SAPA - What's it all about?

By Sheila Brown

The newer members might have heard the mystery term “SAPA” bandied about. Well, as the SAPA Representative for this club, I thought I ought to give a brief explanation of what’s what.

SAPA stands for the Stour and Avon Photographic Association and it is the umbrella organisation which looks after 14 camera clubs in this area.

The beautiful rivers of the Stour at Sturminster Marshall, and the Avon (below at Christchurch) giving the first of the initials S and A to SAPA

Every year, there are SAPA league battles and the clubs are divided into five groups. This coming season, we are competing against Wareham (at home) and Shaftesbury (away). The slides and prints sections are counted separately and the winners of each section go on to compete in the League Final, to be held here in March 2010. Also, the two best slides and two best prints from each club go forward to the SAPA Best of the Year Competition, here in April 2010.

So, you can see, it is a very busy schedule and, to make matters even more exciting, we are going to take part in the SAPA Prints Exhibition in the Dolphin Centre during September 2009.

River Avon at Christchurch

Two years ago, it was decided to try and encourage more people to be available to judge competitions in SAPA clubs. A Judges Panel was set up, consisting of Norman Carey, Sid Damon and me, and the Judges Panel Secretary is Mike Grigsby. We run Judging Workshops for would-be judges. So far, we are pleased to have enrolled five new judges (three of whom will be judging at our club next season so you will be able to see them show what they can do) and we have high hopes for more in the near future.

SHEILA BROWN