Thank you for starting this thread Zach. Who wants it?
Location of 2012 Midwestern Championships
#9 - Bloomington, IN
#8 - MInneapolis, MN
#7 - Columbia, MO
#6 - Dayton, OH
#5 - St. Louis, MO
#4 - Madison, WI
#3 - Milwaukee, WI
#2 - Chicago, IL
#1 - Madison, WI
So where's it gonna be people???
At this point it's been long enough that we could loop back to one of the cities in the "golden triangle" (MAD, MKE, CHI) but if we're looking for somewhere new then may i suggest Columbus, OH? They've put on a couple awesome little tourneys this year and have the people and space for it. Plus sarah is probably better at getting sponsorships than anyone i've ever met in polo...
Lexington obviously has the capacity to do it, but they'll be hosting Ladies Army (!!!) around the same time. Louisville couldn't host a serious tournament to save their life. Other newer clubs like Cinncinati, Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, would be fun but haven't hosted much yet so they probably aren't in a position to take on a Major. This time last year is when Bloomington started planning for Midwesterns and whoever is gonna do it this year should get as much time as possible to plan. Hell, we'll do it again if we have to.
Just trying to get the conversation going....
Other newer clubs like Cinncinati, Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, would be fun but haven't hosted much yet so they probably aren't in a position to take on a Major.
I think it would be ok - I think if they've done a good job at tournaments so far and they have good ideas for sponsors I'm ok with a club going for it. I've been to some tournaments by smaller, newer clubs that have been great and tournaments by large, established clubs that have been a bit disappointing. But, you know that's from 1 year of tournament attendance, so I offer this modestly.
And W. Lafayette hosted a riverside tournament and the Star City Open this year..I've seen videos of that beautiful park. Maybe they could get part of a parking lot nearby?
Also, if Chicago is up for this, I'm willing to put a lot of work into it - I'll be bringing it up and asking to see if we will put a bid in. I'm just speaking up for the smaller clubs...can't forget my roots.
Somewhere within 8 hours of driving from DC. Columbus, OH? I accept.
fuck it. every midwest event(open or championship) will be held in MKE from now to eternity.
Zach, GR is northside like we are. not saying that Michigan couldn't host some mid-west event, but the boss(es) said we are northsiders.
yeah i know but fuck that shit. michigan will always be midwestern and no silly maps are gonna change that.
Courts are the biggest priority of course. I think Milwaukee is winning in that department
Milwaukee it is. Andd by the way what is up with indianna and "nidwesterns" its midwest.
Milwaukee it is. Andd by the way what is up with indianna and "nidwesterns" its midwest.
I really want to host it in CoMO but seems like Milwaukee has it on lock down.
como! como! como! i really wanna play tournament games under the lights again at the big court in cosmo park!
somebody want to contact Columbus folks if they haven't seen this yet?
COLUMBUS WOULD BE INTO IT FOR SURE. i would love to have it here as i wouldnt have to drive super far far...we would just have to build another court ....
sarahelizabeth
got my vote
mke
bump.
the MKE suggestion is a joke, and it sounds like they'll prolly be doing NA's next year anyway.
how does everybody feel about Columbus? i know for a fact that have plenty of space for courts (two roller hockey + a giant tennis complex nearby), they're great with sponsorships and event planning in general, and their club has the depth/numbers it takes to pull off a Major.
yeah i cant believe you all believed me when i said we'd host every midwest from now on...hahahhha
but true we are bidding to host NA's
columbus do it!
Also i ask that it NOT be held on memorial day weekend please!!!!
I think I speak for Cincinnati when I say 2013, we have alot on our plate as it is with finishing up our new courts. That said, FUCK YES COLUMBUS, you couldn't ask for a better group of guys to run a major. If you kids need any help from the southern side of the state to get things up and running, I'm fairly sure you have our numbers.
can this not be a nah qualifier? maybe have it a bench style tournament. i think the jenny cup needs to be kept separate from nah.
maybe have it a bench style tournament.
The Jenny Cup needs to be held separate from Menaceball
Why do you care, Joe? You're not even going to be in the Midwest this spring.
to clarify....is this going to be linked to NAH tour or not?
please holla on that...and watch for the bidding post. coming to your internets soon.
also...if open....and depending on dates...I LOVE THE MIDWEST! maybe i'll come up.
