Anas wins in Kallang Wave

The 16 players

Great atmosphere plus superb venue, our club was blessed to have played in the Jurong Central Subbuteo Club 7th monthly league tournament at Kallang Wave in-conjunction to *Singapore Football Week*.

The final between Anas and Michael Choong

16 players of various age were pooled into 4 groups to battled it out with the finalist playing to a grand audience in the final with the game being live telecast at the venue big screen. The top 2 players from each group were to advance to the Cup Quarter Finals with 3rd & 4th placed group players were drawn into the consolation rounds.

The seeded players all managed to qualify the Quarter Finals however the recent Singapore Asian Cup team Captain, Bernard Lim & Jurong Club Captain, Rudy with the latter having flicking issues after his flicking nail broke 😢 in the 1st group game, lost their games to Michael & Nic. While Rizal Taib narrowly lost an entertaining 3-4 game against Anas while our new groom Noor Haikal was still in his honeymoon zone, losing to Fauzi.

Cup Semis 
Anas edged out Nic while Michael won on sudden death shoot out against Nic hence the epic final between Italian 'Catenaccio' defence of Michael against the ruthless German attack of Anas.

A special prize for Anas

Finals
The final which was refereed by Bernard Lim was surprising open.  Michael striking the 1st blow but Anas came back strong & capitalised on Michael defending lapses.  Final score was Anas 4 - Michael 1.

Thank you to *Sports SG* & Table Football Association of Singapore (TFAS) for the opportunity for us to participate in this eventful event.

(Report by Rudy Hesty)

Mpougiouris and Papadogonnas win in Greece

20 players from various clubs competed in the "25th Regional WASPA title" of the Flaming Flickers on Saturday, July 22, 2017. There was strong competition in the WASPA spirit and some really close games. The winner was as always the sport and local player Yiannis Mpougiouris won the final against Miltos Gkiohalas (Proteas Athens) in a great game (3-2). Semi-finalists were Mike Tastsoglou and Nikitas Apatzis. Congratulation to the winner Yiannis and the finalist Miltos for a strong game and to all the participants for a special morning! Next meeting in August with the "last of the Mohicans" since Athens soon will be empty due to summer vacations.

Nikos Papadogonnas

The latest tournament of the Pireas Lions took place earlier this month. This time there was a smaller turnout of 6 players so a group stage was organized so that everyone plyed five games. In the end, Nikos Papadogonnas took the honors, finishing on top of the table with 13 points.

Final standings
1. Nikos Papadogonnas
2. Leonidas Koutromanos
3. Dimosthenis Kalatzis
4. Yiannis Dragomanidis
5. Vaggelis Papadopoulos
6. Ioannis Kondylis

Summer tournament in Vresse

The final between Parisel and Droeven

Small events can be great. The latest event in Vresse, South of Belgium, had a small turnout bu many close games. In the final, Renaud Parisel defeated Pascal Droeven by a single goal. The club of SC Semois had a good time and is looking forward to get more players involved in the future!

Gareth Christie and Steve Bennett share honors in Scotland

Rob and Gareth (photo: Craig Thom)

The Scottish Cup took place in Lethem on July 9. the tournament had a great turnout of 16 players coming from the country's two active clubs: Dundee United TFC and Glasgow TSA. The event was played in knock-out series with 8 players qulifying for the main event while the other eight played the consolation tournament. In the main event, Gareth Christie took the honors after defeating Rob Conway in the final (1-0). Conway was the surprising winner in the shootout of the semi-final against Steve Bennett. David Baxter was the other-semi-finalist. In the consolation event, Malcolm Lees took the honors after defeating Andy Beskaby in another close game (3-2).

One week later, Dundee United had their last tournament of the season. This time there was a amsller turnout of 5 players who played each other twice. This time Steve Bennett took the honors after finishing on top with 28 points while Andy Beskaby was runner-up with 21 points. Rob Conway was third, David Baxter 4th and Craig Thom 5th.

Trophies for Fabrizio Coco and Gabriel Lombardi

Sydney TFC recently had another WASPA tournament with a good turnout of 8 players. Five players competed in the Open section. Fabrizio Coco finished on top of the group stage and defeated Raffaele Lombardi in the final (1-0) to claim the title. Kostas Barbaris was 3rd, Tony Credentino 4th, John Palamara 5th. In the junior section, Gabriel Lombardi finished on top of the group stage and defeated Saxon Crupp (1-0) in the final. Well done to the winners!

