The first gathering of the season for Bitterroot Celtic Games was held last Saturday at Lewis and Clark Park in Stevensville. According to Highland Games organizer Garrett Middleton, this is the first competition of the season in this area. Contestants from the valley, North Idaho, and Helena competed in the traditional events of the Scottish American Athletic Association or SAAA.
The SAAA provides rules, standards, regulations and implements (pitchforks, hammers, throwing stones, and the stays for the bars in certain events.) Both men and women can compete in these games. There are novice, lightweight and and pro classes. The event in Stevensville featured seasoned athletes as well as novices.
Chris Jessop is one of the competitors. He began competing in the Celtic games after finishing a stellar track career at Corvallis. He competes throughout the Northwest when he can. He’s also the throwing coach for Hamilton High School’s track program so he’s pretty busy right now. He said he’s trying to get some of his high school throwers interested as a way to continue throwing and having fun competing.
“This event is great because we compete with each other but at the same time want everyone to do their best. There’s a lot of camaraderie here.”
The stone putt is very similar to the modern shot put event seen in track meets except the athletes throw a round, smooth stone instead of a steel shot. The stones weigh between 16 and 22 pounds for men and 8 to 12 pounds for women. The throwing technique is very similar to throwing a shot-put with the stone nestled in the neck of the thrower.
Weight for distance is also involves a weight but this one is metal and has a handle. The weights vary, depending upon the class. There is a light weight which is 28 pounds for men and 14 pounds for women. The heavier weight is 56 pounds for men, 42 for masters men, and 28 for women.
Weight over bar is just that, throwing a 56 pound weight over a horizontal bar using only one hand. The height of the bar increases with each successful throw. An athlete has three attempts to make the height.
Athletes in the Scottish Hammer Throw look like something out of a Marvel comic book if you look at their feet. Their shoes have long flat blades, about eight to 10 inches long, that they thrust into the ground to hold their feet in place while throwing. The object is to throw the hammer, a round metal ball weighing between 16 or 22 pounds for men, and 12 or 16 pounds for women as far as you can without moving your feet. The ball has a long shaft attached and the athlete swings it around his or her head and heaves it backwards for the distance. There’s a bit of grunting and hollering done during this event.
The sheaf toss is one of the games which people think of when they think of Celtic Games. This involves a sheaf which traditionally was a bundle of straw wrapped in burlap and weighs about 20 pounds for men and 10 pounds for women. Today, the burlap is stuffed with a variety of items. The ones used at the Stevensville event were filled with baling twine.Traditionally a three pronged pitchfork is used to throw the sheaf up and over a bar but now many contestants use a two-pronged fork with a shorter handle. (Some have even been known to name their forks.)
The finale of most games is the caber toss. The caber is a long log that is tossed end over end by the athletes. The object is to have the caber land at the 12 o’clock position or straight away from the thrower.
Saturday’s events featured a bag piper, Scottish wares, and information about the upcoming events including the Bitterroot Celtic Games & Gathering at Daly Mansion on August 17 and 18.