=]
joe is just talking crazy. The midwest championship would have to be on the NAH tour because honestly i dont see how the midwest cities would hold a ladies army, MW regional championship, a MWO, and NA's this year, as well as another tourney just for the jenny cup.
just for the record, it's not that we (Louisville) are unable to hold a serious tournament, we just have no desire to.
truth. poor phrasing on my part.
speaking of though, what events are you guys thinking about hosting this year?
"I'm not an alcoholic, I just like drinking a lot!"
;)
Any idea of dates? cause im looking for tourney around Ladies Army to make my trip worth it...
it doesnt appear there is even a city named yet but i will again ask please not memorial day weekend. and my vote is for columbus...
Columbus does it right. Best courts this side of the skatium.
I feel like Midwest is way behind. Has any city stepped forward to put this on?
do it in como!
It has just been comfirmed by NAH officials; the COMOPOLO Pull Out will be this years Midwestern Qualifier.
columbus has the courts and the people, they just need to accept. i'll call peter tomorrow and tell him to get on here..
Peter and David are out of the country. Try Colin or Fletcher maybe. I know a decision needs to be made soon but their courts are amazing so its worth knowing for sure.
Also, Sarah just moved to Pgh from Columbus but she is a kick ass organizer and might be able to help you too as far as details on the state/preparedness of Columbus bike polo and their ability to host this kind of tournament.
David and I are definitely interested in coming out to the Midwest this year.
Yeah we do!!
i mean, we don't really need a midwest championship, do we?
Has anyone heard from Columbus? I'm about to put some boards around a tennis court just so we have a date and place set.
it's a little bit more complicated than that, but COMOPOLO is forming an exploratory committee to look into hosting
I think we'd be willing to step up if it were necessary and another city just couldn't make it happen. MKE already has NAs it looks like. This thread is just a bit dead and someone needs to get the ball rolling.
A question for others in the midwest though: Would you want to come back to the big court? What do you think?
Yes, to the big court at cosmo. that thing is awesome.
Columbus already has the courts and space, but since sarah moved to pittsburgh and peter is out of the country i'm not sure who exactly to talk to.
can someone who has facebook start harassing the columbus dudes?? like all of them until one of them gets on here? facebook people tend to be on that shit all the time and since none of them are on LoBP...
i think you meant to say the "only properly sized court in bike polo."
yes, duh!
Not especially.
+1
it's a little bit more complicated than that, but COMOPOLO is forming an exploratory committee to look into hosting
Can someone form a Super PAC to fund it? Super Polo Action Committee of course...
Sorry for the absentee-ism on this matter, this is Peter from Columbus. Sorry for te stupid username. Thanks bob for greeting ahold of me. Columbus is interested yes. We really appreciate all the back patting and positive comment about the two small tournaments we threw last year. Our one problem is this, we do have really awesome courts yes, and they are in the same area, but realistically they are sperated by about a mile of university campus and would be a logistical nightmare to coordinate 150 some folks accross. We could attempt to use one of the courts and construct two more at the same location. Our relationship with the city has proved to be not so constructive in the past though so I can't guarantee that constructing courts as a possibility at the moment. If the city will let us build courts we are interested in hosting for sure but I can't speak to that until We can meet with the city and discuss. Also we need to talk to the rest of our smaller club ad see how many folks are willin to help out. Also what are the dates we are talking about?
The dates are yours to set. Qualifiers like the one people want you to host must be completed by the first weekend in June. I'd recommend hosting this in mid May, right after finals are completed and school is out.
Get a hold of your city quickly and see if they would like to help you/let you do what you want! Remember that this will most likely require insurance, a court plan that may include buying a shit ton of wood, the city may require you to rent the space or whatever...
The two courts being separated wouldn't be impossible to work around, but getting a large scale tournament done with only two courts even in May would be hard... unless there are lights? When are you guys getting back to the US?
I second what Peter says. When we get back to the states we will make the proper inqueries to see if hosting is a viable possibility for our clubs future. Until that time we can not comment further about the continued speculation regarding the prospect of Columbus hosting the Midwest tournament.
