Wyoming 4-H Program

State 4-H Competitive Events

Based on the feedback received, the overwhelming majority of educators want to see consistency in our state 4-H competitive events – meaning consistent opportunities for our 4-H members competing at the state level.   As a result, the state 4-H office examined all the proposals submitted and evaluated them for consistency and the ability to work within the parameters of our competitive events. As we worked through the details of our current events and the future sustainability of each, it became very clear we need to strengthen opportunities for individual competitors and our individual recognition systems.  The need to strengthen opportunities for individuals and the desire to provide consistent opportunities for our youth lent itself for us to create the following:

Team members on winning teams will be allowed to return and compete as team members based on the discretion of the coach.

• Champion teams will be awarded state awards (trophies, medals, plaques, etc.)
• Champion teams will also be given the choice of national award trip (Must follow guidelines set forth by each individual national contest)
• Coaches will have the final decision as to the makeup of their teams based on eligibility of members.

Winning individuals will be allowed to return and compete as team members or individuals

• Individual contestants competing in presentations, fashion review, etc., will be allowed to compete in subsequent years as long as the presentation or garment is different than the previous year.
• Establish a national reward trip for top individuals not attending a national award trip as a member of a team – the National Western Stockshow lends itself to be the logical choice as described below.

Example:

Meat Judging

• Champion team is awarded 1^st place hardware
• They choose to accept the Kansas City trip or not (there is only one award trip in this example)
• They must follow Kansas City contest rules – if a member of the team has attended Kansas City contest in previous years then they are ineligible 
• The top four individuals not participating in a national award trip win the right to attend National Western Roundup and compete for Wyoming if eligible.
• Individuals can compete in Denver but only once – they can attend as a delegate

Livestock Judging

• Champion team is awarded 1^st place hardware
• They choose between Louisville and Kansas City trip (there are two award trips in this example)
• They must follow Louisville and Kansas City contest rules– if a member of the team has attended Louisville contest in previous years then they are ineligible
• The top 4 individuals not competing in Louisville or Kansas City will win the right to attend National Western Roundup and compete if eligible.

Shooting sports – Muzzleloader, shotgun, .22 light target, etc.

• Champion team is awarded 1^st place hardware
• They choose to accept national shooting sports invitational trip or not (there is only one award trip in this example)
• They must follow national shoot contest rules – if a member of the team has participated in the contest in previous years then they are ineligible
• The top individuals will win the right to attend Raton, NM award trip if eligible.

Justification: When we think of our competitive events in terms of youth development, the idea of not allowing youth to compete once they have won our state contest does have some merit.  Once a youth has developed and exhibited the skill to win our state contest, the mastery element of development is clearly met. One question that arises is in relation to how teams are made up related to mastery. When county teams are selected, the winning team could have a 14 year old who finishes 25^th in our contest but because they were on a team with higher skilled individuals then that person is also deemed ineligible. Not many would argue that a youth who is 14 and finishes 25^th clearly hasn’t mastered the skill in what ever event they are competing in. By giving the coach the option of allowing them to come back and compete on a team or not, we haven’t eliminated opportunities for them at the state level and we just limit the opportunities at a national level based on individual contest rules.

To strengthen our individual recognition system, we need to evaluate the opportunities for our individual competitors in terms of encouraging and fostering continued skill development. When we think of consistent opportunities for individual competitors, we need to focus on the judging programs and strengthen our incentive and reward system. When we think of individual competitors, it encompasses individuals participating from counties without sufficient numbers to make up a team or individuals who have been on a winning team and in order to prevent their team from being ineligible - compete as an individual. The most logical individual award system would be to provide an opportunity for individuals to win and experience a national award trip.  When we examined the details of putting together a national individual award trip we have to consider the location, national event rules, financial constraints, and the coordination of such a trip or trips. When taking all these things into consideration, the most logical fit would be the National Western Roundup as the national individual award trip. The first selling point on the national western is the fact that we already coordinate transportation, registration, chaperones, associated fees, etc.  We have donors that help off-set costs, and the National Western doesn’t restrict participation other than a contestant can only compete once.