Hello again everybody & Tim, Like I say, I'm happy to answer queries.
To be added to that list: The fact that a number of teams had to play on non-marked pitches.
By non marked you actually mean non-lined. They were actually marked out with cones on the corners and marker cones along the lines.
Why pay £160 team fee when you can just go to your local park and whack some cones out yourself?
Er... Because its nice to play a tournament and play against other teams? Am I missing something?
On a serious note this was not a local park - this was superior sports fields.
The reason some fields were unlined was because of the weather in the run up to the tournament. In the weeks prior to the event there was torrential rain and the fields were waterlogged. There is presently a backlog of football fixtures on those fields stretching back weeks. There was a REAL danger at several points that the event would not be permitted to go ahead and alternative venues were researched.
When you hire pitches you do not buy the rights to use them regardless. The groundsman has the final say as to what happens on those fields and if he had said we could only have 7 fields then we would definately not be sitting here debating why the schedule was so heavy for teams.
We managed to strike a deal with the groundsman that he would get us fields in a playable condition and in return we would not require lines on those pitches. Now I dont know everything about lining fields but I was told that due to the high water table, inclement weather and pressure on pitch time that he could not get all 12 fields lined out. You may indeed think this is unacceptable but I did the best I could. The tournament went ahead and the quality of the fields was I think even better than at several Tour events in the past that have suffered bad weather.
The other issue about lines was that we were expecting fields to cut up more than they did and that the lines would soon disappear under the wear and tear of play. If this was indeed the case I think the fields marked by cones may well have been considered more adequate than those with lines.
An abridged version of this explanation was given at the captains meeting and to those people who asked about it.
As with many things, it came down to choices. We chose not to cancel, cut down or move the tournament at the last minute, perhaps we would have been better to have done so. Should we have foreseen it? I honestly dont think so, this has been a wetter winter and spring than anyone can remember up here. Having said that of course lots of people did comment that I should have arranged better weather. I may of course have been wrong in assuming they were joking...
I'm not sure how many of the pitches weren't marked, but even having *one* unmarked pitch at a tour event is ridiculous. It also appears that, once again, it's the the lower seeded teams that seem to be subjected to playing on these non-marked pitches. I know Electric Mayhem 2 played four games on the Saturday, not one of them being on a marked pitch.
The only times that a conscious decision was made to have any game on any particular pitch was to move the first half of the 3/4 playoff onto pitch 1 to free pitch 12 for the final as we felt it was best for spectators, and then to switch the games back again by request of the teams in the final. The truth is teams like to get used to playing on the same fields and none of these were of inferior quality to any others.
On the positive side, the refreshments available were fantastic and reasonably priced too, and the level of play across the event was fantastic.
I agree, and take no credit for it - Hannah and Wigsy did a great job in coordinating the refreshments and I think they were rightly appreciated at the event.
I genuinely do feel sorry that you and others clearly did not enjoy the tournament. On a rather more conciliatory note I would say that I have already taken on board criticism that was emailed directly to me suggesting that this venue is not appropriate for events held outside of July-September due to problems of shelter. This point I feel is fair and will be communicated in a summary report of the event which will be sent to the DoC.
I would also like to thank those people who made an effort to say that they had enjoyed the tournament, I am really glad you did.
Best regards, Dave.
An email sent before the event included the following: "The decision was made to increase the size of the tournament at the risk of the POTENTIAL overcrowding of some of the facilities. Your cooperation and understanding is requested." OK, if you count the facilities as just the clubhouse. However, I consider "facilities" to also include the pitches. Not having enough marked pitches to cope with the schedule is totally unacceptable. If the capacity of the tournament is going to be increased then the number of pitches marked must obviously befit the number of teams attending. I may have missed it, but was/is there any explanation as to why the pitches weren't marked? On the positive side, the refreshments available were fantastic and reasonably priced too, and the level of play across the event was fantastic. Tim. __________________________________________________ BritDisc mailing list [email protected] http://zion.ranulf.net/mailman/listinfo/britdisc Staying informed - http://www.ukultimate.com/informed.asp
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