Paints-n-cows
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Jul 2010
Location: west central Illinois
Posts: 154 |
Illinois State Coonhunter Assoc....new ideas
My name is Frank Williams and if you hadn't heard, I am the newly elected president of the Illinois State Coonhunters Association. For those of you that don't know me, I hunt and show Blueticks out of west central Illinois about halfway between Peoria and Springfield. I have owned and hunted hounds since I was in high school, served in the Marine Corps for six years, worked in Washington, D.C. for three years as a legislative assistant, and now have a farm that has been in my family since 1841.
I truly appreciate the things the State Association has done in the past. The hunts and shows for the points races have brought out the competitive but cooperative spirit that defines our enjoyment of our hounds. The youth scholarship event has rewarded those students with funding and education that they may have never known without the ISCHA.
The ISCHA has been instrumental in getting bad legislation stripped from the agenda in the State Assembly and brought to light ideas and issues that affect our type of hunting. But as we all know, there are continuous attacks by those that don't understand the sport and would just have us hang up our lights & hip boots and take up collecting pet rocks.
Only through a single voice that speaks with the authority of a multitude of members can we be effective legislatively. When you are member of the State Association, you are part of a way-of-life. We will represent our sport to those people that have never enjoyed the sound of a hound's voice as they hit a hot track or the beauty of a well-built hound.
There are some new items on the agenda this year that will open up some opportunities to the hound owners and hunters that wish to participate.
First, there will be a new type of point system to implement as of January 1st, 2014. Now instead of having to travel to the ISCHA regional hunts that may be hours from your home, you will be able to hunt your local clubs and earn points toward the ISCHA high point awards at the end of the year.
You will be still be required to be a member of an ISCHA affiliated club or a person that purchases an individual membership. You will also have to participate in one of the ISCHA major point events to be eligible for the high point chase. However if you aren't able to attend other ISCHA point events because of other obligations, you will still be able to be a competitive part of the points race.
Each affiliated club will be given the opportunity to sponsor events that will count toward the overall score. These will be optional and will only be a nominal fee above the ISCHA club affiliation fee. The cost for the event will be a flat-rate and not based on the number of participants.
If you are interested in having your club participate, please don't hesistate to email me, call me or PM me. I will explain the particulars of what should turn out to be a competitive event for nite hunt and bench show participants in their respective disciplines.
Secondly, since we all know that the youth are the future of our sport, there will also be a youth sportsmanship points "race". The youth event will take place at the regular ISCHA major events and all ages of participants that are eligible to compete under UKC rules will be eligible to participate. This should be a way to not only involve our youth hunters/show people but keep the appreciation for our sport alive in those that will tell the tales of the "old man" they used to know.
Thirdly, the website (still under development) will be redesigned with more up-to-date information on the points race, affiliated clubs point race hunt information, affiliated club location, pictures of winners at events and any other information that may be pertinent to our sport such as legislative, IDNR, etc.
There will be other events around the state that will develop over time.
Also, if your club would be interested in hosting an ISCHA major event, please let me know by October 18. We are going to attempt to avoid conflicts with the major breed events and yet spread them out over the state so that no zone feels left out.
The changes that we are in the process of implementing should bring a new excitement and energy to the ISCHA. Not only will it make it you competitive but when you participate in an event, I want you to feel like you are hunting out of your own club.
__________________
Frank Williams
Once a Marine, Always a Marine
Last edited by Paints-n-cows on 10-07-2013 at 02:10 AM
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10-06-2013 10:45 PM
