Los Angeles Galaxy Subbuteo Cup 2009

  That Galaxy Tournament was beyond my expectations. I never thought [when I started] that we would get this much publicity. The tournament section was a bit bad though. The one major problem was that there were to many people to make the tournament function in the amount of time allotted. That isn’t even counting the number of people who would interrupt us to ask us how to play. I did beat John Carroll though. A 3-1 victory against somebody who has beat Steve!!! I don’t really know how that happened though, it was just one of those games where everything went right.

Demonstrating the game was (in my opinion) the entire reason for going. The people watching started off as maybe one or two every 15 min., but around 5 an explosion of people happened. This made playing games really hard. Eventually it became too much and we had to stop to demonstrate to people how to play the game. At any one time there was about 60 people watching. I don’t know how many people we got to try us out, but if one tenth of the people tried us out it would be a good day for West Coast subbuteo.

Dominic Hutchinson

  I thought the event yesterday was a lot of fun. Playing in the stadium concourse really brought a sporting atmosphere to the event and it was a lot of fun showing adults and kids who dropped by the game. The amount of people who dropped by exceeded my expectations and a lot showed interest in the game. The overall experience was memorable and the game after was a nice added bonus.

My take on the two games I played:

Against Simon: I thought it was very even in the first half with not many chances. The one goal was off a quick break on the left side followed by a quick shot. The first half of the second half was similar. For the final 5 minutes you had the pressure on but couldn't quite get the last touch you needed.

Against Steve: A game with not many chances. I believe Steve had 4 (2 of which he capitilized) and I had 2. Steve did have the majority of the possession in the game (probably 60%).

Munir Merchant

  I think the LA Galaxy Southern California Subbuteo Cup was a great success. The objectives of having fun, introducing the game to others and enjoying the Galaxy game were all meet. I had a great time. Many people enjoyed watching us play and getting to try the game out for themselves. And, the Galaxy got there first victory of the season! I had 11 friend and family members come to the event and they all enjoyed it. I want to thank all the players for their participation. I want to thank Chris Thomas and the Galaxy for making this a win/win event.

On the championship game against Wayne. Well, Wayne was always going to be the favorite, I keep it close for 1 half, but there wasn't going to be an upset on this day. I thought the game was very wide open with plenty of action. I really don't know how to defend very well and it showed in this game. I have to learn how to defend in numbers. I think Wayne's offensive is better then mine, but not by a lot. It's the difference in defensive play that's keeps me from getting results against Wayne. Wayne knows how to score, but he also has outstanding defensive flicks. Congratulations to Wayne on a well deserved victory!

Steve Tucker

  The idea for this tournament came from the Galaxy. One a Tuesday morning in April Steve [Tucker] came to me to say that there had been a message on his home answering machine from someone at the Galaxy. He called the number that had been left and spoke to Chris Thomas. Chris asked if we wanted to come to the Home Depot Center play a tournament and show off the game to the fans at the stadium.

Today saw that come to fruition. In my opinion the tournament was of secondary importance. It was the demonstration of the game of Subbuteo that counted.

At 3 PM we had made it to the side gate by the concourse. After a quick phone call Chris came to the gate and gave us exhibitor passes. We could the unload all of our equipment, carry it over to the assigned space and start setting up. Our space was on the concourse, with half of it under the Stadium bar which provided us with some shade. Two tables were put up in the shade, these were to be the tournament pitches. A third was set up at the front of our space. This would be used to show passer bys what the game of Subbuteo was.

Once everything was in place the first round of games started at about 3:30. At first there were not many spectators around, most of the visitors were colleagues of Chris’s who come to see what this game was.

By the time the semi finals were being played there was a constant stream of people stopping by to see what we were doing.

After the semi finals most of us were helping kids play the game, having them take turns taking shots at goal with another operating the goalkeeper. Just before the final started Chris presented us with the LA Galaxy Subbuteo Cup, a real cup, to be played for in the final game of the afternoon.

There was a good crowd of spectators watching the final, asking questions, and wondering how they could get their own set. Peppered amongst these folks were a few Brits telling us how they had had their own set many years ago, and how different all the equipment looked to how they remembered it all.

And at the end Wayne [Smith] won the cup, and we had handed out about 100 hand outs to interested folk. I am keeping my fingers crossed that some of those we spoke to will come and take a look at a SCSC game night.

A special thank you to Chris Thomas for giving us this opportunity, and to Steve for his work at the SCSC end.

It was way cool to play Subbuteo at a proper soccer stadium and in front of a real crowd.

Simon Hutchinson

  Going in I had some apprehension. I was concerned about possible problems with the sun and wind there was even talk of rain in the forecast. As it turns out, it was a beautiful and surprisingly warm afternoon. We got a very nice place to play, surrounded by fencing and mostly in the shade. The pitches reacted well to the environment and didn’t get overly slow or warped. I was also surprised at how well I played. I had a rough time scoring on Dominic and managed a goal only seconds before the end of the first half. I ended up with an easy 4:0 win. I think that my first half against Dominic was about as hard as it got for me. I ripped off 3:0 and 3:1 wins against Kevin and Steve respectively, rather easily winning the trophy. In between those games, though I got to do a little teaching and talking to people who had played Subbuteo-at least one of whom had been playing longer than I. The children were really well-behaved and their parents very attentive. I don’t think we lost a single figure due to the actions of observers. I’m hoping that through this we’ll get a few recruits and get small pockets of players to pop up throughout the city.

