The National Horseshoe Pitchers Association

How NHPA ‘NATSTATS’ Files Are Set-Up

Tournament results from all NHPA sanctioned tournaments are submitted to NATSTATS (national stats center) and entered into a common database from which pitchers "3-Hi" averages are calculated. Only the ringers and shoes recorded in a pitcher's 3 highest tournament averages from tournaments played in the last 12 months or last 10 tournaments, which ever comes first, are used to calculate their official "3-Hi" average. That is done by dividing the total ringers pitched in the 3 tournaments by the total shoes pitched and the result multiplied by 100 and carried 2 places past the decimal.

Natstats reports are in columns headed:

The first few columns explain themselves. The DIV is left blank for 40ft Men; "W" for Women; "G" for Girls; "B" for Boys; and "3" for Elders. The final column heading, "TOURN" shows the number of actual tournaments pitched during the allowable time frame...it will include sanctioned leagues, if any were recorded. All U.S. data is provided to this website by NHPA NATSTATS, with our sincere appreciation.

How CHPA ‘CANSTATS’ Files Are Set-Up

Setup is basically same as for NATSTATS. "Events" header is used in place of "Tourn" for same purposes. All Canadian data is provided to this website by CHPA CANSTATS, with our sincere appreciation.

MORE ABOUT THE NATSTATS/CANSTATS "12-MONTH WINDOW"

Theoretically, the "last 12 months" history changes moment by moment, thus it is often referred to as a "window" with the history scrolling behind it, and the window frame allowing you to view any given 12-month period of time and blanking out the rest.

In practice, window "snapshots" are made at arbitrary times so the information can be recorded and used by tournament directors for seeding contestants according to their level of skill. The NATSTATS reports posted on the NHPA Website are usually from a snapshot made each Wednesday and posted later that same day or the day after, hopefully in time for use in tournaments the following weekend.

Since Glenn Jamieson and his help are adding new results to the NATSTATS database as they receive them, and of course any history that scrolls beyond the "past 12 months" window is automatically removed from the database, it is possible for "snapshots" made a few minutes or few hours apart to differ. That may help pitchers understand why their personal records appear to differ from what they view on the NATSTATS weekly posted reports. Tournament directors need to submit results immediatly following their tournaments so their data will be included in the NATSTATS database when the weekly snapshot is made the following Wednesday. Jamieson frequently takes snapshots for individuals or clubs on request at any given time of day, month or year and those may differ for the same reason. Special snapshots are made, like for world tournaments, to establish the cut-off date to be used for seeding a tournament.

The "last 10 tournaments" part of the "which ever comes first" procedure used by NATSTATS works the same way, only the snapshot uses a different "window". For more specific information, contact Glenn Jamieson (NATSTATGUY@AOL.COM).

Contributed by Duane Goodrich