Scotia Cup April Leg – Why You Should Enter
On Saturday April 4th, Scottish Grappling return with their first event of 2015, the Scotia Cup – an exclusively Gi event which will be run using full IBJJF rules and held at The Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility in Motherwell.
For full information on the competition, and to register for the event be sure to visit scottishgrappling.com and also like the Scottish Grappling Facebook Page by clicking HERE to keep up to date with all future events
The team at Scottish Grappling have been running events in Scotland since 2007 and their events are widely regarded as the best run on Scottish soil. If you are a seasoned competitor, or looking to take that first step into competing, this is the competition for you, and here’s why.
Professionalism – the Scottish Grappling events are the only ones in Scotland to use ONLY IBJJF qualified refs. There is nothing worse than competing under officials who don’t know what they’re doing. There is no danger of that at the Scotia Cup. Indeed, Scottish Grappling were responsible for organising a refereeing seminar to ensure all of their officials were knowledgeable, and qualified, on all the latest rules.
Ross McTavish, a BJJ Coach and a qualified official sums up the good work;
“The referee’s course was a big step forward when it comes to the development of the sport in Scotland. It was great that the team from Scottish Grappling organised it in conjunction with the UKBJJA. There is no doubt everyone on the course, which included competitors, coaches and people who want to referee learned a great deal. It is wonderful for everyone involved in the sport in this country that Scottish Grappling is taking positive steps to improve the BJJ scene.”
Also, all the events I have attended have run on time, and weigh ins have run on time. Things running late is the bane of many a comp, and a competitor, but that is not a concern to anyone entering the Scotia Cup. The Scotia cup event being held in November of this year has also been accepted as a UKBJJA Ranking event, which just demonstrates the quality of the competition as the standards set to attain that status are high.
Giving back to the sport – organising an officiating seminar, and striving to secure their events UKBJJA ranking status are just some examples of what Scottish Grappling have done to help grow the sport. Whilst other comps pop up now and then, to make money, Scottish Grappling have been CONSISTENTLY putting on competitions for 8 years. When I first started, there were two comps a year – both run by Scottish Grappling. Now things are busier, and Scottish Grappling have moved up to 4 comps a year.
When I first started, a purple belt or above match at a comp in Scotland was unheard of. So Scottish Grappling gave purples and above free entry and now their purple divisions are often busy. There was a time when female competitor numbers were very low. So Scottish Grappling made female entries free for a time aswell. Now the female divisions are far busier than ever. These moves are clear demonstrations that the Scotia Cup is there just as much to help grow the sport as it is to make money – unfortunately not something that can be said about every comp.
Prestige & Quality Of Opposition – as a seasoned competitor myself, it’s well known that the Scotia Cup is the one to win in Scotland. The smaller comps often do a great job, but if you are serious about competition, and truly want to call yourself the Scottish champ, the Scotia Cup is where to be. The competition attracts some of the best grapplers from all over the UK – I’ve seen names such as BJJ Globetrotter Christian Graugart and Paul McVeigh enter their comps – indeed the competition STILL gives free entry to brown and black belts so you’re bound to see some high level action after your own matches.
Now that the BJJ scene is much busier, it is easy to forget what it was like. Heck, you may have started training recently and never attended a comp which had no qualified refs and 2 people in each division. It can be easy to forget how hard it once was to get good competition experience in Scotland. Scottish Grappling are the reason many of the more experienced Scottish players got started and are one of the key reasons that the Scottish BJJ scene has developed as it has, and it is important that competitors remember this and support the competition, as it has supported Scottish BJJ. It is all well and good to go to comps with fancy medals or funky submission only rules etc, but also important to support Scotland’s premier comp
I would strongly urge any competitor to make the Scotia Cup, and all subsequent Scottish Grappling events, a fixture in their calendar.
Again, to register for the event, which is only £30, visit the registration page by clicking HERE