My past experiences of organizing Foul Bowl 1 & 2.
Running a tournament can be challenging, I learnt a great deal more about Blood Bowl, its community and the several types of coaches from doing so. Some highs and some lows.
There we're two main reasons I wanted to run a tournament in South Wales, firstly I was interested in the development of Team Wales at the time and believed organizing a local event in Cardiff could attract more interest in the game and secondly, I thought I could do it different/bigger/better...
Here's the thing, and I expect some people will be offended at this but it’s just reality.
A lot of other tournaments we're restricted in numbers because of their location, some are held in small huts in the middle of nowhere, or village halls mainly. My idea was to hype it up, it was going to be a grand event, with prizes to match. I think I made a point of selling it as a "not for profit event" this was due to me attending some tournaments which I felt were overpriced and under par (naming no names), I put 110% of the money from tickets into prize support, yes, I lost money at both events, boo hoo
Now you might think that's rude, but that's what I wanted to do, to give back to the community who had given me a place to play my Blood Bowl. Run an event with loads of prizes so everyone felt like a winner, and not just the 1%s getting awards at the end of the day whilst the rest of us stand around clapping like chumps lol, yeah we've all been there at the end of the day, trying to smell that trophy or glimpse the awards as the same old faces walk away smiling (gitz).
Anyway, it was with these reasons that I said, I’ll do it. But it must be two things, different to your bog standard NAF event and newb friendly, remember I was trying to attract new talent. Most local gamers don't go to tournaments because the stigma that surrounds them, so I had to sell it like a fun event, with little interest in the rankings. But still have rankings available for members who made the trip to play. So Foul Bowl was born, dividing the top with something I have not seen before, tie breaker from fouls resulting in a casualty. (although I now know there is a Foul Bowl in the US as well).
The first event had 16 coaches, I was really amazed at this as it was a bit of a rush to get it organised in the little time I had before the event. I was really worried that it would be a flop from the start, it was a 4 game one day event, so I needed at least 12 for it to get sanctioning. This was, despite me not wanting to focus on rankings points, my biggest fear for the NAF members who had paid. I still really wanted it to be NAF sanctioned for them. This was very stressful going into the last week not knowing what would happen, in the end it turned out great and everyone seemed to have a blast.
After some post event discussion, I decided the next event would be different, I needed them elves to show up.
Round 2, I really stepped it up this time. Foul Bowl had a website and a Facebook page, and I was on twitter, I got signatures with links to them on the Blood Bowl forums and the spam began, I posted lots of posts on different forums advertising about the event, many of which we're deleted. This was quite good fun, and I think most people could see what I was trying to do. I also made effort to contact most of the gaming clubs in South Wales. Anyways it must have paid off as Foul Bowl 2 had 40 coaches in attendance. From 16 to 40 in 1-year, happy days.
Must have been doing something right, I also had locals turning up and playing in their first tournament. Although it had been a very long year and a massive focus of my efforts it was all going so well.
Unfortunately, this is where the story gets grim. I planned even bigger things for the 3rd event. I could never understand the NAFs reluctance to work with Games Workshop. Or at least that is what it looks like from the outside looking into the organisation I have been a member of for many years. So, I contacted Games Workshop directly or they contacted me, which was it again, not sure... anyway due to this quite frankly astonishing change I thought I could roll with it, make my event even more different and open a new pathway/channel not yet heard of in the Blood Bowl community (or at least not to consumers that most of us are). But it quickly devolved into a horribly stressful period of my life, in real life and trying to organize this tournament. (This was in no way related to Games Workshop, who we’re very supportive) So, I cancelled it.
If you’re thinking of running an event be prepared and don't leave things to the last minute, everything you leave will just create more stress. You may get some verbal support but essentially you will have to do everything yourself.
As soon as someone gives you money, you feel obligated to do something.
The biggest mistake I made was relying on someone else to do score for me. I could have learnt this myself and wouldn't have had the drama in the second year of finding someone else to do this after a late drop out.
You will however need a second person but relying on that person leaves you in a precarious position. Get a spare player and/or someone to help on the day, timings are critical, especially if it’s a four game one day event when running over the time could have financial implications not to mention what you would feel obliged to do if people start missing their train/bus home.
I said in the beginning that I learnt a great deal more about Blood Bowl, its community etc. Well what I learnt was the mechanics behind the sanctioning procedure. I never really gave this much thought before, I would attend tournaments with no idea how the rankings worked, what a tie breaker was and certainly I wouldn't have any plan of how I was going to play at an event.
I have learnt that there are some distinct differences in play style, reasons for playing and a great deal of passion behind each person’s reason. But we are all equally worthless really, no-one’s style is better than someone else’s. Their passion for rankings is no better than someone’s desire for crazy, for example. Running a tournament has shown me many reasons for each, with a little in-between too.
Some people fear that the wacky events lower the strength of the rankings, but others fear that strict events could be boring and put new players off attending. And you can bet your shorts that you will be in the middle of a storm if you push any boundary’s. Remember when I said you will do it all yourself… No support, this is what I meant, you will be getting it in the neck from all sides, when even the reason from your friends sounds like negativity, or a compromise.
Don't respond to the negativity, I made this mistake, and despite trying to explain why or what I was doing, people make assumptions and twist your words. It’s not worth it. Just go with your idea, be happy with it and enjoy the event with the people who attend.
You can also enjoy the support of some very generous company’s. If you put the effort into to talk to them. But above all you will make friends, have fun and play some BLOOD BOWL