MAP... good or bad?

just wondering what your oppinions on this are stormy

is the MAP any good?

I have to say that I'm sitting on the fence on this subject.
From what I have read about it MAP sets certain standards which bands should meet. If the bands do not meet these standards then why are they competing?
These standards really refer to a set number of tunes the band can play.
This seems fair enough but......

Some bands may be capable of playing more demanding tunes and the MAP may be holding them back.

Overall MAP appears to be a good thing to help "poorer" bands improve but does not appear to help the more able band.

but... should it have been used in birmingham? when there was only one MAP heat anyway and all bands went through to the finaL/

It seems to help G4 bands with a fair smattering of young uns to demonstrate what is required, but the jump to G3 still seems too big

Going from extremely dumbed down 2/4 marches (remembering only 1st 2 parts are played as well) to a 6 min medley and a 4pt march strath and reel is a big jump i just think more help could be given to the top end of G4 as well.

Robbie.Crow wrote:but... should it have been used in birmingham? when there was only one MAP heat anyway and all bands went through to the finaL/

yeah Rubes I scratch my head at that one as well its not the 1st time thats happened, add to that the prizegiving seem to start later and later its a funny one right enough