NXL Europe - Basildon
- Thread starter Spikerz
- Start date
One of the Thunderducks broke his ankle in 3 places - first point of their first game. He was driven to hospital after being told there was a 3 hour wait for an ambulance.
oooof, that sucks! I get that it's not an emergency...but c'mon man, that's insane.
Spikerz numbers seem really high. Wonder if the ankle/leg breaks are the same injuries being reported? Reduces the numbers but still seems like a bad event in terms of injuries overall.
Feel for the Thunderducks guy. That sounds horrendous.
Yea I thought they were high but a couple people are saying they were there and those may be conservative numbers.
It's not the NXL's fault, we've had an insane summer. Even if it was held here in Dublin instead, we're in a drought for the first time since 1976, so our fields aren't any better...unless they went pure artificial turf at one of the footy parks or something.
Either way, when the pro's are saying, "it's like hitting broken concrete" and people are breaking bones...thats pretty rough. Heard from the Droogs (who I normally play with) that they had 2 guests bust up an elbow and tear open a knee pretty badly. The semi pro team seemed to have survived ok, but the other div squads they had got beat up.
It's not the NXL's fault, we've had an insane summer. Even if it was held here in Dublin instead, we're in a drought for the first time since 1976, so our fields aren't any better...unless they went pure artificial turf at one of the footy parks or something.
Either way, when the pro's are saying, "it's like hitting broken concrete" and people are breaking bones...thats pretty rough. Heard from the Droogs (who I normally play with) that they had 2 guests bust up an elbow and tear open a knee pretty badly. The semi pro team seemed to have survived ok, but the other div squads they had got beat up.
There’s a number of people who *are* blaming the league. They can’t control the weather but apparently the ground they used is normally the car park for other events (this was my first time at Basildon).
Camp grounds were probably as solid but hadn’t broken up as much as the fields we played on.
I don’t know how true it is but there was something about the grounds being 10 grand cheaper.
Damned if you do damned if you don’t.
Camp grounds were probably as solid but hadn’t broken up as much as the fields we played on.
I don’t know how true it is but there was something about the grounds being 10 grand cheaper.
Damned if you do damned if you don’t.
Ahhh now that's an interesting take. I know the 2-3 times I've been there before it was in barleylands proper, like you went in the main gate, past the camping bit and it was over on the side in some lush grass.
I know this year was on the west side of the road, which I've never seen. The entrance was always on the east side of the road, unless you went to the round about and turned right, and that also was an entrance a few years ago.
It seems like the NXL has 'tried hard' but with a bit of a cautious side as well. So things are 'nice' but they aren't amazing. To be fair, look at the Texas event most years, it's a swamp, and horrid.
I remember the Mardi Gras Open in 2000, wind was so bad, it ripped all the nets, my score sheet ended up in the swamp, and it was miserable most days. The nights were amazing...because Mardi Gras!
Not sure there is a good option going forward, other than finding a decent location that you can lock in for a couple years.
Let's take a 'known' variable for field quality, in CPPS. Sure it's in penkridge, but Wolverhampton is 10 miles away. That's close. You can have fun there, or hell go 20-25 minutes into Birmingham. Still closer to a major city than Basildon to London.
Large enough? I think so...The grounds are pretty massive, now once you include the 10 man field...maybe things get tight, but I think it may be worth a peak.
Either way, going into next year, things need to be better. The good news is that Tom and Rab are pretty damn smart and are open to feedback. If people come to them with legit conversations and not just a laundry list of complaints they try really hard to fix things. I respect that.
I know this year was on the west side of the road, which I've never seen. The entrance was always on the east side of the road, unless you went to the round about and turned right, and that also was an entrance a few years ago.
It seems like the NXL has 'tried hard' but with a bit of a cautious side as well. So things are 'nice' but they aren't amazing. To be fair, look at the Texas event most years, it's a swamp, and horrid.
I remember the Mardi Gras Open in 2000, wind was so bad, it ripped all the nets, my score sheet ended up in the swamp, and it was miserable most days. The nights were amazing...because Mardi Gras!
Not sure there is a good option going forward, other than finding a decent location that you can lock in for a couple years.
Let's take a 'known' variable for field quality, in CPPS. Sure it's in penkridge, but Wolverhampton is 10 miles away. That's close. You can have fun there, or hell go 20-25 minutes into Birmingham. Still closer to a major city than Basildon to London.
Large enough? I think so...The grounds are pretty massive, now once you include the 10 man field...maybe things get tight, but I think it may be worth a peak.
Either way, going into next year, things need to be better. The good news is that Tom and Rab are pretty damn smart and are open to feedback. If people come to them with legit conversations and not just a laundry list of complaints they try really hard to fix things. I respect that.
I camped Saturday-sunday, the ground was rock hard there too, but without the cracks - at least in the campsite. I didn't look at the previous fields.
CPPS has enough fields , and the training field at the end is big enough for a 10man field, though fitting in the trade stands, bar and parking could add up to be a problem.
Might need to have the pro field on the division 2 field to set up the grandstands and Gosport's booth as the Elite field has the mounds.
CPPS has enough fields , and the training field at the end is big enough for a 10man field, though fitting in the trade stands, bar and parking could add up to be a problem.
Might need to have the pro field on the division 2 field to set up the grandstands and Gosport's booth as the Elite field has the mounds.
10 grand cheaper might be compared to the South Of England grounds used last year?