HAVANA & ORIENTAL LILAC CAT CLUB


	GCCF SHOW AWARDS

Following is a slightly simplified description of the Awards system at GCCF Championship Cat Shows. There are also Sanction and Exemption shows (which are of lesser status) - Certificates are not awarded at these shows but they are otherwise broadly similar to those descibed below. The system is also slightly different (more complicated) at the Supreme.

Cats are entered as Adults (9 months or older on the day of the show, un-neutered), Kittens (under 9 months on the day of the show, neutered or un-neutered) and Neuters (9 months or over on the day of the show, neutered adults). Adults compete against adults, kittens against kittens and neuters against neuters. Each cat is entered into an Open Class which is decided by it's colour and is prescribed by the GCCF, and a number of side-classes which vary to some degree according to the show. Awards are only received for the Open Class. If both sexes are entered into an Open Class it is split by sex except occasionally for Kitten Open classes.

The Judge judges and places all the cats entered in the class, and then decides if the best cat is worthy of an Award. Adults receive a Champion Certificate (CC) and Neuters a Premier Certificate (PC). There are no certificates for Kittens. If the class was split and the best Male and Female both received Certificates they then decide which of the two Certificate winners gets the Best of Breed (BoB). If there was only one Certificate winner then that cat gets the BoB. A cat (except for kittens) cannot receive the BoB unless it won a certificate. With kittens they are simply placed, and the best first-placed kitten will get the BoB if it is worthy. It is not uncommon for certificates to be withheld, and sometimes a place is not awarded - there are some classes here where 1st place was not awarded.

Once a cat has 3 CCs or 3PCs it gains it's first title, of Champion or Premier. It is then eligible to compete in the Grand class. At shows other than the Supreme all Adult Oriental cats in a show enter the same Grand class, which is split by sex if appropriate. The Adults are competing for a Grand Champion Certificates (GCC), and the Neuters for a Grand Premier Certificate (PCC). The judge may also award a Reserve (RGCC or RGPC) if the second-placed cat is good enough - this means if it itself woule be worthy of a Grand certificate were the winning cat not there. Cats in the Grand class are considered with other cats of their Breed in the Open Class for BoB. They may be entered in the Open class or not - some owners do, some don't.

At the Supreme things are slightly different. Firstly cats have to qualify by winning an Open Class, so all cats other than those which qualified as kittens have at least one Certificate. Adults and Neuter Cats are entered as Pre-Champions or Pre-Premiers (cats with 1 or 2 CCs or PCs, competing for a CC or PC), Champions or Premiers (who are competing for GCCs and PCCs) and Grand Champions who compete for UK Grand Certificates (UKGCC or UKGPC). Again, there are no certificates for kittens but BoBs are awarded. Cats who win two UKGCCs or UKCPGs these get the title 'UK Grand Champion' or 'UK Grand Premier'. As these certificates are only on offer once a year a cat who achieves a UK title has indeed done very well. The BoB is more complicated at the Supreme, as the best cat of the breed in every class is included in the judging unless (for example) it won the Grand class but the certificate was withheld. This means that if there was (say) a Havana placed 3rd in it's UK Grand Class it will be included in the judging for the Havana BoB. Once each section (Adult, Kitten and Neuter) has been judged the BoB winners are judged against each other to decide the Best of Variety (BoV) Adult, Kitten and Neuter. These cats go on to compete on the stage against the BoV winners from the other breed sections (Longhair, Semi-Longhair, British Shorthair, Foreign, Burmese and Siamese) for the title of Best Adult, Best Kitten and Best Neuter. Finally these three cats are judged for the title of Supreme Cat. This is the ultimate accolade for cats shown under the GCCF.

The above applieds to breeds with Championship status, which nearly all the Orientals have. New breeds and colours have to prove they are worthy. To do this the breed is first granted Preliminary status. In the Open Class each cat is simply judged against it's Standard of Points and if it comforms adequatly a Merit is awarded. The cats are not placed against each other and there is no BoB. The next stage is the Provisional stage, where the cats in Open Classes are placed against each other, and there is an Intermediate Certificate and BoB also at stake. At the Supreme the various provisional breeds in effect form an additional section, as there is a Best Provisional Breeds Adult, Kitten and Neuter. Finally the breed can hopefully progress to full Championship status with all the Certificates and Awards mentioned above.

	Last Modified: 14th March 2004

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HAVANA & ORIENTAL LILAC CAT CLUB

GCCF SHOW AWARDS