How we got here, fit the 5th

 So, the tournament went well. Onwards and upwards, planning the next one. Just 2 (and a bit) months after the first.

 Lessons learnt.

 Hours spent pouring over a spreadsheet trying to get the algorithm right to generate a fair set of 2nd round matches, with no glitches...

 

Meantime someone develops a tool to do this:  https://picklegames.netlify.app/ BUT it doesn't do mixed matchups!!! 

So still had to manually get the match ups working - and it still required a bit of a tweak on the day.

As did the scoring mechanism (for some reason the correct results didn't transfer from one set of cells to another despite it working seamlessly in testing (reminder to self - get this sorted for the Summer Slam this week!!) - thanks Danielle for helping me sort this out!).

Diadem supported the event again, providing paddles and other prizes for winning/placing.

 I got some trophies made up by Temu, which look pretty good (blocks of acrylic with printing on them), and Medals...

 But all places on the tournament were filled with time left over and people waiting in the waitlist - Pickleheads worked well for this. BUT I'm less than convinced it's the best way to record matches. IF it had a way to create a schedule ahead of time I'd be almost bound to use it, but...

Essentially I used Facebook groups and contacts to spread the word and do my advertising. With a little bit of local work using posters and spreading the word at other sessions.

A nice crowd turned up, we all had fun, some players couldn't stay the whole day (Liverpool fans) and we had some great games. Leading up to two divisions again and, this time, semi's, finals and 3/4 playoffs.

 Somehow (thanks Keta) I managed to be on the winning team, despite playing against higher rated players, others from Redhill Pickleball also shone winning bronze in div 1, and gold and bronze in div 2, including some first time competitors (Jane, for one)!

We made a little bit of money, this time it was all ploughed back into Redhill Pickleball, buying additional equipment, setting some aside to pay for court fees, and getting seed money for the Next (bigger) tournament - the Summer-Slam - more about which next time .

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