What the Heck is a Qualifier?

S

SmokeInDaEye

Guest
I've been searching threads looking for some sort of rhyme or reason as to how teams get selected to represent the best-of-the-best at contests such as the American Royal Invitational, The GAB, the Jack, etc.

I've seen talk about contests that aren't sanctioned still granting access to the big shows. What exactly is the criteria? Does a contest have to have 25 competitors to be included (or 15 for a first year contest*) and where is that written? And what about state championships? If governors of some states are quicker to the draw with the pen, does that weigh heavier than a better attended contest that couldn't get a proclamation?

I'm just trying to better understand the process and hopefully make it better long term.
 
The GAB has it listed on their website http://www.thinkbbq.com/index.php?page=invitational

GAB Royal Oak Invitational Contest

Qualifications for the Great American Barbecue Invitational Contest are…
1. Teams must win a qualifying barbecue sanctioned competition with a minimum of 10 teams. Qualifying sanctioning bodies include those sanctioning bodies that have 3 or more competitions in one year.
Or
2. Teams must win a qualifying competition with a minimum of 50 teams.
Extra criteria……..
3. Only Grand Champions will be invited.
4. No PassDowns.
5. The qualifying timeline is the January 1 thru December 31 of the previous year.
6. The Sanctioning Bodies must submit the following information to the Great American Barbecue to tracy@thinkbbq.com. The Sanctioning Body should identify itself, plus give contact person, email address and phone number.


American Royal Invitational

http://www.americanroyal.com/Default.aspx?tabid=236

Invitations

Only Grand Champions are invited. No pass downs are accepted.

Invitations will be extended to the qualified team name/head cook combination. Should the team name or head cook change after qualifying, the team must enter the American Royal Invitational under the qualifying team name/head cook combination. Should the same head cook have qualified with more than one team, he/she may enter the American Royal/KC Masterpiece Invitational Contest only one time.

An invitation will be mailed from the American Royal to the qualifiers in mid August with a deadline for returning the application by September 1st. If an invitational team would like to also compete in the Open Contest, it is MANDATORY for that team to complete the Open Application ahead of time so a space can be reserved.

Qualifying Contests Include:

·Contests with a “qualifying state championship.” A state championship is a contest with a state proclamation signed by the Governor with at least 15 competing teams the first year and 25 competing teams each subsequent year.

·Contests with a minimum of 50 competing teams are qualifiers and do not require a “state championship” proclamation.

·A state with only one contest must have a minimum of 15 competing teams to be considered but does not require a “state championship” proclamation.

To be considered a “competing team,” teams must submit entries for all contest categories required to be the grand champion or overall winner of that event.

Automatic Entries Go To:

*Grand Champion of previous year’s American Royal Open Contest

*Grand Champions of previous five (5) year’s American Royal/KC Masterpiece Invitational Contest

*Grand Champion of previous year’s Annual Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue

*Grand Champion of current year’s Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Contest

*Grand Champion of current year’s Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo World Championship Bar-B-Que Contest

JACK DANIELS

As far as the Jack - I don't think this specifically answers the question but Chris posted this a few years back about the Jack as it's somewhat related.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=458028&postcount=76
 
Interesting.

So for the Royal, you could have tons of teams from one state and only one from another depending on what the governor decides to sign. It makes less sense by the day.
 
SmokeInDaEye said:
Interesting.

So for the Royal, you could have tons of teams from one state and only one from another depending on what the governor decides to sign. It makes less sense by the day.
Click to expand...

I'm sure there's a lot of history behind the "state championship" criteria but I agree, Idon't see why a governor's seal of approval would be an ideal determining factor. Seems like it just creates extra work for an organizer to get paperwork done.
 
MilitantSquatter said:
I'm sure there's a lot of history behind the "state championship" criteria but I agree, I'm not sure why a governor's seal of approval or not should be a key determining factor.
Click to expand...

Yeah, its just sucks for someone who competes in a contest sanctioned by KCBS or another qualified body, beats 25 teams (or 15 in the first year*), then doesn't get an invite or included in the Jack draw because the governor didn't endorse their win. Or am I missing something?
 
In sports I've competed in, the sanctioning body decided upon which competitions were to be designated as the state championship.. No governors involved and no one ever said a peep.. It was viewed as a state championshipn by those involved with the sport and that is all that mattered. Usually 1 in each state per year. The winners or those competitors with qualifying totals would be eligilible to compete at a national championship which was also determined by the sanctioning body.

Here I could see how the sanctioning body stays away from making those calls and the membership not wanting a select few to decide what contest gets the designation as it could hurt all the other contests. That's were a point system like TOY would be the most ideal as long as it's capped at a reasonable # of contests.
 
