Dear Subbuteo friends,
Speaking in
the name of WASPA, I would like to wish good luck to all the players who will
attend the Eland Cables FISTF world cup in Tunbridge Wells, England.
The fact
the world cup is taking place in England is no surprise for me. A few years
ago, England was far to be among the most important Subbuteo nations as Italy,
Greece, Spain or Belgium for instance had much bigger numbers of players, clubs
and events.
The WASPA
circuit certainly contributed to the revival of the game in England. The
lockdown period brought back the interest for the game to many Subbuteo fans
and many local clubs have been created.
For many of
these clubs, the WASPA circuit was an important link to connect players and
clubs, to create regional circuits and improve the general standards of play.
Can you believe more than 900 WASPA tournaments have already been held in
England?
Those who
started playing in the last 4 years have new gained experience and it's no
surprise to see some of them playing for their national team this week-end.
Of course,
many "new" players will compete for England but we are pleased to see
some people who gained experience in WASPA events recently now playing for many
other countries.
We can be
very proud of what has been achieved but as I said many times in the recent
past, the work of the English Subbuteo Association must be a source of
inspiration. England has proved the WASPA circuit can be a real benefit for the
game to recruit new players and to boost the motivation of players who cannot
afford to travel abroad to play tournaments.
This is the
right moment to thank Mr Alan Lee and all the people in the ESA Board who have
used the WASPA circuit as a tool to develop the game. The ESA is now proving to
the world that England is a major Subbuteo nation again and we are very proud
to have helped in some way.
Special
thanks also to Mr Steve Dettre, FISTF president, who has always supported the
philosophy of the WASPA circuit. We are really pleased to see a strong
Australian team travelling to England for the world cup!
We are
looking forward to see a straightened collaboration between FISTF and WASPA in
the future and to see many more WASPA events held in many different countries.
Once again,
good luck to all players involved in the different tournaments. We are sure it
will be a fantastic week-end for everybody.
Vincent
Coppenolle, WASPA organizer
See more
details about the world cup here: https://www.englishsubbuteoassociation.com/world-cup-2024
No comments:
Post a Comment