Be honest, you’re never going to be an Olympic Athlete or play for Manchester United - all that time and dedication needed to reach the top can be a bit of a drag... but you could be the World Conker Champion simply by entering the World Conker Championships at Ashton! Just think about the fame and the glory which you could attain without the aggravation of having to treat your body as a temple!
What’s more, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you have contributed to charities which help the visually impaired - about the only thing that we at Ashton Conker Club take very seriously.
Please read the following notes carefully, then complete and print an entry form, and post (mail) to Ashton Conker Club together with your entry fee.
WORLD CONKER CHAMPIONSHIPS 2008 44th Championships
This event has been held annually since 1965 on the second Sunday in October, on the village green of the small village of Ashton in East Northamptonshire. The aim of the event is not only to crown the Champion of the World but also to raise money for charities for the blind and the visually impaired. In the last three years we have continually broken our record on the amount of money raised and with your help and support we can continue this run. Last year’s total raised was £20,000, this is with tremendous voluntary work by the organising committee, members of Ashton Conker Club and of course the loyal support of the players, stall holders and sponsors.
We have two easy ways for players to further support the fund raising activity, either by attracting sponsorship (request a form with your entry), or by selling raffle tickets for the Grand Prize Draw (all accepted players will be sent 10 books of tickets under separate cover from the confirmation advice). Please try to sell these books to friends, family or work colleagues. It often helps if you collect any sponsor money at the time of the pledge; maybe your company will sponsor you!
The whole day is a family fun day, with stalls, side-shows and a Junior Competition (no pre registration is required for children, under 18s).
Conditions of Entry:
Each player pays the £10 entry fee by Cheque or Postal Order - payable to ASHTON CONKER CLUB. Please note if you do not use the on-line application form (I.E. you request a form to be sent to you) then an administrative charge of £2 will be applied to each application. The entry fee quoted on these forms will be £12.
The entry fee is non refundable once your entry has been processed.
Your application must be at the registration address by 1st October for the year of entry. Ashton Conker Club cannot be held responsible for late applications held up by the Royal Mail or sent to the wrong address.
The minimum age for entry is 18 on Competition Day.
An entry will only be accepted on an official printed form (link at the end of this page). Screen prints or hand written entries are not acceptable and will be returned.
The information on the application form must be completed in accordance with the "help" detailed within the application form. Entries that appear to be false or contain spurious data will be rejected.
Address of Entries:
Your completed application form and the entry fee should be sent to the address which appears at the bottom of the Entry Form itself, under the heading “Post Your Entry To” (the link to the Entry Form appears at the bottom of this page).
NON-TRANSFERABILITY
All competitors please note that your entry is NOT TRANSFERABLE. Any person found to be entered as a substitute will immediately be disqualified from the competition, at whatever stage has been reached. If you are unable to provide identification at registration then you may be unable to play.
The competition has a limited number of places, namely 256 men and 64 ladies. Since 1997 we have been over subscribed, and therefore you are strongly recommended to complete and return your form promptly. Places cannot be reserved: only completed application forms and payment secure entry.
Team Competition.
Increase your chance of being a world champion, in fact double them! Enter a team in the competition and you then have the opportunity not only to be the champion of the world, but also a member of the team champions of the world too!
All it takes is three more intrepid friends and you have the requirements of a team! The team champions will be presented with the RON MARSH trophy.
How the team competition works:
Each of the four members of the team is assigned to different colour groups. As each player is knocked out of the main competition they are given a points score, which relates to the round in which they were knocked out. In the first round this is eight points the second seven and so on until the final. Then the scores of each team member are accumulated and the team with the lowest score (i.e. whose members progressed furthest into the competition) is the winner.
Team Competition - Points to Note:
Each team consists of four players. This can be 4 men, 3 men & 1 lady, 2 men and 2 ladies, or 1 man and 3 ladies, however there is only one ladies’ group, so mixed teams with more than one lady will be disadvantaged.
Uniforms, sweatshirts, fancy dress may be worn but the competition tabard clearly showing the competitors’ number MUST be worn over.
The players should decide a name for the team.
Once the team applications are processed then a substitution is only available as detailed below.
In the case of a draw the two team captains will be required to stage a play off to decide the winner.
There is also a separate ladies only team competition.
All team entries should be sent in together to ensure that each member is assigned differing groups.
There is no additional charge for a team entry.
Please nominate a captain on one of the entry forms, otherwise one will be chosen by the competition secretary.
All correspondence will be returned to the captain, however each player must list their own home address, if returning correspondence to the captain is not suitable, please indicate this on the entry form.
Substituting a team member: A team member can only be substituted under the following terms and conditions.
All the documentation of the player not entering must be returned with the entry form of the new player.
The new player pays the £10 entry fee.
The application reaches the competition address by 1st October 2008.
Publicity:
Competitors are advised to consider the following points before entering the Competition:
This event attracts considerable media attention. Should you win, you may be required for interview by the world's media. This could involve time, and cost of travel. Ashton Conker Club cannot be held liable for any costs incurred.
Photographs and video footage of the competition will be taken throughout the day and these photographs may be used by us (Ashton Conker Club) and other media organisations outside our control for publication in the printed media and/or the internet and/or for broadcast on television. If you object to such usage, you should not enter the Competition
