otherwise known as "organising a tournament on a non-existent budget" 101
The SA Rogue Squadron hosted their very first national tournament last year November, and it was a smash! In more ways than one. The spectators who actually did brave the threatening weather were rewarded with some really good buhurts and profights.
But I'm not here to talk about the amazing tournament, who pitched up, who won, or who lost. I'm here to talk about everything that went on before that. You see, there is a lot of work that goes into the preparation of an event.
In fact, there is so much work to be done that when I thought about writing this post last year (when it should have been written!), I instantly felt my eyelids drooping, and went and did some dishes instead.
Yes, I have been very tardy with the posts, and I'm sorry about that. Things have been busy, and we have a number of potential developments in the pipeline at the moment, I'm happy to say. I just don't want to talk about them until I know for sure that they are going to happen for sure.
Anyway, back to the tournament organising mission: first, you need to make sure that you have people who can do everything except fight. A good team of marshalling and support staff is essential to any tournament. More so, even, than a venue, I reckon. Without the marshalls, there is no tournament.
For Head Marshall, you need to find someone with combat experience, and with marshalling experience (preferably), and who is knowledgeable in the ruleset you want to base your fights on. As if that isn't enough already, you should also look for someone who is fair-minded, lives with integrity, and who knows how to handle people. Now, when I say that, I don't mean they must be a diplomat. I mean "handle people" as in get them to do what they should be doing. Whether that is through talking or using a baseball bat from behind a bar, it's really not much difference, as long as that person can do it fairly and consistently. Then you need to put that person in charge of the marshalls and support staff. Your Head Marshall will need to train his or her team, and prepare them in their roles for the tournament.
Let's hold for a moment to look at one point here. That is delegation. If you want to run a successful tournament without becoming an exhausted, nervous wreck, then delegation will be necessary, and even then, you'll still be pretty damn frizzled by the end. Delegation doesn't mean getting random people to do your job for you. It means entrusting the most skilled person for that task with the responsibility of getting it done. So instead of training up a marshalling team, you entrust that duty to the Head Marshall, who is most qualified to do the job.
And once you have set that team up with a head and an agenda, you need to hand over authority on the day of the tournament to your Head Marshall. This is an important part of building the legitimacy of a tournament because you can't have a marshalling team that still has to check with you on whether they can red card someone, especially if you have also decided to take part. Fighters will question the validity of the calls the marshalls make, and their fairness and integrity. If you are constantly telling the marshalls what to do, it will not be a fair tournament.
Our marshalling team was really new. Our Head Marshall, although she had had experience at IMCF earlier in the year, still felt insecure in her position because she was constantly being called into question by a fighter who - in another context - has some small measure of authority over her, and so she did not have the confidence to make the difficult calls every time. It was torture for me to stay quiet and not get involved when I could see that the marshalls were getting pushed around. However, I felt that I had relinquished authority, and as the host and as a fighter, if I started to meddle, even if it was to back up the marshalling team, it would affect the fairness and credibility of the event. They were all fair and consistent in their calls, so that was not a concern for me, and I felt that it was a learning curve for them, to need to stand up to rude and unruly fighters, which they did, eventually.
You need to let go, once you have given someone authority, and trust that they will do their job, even if it isn't exactly how you might do it. That's an incredibly difficult skill to learn, and worth mastering.
Next, you need to find a venue with toilets, level ground, shade, a water source, and beer. Those things are the essentials for a successful event. You can bring in lists and seating, if you want them, along with a bunch of other comforts, but those five things are the checklist for your venue. Also, a free venue is great.
Picking a date is very important, and it should work alongside your choice of venue, because you need for your venue to be available over the dates you are looking at. If you are very far away from the action (ie, not in Europe), then you will need to consider the three biggest events (Dynamo, IMCF, Battle of the Nations) in our sport, before deciding when to have your event. Too close to one of those, and you are likely not to get very many participants at your event, especially if they have to travel to get to it. It takes roughly two days to travel one way to an event from anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere. Sometimes it takes longer. Bear that in mind when you are looking for attendance.
Also, consider the weather, and the likelihood of rain, if you intend to hold it outdoors. Of course, a little rain never held up a buhurt, but if you plan to charge entry, there may be a problem, unless the spectators in your country are hard as fuck and will come out in rain, shine or snow, to watch people beating the crap out of each other with weapons. I think the Poles, the Kiwis and the Auzzies may be like that. For everyone else, there's the almanac.
