Six Shearing Competitions This Weekend

An array of New Zealand fullwool and lambshearing titles will be at stake in the biggest weekend of shearing sports competition this summer.

Six one-day shows – a tenth of all competitions on the Shearing Sports New Zealand calendar – will take place from Friday to Sunday, including the annual big double in Southland of the national fullwool shearing and woolhandling championships in a woolshed near Lumsden on Friday and the national crossbred lambshearing and woolhandling championships at the Winton A and P Show, one of four A and P show competitions throughout the country on Saturday.

The three others on Saturday are shearing-only competitions at the Kaikohe and Golden Bay A and P Shows, and the Wairoa A and P Show Shears in a woolshed north of Wairoa, where the annual show is unable to be held at the showgrounds because of the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle and other storms.

On Sunday the Royal New Zealand Horowhenua Show Shears will be held in Levin, with woolhandling competition back on the programme after being a shearing-only show in recent years.

All the shows will feature competition in grades from Open to Junior, with Novice classes at some events.

Shearing Sports New Zealand chairman Sir David Fagan says the third weekend of January has been the busiest weekend on the calendar for many years, and with about 300 competitors across the venues, some competing at more than one, it’s a good way to get the early-New Year phase of the season into full swing.

“It also shows the resilience of some of our committees,” he said.

In particular he referred to Wairoa which for the third time since 2010 is unable to use its regular facilities because of the impacts of bad weather, but “have again found another venue and carries on regardless.”

“It is one of our biggest one-day shows,” he said.

The schedule of shows and Speed Shears events is:

January 19 (Friday): Northern Southland Community Shears (New Zealand Full Wool Shearing and Woolhandling Championships), at Lowther Downs, Fiver Rivers-Lumsden Highway, Lumsden, starts 7.30am (woolhandling), 12.30pm (shearing); Wairoa A and P Speed Shear, at Kauhouroa Station, Tiniroto Rd, Frasertown, starts 7pm; Winton Speed Shear, Middle Pub, Winton.

January 20 (Saturday): Kaikohe A, P and H Show Shears (shearing only), at the Showgrounds, Ngawha Springs Rd, Kaikohe, starts 10.30am; Wairoa A and P Show Shears (shearing only), at Kauhouroa Station, Tiniroto Rd, Frasertown, starts 8.30am; Golden Bay A and P Show (shearing only), at Takaka Recreation Park, Takaka Valley Highway, Takaka, starts 10.30am; Southland Shears (New Zealand Crossbred Lambs Shearing and Woolhandling Championships), at Winton A and P Show, Winton Racecourse, Racecourse Rd, Winton, starts 8am; Colac Bay Speed Shear, Colac Bay.

January 21 (Sunday): Horowhenua Shearing Championships, at Royal New Zealand Show (shearing and woolhandling), at A.P. and I. Showgrounds, Tiro Tiro Rd, Levin, starts 9am.

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