Registered: Oct 2006
Location: Kinsman,Ohio
Posts: 583

This past weekend my daughter competed in the youth nationals. Before the hunt, UKC announced that starting in 2015 kids will not have to qualify for this hunt. I personally do not agree with this. I feel that qualifying gives these kids a sense of pride. It wasn't just given to them, they earned it. As they get older their gonna have to learn how to earn things, and to be proud of what they accomplish, so why not teach them that now. You don't just show up at the world hunt, you have to qualify, then go to the zones, then the finals. I understand that UKC wants more kids to be able to show up and hunt at the Youth Nationals but I also think this may cause the numbers to drop at the local youth hunts and YEP events. So what do you think?

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Registered: Sep 2010
Location: New Paris, Indiana
Posts: 7076

I saw on Facebook that they had 156 in the Saturday night hunt. How many more do they want? I completely agree with Bengie.

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Registered: Oct 2006
Location: Kinsman,Ohio
Posts: 583

They had 91 on Friday and 116 on Saturday between the Nationals and the open.

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Registered: Dec 2011
Location: Uniontown,Ohio
Posts: 141

Yes I agree100% u have to qualify for many large events,in most all sports!thats the fun in competition.....hope they don't do away with them...

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Registered: Jul 2009
Location: carrollton,Ohio
Posts: 716

I agree also with you Bengie. Should have to qualify. I took my kids all over the place to qualify it was always fun. Just to have a kid show up and win one hunt and they the nationals champion don't seem right to me either.

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Registered: Oct 2013
Location:
Posts: 96

I agree that a child should have to qualify. My Daughter has tried over the past 2 years and she learning every time that she gets beat.

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Registered: Jul 2003
Location: Palmyra, Missouri
Posts: 9993

Hey hey what about everyone and their dogs are equal and prizes are frowned up on. I think they should qualify, teaches them that life is hard but not impossible with Hard, Honest Work to accomplish your goals. I've heard of that silver platter but never had seen one.

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Registered: Feb 2010
Location: southeast alabama
Posts: 180

I know they mean well, but I drove two kids 15hrs up there because they were qualified. When they heard the announcement that next year you don't have to qualify they said they really didn't care much about going back to it again unless it just happend to be close by.
Having said that it was a great event and they did a nice job putting it on.

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Registered: Jul 2011
Location:
Posts: 7

I know personally a boy that went to the 2013 Youth Nationals because he was qualified and was able to talk his dad into taking him because he was. This year he did not get qualified and his dad would not take him.

I am sure there are many others out there that's parents are more willing to take them because they view it as a bigger reward to go to Nationals because they got out there and got qualified!

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Registered: Feb 2010
Location: southeast alabama
Posts: 180

That was the only reason we went. $1000 dollars was alot of money for me to spend to go to a hunt but since it was earned there was no way I could tell the kids no.
It will be easier to tell them no this year.
Would still go though if it was within 6-7hrs away.

Isn't there a Kids World Hunt? How does it work do you qualify or just go?

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location:
Posts: 249

In 2008 my son qualified went to a few youth hunts mostly cause he like to hunt and I wanted to show him what comp was like. we went all over, qualified two or three times, but when it came time for nationals I was on the fence about going because of the distance, money, and time it would take. Two days before the hunt I asked him if he wanted to go he said might as well. I said get in the truck. He won it. I drove home that sunday morning on 2 hours sleep 12 hour drive. Ain't missed it till this year because he turned 18. This young man had a good ride and learned lots. It became something he wanted and had to to do. He won the whole thing twice. Thats two scolarships, friends all over the country, lots of prizes along the way, and a young man that is light years ahead of most adult handlers. Along the way he also won National Redbone Days overall and Grandnite Redbone of Autumn Oaks, and several other hunts both youth and regular events. He earned everthing he worked for. Now I am getting old and if I had to do it again and we could just go I would knowing what a good time we had, but if if it was a new start and I would gauge every year by distance, dog power and money.

