The Outer Banks Subbuteo Club hosted a tournament on August 20th in famous Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The club put on the event as their trial run for the national tournament to come in Kitty Hawk the weekend of October 20th.
Eight players competed in this Hawaii-themed tournament, which honored the victims of the fires there; money was collected as donations for those that live in and around the devastation.
Great play and fantastic strides were on show from the Outer Banks players. Special congratulations to the semifinalists, Scott McCaulley and Josh Goninan, for their great efforts.
The final was a contest between Jeremy Goninan and Bryan Arnold, which Bryan won when the final whistle blew.
A big thank-you from the ASA to the club in the Outer Banks for organizing and hosting the fun filled summer tournament.
On June 11th, the Denver Open was held with 9 players competing. The players gathered in the mile high city for the tournament; some of whom traveled great distances from the west coast and the east coast as well.
Organized by Cameron Tucker, and hosted by Tory Reed and the Colorado Subbuteo Club, the event took place on a special gamenight at the venue in which Subbuteo and Crokinole (a Canadian board game), were both on show.
Zach Walker won his group, and then beat semifinalist, Mike Thumim, to progress to the final. Bryan Arnold finished first in his group, and beat Cameron in the other semi.
In the final match of the evening, Zach Walker won the Denver Open beating Bryan, 2-0. Congratulations to Zach for his tournament win!!
Thank you to this ASA organizer, and also the host, for this enjoyable experience on the ASA calendar.
The latest tournament in Alexandria, Virginia was held on Saturday, April 29th. The field of 11 players came from far and wide to compete for the trophey. The field spanned from Avondale, PA through Maryland and Virginia, and down further south to the Outer Banks of NC.
The event was played using a Swiss Ladder of 7 rounds. There was a championship bracket with knockout rounds along with the Mary Jane bracket.
Congratulations to Daniel Cranston who emerged the winner by a score of 2-1 against Paul Eyes, and also to Andrew Zunino who won the Mary Jane final against Joshua Goninan!!
If you leave a match or a tournament feeling negative; if you become preoccupied with “bad” calls; if you have heightened self-conscious about your results leaving you shy to play again, it may be time to decide upon achievement goals. Players can orient to new goals, and experience tangible new behaviors even during the ups-and-downs of competition.
Consider for yourself the most comprehensive and self-sustaining orientation for you given the commitment you make to Subbuteo. The commitment can be considerable: training during free time, tedious travel, spending work-leave time, investment of money into multitudes of bases, etc.
Players can aim for success in the wins they achieve. They pursue an ongoing affirmation of their commitment in the victories they earn. Players who focus on wins often believe in innate ability and also that there are external measures of this innate ability.
However, there can be difficulties: players oriented in this manner can experience challenging social behaviors brought about by heightened irritability and self-criticism. Negative behaviors include shenanigans and dramatic reactions to the calls of opponents/referees. Players with this win-orientation can experience uninhibited regret and guilt, which they can negatively associate with Subbuteo. When wins don’t happen, Subbuteo can feel empty and tiresome for these players; and performance can become less effective as well.
Consider an orientation for skill development, and reinforcement of effort and ability: the task orientation. Players that organize to this orientation view success as improved performance of tasks. Rather than comparing the self to others, task oriented players compare their achievement of tasks with their own past performance (of those same tasks). The pressure in competition is not irritating but an affirming contest to improve skills, tactics, movement, thoughts process, etc. A task oriented player does not feel a sporting self-image–strongly influenced by their comparisons to others–but instead a drive to gather knowledge through work. Benefits include a sense of mastery in skills and more joy in the experience. Mastery of skills and more joy in match-play can be rocket-fuel for dealing with adversity popping up all the time in matches.
Needless to say our game of Subbuteo has many exceedingly enjoyable qualities. Its fluidity can be as beautiful as any other game or sport.
The match play environment always is in a state of change. Players need to adjust to change very quickly. It can be a challenge to quickly implement action for match situations. Players can be reactionary: defensive flicking against only one percieved threat, and also offensive flicking with limited perceived options. As such, it can be difficult to problem solve against opponents. Implementation of your own game can be a struggle.
This past February 4th and 5th, I played in Australian GP. I was extremely fortunate to be there. I competed in the individual event, and also the team tournament with the venerable Northern Phoenix TFC. I was very honored to keep up the American tradition of players participating in overseas events. Many such players past and present made us proud; they represented our country so well around the world.
‘A bit of my experience’ concerned–like it did for my Rome experience this past September– my travel and personal experiences along with tournament content.
American players traveled abroad for decades. Our traveling friends gathered personal resources and arranged their schedules for opportunities to compete. They showed their adventurous spirit in heading out of their domestic circles to try their luck against some of the best in the sport (And BIG Thank yous to their families for being understanding!!)
There were many players who took the plunge to compete overseas such as Open category players, Vets, and youth players as well. Players who traveled overseas for Subbuteo included Christian Filippella who played for Napoli Fighters this past year; Peter Alegi who enjoyed playing in many Subbuteo tournaments in Italy in 2022 and also recently signed with the Rome club, Black Rose; Paul Eyes, Daniel Cranston, and Michael Tillman who made up an active US contingent on the same club from Rome; Patrick Sheridan played for Glasgow TSC in 2021; Benny Nuger joined up and played for Belgium Club, Hennuyer; and Bryan Arnold who played for Derry City TFC.
