Help to Promote a Comp.

I need information and advice on the best approach i should take to promoting
and holding a comp in Scotland.
Of course the first obvious problem here is the lack of pro and novice a.w.'s.
If the lads with experience in this area, like Neil, Paul, Nick, Terry, Rod or Keith
could bring me up to speed.
I'm of course interested in bringing more people into the sport here at home
but believe an open event with perhaps mixed classes or separate pro and novice
classes would be the most effective way to showcase a.w. here.
I don't think that holding a novice only event would give the much needed
first impression of our sport that's required.
(I say first impression as Davie Scott and Ross Yule have held national
events but to lesser effect than i require)
Any feed back is appreciated guys.

Hi Mark,

I will call you this evening in order to discuss / offer advise mate

Cheers

Neil

God of War wrote:

I need information and advice on the best approach i should take to promoting
and holding a comp in Scotland.
Of course the first obvious problem here is the lack of pro and novice a.w.'s.
If the lads with experience in this area, like Neil, Paul, Nick, Terry, Rob or Keith
could bring me up to speed.
I'm of course interested in bringing more people into the sport here at home
but believe an open event with perhaps mixed classes or separate pro and novice
classes would be the most effective way to showcase a.w. here.
I don't think that holding a novice only event would give the much needed
first impression of our sport that's required.
(I say first impression as Davie Scott and Ross Yule have held national
events but to lesser effect than i requre)
Any feed back is appreciated guys.

Buil it and they will come

Thanks Neil, i appreciate that m8.

Paul Maiden wrote:
Buil it and they will come

HAHA!!!!!! Thanks pal but it's not Waynestock lol.

Mark I would first find a lively bar which will let you put on a show,I'd promote it in every pub,gym,leisure centre,college,uni,rugby club,football club etc. I'd have 3 novice weights light under 12stone middle 12-14stone and heavy 14stone and over,for pro classes I'd do 70 80 90 over and offer the novice the chance to step up for free, make sure you allow plenty of time promote it around your area and in England I think you will get some good support from here if you do pal

Thanks pal, i've got a lot of homework to do and need to go out and start talking to a lot of people.
Hopefully next year will be a realistic time to see some major results.
You never know though, i may get lucky this year, been a lucky year
for me so far.

Hi Mark
Take a leaf out of Pete whites book he ran some of the best starter comps around.
Take Glasgow over a six month period do a lot of small comps with the weight classes as Paul said
In as many pubs as you can in a 10-15 mile radios of the centre of Glasgow giving to top two a entry for a Glasgow championship with a small trophy.
Then with a central location run a comp for all the top two and get the local press down and give them a bigger trophy
At this comp get some of the pros to come and give a demo to promote the sport.
Pete white did this and found allot of good me Paul Maiden, Ste Rodgers, Paul Mitchall, Barry Knowls, Dave shaw and Myself.
If you have the time try it it works
Good Luck

Ha ha ha told ya the IRON ARM model works Mark

Peter, saw the IRON ARM North West effect, listened, learned and got out there and ran with it he did a great job and was filling a gap for a while, shame he stopped doing them.

Its actually four male weight classes and a ladies :

ten and a half stone,
twelve stone
fourteen stone
over fourteen stone plus
ladies open

Top two go through

Cheers

Neil

You did m8, it seems to be the most practical model to follow, not too
complicated and with a little time to organise each event i should be able
to get some positive results.
Again i appreciate all the prompt support you guys have given, without
it, it would have been really hard and time consuming trying to get this lf the ground.

Hi Mark
Yes Pete did the qualifier round very cheep to draw people in if you have never done it before you dont go throwing your money away
But with being cheep people will have a go and if they win it is all fun with a little trophy to take home. Some people surprise them selves
Pete also did a pub or club trophy. The pub or club with the most points in the finals kept it for a year to the next final. witch gets the pubs trying to better each other.
You will have a lot of fun with this
You haven't met Pete yet but you would love him he's a good guy.
To tel you the trough you could be the son of Pete you are so much alike

Sounds like a very positive and practical approach Stan.
Pubs have darts league's, pool league's and domino league's, this is
really something to consider.

