Rock Challenge UK

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Rock Challenge UK (also widely known as Rocka) is the British arm of the Global Rock Challenge and the Australian Rock Eisteddfod Challenge. Rock Challenge is a group of dance/drama events performed by students nationally and internationally. The Events which go as South as Southampton and Portsmouth, and as North as Aberdeen, comprise performances which are all up to 8 minutes in length. In 1996, the first Rock Challenge Event in UK was originally staged in Portsmouth with only 11 schools and 800 students. It Started because Inspector Mark Pontin of the Hampshire Constabulary visited Australia in 1995 and he saw the Australian Rock Eisteddfod Challenge first hand and was so impressed that he persuaded the Chief Constable to introduce it to their area of the UK. Since then, Rock Challenge has expanded over the 12 years it has been running, with events up and down the country. All the events in the UK are set up and run by the Be Your Best Foundation (Registered Charity Number 1077291) which is a non-profit charity which as set up the creators of the Rock Challenge in the UK, and everyone who works on the Rock Challenge UK Tour is also a part of the Be Your Best Foundation.

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[edit] The Rock Challenge Message

The Rock Challenge prides itself on the effect the events have. The fundamental message is of a drug and alcohol free high. The buzz and excitement that the performance at a professional venue gives, along with all the events during the day, it shows how you don't need drugs and alcohol to have a good time. This is event more emphasised during the event, when everyone is warned that if anyone is caught taking drugs or drinking alcohol will be asked to leave and their team will be deducted overall points and ranking places (therefore making it impossible for them to win).

[edit] Concept, History & Australian Origins

Rock Challenge has been running in the UK since 1996 (see above) and has been running as the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge in Australia since 1980 (see History in Rock Eisteddfod Challenge page) and has reached out across the world to New Zealand (Stage Challenge), Japan (Rock Challenge Japan), South Africa (ARA Be Your BestTM Rock Challenge) & UAE (Set Up by the British Be Your Best Rock Challenge). Rock Challenge also had a short and small stay in the US, but there has been no known activity since the confirmation of two events for 2004. Just like in the UK, since its start in Australia it has got even bigger and more popular, so much that the National Finals are shown on the Nine Network over a period of weeks on a Saturday Morning (after being previously recorded Live), this television coverage has been happening since the early 1990s, whereas, it's launch in 1996 it still doesn't have any major media coverage.

[edit] Competition Format

Rock Challenge nowadays is split into 2 areas of the UK, North and South. In both area's there is a "Open" Competition (Which has the most schools) and a "Premier" Competition. In The "Open" Format/Competition:

  • There are Heats which every "Open" school has to take part in. Dependent on the event and their placing (Always first place and mostly second place) the school which comes first will go on to compete in the "Open" Final(s).
  • In the North there is just one Open Final due to the number of events and schools being less in the north. But, there is a Open "A" and "B" final (there is no difference in ability or placement, it just depends on which event you qualify from) due to the higher interest and number of schools and events (partly because the event stems from the South).
  • In the Last Couple of Years in all 3 "Open" Finals (North and South), the two top placing teams (sometimes 3 from North due to there only being one "Open" Event) have qualified through to the premier league (final) the next year.
  • Through out the Heats and the Finals, schools are also competing for Awards which merit the teams performance in a certain aspect of the piece - these range from hair and make up to video performance.

In The Premier Competition/Format:

  • Schools will all do a premier showcase at a Heat, where they aren't competing.
  • The only Competition that premier schools face is the "Premier Final" which is at the end of the Tour (North or South) and this is where they will compete for 5 ranking places and awards (like in the Open heats).
  • The Stay in the Premier League you need to place in the top Five at the Final, which added together with the winners and runners-up from the "Open" Competition, gives you the Premier Schools for the next year.

From 2007, Awards have been awarded nationally by a totally new and independent panel of judges which watch all the performances from the Open and Premier Finals, North and South, to make a group of awards which are given to the schools which show excellence in that asspect nationally.

There are very certain plans to the hosting of a first ever National Grand Final, which would include Schools from North and South, Open and Premier. To enter this Grand Final you have to come in the top five in one of the Premier Finals (North or South) or be one of the two top scoring schools in the Open Finals (from all three finals, north and south) - Making 12 Schools. After that there are no firm ideas of how a Grand Final Team would keep their place and if this would just become another layer on top of the Premier League or just leave the National Final and the North Open and the South Open.

[edit] Events & Venues

Since 1996, the Tour has been to many venues around the country and as Rock Challenge has become larger, so have the venues. Even just in the first year the moved from one night and one event to 8 venues and 11 nights. The most notable addition to the Rock Challenge Tour came firstly in 2007, when the Hackney Empire became a venue for two nights, the first ever Rock Challenge event in London (except for a small venue in Croydon which was used throughout the first 7 years). With the planned National Grand Final, it would bring the biggest ever venue ever used by the Rock Challenge team in the UK, The Sheffield Arena with a capacity up to 12,500 seated. Every year the tour gets bigger and so does the Junior aspect of the Tour, in the Heats there are also a lot of these Junior Schools because there might not be enough for a separate event in that area.

Here is a List of Venues for the 2008 Rock Challenge Tour (The Numbers in the Brackets indicate the number of events):

† One of the Heats at Hull is for Hull Schools Only and the other is billed as "Bridlington at Hull" because at this point in time Bridlington is not available for use and so for the 2007 & 2008 Tours, Rock Challenge have still ran this event but at the Hull Ice Centre rather than the Spa Royal Hall in Bridlington. This event has the schools from the "East Riding of Yorkshire" Area and any other Hull schools. ‡ With the Junior event it is billed as the "East Riding of Yorkshire Junior" for the same reason as above. # The Junior Events at Portsmouth are split between a Showcase Event and a Competitive Event.

[edit] Sponsors

The Be Your Best Foundation is always looking for sponsorship, because they are a charity and this sponsor helps to put on the events. There is a wide range of sponsors, but not as internationally know as the Australian sponsorship is (like Calvin Klein for one). In the certain areas where the Rock Challenge is there is major backing and sponsorship from the local police force (partly because of the introduction to the UK, was with the backing of the Hampshire Constabulary). The One Network Radio stations like 2CR, Power FM, Southern FM, Chiltern Radio are also sponsors in their area and this way the Rock Challenge also some times use local presenters from the Radio Stations. Other Radio stations which aren't owned by the The One Network are also used for sponsorship (for example both from the Yorkshire Radio Network: The Pulse & Viking FM; Independently owned Lincolnshire based Lincs FM and Finally Belfast's Downtown Radio). Other campaigns for good health, to tackle drugs & alcohol and to promote a better community also appear in the sponsorship. Just like the Police forces in Rock Challenge tour areas, all the local city and borough councils promote the Rock Challenge (but in the London area there is no definive sponsorship or backing from the Police or city council). For the Finals, the sponsorship changes slightly because all the finals are presented by the insurance company Ansvar Insurance (which ironically has a Australian parent company) which is a company which helps non-profit organizations and indivuals like Charities, they help by investing in certain organizations which work firstly and foremostly in alcohol & drug education (Ansvar Insurance (UK) Website). In the early announcements over the 2009 national finals[1] it has been said that the success of the event is down highly to the sponsorship gained, to help the staging of the biggest event yet.

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[edit] External links