Tourney: London Open 2012 - August 25th and 26th

And headbands

Some bags contained blue, I have some of those from the UK Champs if you want oneas Chan only wears redneck fashions.

I already haz a blue one.

Thanks:
Thanks to everyone that helped with the following: sponsorship sourcing, illustration work, form filling, food/drink supplier sourcing, party organising, stencil making, pre-tournament meetings, postering, flyering, map making, goodie bag sorting, beer carrying, storing equipment, court design, materials sourcing, bike trailer sourcing/riding, cargo bike sourcing/riding, orwell clearouts, housing players, courts build, goal welding, goal carrying, netting the goals, spray painting, painting, taping, moving fences, endless runs to shops/houses/wherever, unloading the container, setting up, taking down, loading the container, scheduling, reffing, goal reffing, time keeping, whipping, bike fixing, bike loaning, bike checking, registering players, photography, videography, beer selling, music providing, sign making, t-shirt selling, water moving, sweeping, fixing things that broke, polo trains, litter picking, keeping the courts straight(ish), prize carrying, megaphone handling/announcements, buying beers, loaning money, polo playing and heckling... I've probably forgot many other things, but thanks to everyone that stepped up and made this event possible in whatever way you could, you rock.

Special thanks to the following people who consistently volunteered their time/money/energy pre/during/post event and made it possible to sleep at night: Mark Nesbit, John H, Bill, Badger, Jess, Ali and Erin.

Also, many thanks to the out-of-town players that helped with the courts build/take down and were generally awesome with keeping things running/lending a hand.

Sorry to everyone I shouted out, I lost it a few times, this year was a little too hard at times and I struggled to cope with the workload involved/stress... often you could count the volunteers on one hand and for that reason I won't be doing the LO next year.

Prizes:
1st place (LCS jerseys, UO goodies, Waiting for the Sun sunnies, trophies, booze, technical sling bags, wallets): Yank your wank
2nd place (LCS jerseys, sling bag, knog box, vela re belts/wallets): Reverends
3rd place (LCS jerseys, knog box, tyres): PSG
Paul's "Nice parts, nice plays, nice guys/gals" prize (double levers and hat): Be Right On
Waiting for the Sun's "Best team kit" prize (sunnies): Butterfly Tits / 5G
Schwalbe's "Super controlled" prize (tyres): Edisons
Dodici rims "Best Newcomers": Mix
NS gloves "Safe Hands" prize: Cocorico
Cranks/bash guards "Furthest travelled": Bromance
BFF tickets: Mervin Kings
Top 7 volunteer dual lever prizes: Mark Nesbit, John H, Bill, Adam, Jess, Ali and Erin.

