Boost for small towns: full shearing calendar planned
WELLINGTON: Hopes are high for the return of competitive shearing events after two years of Covid19 restrictions meant all but 14 events were abandoned last season.
Organisers are confident they can go ahead with all 59 shearing sports competitions this season, which runs from late September to April.
The calendar of events is still to be confirmed, but the season will open with the New Zealand Merino Shears shearing and woolhandling championships in Alexandra on September 30 .
New Zealand shearing legend Sir David Fagan, who is also the chairman of Shearing Sports NZ, said spots were also available to represent the country at the Royal Highland Show in Scotland next year.
‘‘The places in the team up for grabs are two machine shearers, blades shearers and two woolhandlers in the Wools of New Zealand team,’’ he said.
‘‘And, of course, the manager and the judges who will go over and get the team over to Scotland in June next year.
‘‘So, it’s pretty exciting for all of the competitors. They spend all year planning and trying to make that team, so it’ll be good to have the competitions back on track.’’
Sir David said being forced to axe many of last season’s events because of Covid19 took a toll on some rural communities.
In some instances, the shearing competitions were postponed or cancelled for the first time in their 50year history.
‘‘It’s huge, firstly for the competitors.
‘‘You’ve got all the small rural events, which is where people get the good grounding and experience,’’ Sir David said.
‘‘Then the bigger events that were cancelled, like the Golden Shears and the New Zealand Shears, where pretty much every competitor, it doesn’t matter whether they’re in the lower junior grades or up in the open grades, that’s their dream, to get on that stage at those big events and that’s been taken away from them.
‘‘We’ve seen it in lots of sports, but to have all of that back this season . . . these big events bring a lot of money into the small towns and rural areas they’re held in.
‘‘There’s a lot of people that have missed out in the rural sector in New Zealand.’’
Sir David said all organisers were preparing for their events to be disrupted or cancelled again by Covid19 restrictions.
He had some advice for any shearers hoping to make to the Royal Highland Show in Scotland.
‘‘Go to competitions, because there’s only one way to get better at it and that’s going every weekend, competing, getting competitionready.
‘‘Not just physically, but with the equipment you use and mentally.’’ — RNZ