My vote is for Chicago or Lex., Hell lex could do it the weekend after Ladies Army. Forgot to get on this site since about Oct. Now that I guess the season is back I'll check this thing again.
I hope you're joking about Lexington, and I doubt Chicago could jump through all the hoops necessary to run a tourney this size by the end of May. I think the Midwest qualifier spots will be decided by a mud wrestling contest in a corn field in Iowa.
My vote is for Chicago or Lex., Hell lex could do it the weekend after Ladies Army. Forgot to get on this site since about Oct. Now that I guess the season is back I'll check this thing again.
Everyone else in this thread is petitioning for columbus to do it, and dudes from columbus are just now getting on this site, saying they are out of the country or calling for chicago to host...
This is a shit show.
In all seriousness - Milwaukee would love for other clubs or individuals to step up for an organizational role to throw the Midwests on our court. We could really be a model for the future if this were to succeed.
-Identify the best in region facility
-Appoint regional members (not only and not excluding local members) positions
-primary organizer
-sponsor coordinator
-tournament operation manager (oversee tournament as happening)
-Come together to host a true "regional"
That being said, since we are hosting NA's we really wouldn't want anything to do with this regional other than opening our doors.
We would need a 'tournament organizer' to step up and begin delegating the following task list
-sponsors
-Weekend of court building before Midwests
-registration
-running tournament day of
-cleanup - stay a day late and host clean up party on Monday
-nets
If this were to happen within 1 month of the NA's we could leave all 4 courts up and be all set for the big show.
What do you idiots think?
It's a good thought but what do we want this to become? Going back and forth to milwaukee to play polo? It is a solution and a pretty decent one at that, but it just doesn't say much for our future, you know? It's kind of depressing.
Would you rather do this or come to Columbia? Como would be the big court, one built court out of plywood, and then that silly border patrol court that was used last time for a C court. We could do this and P&R has already given us the weekend of May 12-13th. If we could get Lex to bring their goals or someone else, we'd have 3 sets of goals, would have to build one court, get sponsors and tell people to deal with their own food.
You guys make the call but this waiting on Columbus shit is just not working out..
We could also sleep everyone pretty much guaranteed.
Comopolo, would you please just step up and "host the shit out of this bitch" already!
We would, but you are the only one saying this! We need more consensus from the community that a tournament with a final on the big court is one worth having.
let's set a date for Columbus to give a final "yes or no".
if they can't do it, COMO steps up and hosts the jenny cup. (which could be pushed back to june since NA's are in MKE and no plane tickets to canada are needed)
if they can do it, cool, and how about COMO hosts the Open in autumn?
Oh, it's cool. I already asked around, only the squares said they didn't want to.
That court is so ridicuosly big its funny. what if you build a wall in the middle and cut in in half what are the dimensions then?
are you saying you want non-MKE players to organize a tourney that takes place in MKE? i'm not sure about that... i do agree that we need a method/process/committee to spearhead this shit.
in my opinion we should have host cities picked out a year in advance... the whole bid system seems hit or miss (like calgary being the only bid for NA's last year). if all city reps/organizers would just sit down at any given event and pick the location for the next year all of our lives would be so much easier. ie- we should've had a powwow last may in bloomington and said "alright so who's gonna do it" and decide right there.
obviously that time has passed and we're in triage mode now... if Columbus can't get their shit together soon (and i mean soon) then the mantle should pass to COMO or MKE. and why we're at it, let's go ahead and pick a location for MWopen3 and the 2013 jenny cup. we all know who is capable of hosting and where the good courts are...let's just decide already.
I also push to have the date moved as far back as possible that first weekend in June? just gives us as much ample time as possible to do this thing semi right where ever it is.
kansas city
/thread
http://321polo.net/2011/05/bike-polo-oasis-part-one-lenexa-kansas/
Lenexa. Let's paint the town red.
Penn valley park tennis courts would be a perfect place.
pray to god that border patrol court comment is a joke
Your third court was not much better, guy. And at least I can guarantee score cards and stop watches.