Peter only used the under 10stone at the wigan and st helens championships coz of entries which sometimes were very low i remember me and stan following him around weekly and being 2 in a class but when all the foot work had been done the main championships were stacked and £5 entry fees the trophys were MEGA

Stan wrote:
You haven't met Pete yet but you would love him he's a good guy.To tell you the though you could be the son of Pete you are so much alike.

Thanks for the compliment m8.

To give you an idea of popularity Mark,

The forerunner of these events was the IRON ARM North West.

I was looking at the 1992 Finals attendances this morning, the finals were held over two weekends at The Gamebird, in Chorley, Lancashire.

The Bantamweight class 10.5 Stones & below had 41 Competitors (Won by Alan Hartley of Blackburn)
The Lightweight class 12 Stone had 74 Competitors (won by John Howard of Blackburn)
The Middleweights below 14 Stone had 57 Competitors (won by Richard Bury of Darwen)
The Heavyweights over 14 Stone had 18 Competitors (won by Carl Blackledge of Clitheroe)
The Ladies Open had 11 Competitors (won by Elaine Pickup of Blackburn)

This was before Stan & Paul's time but I wish they had seen the IRON ARM North West, it was after the 1993 event that Pete White started asking me about the format and "How the F*ck !" had I got so many guys into the event. I explained the show format and the principle to him (charging the pubs & clubs £50 - £80 per show as a form of entertainment) no Pro Classes ALL Novices. Top two through in every class at every heat.

I was running a heat every friggin night in June & July 1992, 93 & 94 the Biggest event ever was 1994 with 272 athletes (just checked back this morning) winners that year included future Professional British Champions, Shaun "The Muller" Muller, "Bonsai" Paul Charnley (with Austin Clark in 2nd place) "Iron Man" Richard Bury (with Shaun "Worzel" Deacon 2nd & "Sidewinder" Mick Holland was 3rd that year in the -90kg class ha ha ha) QUALITY !!! It was run over two weekends at The Gamebird Chorley as usual. MASSIVE MASSIVE EVENT !!!

When I started work...................I couldn't do the shows every night anymore.............the rest is history.

Interesting Facts :

A BRAND NEW RAW Steve Rogers won Wigan's and thereby qualified for the IRON ARM North West (sound familiar Mark ) in 1995 beating Martin Almond of Darwen in the Final (both Men went on to be Stars of the Sport both British Champions) & Steve of course to become the most Dominant Bantamweight in British Armwrestling History and one of only two Male WAF World Champions ever from Great Britain.

The Lightweights that year was won by a lean Gangly kid from Darwen in Lancashire, pulling out of The Fernhurst Pub Team, trained by myself, he was all hands n arms and had TREMENDOUS natural technique though he was still just a Pup......(his name was Andy Barker he got Pretty good too.

The Middleweights went to an Aggresive Ex British Amateur Boxing Champion with extraordinary Arm strength who we had found at a Pub in Bury called the Three Arrows, his name was Chris Andrews and he had an INCREDIBLE PEAK ON A MASSIVE 17 " RIGHT BICEP.............................any body old enough to remember another TOP CLASS Ex Champion "UNOOOOOOOOOOO BICEPOOOOOOOO" Chris Andrews.


IRON ARM North West 1995 had to be probably THE BEST of the IRON ARM events in terms of witnessing the emergence of new Armwrestling talents who would impress at the tables all around the World for years to come.

In 1996 The Gamebird was unfortunately closed down, after a terrible fire GUTTED the building that issue coupled with the fact that other circumstances continued to change for me personally, in terms of my work commitments and also in the direction that I chose to try to development of the sport I wanted Armwrestling Professional and I wanted it on TV.

