« October 2009 : August 2009 »
Rule clarification (Mon Sep 28 09)
We have received a number of emails regarding the video we posted, on Tuesday September 22, of the shoot out between Munir Merchant and Wayne Smith. You can watch it here»
A number of the emails pointed out that the person operating the goalkeeper must remain behind the goal when the player taking the shot says that he is ready. They are correct and we were wrong, the FISTF rule is:
Rule: 17.2.3.
The referee then asks the goalkeeper to be ready. The defender may not go forward of the goalline with any part of his body for any reason. The defender
is given maximum 10 seconds to confirm that he is prepared to proceed with goalkeeping by stating: "ready!". If the goalkeeper is not ready after 10
seconds the referee shall regard the shot as being taken successfully.
Thank you to everyone for bringing this to our attention.
Some of the emails stated that the goalkeeper figure must be on the goal line. On examination of the FISTF rules we do not find any rule that requires this.
Season 8 results (Fri Sep 25 09)
Wayne Smith won both of his games, the first a "home" win against Simon Hutchinson and the second "away" win against Kevin Nieman. Simon run of drawing all of his "away" games, except the one against Smith, continued as he drew his fourth "away" game this time with Munir Merchant. Merchant went onto to beat Dominic Hutchinson at "home", and then went down to a heavy "away" defeat to Nieman. This win was Nieman's second as he had earlier beaten Dominic.
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Smith's wins moved him into first place. Simon remains in second place five points behind Smith, having played two more games. Nieman now shares third place with Jason Mitchell, who was not present, they are both three points behind Simon with two games in hand. Munir is now in fifth place six points behind third place and with four games in hand. Dominic is now three points adrift at the bottom of the league table.
Season 8 photos (Thu Sep 24 09)
Photographs from last Friday's Season 8 action have been added to this season's slide show, including one of Jason Mitchell about to kick off his 100th game, see right.
You can view these and the other photographs taken during Season 8 in the slide show here»
You will find many more slide shows and videos of the the Southern California Subbuteo Club in action on the Photographs page.
Shoot out video (Tue Sep 22 09)
Last Friday's (September 18) shoot out to decide the winner of the Season 8 League Cup first round tie between Munir Merchant and Wayne Smith was the first to be decided in this manner. As it was such a significant occasion a video was shot of the shoot out. You can watch it here»
You will find many more videos of the the Southern California Subbuteo Club in action on the Photographs page.
Season 8 League Cup semi finals (Mon Sep 21 09)
After the last of the first round games were played on Friday (September 18) the draw for the semi finals of the Southern California Subbuteo Club's Season 8 League Cup was made. The pairings are..
| Jason Mitchell | v | Dominic Hutchinson |
| Kevin Nieman | v | Wayne Smith |
The "home" players is the one who is lower in the league table at the time the match is played.
All semi finals must be played before October 31.
Mitchell reaches the century mark (Sun Sep 20 09)
Jason Mitchell's first game of Friday (September 18) night was his one hundredth with the Southern California Subbuteo Club.
Jason played Subbuteo in his youth in England, and returned to the game in June 2008 with the SCSC.
"The game has changed so much since I last played it twenty years ago," he told us, "new figures, new rules.
"After one year at the So Cal club I feel I can hold my own against the best. The win against Wayne last week was the highlight and it was not a fluke, scoring three goals against Wayne is a major result and I hope to carry on this form for the rest of the season."
To see the number of the games all of the SCSC's players have played check the Games Played page.
Season 8 Subbuteo (Fri Sep 18 09)
Tonight saw the first two "away" wins in this season, another closely fought League Cup first round tie, and Dominic Hutchinson won his first point.
For the third Friday night in a row the evening started with Simon Hutchinson playing Jason Mitchell, it was Jason's 100th game with the Southern California Subbuteo Club, and ended as a tie. Mitchell fared better in his next game beating Dominic Hutchinson, for the season's first "away" win. In the meantime Wayne Smith and Munir Merchant were locked in a closely fought League Cup first round tie. At the end of extra time the game was scoreless and, for the first time in the history of the League Cup, the tie was decided by shoot out, which Smith won. Dominic always "ups" his game when he plays his father, Simon, and their game was no exception, with both goals coming in the second half. Dominic's equalizer came from an unforced own goal. On the other pitch Smith was exacting his revenge upon Mitchell for his defeat last week. The second "away" win came from the last game of the night when Smith beat the elder Hutchinson in another closely fought game, prompting Smith to say that there are now "no easy games".