Looking at costs, I think it's important to mention that we in South Africa are entirely self-funded. We get no sponsorships from the private sector, and we get no crumbs from the government. Our sport is not even officially recognised as yet. But let's not go into the politics of it. In terms of money, there is none where we are. So if you have a similar condition, listen up.
If you are smart and can make a deal or two, your costs will really be your medals, your advertising and marketing materials, and meals and drink for your marshalling team, commentator and DJ.
In terms of the venue cost, we used a space for our lists at a local market. We charged entrance (which was funny because we had no doormen - we just periodically announced that people who didn't have a wristband for the event should come to the announcer's stand and get one as entrance was R50 per adult and R10 per teenager, AND THEY DID!), and split it with the venue owner. The venue also had stalls and made some money off the spectators, so it was mutually beneficial. This is the kind of deal you want to aim for, so that your initial financial outlay is reduced.
The sound system and wrist bands were donated by some dear friends of ours, who are enthusiastic supporters of our sport, and who have hosted the Combat Pit Tournament Series at Mad Monks for the last couple of years. And Matt the Goat manned the DJ box in between marshalling.
A note here on music: don't play flea market music. Creedence Clearwater Revival is way too laid back, even if it is at a market. We've found, though, that you don't really need a playlist, so much as just music. So, we put on the Percival discography and let it play. It was great. Even the very mainstream spectators didn't complain.
Our commentators were friends chosen for their oratory ability, who did the job for a meal.
Friends of ours who do murals and signage came past early in the morning and put some scaffolding together for the photographers to stand on to get a good view of the fights. We had invited members of the press, and hoped that they, along with the local photography club, would arrive. Sadly, the rain kept them away, but the "press platform" still served its purpose, and various spectators got some good footage and stills, and kindly put them onto the interwebs for us to see and use. You can see them on the Rogues' page.
It's worth it to mention that we didn't need the sound system, wrist bands or music or commentators, or "press platform", but they all help to make it an enjoyable, accessible event for the spectators and fighters, in different ways. The spectators expect a certain level of formality with sporting events, and unless someone is calling their attention to things over a microphone, they tend to view the whole event as somewhat less than legit. Everyone loves music as a background which sets the tone for the event. Action without a backing track isn't nearly as exciting, and in more practical terms, it helps to be able to announce the different categories to fighters, and let them all know when to get ready, without sending a runner to each team, or shrieking at the top of one's lungs. And photographers need some kind of vantage point from which to take photos and videos safely.
We bit the bullet and actually did spend money on medals, since it is kind of expected that there is some form of loot once the fighting is done. That's just tradition going back to way before Lindisfarne, even.
And I think that if you're going to do medals, make them good. Don't get the tinny ones that weigh nothing and feel like cheap shit. They don't have to be enormous, although as with other things in life, bigger is better in this case. But they should have a little bit of heft to them, and some kind of marking, like a sticker or a bubble, to show which event it was. The mistake we made with our medals was that although we got nice medals, the ribbons were crappy, thin, and tied together at the end, where they were frayed, instead of nicely finished off. So that was a little disappointing, but it was something to learn from, and not a tragedy in itself.
Once you have the logistical mechanics in play, (venue, date, marshall team), it's time to look at advertising and marketing your event. This is not just to spectators, but also to the fighters you want to attract to your event. We used a series of meme-like ads that were aimed either at norms (non-fighters) and fighters to raise awareness about our event. We used social media as our primary medium for advertisement. We also had some flyers out in the city, but we couldn't afford the street posters we wanted to put up. We also had an idea of handing out flyers at intersections whilst in armour, but it was vetoed because of the heat at the time.
There are a number of ways that you can promote your event, but whichever way you do it, remember that you have TWO markets - the spectators and the fighters, so you must tailor your message differently to appeal to each group, and use media that is appropriate to the message.
Once you start getting the shape of your event together, you need to send out registration forms to the fighters. The best way to do this is to make the reg forms downloadable from your website, and then to send them to other clubs and organisations in the area, who have fighters who are most likely to attend.
Make them simple, easy to use and fill in, and don't make them pdf format.
