Tourney: WHBPC 2010 Berlin - 13-15.08.2010

cross-posted from leagueofbikepolo:

     as everybody said, it was a great moment, the first "true" worlds!

Good points:

• A good balance of teams from all around the world (still missing: asia, south america, scandinavia, russia...)
  
• probably the best teams playing today (maybe a few strong USA teams missing, but all the good Euro ones were there).
  
• A relaxed (did I hear anyone say ramshackle?...) atmosphere, a nice green venue, enough shelter from the rain and sun.
  
• Schedule pretty much on time, even with the disastrous weather
  
• A lot of courts
  
• A young and friendly community (we'll look back on this with nostalgia in 5 years when the sport will have gone big)
  
• Good reffing all around I think, special mention to Paul NYC and Nick Apologie.
  
• being able to watch 2 (even 3) games at the same time, standing between the courts
  Less good points:
  
• The courts: only one was "world-standard" to me, and even that one wasn't "perfect". The other courts were just too flawed in terms of size and surface
  
• The scoreboard: pieces of A4 paper??
  
• The sound system: I wish there had been a good PA system all weekend long to announce the upcoming games, the origins of the teams, the scores etc...
  
• Goals should have had a deflector in the back so that the ball goes up in the net instead of bouncing straight back out.
  Thanks to Berlin! Marc, Oli, Morgan, Stefan, etc... put a lot of efforts into this.