Full results:
1st - Yank Your Wank (Nick COMO, kouyo, joey SEA)
2nd - Reverends (Manu GVA, eric MKE, William Paris)
3rd - PSG (Clement GVA, Greg Paris, Dustin SEA)
4th - Cocorico (Hugo, Marco, Seabass Paris)
5th - Edisons (David, Moritz FRA, Eddy MUN)
5th - Spring Break (Jon, Adam, Ryan LDN)
7th - Swiss Steez (Quentin GVA, Max LDN, Cody SEA)
7th - Cosmic (Rupert, Todd, Mat LDN)
9th - Mastodon (Robinou BDX, Alex Paris, Quentin ROU)
9th - Butterfly Tits (Joe CHI, Robie OTT, julian SEA)
9th - Mix (Jamal EIN, Yusaku, Daisuke OSA)
9th - Technically Cascadia (Damon BNE, Suzy CHI, Max VAN)
13th - Mervyn King's Wet Dream (Josh, Alastair, James LDN)
13th - MIDWEST OG (Ben CHI, Brian MKE, kev TO)
13th - Black Stabbath (TBD ?, Andy, Fin BRS)
13th - Team Warin (Robbie, Alfie, Tim BRS)
17th - Pienture Latina (Max CBG, Antonio LDN, Thomas Paris)
17th - Gettin Wild (josh, Hayden, Lee CBG)
17th - Dead Rappers (luca CBG, Emmet, Brendan LDN)
17th - Be Right On (Jamie, Chris ESH, Dave LDN)
17th - Los Manguis (Francesc, Camilo, Marcos BCN)
17th - Apollo 3 (Przemek, Kuba, Maciek WAW)
17th - Simon Says (Nicky, Jaoaud, Chris ANT)
17th - Wasted Talent (Tobi CAT, Anna FRA, Philipp HAN)
25th - Malaka (Cento PAD, Mattia, Enrico VCZ)
25th - Beer & Loathing (Johanna FRA, Mckenzie SEA, maija TO)
25th - Karamba (gitti, Marc, Michi BLN)
25th - Tornaboges (Tom CBG, nik, Erin LDN)
25th - Bromance (Ollie BNE, Scotty, Ned PER)
25th - Polonauten (Jürgen, Svenja, Dr. NUR)
25th - M.M.A Polo (Adrian BRS, Matt LOU, machine SF)
25th - Sloots (Ben, Alexis, Felix LDN)
33rd - Puzzels (Andy, Phillip HAM, Florian MST)
33rd - 2 Beavers & 1 Beard (Josephine GVA, Adam MCR, Valley VAN)
33rd - Alliance of Loose (Felix BLD, Patrick, Michael DOR)
33rd - Tora Tora Tora (Agata GDN, Cherri JAX, Tony KRK)
33rd - Le BigMac (Matt, Mayeut, Sean LDN)
33rd - The Magic Number (Martin, Quentin Paris, Ngaihon TO)
33rd - Antlers (Mark, Matt LDN, Oliver NCL)
33rd - 1/2 watt oranges (Bram ARN, Lorenzo, Rutger EIN)
33rd - Shuffle Kurfuffle (Rich BRS, Jess LDN, Rob MCR)
33rd - TKO (Oliver FKB, Tatsuya OSA, Riki TOKYO)
33rd - Ponkey Munch (Flo CAT, Max FKB, Aidan LDN)
33rd - Passed It (Bill, Joe, Ben LDN)
33rd - Sirens (Zoe, Helen, Julia LDN)
33rd - Poloski (Stan, Piotr KRK, Lish LDN)
33rd - Where's the slip'n'slide? (Eric, Christopher ATL, Tiffany LEX)
33rd - Kings (Pique, Kieran, Kevin LDN)
33rd - 5G (Emyr, Neil, Andy MCR)
33rd - Tiny Little Puppies (Shannon, Max, Geoffrey VAN)
33rd - Dog Soccer (Kropa DUB, Morgan SF, Brook SYD)
33rd - Yomoyo (Louis, J, Arunas LDN)
33rd - Team Sensible (Jonas, Colin, Stephen EDI)
33rd - Free Douches From Dale (Sam ESH, John, Jack LDN)
33rd - JLS (John, Andy LDN, Stephen MCR)
33rd - Skull Attack (Alejandro BCN, Paul, Osian CWL)
33rd - Acapolo (Paul, Julian, Liam ESH)
33rd - The F-ing Metric System (Johannes BLN, Dominico, Robert BNE)
33rd - Rabble Rousers (Andre BRS, Christian, Aaron COMO)
33rd - Super Fly (Chris AMS, Shane, Johnny DUB)

Possible improvements for next year (if it goes ahead under someone else):
Dedicated London Open website (one portal rather than several forums/pages).
More vegetarian food.
More courts, or days (3 courts over 3 days, or 4 courts over 2 days).
Better scoreboards.
Big screen/HQ like in Karlsruhe.
Beefier board uprights (wooden battoning at the front and rear to keep things sturdy/straight).
Beefier boards (15+mm rather than 12mm).
PA system for whipping teams more easily.
Spectator tiered seating.
Live streaming of the tournament online.
More toilets.
Dedicated stewards (that the public can identify).
Cheaper beer.
More volunteers.

Huge thanks to the photographers during the event, Chan's highlights video should be out in the next couple of weeks too, again many thanks mate.

Waiting for the Sun's "Best team kit" prize (sunnies): 5G

zOMG! Neil and I were drinking so heavily having a civilised tete-a-tete on the opposite side of the room I missed this announcement!

My first tourney was Bristol's Wet Weekend last year and having enjoyed this year's so much I really regret not starting earlier and making LO2011 my first.

For those whose retinas have already recovered:

That should help clear Ryan's todger from our memories, eh?