Hello from Columbus,
Sorry for not being available on this thread but we just got back. I feel bad about not being a part of this, sorta like we dropped the ball without knowing we were holding it. Zach had mentioned to me he though this would be a good time for us to host but other than that i had no idea we were a front running candidate, guess that probably means i should watch the site more carefully. I will have an answer about Columbus before Monday. I can say this COMO is certainly seems to be involved and ready good for you guys!
Peter, if you guys can get permission to use those tennis courts next to the big field by the rec center (where the mural is and your semi-permanent court was going up) then you could easily build a couple extra courts AND use the mural court AND use the rec center hockey rink. That'd be 4 courts with much less construction than Bloomington had to do for 3 last Jenny Cup... i wouldn't even try to use the OSU rink at Lane&High cause that would require a distant location and walkie-talkies. The two tournaments i've been to in Columbus have had high quality courts, awesome prizes, excellent hosts, and were overall super laid back and really fun. A jenny cup in Columbus would be hella fun.
But if you guys can't make it happen, that's fine. COMO is organizing and could possibly host, but like you guys, it ain't a given.
LET'S SAY NEITHER como nor columbus can host-- Bloomington can and would be willing to host again. Seriously. I realize not too many people would be psyched about returning to the same city two years in a row but we could easily replicate MW9 on as short as a month's notice. The last resort alternative would be Milwaukee hosting, just cause they have the courts and the organization to make it happen, though Norteamericanos is gonna be there just a month later... (same for Lexington, they could theoretically do it but they're doing Ladies Army the month before).
EITHER WAY WE NEED TO DECIDE SOON!
I can't speak for anyone but myself, but i really wanna get this shit figured out ASAP.
Hey guys, just an FYI for whoever is planning, something to keep in mind is that the 2012 North American Cycle Courier Championships are happening in Richmond, May 24 - 28th. This may impact some players.
we are far from organizing to be honest and it would be a stretch for us to host, a rather big one. things just aren't at that level for us right now but we wish they were.
History lesson and a suggestion:
The first midwests was planned and promoted by Chicago, but hosted and perfectly executed by Madison. So there's a precedent for an out of town host. We used to do this stuff all in our own kitchens with no sponsors on a month's notice. The hard part was finding enough people to come play.
Now the opposite is true. Which brings me to the suggestion: The financial and logistical burden of hosting a 3-4 court, weekend long event is too great for most clubs to bear. Without title sponsors or a wealthy central governing body, it is becoming obvious that there are only a handful of clubs that can support these sprawling tournaments. This seems unfair to both traveling players and would-be host clubs priced out of being able to show off their town and leave the car in the lot for once.
One solution (and by no means the only one) is to have it be a true championship. Like with qualifiers and stuff. Podium records are trusted and easy to use. Have city contests the weekend before, top two teams from each town get to go to a scaled-down, one-or-two-court, hosted-at-the-pick-up-spot-without-huge-fees-incurred, we-can-all-fit-into-one-bar-afterwords, midwest champeenships.
I know the crowds and the range of skill levels makes it more exciting and brotherly, but seriously, there's only so much floor space in a club. Work with what you've got. Get better, not bigger.
So Madison is looking into hosting this. If we can secure the courts we want then will be putting a bid in for this. It would have to be the weekend of May 19th.
CLEAR THE TABLE!
I like this idea!
do it do it do it!!!!
When do you (Madison) think you'll know the viability of hosting?
We've got emails out but it's hard to imagine that we'll know about the status of courts (most important piece) until at least next week.
Walking to calendar, clearing weekend of May 19th..
x3 from Winnipeg
yeah madison!
yeah Madison! x a zillion on get better not bigger!
Good job, guys. I mean, why put in the work to address a systemic issue that's only going to get worse as polo grows while you have a coupla months to do it when you can just sit and wait to be rescued like a helpless princess?
x2
i think the problem is that no one has the authority to make such decisions. i'm more than willing to do the heavy lifting (even now i offer up bloomington as host) but who makes the final decision isn't clear and NAH has been quiet as a mouse...
do we need a "midwest steering committee" or something of that sort? in my opinion we should already have picked both the Jenny Cup and the Open3's location and talk should be moving towards the 2013 host...