MilitantSquatter said:
In sports I've competed in, the sanctioning body decided upon which competitions were to be designated as the state championship.. No governors involved and no one ever said a peep.. It was viewed as a state championshipn by those involved with the sport and that is all that mattered. Usually 1 in each state per year. The winners or those competitors with qualifying totals would be elgilible for national championships.
Click to expand...

And that makes sense. Having a dozen or more random championships for some states and only one for others does not.
 
Here is last year's Jack Daniel's qualifying info:

20th Annual Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue
October 24-25, 2008
Lynchburg, Tennessee

The Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue is a competition like none other in the world.
• It is solely “by invitation only” with U.S. competitors limited by the criteria below. Grand Champions from the previous year’s Jack Daniel’s Invitational, the American Royal Open Competition, the annual Memphis in May and Houston Livestock & Barbecue competitions receive automatic entries.
• There is no entry fee for the competitors.
• Invitations are sent only to the “Grand Champion” of qualifying contests; no “pass downs” are allowed.
• Every U.S. team invited must earn its way to Lynchburg and into “The Jack.”
• International teams are encouraged to compete but may not include members who are U.S. citizens unless their primary residence is in the country they represent.

Criteria Retroactive to September 1, 2007:
• To receive an invitation, teams must cook in the categories of pork, chicken, and beef to be considered that contest’s grand champion. In a KCBS-sanctioned competition, teams must cook the required four categories.
• If a contest is the only contest in a state, it should have a minimum of 15 competing teams.
• First-year contests that have a “state championship” proclamation from the governor of the state in which the contest is held should have a minimum of 15 competing teams. After the first year, a contest will be considered an “established” contest.
• Established contests that have a “state championship” proclamation should have a minimum of 25 competing teams.
• Contests with a minimum of 50 competing teams are qualifiers and do not require a “state championship” proclamation.
• Any U.S.-based team winning a competition in another country will have its name placed in the draw in the chief cook’s home state.

Any request for an exception to the above criteria must be sent in writing to Debbie Christian

FYI:
• After a team has competed at “The Jack” nine times, the tenth year they win a qualifying competition, they will be invited without going through any draws.
• Any team that wins seven qualifying competitions within the current barbecue season (September 1 – August 31) – we’re the Old No. 7 Brand, right! – will be invited without going through any draws.
It is the team’s responsibility to provide Debbie Christian with the appropriate information (i.e. dates competed at “The Jack” or “grand championships” won that year).
Click to expand...
 
I think that what KCBS has done, by forcing govenors proclimation, is to heighten the awareness of BBQ and bring it out of back alleys and seedy clinics. By going to the govenor it conveys a more globally accepted existence of BBQ. Not that it's to our advantage, but having several state championships is good. Now if you did a playoff kind of thingy with it....
 
Yakfishingfool said:
I think that what KCBS has done, by forcing govenors proclimation, is to heighten the awareness of BBQ and bring it out of back alleys and seedy clinics. By going to the govenor it conveys a more globally accepted existence of BBQ. Not that it's to our advantage, but having several state championships is good. Now if you did a playoff kind of thingy with it....
Click to expand...

Correct me, but I don't think KCBS is responsible for forcing the proclamation.. Isn't that one of the requirements solely of the contests choosing ?
 
MilitantSquatter said:
Correct me, but I don't think KCBS is responsible for forcing the proclamation.. Isn't that one of the requirements solely of the contests choosing ?
Click to expand...

Correct. The only KCBS involvement is to run the invitational contests for the organizers. The organizer decides, by their criteria, who attends.
 
SmokeInDaEye said:
Yeah, its just sucks for someone who competes in a contest sanctioned by KCBS or another qualified body, beats 25 teams (or 15 in the first year*), then doesn't get an invite or included in the Jack draw because the governor didn't endorse their win. Or am I missing something?
Click to expand...

Ideally the team would know whether the Comp has a proclamation in advance of the contest... so they know going in that unless 50 teams show up this won't be a qualifier.

For the Royal and Jack qualifiers its basically

* 1st Year 15 teams + State Proclamation
* 2nd+ Year 25 teams + State Proclamation
* or 50 teams

Note that for the Jack there is a difference between qualifying and actually getting to cook it.
 
I believe that for the Best of the Best in Ga. it's the top five teams by points in each sanctioning body that get invited.
 
Plowboy said:
Correct. The only KCBS involvement is to run the invitational contests for the organizers. The organizer decides, by their criteria, who attends.
Click to expand...

While there are other ways "around" the invites (a 50-plus team contest), I think the KCBS did start the proclamation thing. I know they keep a file of the photocopies of the proclamations in the office. I've seen it myself. If they didn't care, why the file?
 
qual·i·fi·er
Pronunciation: \-ˌfī(-ə)r\ Function: noun Date: 1561 : one that qualifies: as a: one that satisfies requirements or meets a specified standard b: a word (as an adjective) or word group that limits or modifies the meaning of another word (as a noun) or word group
 
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