Topic: Oregon State Championships

[Old Meister]

Oregon finally going to have a state championship tournament! My friend, Harold, became the state director and has put this together for December 27 and 28. One thing that seems to be a hitch in all this is that there are Washington players who want to compete in the State tournament even though a $40/team open tournament is also offered. Is it wrong to have an Oregon only state championships?

[Syronis]

I would think that with any "state" tournament that you really should consider it more of a regional event. To establish the event, since it's the first year, I would think it highly advisable to get as many people to attend as possible. I'm sure there are people on this message board who have organized some big time tournaments, I'm sure they have better advice.

[papafoos]

I'd recommend you not limit it to Oregon only.  Use it as an opportunity to expand foosball and make new friends, or renew old friendships.  I'm not aware of any state tournament that limits itself to only residents of that state.  I have seen city championships that were limited to locals only.  I got double dipped by a Texas team at Oklahoma state one year.  I'm not bitter, I only hate Texans for about 4 hours, one Saturday afternoon each year.

[foozkillah]

I would think that with any "state" tournament that you really should consider it more of a regional event. To establish the event, since it's the first year, I would think it highly advisable to get as many people to attend as possible. I'm sure there are people on this message board who have organized some big time tournaments, I'm sure they have better advice.  

Exactly... any state championship in the Open and lower categories should be open to all comers.  Having the BEST POSSIBLE PLAYERS in each event promotes foosball in Oregon, providing a showcase that future up-and-coming players, as well as previous players on the comeback, will appreciate and use for encouragement.  Having stronger out-of-state entries directly increases the overall quality of play, increases the entry gate (more exposure), and motivates all the players.

You might think, too, about adding Oregon-resident-only championship events that will not harm or affect the regular events, and these might be a great idea, especially for the juniors and rookies/beginner levels.

[Old Meister]

There is an open DYP/BYP event with a $40/team entry fee with 100% pay back also. But it seems the resident only tournament isn't going over too well. Maybe requiring a membership to that state's foosball organization would make it into a positive thing. Which creates the need for such an organization but then why not?

[Syronis]

I think with such short notice for this year you should probably just let anybody and everybody show up. A few questions you might consider would be: How many players are you expecting? Will out of state players limit your capability to run both events in a timely fashion? How many tables are at your disposal?  For a first time event, although I have no experience with organizing such foosball events, you need to consider a number of variables before making your choice. Instead of having a DYP/BYP, maybe you should split an event with one based on skill level (for newer players to promote foosball growth in oregon), and then an OPEN DYP, that would allow any out of staters as well. Who knows, I might be out of my league, but if I had the tables and capacity I would try to run a "larger" tournament just to see what interest could be sparked as a middle point between chicago and st. louis.

[Old Meister]

It's not my decision and our director wants to keep it managable. I guess hind sight will be 20-20 on this. Everyone wants it to be a positive event so we'll see how it goes.

[Old Meister]

The way it is set up is for an Open tournament on Saturday for both BYP/DYP and Open singles. Oregon stae championship matches will be on Sunday, both doubles and singles. So any of you that have a wild hair to travel are welcome. We got GREAT micro-brews in Oregon and you might get you a--es kicked so the brews will be a good thing,,,,;)