British Foosball Association
Table Football tournaments range in size from local events on a single table to national and even international tournaments run on hundreds of tables. The larger the tournament the greater the organisational requirements, although in all cases the most important thing is to plan well in advance.
We detail below our seven step guide to organising a successful tournament.
Decide where, geographically, you want to run the tournament. This should be determined by:
As almost all tournament income is derived from entry fees, it is vital to aim high with the number of tournament attendees. Tournaments with fewer than 40 participants are difficult (not impossible) to make financially viable, due to table transport costs, any trophies/prizes and potential venue rental costs. Unless you have a very strong local player base near the tournament, positioning the tournament in a major city which is easily accessible from the main player bases will be very important.
Typical venues will include pubs, hotels and student unions. To sell the idea of a tournament to the landlord/manager, it's worth pointing out how many people can be expected to turn up, all thirsty (and hungry) who will be prepared to spend a large amount of time in the middle of the day at the bar! The Floatel in Northwich - until it finally closed in late 2009 - had a long and successful history hosting tournaments, and other venues have been very pleased at the commercial success of events, such as The George Hotel in Crawley, the Hawkwell House Hotel in Oxford, and various leisure parks and student unions.
When thinking about space, remember that tables take up a lot of room, but that this can be minimised by placing multiple tables end-on. Look at how much space is needed either side of table as people lean back for shots etc. Large rectangular rooms are good (hotel function rooms are usually ideal); other shaped rooms tend to end up with lots of spaces just too small to put a table in.
The area for tables should be out of the way if possible, so that the table football players do not annoy the pub regulars and vice versa when the pub starts to get busy in the evenings. A side room or function room off the main bar area is ideal.
Ensuring sufficient tables is an important part of organising a larger event and the best thing is to try and get somebody else to do it. Find out who the Operators of the tables in your area are, and talk to them. Sending written request via e-mail etc is good, but you usually have to track down the person in charge and sell it them in person (or failing that over the phone).
For large events, the main source of tables in the UK at present is the British Foosball Association, which owns 10 Master Champion Garlando tables and 10 ITSF Tornado tables. These are available for a low-cost rental and delivery fee which must be covered out of tournament funds. To find out more about the BFA table scheme, contact the BFA Committee via email or via the forum. Foosball UK, a new entrant to the UK market with the distribution rights to the Fireball table, might also be able to provide tables for UK tournaments.
Smaller, local tournaments can be run with just a couple of tables, but it is worth trying to get in extra tables if possible. As an incentive to the operator you can say:
