The National Piping Centre’s competition for amateur pipers, the Competition League for Amateur Solo Pipers (CLASP) is to go ahead as scheduled at the end of this month.
In what is reckoned to be a first in piping competitions, pipers will compete remotely using technology.
The trial of technology in this way is seen as a way of beating concerns surrounding Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Co-organiser, Margaret Dunn, said: “The idea has been well received so far by members and we can now confirm that the NPC will start preparing to run the competition remotely. Having listened to members views, the NPC has made a few tweaks to the initial idea and after much thought, here is what we believe will work best and minimise technical issues on the day and give the judges undisturbed audio files to best judge each performance. The NPC will facilitate competitors where we can with time zone differences, a space to use to make the video call if required (but only a small number) and if it is safe to do so at that time.
“In this technically advanced world we live in, we believe that things can be kept going. If we knew that this would be the only affected competition this year, I think the option to cancel would be an easier one, but the current situation may go on longer and we do face unknown times.”
The competition takes place on March 28. Members should go to the news section of the CLASP website – https://theclasp.co.uk/