Jacob Bijlstra wins in Hoogezand

The "International Summer tournament 2017" took place this Saturday in Hoogezand, in the North of the Netherlands. Unfortunately due to a number of late withdrawals, a round robin format was played with Jacob Bijlstra come out on top. Among the competitors, it was great to see Yago Dzelalija from Canberra, Australia. Highlights for Yago was "the impressive high quality of play from all the Dutchies, in particular Jacob's high tempo game and fierce shots. Erwin Smit's amazing long range chip shot into the far right corner and his impressive high quality game, to Ronald Ruiter's tactical nous and shooting skills! The level of sportsmanship displayed at the tournament was amazing, to a level that I have not previously experienced - kudos to the guys! The venue is great and the catering was thoroughly enjoyed by all - especially by the Aussie lads!"

Vangelis Scotiniotis wins old rules event

19 players from various clubs competed last Sunday morning for the 1st Gagarin Cup.

The tournament was held in the memory of Zacharias Pitihoutis, Greek National and Panathinaikos Athens player that passed away this year in May.

He was the uncle of our player Giorgos Pitihoutis and member of the Panathinaikos team that took the Greek Champions title in 1963 undefeated. He was a great player and a great personality that was loved by supporters of all teams.

His nickname was "Gagarin" after the Russian astronaut because he was jumping too high for the headers and reminded the astronauts space jumps.

The tournament was played with lightweight subbuteo equipment and the old rules and players followed the teams of the 1963 championship.

Win 3 points, draw 2 points and loss 1 point was the system used back then. Winner was Vangelis Scotiniotis who defeated Leonidas Koutrouanos (2-1) in the final. Congratulations to the winner and to all the participants.

The Flaming Flickers will now have a tournament played with the old rules on July 25.

(Report by Panos Panagitides)

Poster of the next event on July 25

Richard Stock wins in Drury

Richard Stock wins again at the 9th London Road Subbuteo Club Tournament in North Wales. 9 players attended and a Swiss 5 round system was played. Richard won with 4 wins and a draw with the returning Trevor Schott who finished 2nd, only losing 1 game to Cayne Matthews. Brian Daley finished 3rd and Martin Blanchard came 4th. Great days play with all players having a great time.

London Road Subbuteo Club 16th July 2017 - League Table 
Richard Stock 9pts +8
Trev Schott 7pts +5
Brian Andrew 6pts +11
Martin Blanchard 6pts +8
Cayne Matthews 6pts +2
Dave Merrilees-Kelly 5pts -5
Yani Merrilees-Kelly 4pts -3
Mark Hopwood 4pts -6
Ruby Matthews 3pts -5

Irwan Iskandar takes the honors in Perth

In the tranquil surrounds of our clubhouse in Gidgeganup we welcomed Jurong Central(Singapore) member Irwan Iskandar. On a fresh cool morning 5 players locked horns for the 2nd time as Irwan had joined us last year as a finalist but was keen to make amends this time and bask in the glory of flicking at our great club once again and having a good laugh along the way of course with us all, also we played for medals instead of trophies this time as we are running out of room at home to store them. We played a one match league table format against each other and then knockout finals once the positions were cemented. With this being the penultimate tournament before our debut major event in the Perth International Winter Classic 2017 commencing on July 27th/29th at Fremantle Town house this was a great way to warm up our fingers in preparation. Highlights of the day were obviously the tense and very open final between unbeaten(on the day) Mcnulty in a repeat of the final from last year against Irwan this time Irwan came from going a goal down to claiming an equalizer with minutes to go, the game was quick and both players refused to park the bus in favour of an attacking game that see sawed from one end to to the other. Mcnulty conceded his first goal of the day and as the the game ended we headed into extra time and a minute in Irwan blasted in a low shot that was to much for Mcnulty to stop and again Irwan at 2-1 up went against extreme defensive tactics when one could of easily understood why he would of parked the bus. A warm embrace was exchanged at the final whistle in a fantastic final between the two who had been favorites on the day due to the absence of AlanKimber who sadly had a bad back, Hugh Best had his best finish with 9 points in the bag and 3rd place with Chris Thorn just behind with 6 points and Ron Byrne finishing lastly but again causes problems to us all. Again i look forward to seeing you all in a few weeks time and im sure your very excited just like i am, also a huge thanks to JohnHarty who along with his partner Bev Bone have poured so much energy into pulling out all the stops for the Perth International and he briefed us all on the day although he did not play, big respect mate ...