Since that time ANYONE who has known me long enough will know that I have always stated that THE HOLY GRAIL.............THE MISSING LINK is getting the trained athletes in their regions to get out and about and generate the new blood via small novice shows (with no Pro's there to upstage them) in pubs and clubs. Pro's scare people off often and should ONLY be used to advise the new interested parties get them into clubs and get them technical first THATS THE WAY FORWARD.

If every region did a small show or public training (open table time / instruction session) in their area once a month the difference it would make to the influx of new talent into the sport would be MASSIVE....TRUST ME.

We would get probably 5 - 10 GOOD new pullers every year minimum, primary target audience 15 - 21 year old boys and girls.

Cheers

Neil

God of War wrote:

Stan wrote:
You haven't met Pete yet but you would love him he's a good guy.To tell you the though you could be the son of Pete you are so much alike.

Thanks for the compliment m8.

Don't be too complimented Mark Pete's physique is slightly less BUFF than your own BUT the lad was STRONG naturally a former high level power lifter and he could pull a solid drag Hook in his day.

The late 1980's and early 1990's was Peter's heyday back at The Oakwood Centre in Leeds and Mr. Craig's Nightclub (Richard Poole was a star back then too ) Rick had a VICIOUS Shoulder Roll and was a Force even beating a young TRULY FRIGHTENING looking Mr. Alan Greaves in The Final of IRON ARM UK 1992 for the £750 first prize in the Heavyweight Division

Rambo was around back then and was a TERROR having just started to edge out "THE PREDATOR" Norman James as the UK's top Middleweight ( I weighted -75kg ) THATS how long ago that was

Cheers

Neil

The late 1980's early 1990's sounded like an amazing time to be
involved in arm wrestling.
So much going on and talented athletes appearing from up and down
the country.
I'm feeling the energy and excitement just reading about it.
This is how it should be with everyone playing there part
once more.
You've set out an example of what one man can achieve not to mention
the endeavors and accolades you've accomplished since then.
If people want to push for this committee, then this should be it's
main focus, to have all the pro athletes in the country promote and
start regional events with the view of giving their support back to the
B.A.F. and arm wrestling by having competitors attend the novices
with the prospect of turning professional.
I feel like a kid in a candy store. hahaha

Neil wrote:
Don't be too complimented Mark Pete's physique is slightly less BUFF than your own BUT the lad was STRONG naturally a former high level power lifter and he could pull a solid drag Hook in his day.

Haha!!!!!!!! In that case i'll take his attributes, friendliness and desire
to develop arm wrestling within the community as the compliment lol.
'You have a wealth of knowledge and experience Neil that must be
tapped into and which should never be taken for granted by anyone'.
Arm wrestling is like everyone's small child and just as with a small child
it needs to encouraged and directed in how it should walk.
It will not succeed on it's own but it will if it's parents act wisely
and work hard on it's behalf.
It must give you a buzz looking back on the early days and seeing lads
like Andy, Alan, Paul, Nick, Stuart, Steve and many more as you've clearly
mentioned develop and come through the ranks.

Neil wrote:
A BRAND NEW RAW Steve Rogers won Wigan's and thereby qualified for the IRON ARM North West (sound familiar Mark )

Now who could you be talking about
I just love the sport pal, love training again after my very long absence
and believe arm wrestling deserves more respect and recognition than
it's getting.
Of course on top of that i want Scotland to benefit from everything that
can be achieved and to have an active part.

i went to the gamebird in 1996 nez ...with stuart & gavin holt.. andy barker won the class that day........

Were you spectating or competing Nick

i was watching mark i hurt my elbow bad right at the begining of my armwrestling career..

stuart pull he got 4th in his second comp..andy barker won that class...

gavin got knock outr early...

Gavin???????
Agreat result for Stuart so early in his career.
Don't tell me this was the same elbow that's given you problems to date m8.

no it a tendon problem.