California Club Tournament

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Sean Avent

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Nov 9, 2009, 11:59:41 AM11/9/09

to Hockeynet - Underwater Hockey International List, Renata F

Summary:

The first successful California Club Tournament was held this past Saturday, November 7, 2009 at San Jose State University and hosted cooperatively by Club Puck and San Francisco. There were over 60 people attending. Final placings were:

1st Place: Club Puck 1, San Jose, CA

2nd Place: Club Puck 2, San Jose, CA

3rd Place: Los Angeles (AKA Santa Clarita, CA)

The Details:

The six teams that entered the tournament from south to north were:

San Diego, CA

Los Angeles (AKA Santa Clarita, CA)
Club Puck 1, San Jose, CA

Club Puck 2, San Jose, CA

Sea Lions, San Francisco, CA

Rasta Sharks, Sebastopol, CA (Formerly Santa Rosa, CA)

The tournament was highly successful with a fluid schedule that went very well. Participants enjoyed the tournament format and duration and were very happy with the competitive level of play. The tournament was very competitive with the results after the round robin having a tie between half the teams. Club Puck showed that their club history, continued high level of play, hard work, and commitment to the sport pays off. Los Angeles showed how well a team with only six players (no substitutes) can fare in a competitive environment - you could tell this young team is working very hard.

The reffing was also very successful as the organizers brought in three refs: Phil Hickey from Colorado and John Kulsa from Seattle and full-time deck ref, Doug Roth from Club Puck. The Minnesota rule was in effect and worked well as usual and was alleviated somewhat with the full-time refs being present. I don't think there were any 'penalties' for clubs not putting refs up on the board.

The tournament was a complete single day of hockey (10am-8pm), preceded by a half hour of setup and a half hour of breakdown. Play was limited to one court, with the exception of three games. The sport courts were amazing!! In the near past, the courts had sustained a lot of wear and tear and were on the verge of unplayable conditions. Club Puck, especially Rich Gray and Bob burres, took considerable amounts of time to repair the courts and restore them to a beautiful playing area. The puck used was the new version of the CanAm Uni2 puck with brass sliders. It was heavier than the puck at the USA Nationals and slid across the SportCourt even better than the pink puck on the brand new sportcourt in 1998. It was truly a World-Class setup!

The tournament was followed by a party at Greg and Julie Appling's place where they served up some great eats and drinks. Awards were handed out and people had a great time stuffing their faces after a full day of hockey. At least people were contently rested before their trek home on Sunday.

There were no injuries that required first aid, except for that people may have eaten too much afterwards and went into induced comas shortly thereafter.

The potential for continuing the California Tournament is very high, but the timing and locations are to be determined. One possibility exists that would have the CaliforniaClub Tournament taking place between clubs (as PCC's is done) and in substitution of the regional tournament that is held by that club (e.g., SF Potluck or San Diego 'No Worries' Tournament) . As originally designed, the tournament will keep with the ideals of team unity and growth and the policy of being a team tournament. Only regular club members will be able to be entered onto a team's roster (i.e., a non-whore tournament).