^^From the outside looking in, knowing nothing of the demands/requirements of your sport or organising anything beyond making the occasional sandwich, what appealed to me about your efforts in staging a tournament of this size are the things which cause some degree of head-fuck. This was done from the roots-up, rather than top-down organisation. Good, authentic and proper DIY stuff, done for the belief, rather than the reward. That's very appealing, and important. Personally I found the scoring system quite charming. Have some rep for pulling it off.

I have some ideas about the court wall improvement, if you need a hand designing them for next time gimmie a shout.

I guess a large problem is that you can't buy loads of sandbags/weights if you're not going to use them that often

^^ +1

DIY FTW!

fantastic effort and achievement everyone involved, and such a massive international scale too but keeping it close to the ground. another outsider here who was mighty impressed.

Thank you organizers and everyone who was there for this great tournament. Although I had to leave early and miss the finals I had a great time!

Echoing everyone else: well done, Jono!

The whole setup was very impressive, and It would be a terrible shame if you felt hard on yourself over things that were out of your control. I brought non-cycling friends with me and they were amazed at how well this was run and everyone totally enjoyed themselves. You might be able to see lots of room for improvement, but I can assure you it doesn't take away from what you guys have achieved at all.

I hereby volunteer in advance to help in whatever way I can next year.

can someone explain this to me please?

The queue outside of Supreme on Monday?

Possible improvements for next year (if it goes ahead under someone else):
More volunteers.

+1.

Possible improvements for next year (if it goes ahead under someone else):
Dedicated London Open website (one portal rather than several forums/pages).
More vegetarian food.
More courts, or days (3 courts over 3 days, or 4 courts over 2 days).
Better scoreboards.
Big screen/HQ like in Karlsruhe.
Beefier board uprights (wooden battoning at the front and rear to keep things sturdy/straight).
Beefier boards (15+mm rather than 12mm).
PA system for whipping teams more easily.
Spectator tiered seating.
Live streaming of the tournament online.
More toilets.
Dedicated stewards (that the public can identify).
Cheaper beer.
More volunteers
A random first-time spectator's thoughts:

Scoreboards would be excellent - it took a while to twig where to look for scores and sometimes they weren't up-to-date - not a big deal, but if you want to do it, then, yeah, that'd be cool.

I'd add that for a layperson, it was very hard to ascertain which matches were being played where and what relevance they had in the larger tournament. I don't know how you'd resolve that, but I thought it might be worth flagging up. Also, I still don't get how there could be 2 finals but that might be because by that stage I was pretty wasted...

...which leads me on to Cheaper Beer - personally I thought the beer was a good price. No complaints here.

Tiered Seating would make it better for shorter spectators, but it might kill some of the atmosphere. I liked the crowds for the final. But I agree about Beefier Boards - how any supporter was supposed to rest their beer on those boards is beyond me - oh, you meant to improve gameplay.

More Loos would have been greatly appreciated by our female contingent.

We found that we got loads of assistance from players and other spectators. More Volunteers and Stewards would be good, but there was a great community spirit. I'm sure that doesn't help with the important organisational aspects though which is I gues what you need them for.

Also, I still don't get how there could be 2 finals but that might be because by that stage I was pretty wasted...

Ha! Exactly.

I certainly can't say it any better than others have already. Thanks so much jono, lpc, lhbpa.
I had a wonderful time. The highlight for me was so many people dancing together like lunatics. So much love (and sweat) in the room.
Thanks again Jono x

£2.50 for a large bottle of ye olde OTTO was a good price,

I agree, that was good beer. Not overpriced at all.

Just got off the phone with a reporter and we're in the East London paper tomorrow if anyone wants to see it!

Jess, where was that TV crew from?

Norway: they're trying to promote polo there and are making a viral featuring their presenter giving it a go, thanks to everyone that made that happen (Jess, Josh, Dave, etc).

Ah, cool! Thanks Jono

I had no idea! I just did what I was told...hope it comes out okay as there wasn't much direction :|

It was definitely a bad idea on my part to bring them in during a tournament, but they were quite insistent and helped fund everything.

Hopefully they can muster together a decent edit and put Norwegian polo on the map, thanks again.

The LCC portraits will be out soon, here's a taster:

Oh damn, JLS forgot to do it...