Ahh junior shield... They were alot of fun!
My first year of attempting to qualify, (quite a long time ago now) I missed the team by bowling the same as the bottom qualifier, but going on the highest last game actually missed. I paid my dues sitting as reserve for the entire tournament.
For 12 months I worked on my game non stop, striving to improve myself so I could make it. It was my goal. I learned all about reactive bowling balls, fingertip, hooking the ball and the importance of spares. I got coaching from Jeanette Baker and Stephen Bell that year. The very next year I made the team.
Hypothetically, if the event wasn't scratch, I'm sure I would have made that first team. I wouldn't have paid my dues as reserve, and I would have been content at that level of bowler knowing it was "good enough" to make the centre representitive team. Would I have ever reached the level I currently compete at if I had made that first team? I have no idea. I do know that all I thought about for the next 12 months was the chance to make that next team and roll against the best other centres had to offer.
Several of my team mates that year shot their first 200 games and their first 600 series for 3. Did the scratch format encourage the bowler to bowl better than they ever have?
It was the only scratch event as a junior we had to improve our game for. Everything else was handicapped. We looked up to the best junior bowlers from other centres, and it gave us an incentive to improve our game to compete at the next level.
I have got to go with my gut feeling here and ask the powers to be to keep it a scratch event, as if it was handicapped when I competed, I have no idea where my game would be today. I would be disapointed for the juniors, as the one chance they get to compete against each other scratch in a teams event would be sorely missed...