Athletic Competition

The professionals take the field with competition in events including the Stone of Strength, the Hammer Throw, the Weight Toss and Throw, the Sheaf Toss, and the ever-popular Caber Toss. Joining the professional Athletes in competition will be a Legends Division.  Legends are those professional athletes that have reached the age of 41 and have competed as a professional at Stone Mountain Highland Games in prior years.  The professional and legend competitions are open only to those professional athletes invited to compete.

Rules for Athlete Qualification

From the Athletic Director:

Running any games can be challenging.  One of the most difficult parts of putting a good games together is the selection of the athletes.  With literally hundreds of very good to exceptional athletes representing a bewildering array of classes, picking out just six without favoritism or bias ranges from difficult to impossible.  To promote equity, some organizations and games have gone to a scoring system to allow the athletes’ skills to qualify them. 

Athlete’s Responsibilities

For an athlete to be considered for selection, the following things must be provided:

• Officially verified results from one and only one competition.  Use the Downloadable Forms link above to obtain a copy of the Results Submittal Form.
• Field Certification Forms must accompany the Results Submittal Form, and must be signed by one of the officials presiding over the competition.
• Both forms must be received by the Athletic Director of the Stone Mountain Highland Games at set date.  Scores received after specified date may not be considered. See the official site for further details and downloadable forms.

General Rules

1. Valid results for each athlete wishing to compete in the North American Scottish Invitational Championship (NASIC) must be received by the due date, which shall be approximately five weeks prior to the date of competition.
2. Results must represent a single games, and may not be combined from different games, even if held on the same day.
3. The athletes submitting the results yielding the top scores for each division selected by these criteria shall be invited to compete.
4. Discrepancies shall invalidate scores until they are resolved.
5. Distances shall be measured to the nearest ½ inch (or 0.05 of a foot, if decimal feet are used).
6. Rules used by games officials should be based on the “Blue Book” rules, compiled and edited by Master Judge.
7. For distance events, measurements will be made from the back face of the trig nearest the leading foot (left foot for right-handers) to the closest mark on the ground made by the implement, including handle marks.
8. Measurements shall be made adjacent to the mark made by the implement, but not in the depression produced by the implement and no closer to the trig than the mark itself.
9. Field measuring equipment shall include simple surveying equipment to determine drop for distance events.  Minimum acceptable equipment would consist of a simple laser level with bullseye tripod leveling, and a yardstick used to mark the point of impact.  Photos of equipment to be used at the NASIC Games (Stone Mountain) are available here.
10. Alternatively, a games may submit a single measurement for drop, representing the greatest drop on the field, provided it does not exceed two feet, or a signed statement indicating the field’s use as a graded and leveled field (i.e. baseball diamond, football field, track field, etc).  Graded fields are conditionally exempt from drop calculations. 
11. Fields whose drop is questionable must be measured.
12. Drop will be measured to the nearest ½ inch or 0.05 of a foot and recorded for each throw.

The seven events to be scored and submitted are:

• Stone of strength
• Heavy weight for distance
• Light weight for distance
• Heavy hammer
• Caber
• Sheaf toss
• Weight for height (traditional throws only – no spinning)

No substitutions are permitted for events (i.e.: light hammer for heavy hammer or sheaf). Only the seven events listed above will be scored.

Scoring Rules

The following formulae will be used to calculate scores for each event.  For the purposes of calculation, a Stone = 14 lbs., and distances/heights submitted will be converted to decimal feet.  These rules are weighted to give each event an approximate value of 50-60 points for current throws.