You will have of course decided what categories you want to offer at your tournament, so make sure that those categories are very clear to the fighter. Do not just put a category of 5v5 buhurt if you have a problem with mixed teams. These days, if you only want men in the teams and women in other teams, you will need to spell it out. If you are fine with mixed buhurt, then it must say "mixed buhurt" on your reg form. And similarly with 1v1 categories. Also, don't forget to specify the ruleset you will be using, on your reg form, so that it does not take anyone by surprise. You never know.
Before the tournament, it is a good idea to make available on your page any other documents that you will be referring to during the tournament, for example the ruleset you will be using, the rules for the event venue, if there are any, accommodation prices, food prices and menu, and any specific code of conduct or other information that fighters will need.
When deciding on a final deadline for registrations (and this was some good advice given to me by my friend Laurent), it is best to have a "soft" date (the official one) and a "hard" date (the very, very last date by which you need numbers, for logistical purposes). Expect to have to chase up registrations, as well.
When deciding your schedule, allow a buffer period of time between bouts, and for a changeover of categories. Determine the maximum time each fight may last and then add that amount of time again for each fight. Remember that with each extra fighter, your time requirements increase exponentially. Be realistic about how much time you have at the venue; account for weapon and armour checks, set-up, breakdown and lunch times, as well as the actual fighting, otherwise you will end up being over time.
The schedule for our tournament was planned with quite a large buffer between events, and everything ran quite comfortably, but there was no time spent waiting around, once everything was ready to start, and we started on time.
It is important to give your marshalling team and other non-combatant staff some kind of acknowledgement and reward. In our case, it was feeding and watering them, and thanking them publicly once everything was done. I think they were happy with that, although I know that the bigger tournaments also give gifts and other things. It depends on what your budget is, but I strongly suggest that you devote at least some of it to some kind of gesture of gratitude. Marshalls have to keep a very clear head and continual focus, as well as consistent judgement, throughout a tournament. Even if there is a pervading ethic of good sportsmanship amongst the fighters, (as in any sport), there will also always be that one dickhead who has to shout abuse and continually challenge the marshall's decisions. If you expect your marshalling team to come back again for another tournament, they should feel appreciated for dealing with the dickheads, if for no other reason.
One more thing. If by some strange twist of fate you actually have a budget, be careful how you apportion your spending. Don't blow it all on loot. Still try for the deals and trades which will result in your spending less. Keep some back, just in case. There is always some last minute, unforeseen fuck up that happens, and if you have a small contingency fund, you will be able to address it with more composure.
As I mentioned in the beginning, we had NO budget - we funded the whole event out of my pocket, and so when it came time, and instead of it being cloudy there was rain, we couldn't afford to hire a massive marquee or some other form of cover. Josh came up with the idea of throwing sawdust in the lists, and this worked really well for footing as well as keeping the buhurts less squishy. Bronwen, KC and Eurika also brought tents and gazebos to put around the lists for the fighters and their gear, and for the sound gear. We pulled it off through teamwork and good resource management and creative problem solving.
So I think the final lesson here is that no matter how great your plans are, the team that you choose to implement them and TRUST with the responsibility of getting the job done is the deciding factor. My team, the SA Rogue Squadron, plus mercs like Eurika, who was the Head Marshall for the buhurts, Stephen Kane, who was Head Marshall for the profights, and my other tribe members who played a part, are the ones who can take credit for a successful event.
I just thought about it, but they all made it happen. Thanks, guys!
Credits:
Head Marshalls
Eurika Dippenaar
Stephen Kane
Counting Marshalls
Matt the Goat
Mikey
Karen Reinertsen
Celeste
Scoring/Timing
Richard Rowland
Commentators
John Viljoen
Liesl
Venue and food
Natalie and Botha's Hill Craft Market (buhurt event)
Jamie and Cathy and Mad Monks (profight event)
Sound
Jamie Visagie
Wrist bands
Cathy Rees and Mad Monks
Press Platform
Troy and Dowsett Artworks
Photography
Belinda Angelozzi
Anton Moller
Michael Coffee
Heavy Lifting / Good Ideas / General Awesomeness
The SA Rogue Squadron (who are)
Josh Suttie
Bronwen Huysamer
Jimmy-Steve Cuthbert
KC Freer
Matt the Goat (again)
General Co-ordination
the girl in armour
The SA Rogue Squadron hosted their very first national tournament last year November, and it was a smash! In more ways than one. The spectators who actually did brave the threatening weather were rewarded with some really good buhurts and profights.
But I'm not here to talk about the amazing tournament, who pitched up, who won, or who lost. I'm here to talk about everything that went on before that. You see, there is a lot of work that goes into the preparation of an event.
In fact, there is so much work to be done that when I thought about writing this post last year (when it should have been written!), I instantly felt my eyelids drooping, and went and did some dishes instead.
Yes, I have been very tardy with the posts, and I'm sorry about that. Things have been busy, and we have a number of potential developments in the pipeline at the moment, I'm happy to say. I just don't want to talk about them until I know for sure that they are going to happen for sure.
Anyway, back to the tournament organising mission: first, you need to make sure that you have people who can do everything except fight. A good team of marshalling and support staff is essential to any tournament. More so, even, than a venue, I reckon. Without the marshalls, there is no tournament.
For Head Marshall, you need to find someone with combat experience, and with marshalling experience (preferably), and who is knowledgeable in the ruleset you want to base your fights on. As if that isn't enough already, you should also look for someone who is fair-minded, lives with integrity, and who knows how to handle people. Now, when I say that, I don't mean they must be a diplomat. I mean "handle people" as in get them to do what they should be doing. Whether that is through talking or using a baseball bat from behind a bar, it's really not much difference, as long as that person can do it fairly and consistently. Then you need to put that person in charge of the marshalls and support staff. Your Head Marshall will need to train his or her team, and prepare them in their roles for the tournament.
Let's hold for a moment to look at one point here. That is delegation. If you want to run a successful tournament without becoming an exhausted, nervous wreck, then delegation will be necessary, and even then, you'll still be pretty damn frizzled by the end. Delegation doesn't mean getting random people to do your job for you. It means entrusting the most skilled person for that task with the responsibility of getting it done. So instead of training up a marshalling team, you entrust that duty to the Head Marshall, who is most qualified to do the job.
And once you have set that team up with a head and an agenda, you need to hand over authority on the day of the tournament to your Head Marshall. This is an important part of building the legitimacy of a tournament because you can't have a marshalling team that still has to check with you on whether they can red card someone, especially if you have also decided to take part. Fighters will question the validity of the calls the marshalls make, and their fairness and integrity. If you are constantly telling the marshalls what to do, it will not be a fair tournament.
Our marshalling team was really new. Our Head Marshall, although she had had experience at IMCF earlier in the year, still felt insecure in her position because she was constantly being called into question by a fighter who - in another context - has some small measure of authority over her, and so she did not have the confidence to make the difficult calls every time. It was torture for me to stay quiet and not get involved when I could see that the marshalls were getting pushed around. However, I felt that I had relinquished authority, and as the host and as a fighter, if I started to meddle, even if it was to back up the marshalling team, it would affect the fairness and credibility of the event. They were all fair and consistent in their calls, so that was not a concern for me, and I felt that it was a learning curve for them, to need to stand up to rude and unruly fighters, which they did, eventually.
You need to let go, once you have given someone authority, and trust that they will do their job, even if it isn't exactly how you might do it. That's an incredibly difficult skill to learn, and worth mastering.
Next, you need to find a venue with toilets, level ground, shade, a water source, and beer. Those things are the essentials for a successful event. You can bring in lists and seating, if you want them, along with a bunch of other comforts, but those five things are the checklist for your venue. Also, a free venue is great.
Picking a date is very important, and it should work alongside your choice of venue, because you need for your venue to be available over the dates you are looking at. If you are very far away from the action (ie, not in Europe), then you will need to consider the three biggest events (Dynamo, IMCF, Battle of the Nations) in our sport, before deciding when to have your event. Too close to one of those, and you are likely not to get very many participants at your event, especially if they have to travel to get to it. It takes roughly two days to travel one way to an event from anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere. Sometimes it takes longer. Bear that in mind when you are looking for attendance.
Also, consider the weather, and the likelihood of rain, if you intend to hold it outdoors. Of course, a little rain never held up a buhurt, but if you plan to charge entry, there may be a problem, unless the spectators in your country are hard as fuck and will come out in rain, shine or snow, to watch people beating the crap out of each other with weapons. I think the Poles, the Kiwis and the Auzzies may be like that. For everyone else, there's the almanac.
Looking at costs, I think it's important to mention that we in South Africa are entirely self-funded. We get no sponsorships from the private sector, and we get no crumbs from the government. Our sport is not even officially recognised as yet. But let's not go into the politics of it. In terms of money, there is none where we are. So if you have a similar condition, listen up.
If you are smart and can make a deal or two, your costs will really be your medals, your advertising and marketing materials, and meals and drink for your marshalling team, commentator and DJ.
In terms of the venue cost, we used a space for our lists at a local market. We charged entrance (which was funny because we had no doormen - we just periodically announced that people who didn't have a wristband for the event should come to the announcer's stand and get one as entrance was R50 per adult and R10 per teenager, AND THEY DID!), and split it with the venue owner. The venue also had stalls and made some money off the spectators, so it was mutually beneficial. This is the kind of deal you want to aim for, so that your initial financial outlay is reduced.
The sound system and wrist bands were donated by some dear friends of ours, who are enthusiastic supporters of our sport, and who have hosted the Combat Pit Tournament Series at Mad Monks for the last couple of years. And Matt the Goat manned the DJ box in between marshalling.
A note here on music: don't play flea market music. Creedence Clearwater Revival is way too laid back, even if it is at a market. We've found, though, that you don't really need a playlist, so much as just music. So, we put on the Percival discography and let it play. It was great. Even the very mainstream spectators didn't complain.
Our commentators were friends chosen for their oratory ability, who did the job for a meal.
Friends of ours who do murals and signage came past early in the morning and put some scaffolding together for the photographers to stand on to get a good view of the fights. We had invited members of the press, and hoped that they, along with the local photography club, would arrive. Sadly, the rain kept them away, but the "press platform" still served its purpose, and various spectators got some good footage and stills, and kindly put them onto the interwebs for us to see and use. You can see them on the Rogues' page.
It's worth it to mention that we didn't need the sound system, wrist bands or music or commentators, or "press platform", but they all help to make it an enjoyable, accessible event for the spectators and fighters, in different ways. The spectators expect a certain level of formality with sporting events, and unless someone is calling their attention to things over a microphone, they tend to view the whole event as somewhat less than legit. Everyone loves music as a background which sets the tone for the event. Action without a backing track isn't nearly as exciting, and in more practical terms, it helps to be able to announce the different categories to fighters, and let them all know when to get ready, without sending a runner to each team, or shrieking at the top of one's lungs. And photographers need some kind of vantage point from which to take photos and videos safely.
We bit the bullet and actually did spend money on medals, since it is kind of expected that there is some form of loot once the fighting is done. That's just tradition going back to way before Lindisfarne, even.
And I think that if you're going to do medals, make them good. Don't get the tinny ones that weigh nothing and feel like cheap shit. They don't have to be enormous, although as with other things in life, bigger is better in this case. But they should have a little bit of heft to them, and some kind of marking, like a sticker or a bubble, to show which event it was. The mistake we made with our medals was that although we got nice medals, the ribbons were crappy, thin, and tied together at the end, where they were frayed, instead of nicely finished off. So that was a little disappointing, but it was something to learn from, and not a tragedy in itself.
Once you have the logistical mechanics in play, (venue, date, marshall team), it's time to look at advertising and marketing your event. This is not just to spectators, but also to the fighters you want to attract to your event. We used a series of meme-like ads that were aimed either at norms (non-fighters) and fighters to raise awareness about our event. We used social media as our primary medium for advertisement. We also had some flyers out in the city, but we couldn't afford the street posters we wanted to put up. We also had an idea of handing out flyers at intersections whilst in armour, but it was vetoed because of the heat at the time.
There are a number of ways that you can promote your event, but whichever way you do it, remember that you have TWO markets - the spectators and the fighters, so you must tailor your message differently to appeal to each group, and use media that is appropriate to the message.
Once you start getting the shape of your event together, you need to send out registration forms to the fighters. The best way to do this is to make the reg forms downloadable from your website, and then to send them to other clubs and organisations in the area, who have fighters who are most likely to attend.
Make them simple, easy to use and fill in, and don't make them pdf format.
