Niagara Celtic Festival Gets Ready to Host Annual Highland Games

Aug. 29, 2012 - PRLog -- The Niagara Celtic Festival is getting ready to host their 12th annual Highland Games, one of the most exciting and unique professional and amateur sporting events in the region. The games, held at Krull Park in Olcott N.Y during the festival weekend of September 15-16, feature one of the most diverse fields of athletes of any Highland Games, and feature both professional and amateur divisions for both men and women competitors.
There are six competitions, including a stone throw, sheaf toss, caber pole toss, 28 lb. weight for distance, 56 lb. weight for height, and 56 lb. weight for distance.
Over 60 athletes from across the U.S. and Canada will be competing in six different divisions over two days, to decide the winner of “Athlete of the Day” in each division. On that day, they will also be awarding "Athlete of the Year" for each division, which is decided over the course of the year by earning points for where the athletes have placed in seven games starting back in October.
The two events that are unique to the games are the sheaf toss and caber pole toss.
The sheaf toss competition uses a burlap bag weighted down with straw and a pitchfork, which is used to propel the "sheaf," over a bar.
Caber pole tossing is the most traditional of all the Scottish athletic events. A caber is a long wooden pole; the toss is designed to measure accuracy as opposed to distance.
In the amateur events, the caber is 17 feet long and weighs 90 pounds. In professional events, the caber is 23 feet long and weighs 135 lbs.
The object of the contest is to toss the pole end-over-end so that it lands with the small end pointing directly away from the contestant. The athlete with the straightest toss wins. Three tosses are allowed and all are scored to judge the winner.
All contestants must wear a kilt when competing.
The Niagara Highland Athletics Club is the co-sponsor of the games, that organization is sanctioned by the North American Scottish Heavy Events Society (NASHES).
For More Information:
Thom Jennings
Caronia Media
thom@caroniamediagroup.com

The Games create many Media Opportunities for both sports and entertainment writers.

Caronia Media Group will assist sports writers that want to cover The Highland Games. We can provide a print ready feature preview piece tailored for your publication, or set up an interview with the organizer of The Highland Games, and/or a competitor so you can write your own.

We also can provide a link where you can download photos of last year's games, along with a full press kit.