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Registered: Mar 2012
Location: Indiana
Posts: 60

I think its nice that they want all kids to be able to participate in the Nationals, BUT I also think this could potentially strain a hosting organization and cause some unforseen and unplanned problems. Our state organization holds a Youth Championship every year and its always big and successful, BUT due to having to have non-hunting judges, guidles and an adult with every child, it can be hard to find enough adults to run the event. I fear that eliminating qualification could stretch people pretty thin when it comes to putting that many kids in the woods. Not to mention, lets face the facts, hunting spots are getting less and less due to people moving in and not allowing hunting any longer, houses going up in places that used to be prime hunting and farmers clearing more and more wooded areas for harvestable farm land. This could pose HUGE challenges. Also I feel that this may inadvertently hurt organizations that were hosting youth qualifiers. If people don't HAVE to go to these events, with the price of gas constantly rising, they probably won't. To get people to come to these events, organizations are going to have to offer more and bigger incentives, which is going to cost more money, that may or may not pay off in the end. I see it helping kids that want to participate in the Nationals, but I see it causing some strain too. Hopefully pros and cons are/were heavily weighed and taken into serious consideration before this decision is/was made. Either way, I wish the kiddos all the best! Our Youth Championship is my favorite of the year! They are so much fun and most of them are just so happy to be there and participate and are so respectful! I'd just about take any one of our youth handlers home with me! LOL! Here in IN we gave away a tracking system to our 1st place nite hunter and a dog box to our 2nd place and you would have thought we gave that little hunter Christmas! It was AWESOME!!!

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Registered: Dec 2006
Location: Springfield, Ga.
Posts: 4252

sign them up and hunt'm. I don't really see the need to qualify youth. It is there for them to enjoy, and having a chance at the big title should be fun for them all.

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Registered: Dec 2013
Location: Nichols Ny
Posts: 1566

Well let me explain how t-ball and soccer has been for our house. There is no winner or loser!!!!!! THIS MAKES NO SENCE TO ME. IMO tis is totally wrong to do for kids. When I was in t-ball we won and lost games. They don't have real games. We had a championship game for t-ball, football, basketball, soccer and hockey. They don't really line up at te end of the game and tell the other team good game. If the kids don't learn how to lose/sportsmanship, how are they going to act later in life. I guess I don't understand the logic of all the sports at a kids age now. They aren't going to know sportsmansip.
So I agree with Bengi on this. Kids should earn going to te nationals.

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Registered: Apr 2007
Location:
Posts: 623

I agree, expect to see 200 kids or more. Only a few clubs can put it on and do a good job of it. I do agree with the no qualification. There is no sense in it. Let them all compete on the same night, same time. At some point in time it may get big enough to split it into 2 nights and do what some of the state and breed organizations are doing to determine a winner. Thanks to UKC for their efforts and promotions.

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Registered: Jun 2005
Location: Prince Edward Island,Canada
Posts: 4589

I personally think it would be nice to qualify.. There is still a open hunt for whoever is not qualified to hunt in Saturday nite.
I went in 2008, I live a long ways from any youth hunts so I made the 20+ drive with all intentions of hunting in the open hunt. Won my cast Friday nite and qualified in the last chance qualifier. Adds to the satisfaction of not only winning my cast but I also qualified for it in the last chance qualifier.

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Registered: Oct 2006
Location: Kinsman,Ohio
Posts: 583

I'm glad to see that so many people agree that kids should have to qualify. Keep up the voting and posts.

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Registered: Mar 2014
Location: Nutbush, VA
Posts: 4

Yes, we believe kids should have to qualify. My 15 yo son qualified at the Virginia state youth hunt but we weren't able to go this year. It gives a kid a lot of pride in himself and his dog to qualify and if you take that away, what's the point. Easy entry leads to entitlement...in the real world, not everyone wins. My son says he is not too excited about trying to get to nationals next year if you don't have to qualify to go.

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Registered: Jul 2009
Location: carrollton,Ohio
Posts: 716

Yea. Watch some of these daddy's drag there kids or grand kids to the nationals with some of the meanest, junkiest dogs there is to get a easy win on them or finish them out. Heck go grab the neibors kids. Maybe we should quit having to qualify to go to world hunt. Just hunt 500 dogs at each zone. Take all the pride and hard work out of the nationals , like most kids these days, make it as easy as possible for them. Just gonna be a free for all. Get the right guide and get in right cast and any half way dog can win it. Especially in a youth hunt. Glad my kids are grown up and out of them. Guess its all about the kid and very little about the dog there hunting. It all comes down to is the guide you get that has it all set up for his dog to win with the neibor kids. The rules for youth hunts are getting worse and worse. Now they only hunt 90 min. Instead of 2 hours. Now parents can shine trees. Never used to be allowed. And now don't have to qualify. What's next raise the age to 21 for participates? Now you got parents finding Jr's coon bit not anybody else's.

