October 4, 2023
By Conley Ecclestone, Nick Barnsdale, and Melissa Keith
Photos by New Image Media
The United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) Canadian Chapter is holding a Youth Race-Calling Contest for all youth (age 21 or under) who want to test their skills at taking the mic and announcing a race, live.
This gives youth the chance to gain experience by calling a race, whether at a track or not, and encourages them to continue their harness racing involvement.
The top three finalists will receive prize packages donated by the USHWA judges (details in official rules); all entrants will receive constructive feedback from the judges.
To enter, interested youth applicants should:
(1.) Join as an USHWA Youth Member (link: https://www.usharnesswriters.com/join-or-renew). All Youth members will have their $20 dues generously covered by sponsor Tim Konkle.
(2.) Choose a race to call! It should be selected ahead of time, for pre-approval by the panel of contest judges. No calls of replays will be eligible for submission.
(3.) Call the race! The race can be a pari-mutuel, matinee, fair, or qualifying race. Harness races only. French and/or English-language calls are welcome.
(4.) Submit your recording of the race call, identifying the racetrack, race, and date, as well as your name and USHWA chapter. A file can be sent to the contest Dropbox, or a link can be sent to the contest e-mail address. Other arrangements can be made in advance for judges to witness live calls via Zoom or in person, if required.
Full rules are here: 2023 USHWA Youth Racecalling Contest Official Rules
The calls will be judged by a panel of USHWA Canada members (who organized the contest) and two celebrity judges who are USHWA members: The Meadowlands’ Hall of Fame announcer Ken Warkentin, who began his career in Ontario, and Ghislain Paquet, Woodbine Mohawk Park handicapper/veteran race-caller at Circuit régional des courses de chevaux du Québec, plus Hippodromes de Québec and Trois-Rivières.
The rest of the panel:
Conley Ecclestone has made appearances on multiple online horse racing talk shows and is currently at Conestoga College taking the Broadcast-Radio program;
Garnet Barnsdale is an O'Brien Award-winning harness racing journalist/analyst who has also announced a few races at the Ontario "B" tracks;
Mel Keith, Rideau Carleton/Truro Raceway track handicapper; the most active female harness racing announcer in Canada, recently guest-calling at Clinton Raceway, Rideau, and Truro;
Nick Barnsdale is a racing journalist who has heard thousands of race calls and has an interest in the art of announcing;
Trey Colbeck, the voice of harness racing in Manitoba (2020-2023); he’s called in three provinces and has recently taken a step back from race-calling, but remains passionate about his craft.
The winner of the contest will have the call that receives the highest cumulative score from all judges, who will consider the accuracy and overall sound of the entries.
There is no entry fee, but all applicants must be Youth members of the United States Harness Writers Association to enter this contest. Entries from non-members of USHWA will not be considered for selection.
The Canadian chapter has organized this announcing contest, but Youth members (new and existing memberships) from all USHWA chapters are encouraged to enter.
The deadline for registration and submission is October 31st, 2023 at 11:59 pm (Eastern).
Entry form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1lWalQjqE1PGZ1r7a5UJxBNcHMhlxGPzLPYN835BU0iM/viewform?edit_requested=true
Questions can be sent to ushwayouthannouncingcontest@gmail.com.
The contest organizers and judges look forward to hearing from all the applicants in this year's contest!
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