Tourney: 2012-09-15 Westway - Wild West - beginners/improvers tournament

What a brilliant day. Sixteen teams played, a nice even number for a small tournament. We played four swiss rounds, and then single elim quarters/semis/final. Made for some very exciting games. I think my favourite games in the quarter finals were Bikeworks vs We all play Synth (they had drawn 3-3 in the swiss stages earlier, and they finished 4th and 5th in the rankings, so it was a very closely fought tie), and also Frames vs Party Illuminati. Frames had not played together as a team before, so it was great to see them put Party Illuminati (with a few tournaments experience under their belt?) in serious trouble, leading them 2-1 at one point, but losing 3-2 in the end with a golden goal. Niall and Vit have improved huge amounts in a short space of time, and Josh in particular has great dribbling / ball control, its strange, he came along and couldnt control the bike for the first few sessions, and then all of a sudden he just seemed to 'get it' and was away. Fantastic stuff.

We had a good few candidates for MVP. Victor from Mouldy Kitchen was a very strong, determined player. Salman from JCGD was on fire all day, from one end of the court to the other he looked very impressive and a terror to the other teams. But Sasha from We Play Synth was excellent. A young player (16 I think?), he really lifted his team, defending and attacking in equal measure, spinning like crazy in every game. I dont think there was ever any doubt about Sylwia getting female MVP. She was playing on her opposite side with ease, helping out her team mates, and generally being a nuisance to opponents. Excellent player.

Congrats to the lads from Party Illuminati. As you said yourselves beforehand, you were hoping to get a decent result from the day, I think the tournament afforded you space to show how you've come on as a team together. I was (pleasantly) surprised to see you overturn the MCR lads in the final. I could see at the end when you got the trophy that you were exhausted but exhilarated.

John H playing on his left side was good fun to watch. Definite idea for a fun tournament in there some time.

What was great at the end of the day was several people saying that they felt they'd upped their game from the experience and would come away from it with a better knowledge of playing in the future. The Sheffield lads felt they'd be going back with an extra edge, and Niall from Frames said that he now had a better understanding of passing and spatial awareness on the court.

So enormous thanks to: Sean, who loaned out his bike during the day, and helped with the tech stuff for different people whose bikes failed. Jess for coming down and reffing, also loaning her bike out, and explaining rules to newcomers. Ben punkture for reffing loads and heckling. Beagle and Joe TS for reffing early in the day, and Beagle for the use of his bike - this was really needed as people had come on MTBs, road bikes, foldies, or just not come with a bike at all, so having six suitable bikes was necessary. Paul Cowhen for doing loads of goal reffing depsite being in obvious discomfort with his broken collarbone. John H the podium wizard, helped everything run smoothly, massive respect. Cheers to everyone who donated prizes for the day too, it was good to have some small rewards for the teams and players at the end.

Neil and Jason at RBKC were supportive all the way with this tournament, a brilliant success, it is refreshing to have a local authority on your side, and enthusiastic about the game. Neil has played a few times now and is getting better. I am not really familiar with that part of town, but if there is any suitable space in the borough, it might be worth exploring for the 2013 Open, I'd say Neil would definitely be into it and give us help.

Might try and run another beginners tournament in the spring.

If anyone has any photos from the day can you let me know?