(Report by Ross Mcnulty)

Michaël Dupret wins in Templeuve

The great weather and the holidays didn't stop Subbuteo players to attend the latest Templeuve United tournament and there was a good turnout of 14 for the evening on July 18. Among the players there was a newcomer and two guys coming back after a long hiatus of over ten years. Michaël Dupret was the man on fire as he won his four games, including the big fight of the evening against Geoffrey Marain, to claim his fourth WASPA title. Dupret, who currently plays for the small club of Tournai, was a surprising but deserved winner. Congratulations to all the players for the fair spirit during the evening.

Final standings:
1. Michaël Dupret (Magic Team Tournai)
2. Geoffrey Marain (Flickers Milano)
3. Vincent Coppenolle (Templeuve United)
4. Stéphane Lambert (Templeuve United)
5. Steven Delfosse (Templeuve United)
6. Eric Caillaux (Templeuve United)
7. Matthias Averlant (Templeuve United)
8. Corentin Boltz (SC Eugies)
9. Franck Santer (Templeuve United)
9. Quentin Picou (Templeuve United)
11. André Boltz (SC Eugies)
11. Benjamin Marain (SC Warcoing Ducks)
13. Laurent Calonne (AS Hennuyer)
13. Kevin Altruy (Etoile Rumoise)

Mike Parnaby wins in Darlington

The Brigantes Premier League AGM and tournament was held in Darlington on 15th July 2017.
9 players turned out for this one. A fantastic effort. Mike Parnaby Chaired the AGM, Chris Kaberry ran the tournament and John Bottomley provided the venue and the refreshments.
All the games were played in very good spirit and well refereed.
Everyone had a very enjoyable and pleasant day.
Well done lads, you are all a credit to the game of Subbuteo!

Rick Bland wins again in Brisbane

The Brisbane Subbuteo Club 29th League Cup was played on the 16th of July at the Woody Point clubhouse. Today we had representatives of Brisbane Subbuteo Club, Subbuteo Perth and Ipswich Table Football Club.
In addition we hosted two gusts. Hugh Best from Subbuteo Perth (really a true Queenslander!) and 10yo Finlay McNamara undertaking his first ever Subbuteo experience.
Hugh was great company and we were all honoured he came to share the day with us. Thanks mate!
James Gillespie provided Finlay with some games to demonstrate how to play. Thank you James. Finlay says he will come back next tournament day!
Tournament organiser, Giuseppe (Pino) Tardiotta chose a round robin with the six players, semi finals to follow and then final.
Round one involved Rik against Pino. Rik took the lead but Pino equalised before half time. That score remained until full time. Shane played Gus. There have been some close games between the two and this game was the same. Gus took the lead and Shane got back in the game, scoring before the break. After half time, the game was back and forth before Gus again took the lead. From the kick off Shane came up with an equaliser, 2-2.
Andrew R. (Andy) played Hugh in the other game. Andrew used a Subbuteo heavyweight team for the tournament. He quickly took the game to our visitor and got to 3-0 before half time. The second half was better for Hugh but the match finished 4-0.
Round two Shane played Rik in an open style game. Rik created plenty of opportunities but somehow failed to score. Meanwhile, Shane created a couple of opportunities as well but this game had 0-0 written all over it! And that is how it finished.
Hugh was up against Pino in this round. He and Pino went to half time at 0-1. Pino killed the game off in the second half with a second..2-0.
Gus came up against Andy. Always a good game between these two guys. Gus led 1-0 at the break but Andrew R. came back into it to draw the game 1-1.
Round three and Rik played Hugh. Again Hugh fought valiantly but two goals before half time and another after saw the game go to Rik 3-0. Andy proved too strong for Shane in their game 1-0 at half time, Andrew R. scored two more in the second half, 3-0.
Pino played Gus to finish off the round. After scoring in the first half, Pino pushed for more goals and ended the game winning 3-0.
Round four saw Andy play Rik. This was a tight game and in the end, a second half goal to Rik was the difference. Gus met Hugh and after a scoreless first, Gus Scored three in the second half to win.
Shane played Pino in the other match. Pino was 3-0 up by half time and made it 4-0 in the second half. Shane scored a late consolation goal for a final score of 4-1 to Pino.
Round five, the last saw a couple of very close games. Rik versus Gus, second and third place potentially on the line. Gus scored first before Rik equalised before half time. In the second half Gus scored again but couldn't get enough goals to pinch second. Gus 2-1 over Rik.
Pino met Andy in a game that potentially could see Andy go second. This was a tight game and before half time, Pino scored, 1-0 and that was how it ended. Hugh played Shane in the other game. With nothing to play for they played out a 0-0 result.
The semi finals saw Pino play Andy in another good game. It was 1-0 to Pino at half time. Try as he might Andy just couldn't get on top and Pino eventually won 3-1. Rik played Gus in the other semi, a tight game and 0-0 at half time. Rik scored in the second half and it stayed 1-0.
The final matched Pino against Rik and this game was a close contest. 0-0 at half time, neither player was able to score before extra time was required. In the end, Rik won 2-1.
Another great day, thank you everyone who attended, special mention Hugh Best.
The next tournament will be held on 20th August at the Woody Point clubhouse. Flick off 9.00am

