published January-February Issue 2016

Patching it Together

by Bill Marvin, 5th Vice President and Regional Director and Court Sanctioning Director

The top prize at local horseshoe tournaments is never a huge amount of money. It is something much more valuable: The Patch! Tournament and class champion patches bring a smile to the face of those who are the winners. Proudly displayed on shirts, jackets, hats and more, these are examples of having a great day on the courts and are symbolic of being on your game. Ever wonder how the tournament director gets them?

As NHPA’s 5^th Vice President, one of my major responsibilities is to distribute patches to the regional director for each charter. For 2016, nearly 13,000 tournament patches will be awarded. Not included in this total are the patches for the World Tournament, years of participation patches, number of World Tournaments pitched, and all league patches.

Each tournament patch is slightly different. State champion patches, both doubles and singles, have gold lettering, while the class champions of both have red lettering. Tournament champion patches for both singles and doubles have silver lettering, while tournament class patches have blue. Team tournament patches are the same scheme.

Are patches a big deal? To me, they certainly are. I expect to take one home each time I enter a tournament (but rarely do!). Patches may be small, but signify that once in awhile, everyone has a good day on the courts.