It has been a long time since there has been a post on this blog and a fresh entry is overdue. A topic that has been on my mind lately is the tournament activity of the ASA.
Perhaps it is just me, but it seems as though we are not organizing as many tournaments this year as we have in the past. If my math's right, there has been 15 tournaments played this season. Of those 15, there were 3 double header weekends where a tournament was played on Saturday and another on Sunday. There are only 4 more tournament weekends on the calendar as I type this, including the National Championships. Maybe my perception is incorrect, but my memory leads me to believe that we have usually hosted 1 or 2 more events by this time of the year in past seasons and that the calendar had more events booked for the remainder of the season.
This leads me to the debate of quality v. quantity. What do people prefer - 10 tournaments with 8 people or 4 tournaments with 20 people? Personally, I'd like to see both.
I remember when the ASA only had 20 or so players in the entire association (as recently of a timeframe as 2001-02 or thereabouts). The National Championships usually had around 16 players, a big tournament was 8-10 people, and an average turnout was 4-6 people. The ASA has grown so much over the last 5-6 years that it is common to see 20 player tournaments with tournaments having as many as 50 competitors.
The growth has been tremendous, but at times it feels as though we only want to participate in the biggest and best events. It is common for tournament organizers to seek out of town participants, and if there are no takers then the event is called off. There's also a fear or intimidation of being ridiculed as an organizer for only having a 4 or 5 man tournament because that number doesn't compare to a lot of other ASA tournaments.
My advice to clubs and players throughout the ASA would be to host 2-3 tournament weekends a year. Out of those 2-3 tournament weekends, try to make one a little more special than the other(s) if you want to entice out of town guests. This can be done by having a tournament on Saturday and Sunday, by getting FISTF status for a tournament if you like, scheduling a tournament around a unique social event, or offering free adult beverages to those of age. The other tournaments a club hosts should focus on getting their club together to play an ASA tournament. If it works out that people travel to your event, all the better.
It is very easy to host an ASA tournament. All that needs to be done is: 1) Contact your regional Vice President to confirm that there are no other tournaments scheduled in your region for the day you would like to host a tournament; 2) Give a minimum of 2 weeks notice for your tournament; and 3) Have a minimum of 2 players participate.
I see no reason why, as a community, we couldn't do a good job of hosting those 5 or 6 big tournaments a year in addition to 16-20 smaller events. The more we play, the better. And don't be afraid to turn your monthly club meeting into an ASA tournament once or twice a year, even if it is "only" a 6 man tournament.