Celebrations in Japan

A tournament was held on July 15 in Yokohama city, Japan under the organisation of OSC Yamato. The tournament was scheduled late because organizers were happy to host U15 play Chihiro Takao who came back from Poland and it was a good reason to celebrate. The tournament attracted 8 players and the winner is Suguru Fujino after shoot-out. The second place is for Chihiro! Local organizers are expecting him to improve his skill very quickly.

(Report with the hlp of Hideaki Wada)

TFAS League 2017 - Match day 5

The July session of the TFAS League 2017 gathered 6 experienced players, including our Hong Kong counterpart, Antonio Carabillo.

As usual, 4 rounds of the swiss format were carried out. Interestingly, every player managed to win at least once, with Rudy coming out tops, closely followed by Anas in second.

The results are as follows:
Round 1
Bernard 1 v 1 Nic
Vikas 0 v 6 Rudy
Anas 2 v 2 Antonio
Round 2
Rudy 0 v 0 Antonio
Anas 4 v 1 Nic
Bernard 1 v 2 Vikas
Round 3
Rudy 2 v 1 Anas
Vikas 0 v 2 Nic
Bernard 3 v 0 Antonio
Round 4
Rudy 2 v 2 Bernard
Anas 3 v 1 Vikas
Nic 0 v 2 Antonio
Standings:
1. Rudy
2. Anas
3. Bernard
4. Antonio
5. Nic
6. Vikas

(Report by Anas)

Donegal back in action

After a long hyatus, Donegal Subbuteo Club was back in action on Saturday with a small tournament gathering three players. Each player played each other twice meaning everyone played 4 games in a league format. Here were the final standings.
Brendan Rodgers 12 points
Gary McLaughlin 4 points
Ciaran Rodgers 1 point

It was the Ireland's club first tournament since September 2013! Hopefully the club will have more regular meetings in the future and hopefully a circuit of 3 to 4 tournaments per season.

Andy Mill wins his first WASPA Cup title in North Shields

Andy Mill snatched his first WASPA title on 10th July in dramatic fashion with a well-taken goal just 30 seconds from time.

Dave and Nigel drew the first game 1 – 1. While both players had chances to win, Nigel should have scored midway through the second half when he shot wide of an empty net.  Game two finished Andy 0 – 0 Dave. Again, another tight game between these two that could have gone either way. The final game was very close with both players creating but not scoring. A nervous Nigel was mentally preparing himself for a shootout with Dave, when Andy made a cool move down the left (not like him) and took his time to score from a tight angle. It should be noted that Andy played both his games in an inebriated state after drinking several Jamesons Whiskeys, celebrating with a friend earlier that afternoon. Perhaps he should try this more often!

Thanks to Andy for his hospitality and entertainment. Another excellent mini tournament in Shields!

(Report by Chris Kaberry)

WASPA survey: the results

In the last few weeks, a survey has been organized to know the opinion of players about the WASPA circuit. We have been happy to receive feedback from 82 different people. Because we like transparancy, here are the answers we received.

Some conclusions:  looks like in general people are happy of how things are run but we could probably improve a few things, for instance the way national associations should support WASPA (clearly it's not enough now), more focus should be put on junior events. People think WASPA is not in competition with FISTF, which is very important for us (as some people still don't understand both circuits can help each other).

A) Who answered the survey?

- Age:
1-19: 1 answer
20-39: 14 answers
40-49: 42 answers
50-90: 25 answers

- Are you currently ranked in the WASPA tables?
Yes: 64
No: 12
No but I have been ranked in the past: 3
I don't know: 3

B) Questions with multiple choices:

- What kind of Subbuteo games do you prefer?
Games at home with friends and family: 30
Games in my club: 57
WASPA events: 56
National events: 38
FISTF events: 35

- Do you think the WASPA circuit is working well?
Yes: 72
No: 3
No opinion: 7

- Do you think running 12 WASPA regional events per club a year is a good number?
Yes: 56
No, it should be more: 6
12 is too much, it should be less: 14
No opinion: 6

- Do you think the WASPA circuit is helpful to promote the game of Subbuteo?
Yes: 75
No: 5
No opinion: 2

- Do you think national associations should always support the WASPA circuit?
Yes: 76
No: 1
No opinion: 5

- Do you think national associations currently give enough support to the WASPA circuit?
Yes: 31
No: 27
No opinion: 24

- Do you think WASPA should give more support to tournaments played with the old rules?
Yes: 18
Rankings points should be awarded in the same way as regional tournaments: 16
No: 16
No opinion: 32

- Do you think WASPA should give more support to junior events?
Yes: 63
No: 6
No opinion: 13

- Should we have a separate WASPA ranking for juniors?
Yes: 60
No: 11
No opinion: 10

- If WASPA had only one junior category, what would it be?
U18: 13
U17: 5
U16: 21
U15: 10
U14: 3
U12: 4
Should always be the same as FISTF categories: 22
No opinion: 4

- Do you think the WASPA circuit is too flexible?
It's all fine right now: 70
There should be more stricter rules: 5
No opinion: 7

- Do you know what WASPA test-matches are?
Yes: 35
No: 28
No but I would like to see more about it!: 19

- Do you watch the WASPA rankings every month?
Yes: 54
No: 28

- Do you think the WASPA circuit makes unfair competition to FISTF events?
Yes: 5
No: 64
No opinion: 12
No, I think it is an additional benefit (consolidation tournaments, classic = old rules tournaments) beside a FISTF event: 1

- What about the WASPA blog?
That's OK, I like it as it is: 47
WASPA should have a more professional website: 19
No opinion: 16

- What do you think about the WASPA rankings?
I love them, they are fine: 34
I don't like rankings anyway: 5
Rankings are fine but they don't work perfectly: 16
Rankings are just good to know statistics, how many players are taking part,...: 25
WASPA events should be included int he FISTF rankings: 6

- What is (are) the strength(s) of WASPA?
Every club can run many events per season: 54
It's much cheaper than playing in FISTF level: 31
The spirit of games is much more relax: 59
I like the fact it's not compulsory to put referees for every game: 34
There are players from many different countries involved: 32
There are not too many rules to organize events: 42
None of these proposals: 2

- What do you think about the WASPA top clubs?
I love the idea, the current system is fine: 26
All clubs (or more clubs) should be involved: 24
There should be a ranking system based on several categories (1 for clubs who run 10 events per season or have at least 10 players, 1 for clubs who run 6 events per season or have at least 6 players, clubs who run 3 events per season or have at least 3 players): 7
We don't need a ranking of clubs: 23
No opinion: 8

- What do you think about the WASPA rankings of nations?
I love the idea, the current system is fine: 28
We shoud create divisions in the beginning of the season (division 1 for nations with 1000+ points, division 2 for 500+ points, divisions 3 for 100+ points, division 4 for nations with less than 100 points) and give a title at the end of the season. It would motivate nations to host more events.: 16
The ranking should be improved (not just the top 5 players from every nation): 6
Rankings are never perfect anyway: 21
No opinion: 18

