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Rules Re-write Update By Stu Sipma October 2, 2006 At the 2006 Convention in Gillette, the Rules Re-write proposal was presented to the delegates with the Re-write Committee's recommendation that the RGS Book be accepted as proposed. Prior to the voting, the Rewrite Committee presented a short Power Point program about the making of the new “RGS” (Rules Guidelines & Specifications) Book. After the presentation, there was a period of open discussion by the delegates, with several questions presented to the Executive Council and Re-write Committee. As you may already know, the proposed RGS Book was passed by the delegates with a vote of 124 yes, 4 no, and 2 abstentions. The Committee was very much honored to learn of the vast majority of the delegate approval for this work. The information in all three sections of the new RGS Book will become effective on January 1st, 2007. On this same date, our newly-elected 4th Vice President, Jerry LaBrosse, will become the new Chairperson of the Rules Committee. I want to thank all the members of the Rules Re-write Committee with a "special" thanks to Dan Sanders of Ohio for writing and sending out to the Committee his many re-write "drafts" of the current Rules, Requirements, and also the new additional information, including the Glossary. Special thanks are also extended to George Nick and Jerry LaBrosse of Minnesota who were very actively involved during the last year. When you receive the new yellow RGS book, you will notice, as you read through and review this document, that the Playing Rules section has more to do with what is happening on the courts during league or tournament play, such as the various age divisions, the seeding of contestants, and situations which may occur during the actual competition. The Guidelines/Requirements section is pretty much self-explanatory, and the Specifications section has to do with legal horseshoes and with the court conditions that can be expected when contestants arrive for league or tournament play; conditions which, for all sanctioned events, will now require nothing less than conditionally-sanctioned courts. You will also find two new additions here; the Contents section and a Glossary. Both of these additions should be helpful to you in finding and reviewing any specific information you may need about the Playing Rules, Guidelines, other Requirements, or equipment and court Specifications. As I have stated in earlier updates, the RGS Book may still need some work, and proposed changes can be submitted and voted on at next year's Convention. If there are any of you who feel any of the new Rules, Guidelines/Requirements, or Specifications need to be changed, please put together a small written proposal identifying the passage and an explanation of why it should be changed, along with the current wording and how you think it should be re-worded. This written proposal should be sent to me, and the deadline for submitting any proposed changes to the RGS Book, for the 2007 Convention, is December 31, 2006. Any proposed changes received after this deadline will be considered for voting at the 2009 Convention. Again I want to personally thank all of the Charters, NHPA members, and Rules Rewrite Committee members for all of their hard work in making this new document what it is today. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read or print it. Get Acrobat Reader here 
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