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Registered: Jul 2003
Location: East central Illinois.
Posts: 1702

They should have left it alone. My daughter has Qualified 3 times and hunted in it twice. This year she got qualified, but we could not make it to the Nationals due to her having other commitments.
Everything about the Youth Nationals up until now has been excellent.
The way it has been in the past, you could still go and compete with others that did not qualify. They had 2 groups, qualified and not qualified.
Most importantly, she worked hard at getting qualified and felt a sense of accomplishment.
Here is another example: This weekend she is competing in a National Softball Tournament. Only there because it is 20 miles away, didn't have to qualify, her team needs the practice. This thing just had the name Nationals hung on it. There are several National Softball Tournaments going on this weekend. This one in particular did not require a team to qualify. It has a very low turnout with 7 teams in her age group. If her team would happen to win it, it would not mean much to anyone, especially the players.
Kids want a challenge and to feel they have accomplished something special. Getting "Qualified" is half of what is great about the Youth Nationals.
UKC please fix this.

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Registered: Oct 2006
Location: Kinsman,Ohio
Posts: 583

The more I think about it, the more I think this is about UKC and not the kids. There is no doubt it takes a lot of work to have the last chance qualifier on Friday, then have the Youth Nationals on Saturday along with an open event for the kids that didn't qualify. I commend UKC and the clubs that handle this event for doing a great job. I just don't want the kids to loose another learning experience. This is about the kids. Learning to earn, learning to win and loose, sportsmanship, learning to have a sense of accomplishment and pride for what they have done. Yes we want all the kids to have fun and this to be an enjoyable experience, but it is also about them furthering their education and there are $2500 scholarships up for grabs. Imagine when they get older and they sit there and think back on this how they went to these hunts, qualified, and then went to the nationals and earned their own scholarship to help pay their own way. I only wish when I was a kid that I had the chance to do that.

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Registered: Feb 2014
Location: Morenci, Mi
Posts: 76

If they dont qualify how will that effect the sponsors? How will they know howmany kids are showing up? I think its a bad move. U will see a great thing become a mediocre hunt quik.

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Registered: Sep 2010
Location: New Paris, Indiana
Posts: 7076

Wow! This is one of the most lopsided polls ever. I wonder if UKC will take note?

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Registered: Oct 2006
Location: Kinsman,Ohio
Posts: 583

Jim, A wise man told me once to be careful when you pick your battles. Looks like I picked a good one this time. Lol.

Todd, Allen, Corey, you guys seeing this?

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Registered: Aug 2011
Location: Garrettsville, OH
Posts: 323

Let's keep in mind that the future of our sport is the youth. As much as I strongly believe that it's important to keep things fun for them, I believe they should have to work for it as well. There are plenty of ADULTS in the sport with poor sportsmanship. Plenty of ADULTS that throw fits over anything that challenges them. Anything that doesn't make winning easy. We don't need anymore like that. Qualifying is something that gives a sense of pride. It's an obstical in the path to further success and the kids need to learn how to get past those. Nationals is already a fun event. Most youth events are and should be. The youth program is also about educating as well. Why take away another learning experience? I don't think it's right to just hand them that privilege when the youth events are already focused enough on handing things out and keeping the youth interested. In the real coonhound world you can't just say "I think I'll go hunt in the world hunt or show in the show tomorrow" You have to qualify. Work. Put effort into it. Anyone in the sport that has own big did not win with out working their butt off. Making these kids learn to work hard for what they want is crucial. If we just hand out every opportunity possible then they're going to become discouraged in the sport when they leave the youth program, because instead of being eased into the real flow of things they'll be thrown into it. We may not lose kids in the youth program, but once they leave it there will for sure be a higher risk of them quitting the sport due to the fact that they're not used to having to work for what they want. Also, the attendance at the state and minor youth events are already starting to decrease. All this is going to do is hurt the clubs and the event attendance even more.

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