I got to talk to two guys who work for the Galaxy-Tim and Chris. I assume that they both work in marketing. Both showed an incredible amount of enthusiasm for Subbuteo and Tim told me about his playing as a kid in England. Because he lives in Studio City, I’m hoping he’ll make it over. Another fellow told me that he got a set for Christmas 1969 (obviously as a boy in England)! It was great to hear the stories from fellows who had played the game years ago and who either still had their game or had long lost it. Yet another gent went on to small children (presumably his grand children) about he played as a child for hours on Saturdays. It was terrific to see the old relate so well to the young and vice-versa.

Wayne Smith

  vs Steve:

I thought I was doing well on defense and was not giving Steve a lot of chances to shoot. Unfortunately he capitalized on one in each half. On offense, I felt I was making some good counter attacks and pushing the ball forward well but I was giving Steve too much time to set up his defense when I got close to the shooting line. I haven’t been playing much and felt my timing was a bit off. I still enjoyed the game despite the 2 – 0 result.

vs Simon:
When I played Simon in my second game I tried to play a faster pace and more aggressive on offense than in my first game. I got some chances to shoot and a couple of corners relatively early but couldn’t convert them. In the second half I thought Simon was pressing much harder so I played more defensively and attacked with fewer figures. He was generating a lot of offense but I was able to hold him off. This lead to me having fewer chances on offense in the second half and the game ended up a draw. In the shoot out, I defended very well and think I saved 4 of the shots. My shooting let me down however as I hit the post, hit the cross crossbar or went over the net on my shots. It was a tough, close game that could have gone either way.

General:
Having the tournament at a Galaxy game was a great idea and thanks to Steve for organizing it. Playing at the stadium added a lot to the feel of the game. It was great to have a chance to show the game to others and there was a lot of interest. Many people wanted to try it out and there were quite a few people who had played the game many years ago.

David Jensen

  Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 will go down as a pivotal moment in Southern California Subbuteo Club history. It was the day we demonstrated Subbuteo to a larger audience.

Now, if I said I was surprised by our reception at the Home Depot Center, I would be making a serious understatement. Not only did I grossly underestimate the coolness-factor of playing Subbuteo at the very same venue where the L.A. Galaxy play, I was also blown away by the sheer enthusiasm from the general public who came in numbers I had not expected to see.

The day started when we arrived at the Home Depot Center in Carson, where the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team plays, I began to see how all of my expectations were slowly being exceeded. You see, when Steve Tucker was organizing this event, I had my doubts. I had guessed that we'd be given an "out-of-the-way" dark corner to play in. Instead, we were situated in a wonderful area right in the middle of everything. I feared that we'd be seen as nothing more than an oddity to the perplexed Galaxy fans, but the truth was far from that, as I'll mention later.

When our Galaxy contact, Chris Thomas, arrived to meet us, he was very gracious and enthusiastic as he handed us our stadium passes. He led us to our playing area, which suited our needs perfectly, and Chris left us to get on with our playing. We unloaded and carried our equipment to the playing area and had a nice little competition. The sun was shining on some pitches, and while it wasn't the greatest of conditions for a dexterity game that is normally played indoors, we had a great time flicking in the sun.

One of the three boards we brought was reserved as a demonstration pitch, but no one seemed to be interested. Only a few security guards and Galaxy staff members checked out our area during the early games of the tournament, and it seemed like my fears were being realized.

Then, everything changed in a flash.

The main gates were opened, and a literal flood of eager, wide-eyed soccer fans entered the concourse area, stopping to watch us play this funny little game. We passed out flyers and chatted to people about this great game. Kids got to flick the ball around, and there was nothing but smiles all around us. Older men and women stopped by to tell us how they had played this game thirty or so years ago, and we shared a common bond separated by a few years and slightly more modern equipment. It was an atmosphere I could not have predicted. It was infectious.

By then, the final match of the day was starting between Wayne Smith and Steve Tucker, so we featured that final game on the demonstration pitch, which bought the game front and center to all who passed our playing area.

I must say that I have never seen so many curious faces, smiling as they watched two of our best players battling for the tournament win. While there were demos going on at the other two tables, I made sure I passed out more flyers and took as many photos of the scene as I could. If I had been told that we'd be surrounded by a throng of soccer fans for the better part of an hour or two, I'd have thought that idea was idiotic, but that's exactly what happened.

Wayne defeated Steve in the final 3-1, and the Galaxy's Chris Thomas came over to present a very impressive trophy to Wayne Smith, the first ever winner of the L.A. Galaxy Subbuteo Cup.

Still high from our first public display of Subbuteo ever, we packed up our things and sat down to watch the Galaxy team defeat the N.Y. Red Bulls 1-0 on a penalty kick by Landon Donovan.

In the end, it was a fun and successful day for us. The Subbuteo matches almost didn't matter. What mattered to me was seeing the looks of joy on the faces of the children, the looks of awe as people recalled a game they hadn't thought about in years, and the looks on the faces of my fellow club members as we were all rather dumbfounded at finding ourselves to be the center of attention in a game we sometimes take for granted.

This was the biggest day in SCSC history up to this point, and I hope we can use this to grow the sport here in California.

A great big thank you to Chris Thomas and the Los Angeles Galaxy team for making this all happen. I'd also like to thank Steve Tucker for taking the lead on organizing this event, but also to thank the players, friends, and family who attended this fun day of flicking!

I hope we do it again soon.

Kevin Nieman