C) Open questions

- What are your ideas to improve the WASPA circuit? (30 responses)
* Allow waspa inter-club matches
* A PDF that makes clear what tournaments were played during the last recent month - sent out with the rankings
* Better website with links and good access
* More promotion from the top players and a WASPA World Cup style tournament
* I would like to see more recognition for clubs playing regularly but not necessarily running tournaments. Neither WSFC or south staffs make the rankings but are playing weekly games.
* None. It is ok as a casual circuit.
* The Promotion (public work) of each Club in there DOMESTIC country should be done much better - more public work to promote STF. If the Clubs and Nations do not promote, then WASPA and FISTF, nor the Club nor the national federation has an Advantage. WASPA and FISTF can only be as strong, as the base is built. What does it help our Sport if the local Clubs or federation are in the private 4 walls and nothing goes to the outside. What sense has Facebook? It the other People do not join the inner cirlce of Players. FISTF and WASPA have the same Problem and think that FB will help. It does not. FISTF promote the FISTF world Cup via Facebook...and what does it bring, if it does NOT REACH the REAL MEDIA world? If babyfoot (Foosball, Kicker, Wuzzler) go to the TV and FISTF does not, then how can we get on? Laurant Garnier was the best with his concepts and Ideas, but onyl a tiny Group of persons understood him. WASAPA has the same main MEDIA Problem. We need real Media Partners to go outside the own 4 walls. STF in General has the huge Problem that the REAL Marketing is NOT orking at all. It has NO SENSE AT ALL THAT FSITF promote Subbuteo, which is a TOY (game) and not a SPORT(game). If the WORLD OF "STF" does not Change in the way of "THINKING", then we will never reach a certain size to be a Sport. Why does everyone us "Subbuteo"? Has ist a sense to promote a toy, and we dont get nothing from Subbuteo! Subbuteo does not sell in Austria. Why should we promote it? The statutes if FISTF say "SPORT TABLE FOOTBALL" and not "Subbuteo" and not "Sport Table Soccer". If we write text then we Need conform TEXT to the outside - like I do it in austria. We call it "Corporate Identity" so that the Clubs and the national Federation are conform in texting to the outside (Madia). Nobody understands that world wide. The influential Situation of new Subbuteo markets Show that clear...!
* Higher numbers for an official event than 3
* While Vincent is in charge, WASPA will develop and grow for sure, just because he loves the game and the WASPA ethos. Players trust him and are also buying into that ethos. As long as WASPA remains "not like FISTF" it will grow.
* Currently no ideas for improvements - all is running well at WASPA
* Promoting subbuteo to teenagers
* Include it in FISTF as Challenger - Future - etc. It is not good to have 2 different association in Subbuteo
* The idea of 'waspa' should become a 'outside Europe' federation of fistf. As it is, it damages promotion of, or discourages, national circuits in certain countries
* To add more contact addresses all over the world would be great
* As well as the test match series, it would be good to have a more local challenge system where someone ranked, say, 600 challenges someone ranked 100. If they win they would pick up points depending on the 'gap'. If they lose , the challenged play would pick up bonus points. Only 1 challenge a month allowed. That kind of thing.
* More different styles of play. Old subbuteo and modern bases tournaments should have the same ranking points.
* None really, it is all down to individual clubs to keep the game alive and I don't think there is any way it can overtake a FISTF mentality by the current players.
* I don't know at the moment
* Get rid of seedings in tournaments have the group's as luck of the draw. Allow old rules to be used with new bases.
* So far it's been good...
* More information on regional events, specific locations and contact details. Perhaps publishing contact information by location (not country - that's too broad. Be more specific eg city of London). This will facilitate visiting players to arrange friendlies
More participation all over the World
* It is obvious rankings are intangible. Nations have different technique and tactic levels. A weighting system will never provide accuracy even when clubs regions and countries play WASPA tournaments. Simply provide individual clubs with their own ranking, split into gender and age categories. If people are focused on their placing they are playing WASPA for the wrong reasonand should play FISTF.
WASPA should be separated from FISTF to the end of all Subbuteo times. And over alle we don't have to be afraid of thinking about an Amateur World Cup (yes, we should use this name).
* integrate it into FISTF
* To include a Waspa event before or during or immediatly after every Fistf events
* It is fine at present
* Find a way to make it easier to help new players find local players / clubs.