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Simon remains in first place despite dropping seven out of a possible nine points, and now shares the top of the table with Smith, Smith has two games in hand. Mitchell moved up to third, two points behind the top two. Kevin Nieman, who did not play tonight, is in fourth, six points behind Mitchell. Despite Dominic winning his first point he remains in fifth place. Merchant languishes at the bottom of the table as he is yet to play a league game.
More Season 8 photos (Thu Sep 17 09)
The best photographs taken during last Friday's Season 8 games have been added to this season's slide show.
You can view these and the other photographs taken during Season 8 in the slide show here»
You will find many more slide shows and videos of the the Southern California Subbuteo Club in action on the Photographs page.
The Danes are coming... (Mon Sep 14 09)
The Southern California Subbuteo Club will be welcoming three Danish guests to a tournament on Saturday October 3.
Anders Bruhl Hansen, Jesper Staal Nielsen, and Kristian Staal Nielsen are members of the Lega Liga Odense, who will be taking time out of their vacation to take part in the Carl Nielsen Memorial Challenge. In the last FISTF rankings, made in July before the World Cup, Andres was ranked as the 73rd best player in the world in the Open category, Jesper was 115th, and Kristian 14th in the Under 19.
If you would like take part in this event and "take on" the Danes you can either email Simon Hutchinson or use the Contact page.
Season 8 Subbuteo (Fri Sep 11 09)
It was another high scoring night with 26 goals being scored in six games.
The evening opened with the lowest scoring game, a League Cup first round tie that Jason Mitchell won, defeating Simon Hutchinson, with a single goal in extra time.
The goals were flowing in the league games. Wayne Smith scored five goals in his first two games against Kevin Nieman and Dominic Hutchinson. In the first battle of the Hutchinsons, father Simon scored three against his son, Dominic. Last season their games had ended as ties. Nieman's misery continued as he conceded four goals against the older Hutchinson.
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The biggest surprise of the night, and possibly of this season, was Mitchell's defeat of Smith. This was the first time Smith had conceded three goals since Season 2, back in 1999.
After two nights of play Simon is first in the league table, four points ahead of Mitchell and Smith who are tied in second place, although Smith does have a game in hand. Although Nieman did not win any points tonight, his four points from last week puts him in fourth place, two points behind the second placed players. Despite scoring his first goal of the season Dominic is still pointless and is in fifth place. Munir Merchant is bottom as he is yet to play a game this season.
Season 8 photos (Thu Sep 10 09)
Photographs taken during the first night of Season 8, last Friday, have been compiled into a slide show.
You can view the slide show here»
You will find many more slide shows and videos of the the Southern California Subbuteo Club in action on the Photographs page.
Top players in 2008-09 (Mon Sep 7 09)
FISTF's and the American Subbuteo Association's 2009-10 season started on September 1. A question that has been asked by a member of the Southern California Subbuteo Club is who played the most games last FISTF season, 2008-09. The table below gives the top ten of the players who played with the SCSC last season...
| Total games played on | ||||
| Name | Sep 1, 08 | Sep 1, 09 | Difference | |
| 1. | Simon Hutchinson | 361 | 503 | 142 |
| 2. | Wayne Smith | 440 | 565 | 125 |
| 3. | Kevin Nieman | 279 | 372 | 93 |
| 4. | Steve Tucker | 168 | 241 | 73 |
| 5. | Munir Merchant | 92 | 160 | 68 |
| 6. | Jason Mitchell | 29 | 96 | 67 |
| 7. | Dominic Hutchinson | 191 | 255 | 64 |
| 8. | Adam Carlson | 102 | 148 | 46 |
| 9. | David Jensen | 5 | 49 | 44 |
| 10. | John Carroll | 44 | 62 | 18 |
Throughout the year you can keep up with how many games the SCSC's players have played by checking the Games Played page»
Season 8 League Cup 1st round (Sun Sep 6 09)
On Friday (September 4) Jason Mitchell and Dominic Hutchinson made the draw for the first round of this season's League Cup.
There are several changes to the format of the cup when compared to last season.
- There will only be one game per tie.
- The "home" player will be the one who is lower in the league table at the time the tie is played.
- As there are only six players competing in Season 8 two players receive a bye to the semi finals.
The draw for the first round is:
| Jason Mitchell | v | Simon Hutchinson | |
| Munir Merchant | v | Wayne Smith | |
| Dominic Hutchinson | bye to semi final | ||
| Kevin Nieman | bye to semi final | ||
All first round ties must be played before October 31.
To learn more about this competition see the Season 8 League Cup page»
Season 8 kicks off (Fri Sep 4 09)
Season 8 started with nine goals in four games, three games ended 3-0.
The opening game of the new season had Simon Hutchinson defeating Jason Mitchell, by three second half goals, on the first game on the new Pumpkin Patch pitch. Mitchell fared better in his second game, beating Dominic Hutchinson 3-0. At the same time Kevin Nieman and the older Hutchinson, Simon, played out a closely fought goalless draw. In the final game of the night Nieman scored after only 41 seconds against Mitchell, and scored two more on breaks as Jason pushed forward in numbers in search of a goal.
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After the first night Simon and Nieman are in first place with four points. Mitchell is in third a point behind them with three points, and has played a game more. Dominic is in fourth without a point having played only one game. Munir Merchant and Wayne Smith are in fifth place as they are yet to play any games in this season.
From FISTF newsletter (Thu Sep 3 09)
The news about the twinning of the Southern California Subbuteo Club and the Subbuteo Players Aargau Süd appeared in this week's FISTF newsletter (No.272)...
11. USA: So Cal & Aargu Süd become twins
On September 1 the Southern California Subbuteo Club (SCSC), USA, and the Subbuteo Players Aargau Süd (SPAS), Switzerland,
have become twins.
"Twinning is a way to share the camaraderie of Subbuteo playing with players from other clubs in other countries," Simon
Hutchinson of the SCSC explained. "Thomas and Trisha Baumeler visited us
earlier this month and we so enjoyed their company that we started talking
about formalizing a relationship with our clubs as twins."
"For us it is a great honour to become twins with the SCSC," Maxwell Gautschi, the founder of the SPAS explained.
"SPAS are the largest and most active Subbuteo club in Switzerland," he continued.
"Until this year we were active only in
Europe, playing in many major tournaments in other European countries. Trisha and Thomas Baumeler
became the first Swiss to play in the USA."
"The members of the SCSC were marvellous hosts, and very fair sportsmen," Thomas Baumeler stated.
"The day we played will
always be a good memory for us. We may be 12,000 kilometres apart from each
other, but we feel so close."
The SPAS becomes the SCSC’s fourth twin.
From our newest twin (Wed Sep 2 09)
This is the story that the Subbuteo Players Aargau Süd club posted on their web site about the "twinning"...
Mit grossem Stolz können wir bekannt geben, dass die Subbuteo Players Aargau Süd (SPAS) per 1. September 2009 mit dem Southern California Subbuteo Club (SCSC) einen "Twin-Club" in den USA haben. Wir freuen uns sehr über diese Partnerschaft! Weitere Info's und den Presse-release finden sich unter:
http://socalsubbuteo.com/
With great pride we can announce that the Subbuteo Players Aargau Süd (SPAS)
on 1 September 2009 became a "twin club" with the Southern California Subbuteo Club (SCSC), in the U.S.. We are very excited about this partnership! For more
information and the press release can be found at: http://socalsubbuteo.com/
SCSC gains a 4th twin (Tue Sep 1 09)
The following is a copy of a press release submitted to the local media.
 Dominic Hutchinson (SCSC) and Trisha Baumeler (SPAS) |
The Southern California Subbuteo Club (SCSC) announces that it has "twinned" with a fourth Subbuteo club, the Subbuteo Players Aargau Süd (SPAS), from the Aargau canton in Switzerland.
Founded in 1985, the SCSC is one of the most active clubs in the American Subbuteo Association, with members from Los Angeles, Orange, and Ventura counties.
"Earlier this month two of the Aargau Süd members took time out of their vacation to visit and play with us," Simon Hutchinson of the SCSC explained.
"Even though they played only one afternoon we were so impressed with the friendliness of Thomas and Trisha Baumeler that we started talking about formalizing a relationship with their club. We only twin with one club in a country so we decide ask the Aargau Süd club to be our Swiss twin."
"For us it is a great honor to become twins with the SCSC," Maxwell Gautschi, team captain and the founder of the SPAS, explained.
 Thomas Baumeler (SPAS) and Wayne Smith (SCSC) |
"SPAS are the largest and most active Subbuteo club in Switzerland," he continued. "Until this year we were active only in Europe, playing in many major tournaments in other European countries. Trisha and Thomas Baumeler became the first Swiss to play in the USA."
"The members of the SCSC were marvelous hosts, and very fair sports-men," Thomas Baumeler stated. "The day we played will always be a good memory for us. We may be 12,000 kilometres apart from each other, but we feel so close. Whenever we are in North America it is our goal to meet our friends from the SCSC, and to play Subbuteo with them."
The SCSC is already twinned with three other clubs:
- North East Table Football Alliance of England
- WestCoast Table Soccer Club of Canada
- Lions Subbuteo Club of Singapore
Links
Southern California Subbuteo Club
Subbuteo Players Aargau Süd