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@JonoMarshall
Thanks for the day Cambridge and well done John for stepping up (once again) for duties.
Agreed the organisation was a little ropey, I think the important thing to learn from is that a one day tournament with one court needs a cap on the number of teams. Whether you do this randomly, or for some "Euros training", or whatever, is completely up to you. Teams not registering on arrival is also irritating as the groups stage would have been completely different (not as long) if 7 additional teams had not just magically appeared once the day had gotten underway. (Swiss Rounds is tough without software and would have caused more issues trying to sort it "ad hoc" in my opinion.)
We also need to add more than 2 minutes to the time between games during tournaments (I suggest giving 3 minutes a try) or need to get better at whipping/swapping between games... you can watch the tournament timings slipping away ("there's no time!"). Reducing game times from 10, to 8, to below is a poor trade-off.
Regardless, I/Spring Break had a fun day and really enjoyed playing some non-London teams in the single-elim phase, good/fun polo and playing Fenboy is always awesome (Hayden is a menace). It was pretty late by the time we were home in London, but completely worth it.
I'd also like to briefly mention that it's always a big undertaking to organise any kind of day/event and by doing so, you open yourself up to all sorts of whims/criticisms from the polo masses (with their many different desires when it comes to what's "right"). Fingers crossed that the organisers for this (and other) events continue to live and learn rather than be put off by feedback that often comes from those that refuse to organise something in return.
Cheers Cambridge, time to go an update the Spring Break site with a glowing review of the day! We got a trophy!