then your still a novice

if you do five novice comps and come last you are not a novice ! You just are a not very good strongman but you arent a novice because you are experienced !

I would not have let him do it. He came upto OSG talking of novice comps...then pressed a 140 log

Whether you've never competed or not, if you are very strong, there is no need to do a first timers/novice comp...no need at all

NOVICE definition = "someone NEW to a field or activity"

Well I have done two novice comps and one open (the junction gym one)

Hardly alot?

But if the concencus is that I now have to do inter comps then so be it, wouldn't want to be a glory hunter...

So in conclusion and back on topic, looks like a hard comp to organise!

Thats why I belive they shouldnt be called novice comps....lightweight open would be much better

Then if your weak as piss (and an open), you do a lightweight open, if not, you do intermediates or (heavyweight) open

First Timers / intermediate / open

Best way IMO is straight forward rules like - no more than 3 comps under your belt or never placed in top 3 in a comp keep it clear and simple and it could work out really well.

Could be a semi-novice affair if you wanted, like never qualified for England's, britains or uk's strongest man, that would make it easy to track what athletes have done but then obviously standard could end up being alot higher.

Sign me up then. I done first timers came 3rd 105 novice came 2nd north east strongest man came 3rd and junction comp an came 7th.

So by your standards am still novice?

Theres a very good reason for people who are very strong and just lack a little comp experience, its called winning a trophy and bragging to everyone afterwards hahahaha glory hunting bas***ds!!!!

In all seriousness I would never do another novice comp tbh as its too hard to run, and catch out the people that are ''novice'' I think first timers, ameteur and inters comps are the way forward, then qualifiers, and obviously like the comp we just had an opens that anyone can do, me and Lee were talking yesterday about the American comp levels which I knew nothing about and after Lee told me it sounded a very good system.

so what if you do a few novice comps, aren't very good, only got a 110 log and a 250 dead, so if you did an open, you would no lift everything.

are we saying that you just aren't permitted to do any comps any more?

this seems like a good plan

I do agree with you on this point. There are some competitors who can't break the top 10 in Novice comps for years so that's where they belong and as long as they're still enjoying it and trying to improve - good on them, it's how the sport will develop.

My first Novice comp was Severn Valley 2009 and there was a 280 Yoke, 120 farmers and a 110 log amongst other events. These weights were very hard for me at the time but surely that's half the point of strongman competitions - start as you mean to go on - and competitors shouldn't be going backwards and lifting in lighter comps unless serious injury or temporary retirement is apparent. Again, just my opinion.

^^^ What JC said. The term novice is over/mis used. I suppose as any comp, the organizer has the final say on criteria. Choose either experience or ability to base it on. The problem with it being experience based is if you didn't do well in your novice comps, what are you supposed to do next? You obviously aren't at a standard that makes it worth doing an open comp as the weights will be heavier still. In my opinion it should be ability based. Some people don't want to compete or train at an open standard but still want to have a blast at comps within their capabilities for the fun of it or use it as a stepping stone. It's as much on the competitor to declare that the comp would be tough for them. If they turn up on the day and piss everything, fine but they step up next time to an open comp. We all gotta start somewhere.