What are the positive sides of the WASPA circuit? (32 responses)
* more relax (2)
* As an organiser, I can do whatever format I want
* Complements FISTF, inclusive, easy to put a tournament on, even at the last minut
* Free and easy
* The informality of it and the positive boost the rankings give to players
* Better communications and less red tape when running events. More relaxed approach overall.
* Introduces a little competition element in casual games.
* The easy uncomplicated handling of tiny Events.
* Well organised by the president
* It is not FISTF! Vincent has been in both camps and has seen many things. He has taken all of the good things to created and develop WASPA, while leaving the bad things with FISTF.
* I like the "amateur" side of this - keeps the events "friendly" & social
* Free participation
* You can enjoy playing events that should count as World ranking without travelling and be sure you can play more than 3 games...
* The more games, the better
* Events easy to arrange
* Not so much regulations as FISTF
* More relaxed and local tournaments with a fun ranking that is nice to have. Everyone gets a chance to play the game and experience some kind of competition.
* Great, friendly competition.
* It's probably friendlier!
* Its easy to get involved and have a competition, encouraging more people to play.
* The positive side are games more relaxing and friendly....with lots of laugth....
* Friendlier atmosphere,
* it allows easy organization of recognised tournaments for nations, and the small minimum number of players allow small communities to get recognised as well.
* It is great as it promote greater interest for players to come together. Eg attendance at our WASPA events always attracts better turn out then the regular club events
* Bonding with friends..
* Rankings, easy to organise multiple events
* Flexibility, camaraderie, development of new and junior players through discipline, concentration, social interaction, accepting the rules and passion. * These are all critical social skills.
* The summary of all positive statements boxes i filled in above.
* That mostly every body can play, the easy possibility to organize a Waspa, for fun, possibility to play, play and play. As for example for Fistf events you do not play so much. People travel quiet a lot sometimes just to play just 3 matches.
It is easy to organise a tournament, with little administration and no fees.
* Many positives as mentioned above. Also, it's a great way for new players to discover how large the game is, and where they can find other players in the community.

What are the negative sides of the WASPA circuit? (27 responses)
* Nothing, it's a fantastic concept. As long as people get to flick and have fun, that's all that matters
* If there is a bad attitude to FISTF (or vice a versa), this splits the Subbuteo world which is very unfortunate. FISTF and WASPA despite their differences need to be very responsible, back each other and stick together. The same players play in both. There are differences of course, which i understand but these should not become prominent, else we are not promoting the game of Subbuteo we are making it divisive. This needs maturity from both core of FISTF and core of WASPA. Thank you for the WASPA circuit.
* none
* None
* No negatives - you doing a great job! I would like to see more ideas for getting kids involved and some more recognition for clubs for running weekly leagues.
None.
* AAAAaaaaaaaaaaa - what can be negative? If FISTF does not work properly with a clear policy, then WASPA can NOT do wrong in this stage of the time. FISTF and WASPA need more and better coordination. The STF world is in a chaos. IF THERE IS NO STRONG LEADER of a FISTF President, which understands what needs to be done, then the Evolution of STF will not get forward in a real needed way. FISTF needs to work properly, then WASPA will have a main part in the development. WASPA needs to motivate the people to develop and then organise FISTF Events. FISTF needs to understand that on every level. When that BASE is given, then the STF world will run much better.
* The only thing I don't like is that FISTF plate competitions gain WASPA status. I do know of players who target the WASPA points rather than progress in the FISTF event. Sort of defeats the ethos a bit.
* Currently no negatives - all is running well at WASPA
* The existence of two different associations
* Separate "federation"
* As above
* People become deluded about the rankings and forget these just reflect on how active the player is and their winning form only matters within their own club and can't be compared with their performance against other players around the world. Some people develop a big ego from looking at the waspa rankings
* Smaller tournaments will not be organised as FISTF-Satellite, but as WASPA, because some Players would be not allowed to play in Satellite (Top 100), Organisation is more complicated.... But all this is to be solved by FISTF, WASPA may give Support (even if it looses some tournaments - but it may win the consolidation tournament...) So, in the end this was more than 2 minutes....
* It is clear that some of the clubs do not play correct rules. This has been evidenced by Derry City. Whilst they all have great fun, they haven't got a clue about the rules. This must go on all over the world, which is why you can never take the WASPA ranking too seriously. Which is a shame.
* None.
* Probably lacks a website for promotion.
* Losing the final of waspa tourmanents....
* Fisft don't like it, needs to be better cooperation from fistf
* open to possible exploitation.. example, slightly stronger player organises always tournaments that he would most probably win and climb up the rankings - does not truly mean a high rank player is really of quality...
* Nothing negative. But I would love to have earlier access to contacts across the world
* Nothing
* A limit of 12 WASPA tournaments par annum.
* People expecting Vincent to carry the load. Congratulations are all very well deserved but actions speak louder than words...and you can print that Vincent!!
* That we are afraid of getting in a kind of competition to FISTF. We don't have to fear FISTF. They are on the wrong way.
* it seems not supported enough from Fistf, not so much advertising
* Not valued enough by FISTF players.
* The only negative is that it's a huge amount of work for one person to handle. Can't see any other negatives. Keep up the brilliant work, Vincent.

