As many of you know, this past weekend was the inaugural NYC striking contest, and I must say, it was quite an experience.
Five teams competed this year, including a team containing a contingent of ringers from Kent, three of whom, if I'm not mistaken, hadn't hunted on more than 4 bells prior to the contest!
The competition itself was surrounded by lots of exciting ringing and fun challenges, with plenty of Erin Cinques, but also some other methods on 12 mixed in, and even a bit of 8-spliced major.
The post-contest dinner at Trinity Place was quite remarkable, but even more memorable than the incredible food was when, after being asked "For how many here is it your first striking contest?", nearly every hand went up, including at least one of the organizers'.
It was great to get to meet ringers from the other teams, and the excitement surrounding the event was thrilling, from the anxious moments before our team's turn to ring to the lead up to the announcing of the results.
Congratulations to the Washington band (including Abby) who took home the Shield this year! Second and third places were awarded to the two New York bands. Our team came in fourth, followed by the scratch band containing the Kent contingent.
Thank you to everyone who helped our team prepare, be it helping us practice the touch, or waiting patiently while we did so, or even encouraging us to participate in the first place.
And to the band (Laura, Abby, Phoebe, Kirby, Ricky, Michael, and myself):
Thank you for taking the time to make the trip down to NYC and participating with me. I found the preparation, anticipation, and ringing through the nervousness to be rewarding and worthwhile experiences. I hope you feel similarly, and that any residual disappointment as to our outcome is vastly overshadowed by the thrills of being a part of this remarkable occasion of North American ringing.
For anyone interested, a recording of the contest is here. I've linked to our pre-test practice, but you can scrub to the other teams (in the order NYC_b, Boston, NYC_a, Washington, Kent+). The recording is very useful for being able to listen with a critical ear to hear and diagnose what we could have done better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD-cRG1y664&t=1h13mI don't quite recall all of judge Dave Bassford's comments, but here's some of what I do remember:
We started and ended strong, with some shaky bits in the middle, which can probably be attributed in part to nerves.