First PA sour point

[jahlad]

i didnt see any milk machines but then again i was a 'little' busy reffing but yes you are right the nets were down on the back of the fields....due to the wind ripping them down the night before i belive......there was zero access to this side of the fields (there was no access that side last time eather even when the nets were up, with the spectators all on the opposite side of the fields.....it was a slight design error using such high density nets that were so high, kinda acted like a sail in the wind but i belive the plan always was to take down the top section and replace it with a lighter net next season but i have a feeling it may now be done earlier.
yes we were short handed ref wise, it would have been nice to have a couple more per field but we managed and ive not heard many bad comments about how we did.......i know that many players told us (field 2) that we had been the best refs they had experienced in ages.

theres a few tweeks needed before filming etc but hatts and the other organisers arn't blind to this and ive heard mention of several improvments that they have planned.......this league has already proved it can put on a great even and with a little more work will be world class.

 

[Dark Warrior]

I hear that a member of a team playing in the event decided for some reason to no show and left 3 passengers with no alternative arrangements. These 3 just so happened to be part of the reffing crew.
Shame about the netting, but you just can't gauge for the british weather.

 

[Gups]

Sour point??

IMO a great day... the morning/afternoon sessions worked a treat. All marshalling i encountered as a player and watched as a spectator was excellent. I wasn't even aware that there were only 4 refs to a field until i read this. Sure seemed like more than that to me Not even the worst that British weather could throw at us could stop the event. The unnetted side of the field opened onto private land owned by the college and was securely cordoned off, so no probs there either
Well done to the refs and organisers.

 

[Manning26]

Okay everyone, Cow said to calm down, so we're all becoming calm now-yes? I just pruned this thread down, and yes, some of you lost innocent posts, but what you had would've looked silly otherwise.

Let's watch the name-calling and such-okay gents?

 

[JoseDominguez]

Originally posted by Baca Loco
Enough with the hugs and kisses, kids. Play nice.
Besides, this thread's supposed to be about the event. You want to trash peeps do it elsewhere.

So--sounds like PA is on track. In a move reminiscent of past World Cups--and what better event to emulate?--I hear there were cows next door and nets on only three sides of most fields. Were the spectators required to wear goggles? Was there enough space to accomodate them all? Couple that with a nearly invisible (but first rate apparently) officiating corps and it seems things are perfectly set-up to bring on TV. Is Sky anything like OLN?


disclaimer--please feel free to set me straight as I wasn't there--just what I've heard.

Depends on who you listened to mate any problems that did occur were purely down to the ridiculous weather........ the netting was cut well over 3 meters (I know cos I did it) and was still higher than most I've seen. It rained solidly for 18 hours before the event and the wind was absolutely ridiculous........ In my honest opinion anyone else would have called off the tourney, but the PA went ahead and they probably had the most stressful day of their lives........... I thank them for it because we had a great days balling. Spectators? not a problem......... the weather was so bad noone but ballers were actually stupid enough to come out in it. The unnetted side was bordered by an unnaccesible barb wire surrounded field anyway and didn't need netting anyway.
As for the organisation? they never stopped, all day, they couldn't, they were fixing stuff the weather ruined...... and as for television? no problem....... the wind was so high they couldn't have fimed anyway (I believe cherry pickers were going to be used) as I've said, any other sport would have been cancelled and left a few hundred gitted paintballers.
But I can see where you are coming from I heard lots of that on the day too

 

[Steve Hancock]

Originally posted by jahlad
there was zero access to this side of the fields (there was no access that side last time eather even when the nets were up, with the spectators all on the opposite side of the fields

I wasn't at this leg but i was spectating at the last one. Do you mean there was no access to the sides of the fields opposite from the player area? Coz there was several people watching from there last leg, inc Hatts at one point. I think it was just closed off for this leg due to lack of netting.

 

[stongle]

The layout of the fields made it impossible to spectate fields 2,3 and 4 unless you were inside the player area. This was restricted to either players or 2 guests per team. At least this is what we were told upon arrival. Possibly, with the lack of netting the organisers changed their policy throughout the day, but I think the weather scared any potential spectators off.

 

[Mikey D]

one thing I would ask of the marshalls is to make sure they follow their rules on neutral players.
more specifically I mean that they should have physical contact with the neutral player until they are back in the game.
I've noticed it when watching a few times, but when we were playing on field 4 i was in the blocks on the 50 tape.
We had taken 6 of the 7, and the last guy was being checked, now i couldnt move obviously, so stayed gun up ready for him to be back in the game. the player was stood up just by a small cube and the marshall backed away, i shot the player twice and said 'hes gone now' only for the marshall to say he was still neutral even though he was a good few metres from the player.

nothing big I know, but things like this need to be brought up and reminded. I wouldnt have liked it if i was that player, there were 3 of our team gun up and waiting, and as soon as the marshall moved we were correct to shoot. could have been alot of unnecessary pain for the guy (luckily i shot him in the pack)

the biggest problem i noticed with the lack of marshalls was the close calls such as a bunkering. the marshall can only watch one of the players, so if one player is shot easily before the other, its not possible to tell. this happened in one of our games and completely turned it against us, and im sure it happened many other times. not the marshall's fault, as they only have one pair of eyes, just the fact there arent enough. hopefully if the PGI's are moved dates, more are going to be available.

oh and im going to make a suggestion, there are a large majority of players using studded boots/cleats. after the rain, and the fields being used constantly for several hours, they started to get very slippy even with studs. any chance that you could get some upturned broom heads behind the start gates? I dont like seeing players slipping everywhere as we want to see a more exciting game, not people failing to make bunkers because they fall on their faces. again its not something big, but I think these little touches can make a big difference, and it saves me using the bolts sticking out off the netting poles.

keep up the good work. to get 19 teams to play all their matches in such short time & turnaround is a big achievement for one short morning. and see you guys next month, hopefully we'll bring some game with us this time

 

[Grrrr]

I can only echo the positive comments on this thread.

Well done to Hatts and the crew of the P.A. for putting on a great tournament even with the adverse weather conditions!

Reffing on the whole was excellent, and the morning/afternoon sessions were a great idea.

 

[jinx76]

well?????

[ quote
oh and im going to make a suggestion, there are a large majority of players using studded boots/cleats. after the rain, and the fields being used constantly for several hours, they started to get very slippy even with studs. any chance that you could get some upturned broom heads behind the start gates? I dont like seeing players slipping everywhere as we want to see a more exciting game, not people failing to make bunkers because they fall on their faces. again its not something big, but I think these little touches can make a big difference, and it saves me using the bolts sticking out off the netting poles.

keep up the good work. to get 19 teams to play all their matches in such short time & turnaround is a big achievement for one short morning. and see you guys next month, hopefully we'll bring some game with us this time [/B][/QUOTE]

well mate i will tell you that hatt's does have plans to have length's of 4x2 set into the ground so the start gates are fair and the usual i couldn't see the white lines through the mud arguments don't ensue.

Regarding the marshalling russell and hatt's were left down at the the last minute regarding marshall's by 6-8 of them so the would have been at least 6 per field otherwise if not more.

anyway guys i woke up this morning still orange from the paint still brown from cleaning barracades till 9 pm last night but would just like to say thanks to all the teams that understood about the marshalling and thanked field 4 for some great calls etc.

my apologies to the roughness of the way i took a player outta a certain game we started the game firing behind the fence it is not allowed and u should know this

hope u all enjoyed ureselves and see u all at the next one guys & gals

regards & respect