Rocket City Scottish Festival & Highland Games 2024
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ต.ค. 2024
- A few photos and clips taken in the morning of the Rocket City Highland Games and Scottish Festival on October 5, 2024 at Sharon Johnston Park. Check out the blog for my full review.
stoutmagicalva...
Thank you for the video. I was one of the throwers that day and it's nice to get to see myself and my friends from the spectators' viewpoint.
I read your review of the event on your blog and had some similar opinions regarding room for spectating the athletics. Having participated in the games for several years, it seems too common for vendors, clans, or patrons to get the best sideline views, but they don't seem as actively interested in the show as the paying visitors. As athletes, we appreciate the crowd and want them to cheer us on or laugh with us at fouls.
Schedule of events is often a roll of the dice as the height events take far longer than any of the others, so the groups doing distance events will move around as necessary. Cabers are almost always started after lunch. Sorry you missed that event. The sticks were impressive and the athletes put on a real show.
I feel the field was utilized well for its size. There weren't too many groups of throwers, but there were several throwers within the small number of groups. That's probably what made the field seem empty. Allowing space for the distance throws will give the impression of an empty athletics space as well. All of the athletes I spoke with had nothing negative to say about the layout, timing, or judging. The reschedule for May 2025 will also allow the Backyard Rebellion organization to direct the athletics, so there will definitely be more athletes, more athletic divisions, and a field that will look "fuller".
I do agree that there was some information ambiguity from the organizers. I still feel they did the best they could with what they had to work with. It's a new festival with new people running the show. I'm sure they've been getting feedback for the last couple of days and will plan accordingly for next year. From a participant's perspective, they managed better than some well-established festivals.
Aside from the unrelenting Alabama heat and humidity, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I'll definitely support the next festival.
Thanks so much for this awesome insider information! I was curious how well things were organized from your perspective. That's much more critical to running the festival, so it probably has highest priority vs updating a website.
I really love the different dynamic of individual athletes competing vs. something like football. Everyone cheers each other on when it's their turn and wants them to do their best! From within the crowd, my impression is that we wanted to be enthusiastic but it was not clear what was happening. There weren't any announcements, so is this just warm-up and it would be considered obnoxious to clap and cheer? Nothing explained the rules of each game or how it's judged. But I've never been to a highland games, so maybe that's typical.
Interesting that the next one will be in May so they don't have a full year of prep. I'll plan to be there, too!
@@StoutMagicalVacations The interaction between athletes competing in the highland games is unlike any other sport, in my opinion. It was amazing to come into this sport and have guys you're supposed to be competing against offer advice, coach, and cheer you on. We don't view new athletes as strangers, just friends/family we haven't met yet.
Many of the bigger festivals will have an announcer that explains the event and offer color commentary on the athletes and/or their performance. Rocket City would do well to add someone for that role. The athletes are also very receptive to answering questions and explaining events. Many of us are stopped by spectators between events for quick Q&A.
When it comes to cheering on the athletes and there is no one announcing, just watch the field. The athletes are the biggest cheerleaders for each other! Follow their lead and you won't go wrong.
I'm sure that the Rocket City festival will grow and gain insight into what they can do differently going forward. I'd love to see this one take root and be a staple in the region for everyone interested in the Scottish culture, whether it's music, food, history or athletics. I'm looking forward to next May to see what improvements they've put into place.