What authority do you need here, exactly? It's a bidding process, right? As there are no other certain bids, any city can put in one with their own conditions.
I.E. "Podunksville, IA would love to host a big-deal, high-level tournament. We've got one great court and can make one good court next to it. There's a local, organic, bike shop and bakery that wants to feed us and a homebrew club who want to get us drunk afterwords. Thing is, with this set-up we can only accomodate 24 teams in a weekend. So please get your shit together and have city contests. Cos only the top two from every city (or top three from clubs with more than 20 regulars and two from clubs with a dozen. Or last year's top four teams plus two from every city. Or whatever) can participate. This way, it will be a true championship, and entry will only be 5 bucks cos we don't have to cover park fees, insurance, and one-time-use court building costs. Spectators/hecklers/designated drivers welcome."
If it's the only bid, or the one that wins a majority vote vs whoever, boom! It's done. Top 8 go on to NA's. No one had to get a hotel room. No one who hadn't already proved their mettle participated in a "championship". And a smaller club in a probably really cool place didn't get boxed out of hosting or railroaded into spending thousands of dollars and dozens of volunteer hours. Plus: a system is now in place for when bike polo gets REALLY big, and there is no club that could host a regional tournament for less than ten grand on 6 courts, and you're all taking a week off work to qualify in preliminary contests, etc etc.
Lucky, while i agree with the gist of this, the reality is that for 4+ years people have been playing with teammates from different cities, for a variety of decent reasons, most of which are quite valid. I believe you are included but i'm not sure. As much as it pissed Jonny Ben and I off at Midwest4 when Panizzo and Schultz roped in Rumplestiltskin to take away our four-peat, it made the sport better.
There are other ways of accomplishing a tiered system like you're talking about, like having one-court tournaments for "B" players, and X players get to go to a one-court A tournament, and you keep your A/B status from year to year, unless you place in the bottom, say, 1/4 or 1/3 at the A tournament. This was discussed at length by NAH tournament committee last fall but was set aside. Maybe it'll happen next year, who knows. It's complicated to manage all that information.
Other ways of accomplishing this: develop some kind, polite ways of dissuading your club mates from going to tournaments at which they are not likely to win any games. Harsh, i know. But a city by city system won't work right now, unless it's Bench format, which is still in the lab.
You're right, of course. I don't know how I managed to put that detail out of my head for so long.
For sure the most difficult part of making tournaments more manageable and championships more meaningful will be agreeing on the mechanism to restrict entry. I am glad to hear that NAH has been talking about it, but a little distressed to see none of that discussion revealed here. For what it's worth, I've been in favor of a promotion and relegation system for a couple of years now. Nice the first time I went to a tourney in a parking lot where every court had to be built at great expense in time and money.
Let's take a step back. Is there agreement about my core point: that tournaments are getting out of hand, and becoming hosted by fewer clubs because of it?
Let's take a step back. Is there agreement about my core point: that tournaments are getting out of hand, and becoming hosted by fewer clubs because of it?
I wouldn't say "out-of-hand". But yes, for the past couple years they've been big and it has required a lot of energy. Having quality courts is the only real problem, because they are expensive and not super easy to build. Even cities that would want to host run the math and realize that without a sponsor to pay for shit, you can't build 2 or 3 courts worth playing on with the entrance fees.
On the other hand, the fact that they are big is why they are so much fun, too. I say we try to keep them like they are for as long as possible and at all costs. I mean, I'll pay more to attend, etc...
Yeah this isn't a popular opinion, but i agree many tournaments should cost more than they do. The bigger tournaments last year topped out at $25/pp for the weekend. This a fucking steal, especially since you usually get food and often a tshirt or a bunch of other swag, and people are often using a few tanks of gas or even flying to go to events, and most people are easily consuming that much in beer.
People who disagree should organize more events. Having many smaller, cheaper, one-court events without much in the way of prizes and sponsors is the best way to take pressure off the big ones, and get tourney experience, etc.
Thank you for saying this. For our events $10/per person per day has been the going rate and while i really hate asking people for money it still seems like a pittance compared to (as you pointed out) the money we drop on gas, booze, etc. Especially for the major tourneys knowing you have a reasonably sized budget to work with makes life easier on the organizers and results in a better event for the players.