You will have of course decided what categories you want to offer at your tournament, so make sure that those categories are very clear to the fighter. Do not just put a category of 5v5 buhurt if you have a problem with mixed teams. These days, if you only want men in the teams and women in other teams, you will need to spell it out. If you are fine with mixed buhurt, then it must say "mixed buhurt" on your reg form. And similarly with 1v1 categories. Also, don't forget to specify the ruleset you will be using, on your reg form, so that it does not take anyone by surprise. You never know.
Before the tournament, it is a good idea to make available on your page any other documents that you will be referring to during the tournament, for example the ruleset you will be using, the rules for the event venue, if there are any, accommodation prices, food prices and menu, and any specific code of conduct or other information that fighters will need.
When deciding on a final deadline for registrations (and this was some good advice given to me by my friend Laurent), it is best to have a "soft" date (the official one) and a "hard" date (the very, very last date by which you need numbers, for logistical purposes). Expect to have to chase up registrations, as well.
When deciding your schedule, allow a buffer period of time between bouts, and for a changeover of categories. Determine the maximum time each fight may last and then add that amount of time again for each fight. Remember that with each extra fighter, your time requirements increase exponentially. Be realistic about how much time you have at the venue; account for weapon and armour checks, set-up, breakdown and lunch times, as well as the actual fighting, otherwise you will end up being over time.
The schedule for our tournament was planned with quite a large buffer between events, and everything ran quite comfortably, but there was no time spent waiting around, once everything was ready to start, and we started on time.
It is important to give your marshalling team and other non-combatant staff some kind of acknowledgement and reward. In our case, it was feeding and watering them, and thanking them publicly once everything was done. I think they were happy with that, although I know that the bigger tournaments also give gifts and other things. It depends on what your budget is, but I strongly suggest that you devote at least some of it to some kind of gesture of gratitude. Marshalls have to keep a very clear head and continual focus, as well as consistent judgement, throughout a tournament. Even if there is a pervading ethic of good sportsmanship amongst the fighters, (as in any sport), there will also always be that one dickhead who has to shout abuse and continually challenge the marshall's decisions. If you expect your marshalling team to come back again for another tournament, they should feel appreciated for dealing with the dickheads, if for no other reason.
One more thing. If by some strange twist of fate you actually have a budget, be careful how you apportion your spending. Don't blow it all on loot. Still try for the deals and trades which will result in your spending less. Keep some back, just in case. There is always some last minute, unforeseen fuck up that happens, and if you have a small contingency fund, you will be able to address it with more composure.
As I mentioned in the beginning, we had NO budget - we funded the whole event out of my pocket, and so when it came time, and instead of it being cloudy there was rain, we couldn't afford to hire a massive marquee or some other form of cover. Josh came up with the idea of throwing sawdust in the lists, and this worked really well for footing as well as keeping the buhurts less squishy. Bronwen, KC and Eurika also brought tents and gazebos to put around the lists for the fighters and their gear, and for the sound gear. We pulled it off through teamwork and good resource management and creative problem solving.
So I think the final lesson here is that no matter how great your plans are, the team that you choose to implement them and TRUST with the responsibility of getting the job done is the deciding factor. My team, the SA Rogue Squadron, plus mercs like Eurika, who was the Head Marshall for the buhurts, Stephen Kane, who was Head Marshall for the profights, and my other tribe members who played a part, are the ones who can take credit for a successful event.
I just thought about it, but they all made it happen. Thanks, guys!
Credits:
Head Marshalls
Eurika Dippenaar
Stephen Kane
Counting Marshalls
Matt the Goat
Mikey
Karen Reinertsen
Celeste
Scoring/Timing
Richard Rowland
Commentators
John Viljoen
Liesl
Venue and food
Natalie and Botha's Hill Craft Market (buhurt event)
Jamie and Cathy and Mad Monks (profight event)
Sound
Jamie Visagie
Wrist bands
Cathy Rees and Mad Monks
Press Platform
Troy and Dowsett Artworks
Photography
Belinda Angelozzi
Anton Moller
Michael Coffee
Heavy Lifting / Good Ideas / General Awesomeness
The SA Rogue Squadron (who are)
Josh Suttie
Bronwen Huysamer
Jimmy-Steve Cuthbert
KC Freer
Matt the Goat (again)
General Co-ordination
the girl in armour
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