Big festival in London

Several WASPA tournament were organized during the recent Grand Prix of England held on July 1 and 2 in London. In total 39 players attended the tournaments played under WASPA banner. We were glad to see a lot of new names, in particular young players from the new "Castle Newham TFC", a club run in England by Alex Westley. Huge thanks to Jeremy Bradley and his crew for hosting the tournament in a good conditions. Here is a quick look at the different finals played over the week-end.

Supremo's Trophy (Open plate) -> WASPA regional event
Paulo Gouveia 4-3 Rudi Peterschinigg

Darren Barnes

Jeff Jordan Trophy (Vets 3rd places) -> WASPA regional event
Darren Barnes 1-1 Andy Boyer - Darren won on shots

Harrow Cup (Vets 4th places) -> WASPA regional event
Brian Daley 2-0 John Lauder

Vincent Fitzpatrick Vase (Vets 5th places) -> WASPA promotional event
Mat Atkin 4-3 Neil Doherty

Thomas Price

U19 plate -> WASPA promotional event
Thomas Price 2-1 Louis Singh

Ruby and Ben

U12 Plate 1 (Losing quarter finalists) -> WASPA promotional event
Ruby Matthews 3-0 Ben Plumley

U12 Plate 2 (Losers in groups) -> WASPA promotional event
Dylan Wilde 1-0 Kyle Buvac

Team plate
Kent Invicta A 3-1 Kent Invicta B

Great success for the Stoke tournament

The Stoke O.S. tournament took place on June 25, 2017 and had twenty entrants from allover the UK. The tournament was played with handpainted HW Top Spin  Teams supplied by Paul Lloyd and this year's tournament was themed on "Mexico 70". Every game was played on cloth pitches and "Advanced Rules" were the order of the day. And which team won? Brazil of course used by Richard Stock.

Main event:

Quarter-finals
Richard Stock - Ian Ridler 2-0
Ralph Pomeroy - Justin Scott 0-2
Mike Bradbury - Joseph Kinrade 3-0
Adam Lundy - Brian Kinrade 0-0*

Semi-finals
Richard Stock - Justin Scott 1-0
Mike Bradbury - Brian Kinrade 0-0*

Final
Richard Stock - Brian Kinrade 1-0

Consolation event:

Quarter-finals
Mick Hammonds - John Ellis 1-0
Mark Broadhurst - Jim Newton 0-1
Ruby Matthews - Alex Pomeroy 1-0
Gary Hawley - Andy Bowler 0-0*

Semi-finals
Mick Hammonds - Jim Newton 3-2
Ruby Matthews - Andy Bowler 0-2

Final
Mick Hammonds - Andy Bowler 4-1

Entrants: Cayne Matthews  (LRSC/North Wales), Ruby Matthews (LRSC/North Wales), Richard Stock (LRSC/North Wales), Mike Bradbury (Wolverhampton/ WTFC), Justin Scott (Wolverhampton/WTFC), Mick Hammond(Wolverhampton/WTFC), Mark Broadhurst (Wolverhampton/WTFC), Brian Kinrade (I.O.M.), Joseph Kinrade (I.O.M.), Ralph Pomeroy (Burnley), Alex Pomeroy (Burnley), Ian Ridler (Bristol), Jeff Gould (Derby), Gary Hawley (Derby), Adam Lundy (Droitwich), John Ellis (?), Nick Harrop (Milton Keynes), Jim Newton (Norfolk), Mike Newton (Norfolk), Andy Bowler (Stoke).

(Report by Andy Bowler)