Hell, compare polo entry fees to road racing/UCI fees... shit's crazy. I'm not saying we need to go that direction, but everyone throwing in a couple extra bucks would go a long way to improving the quality of tournaments.
It only cost $60/team ($20/person) for Midwests last year, right? I was barely playing two months at the time and remember thinking, "Shit, I'd probably pay $40 to play at this," simply because I was psyched.
Then when I got free yard/couch space, swag, two lunches and plenty of pickup time I thought, "Shit, maybe even $50."
Talking about money is tricky because few--if any of us--are in the same fiscal situation. But I can easily get through a weekend on $160-180 (drinks are all too often on me). I'd happily lower my weekend budget $20 and throw that $20 into the tourney.
I too am not saying it needs to be like a road race. Maybe if organizers set registration at a certain price and encouraged those able to donate more to do so when they register. $1 here or $10 there from players who register could go a long way at 48-team tourneys, right?
Another problem with open tournaments related to size: when you have a huge tournament, you're going to have a huge skill gap between the top teams and the bottom teams solely in virtue of the fact that newer/less serious players massively outnumber the vets who are really competitive. If these new/less serious teams are in the same tournament as the top teams and you want to do the swiss rounds fairly, then you're going to have a whole bunch of blowouts. Just think of any tournament with 48 or more teams... the most common score is always 5-0. And I don't think that a 5-0 blowout is terribly fun for either team.
To put it simply, you say that big = fun and I'm saying that 5-0s are really common in big tournaments and that's not fun.
5 to Zero the most common score in Swiss Rounds? My perception is much different than yours. Much different.
I mean that having a tournament with 150 people that are psyched out of their minds on bike polo is more fun than having a tournament with 60 people psyched out of their minds on polo. The cheers, the camaraderie, the chat, the jokes, the fucking drunkies, the crashes, the friends, the parties... there is probably a word that describes perfectly the atmosphere that is created by big, open tournaments and whatever that word is, it's one of my favorite words because it describes one of my favorite things about the sport.
If I have to ride through a couple 5-0 games to get all that other stuff along with it, I really don't see that as "not having fun".
We can't forget that this sport is fledgling, by definition. Let's make sure the ideas we have to progress it forward don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. I love the community, not just the game.
Edit: I just mean to say that the big events are something that I'd be sad to see go, and if they have to go we should do it with reluctance and consideration of how awesome they are and see if there are other ways to do this first. Like throwing more money at the problem.
Simple solution- a class system.
As i recall lucky once saying "i'd rather place 1st out of 48 in a second-tier than place 49th out of 96 in a single class tournament". (or something to that affect, i'm paraphrasing) Maybe we don't need it just yet, but we're getting close.
But that opens a whole other can of worms that isn't relevant to this thread...
a class system? you bourgeois elitist scum, how dare you!
Isn't it relevant? 3 months til NA's in Milwaukee and there is no club announcing it's ability or enthusiasm for hosting a 3-4 court, open registration, qualifying tournament. How will the 8 teams going to The Big Game get chosen?
Has a Midwest steering committee been meeting?
Has a system for smaller, one court/one day pre-qualifiers been discussed?
90 is not a lot of days to arrange large events. Especially if they are going to have pre-quals over successive weekends. Big sponsors who could make larger tournaments easier generally work quarterly or annually with their donations. It is now too late to pursue a lot of them.
Madison is still hoping to host the midwest championships. Just working the political system. I totally agree with a midwest steering committee.
There is talk of us hosting the open this year.
Do yall dig it?
yes yes yes.
YES!
Yes.
The lake was a little cold last time I was up there.
I dunno...
Didn't think of that. Minneapolis in the fall is a helluva lot colder than mid-Missouri in the fall.
oh it's not that bad. plus since worlds is super early this year (mid august) we could do the Open a little earlier too, maybe at the beginning of October instead of the end...
x3 Minneapolis!
So... midwest qualifier?
Im not in the midwest but would love to see it happen in Chicago as I will be visting that area around the same times midwesterns goes down